JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has been around for quite some time and over the years, the fanbase has only gotten bigger. One thing that draws in loads of fans is the anime adaptation of Araki's works. So far, all the parts that have been adapted have been incredible, and they haven't given fans an awful lot to complain about. After Golden Wind finished airing, the fans could not wait to see Stone Ocean get animated.
The wait for an official announcement was long and painful, but eventually, it was announced that Stone Ocean would be released on Netflix. When it was initially announced, there was a great deal of excitement, but things took a turn for the worse after the recent statements about the anime. There is always a great deal of excitement whenever a new anime adaptation is announced for the series, but what makes Stone Ocean different from the previous installments in the series?
The Long Breaks
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure used to air weekly, and the fans were extremely pleased with that schedule. They were not bothered with waiting for a week to see their favorite characters. When it was announced that Netflix would be dropping the first twelve episodes of Stone Ocean at the same time, the fans were quite satisfied with it. There was nothing wrong with the quality of the animation, and the credit goes to David Production. The studio has given Araki's manga an extremely high-quality adaptation. So, where does the problem lie?
The first twelve episodes of Stone Ocean were released worldwide on December 1, 2021. Since then, there have been no new episodes, until Netflix disclosed that the next installment of Stone Ocean episodes will come out sometime in the fall of 2022. After a while, it was confirmed that the next batch of episodes would be released on September 1st, 2022.
One thing to keep in mind is they will only be releasing episodes 13-24 in the fall, and considering the fact that the last couple of parts have had around 40 episodes, it is infuriating to wait for such a long time for just a handful of episodes. Netflix is planning to make the audience wait for the final episode, which is a very bad idea. It is very likely that there will be another batch of episodes, and it will be the last one. There have been no updates regarding the release date of the final batch, but it will possibly be released sometime in 2023.
The long breaks between each group of episodes are very bothersome, and they completely disrupt the rhythm. In comparison to the older structure, the new format is very flawed. One of the biggest problems that the viewers would have would be the inability to remember what exactly happened in the first twelve episodes. So, a person would have to rewatch the older episodes to get a better understanding of what is happening. Many people would rather wait for the third and final batch of episodes to come out before watching the first two parts as they are fed up with waiting.
Skipping Content
Stone Ocean anime has changed a lot of content, which is not exactly a good thing. Fans who have read the manga will be easily able to spot the difference between the anime and the manga. The details that have been skipped could potentially affect the quality of the series. The dialogues that have been neglected could end up making the story more complicated as the viewers would be unable to understand the behavior of certain characters.
There have been other changes as well, which include the fight between Jolyne and Miraschon. In the manga, Jolyne used her brute strength to knock out her opponent, but in the anime, this was changed to Jolyne outsmarting Miraschon. The viewers are divided on the anime deciding to change how the fights are won or lost, but it hasn't received a massive backlash. So, it will be interesting to see how they treat the next batch of episodes.
Hope For Better Treatment
JoJo fans will be hoping that Netflix stops releasing the anime in batches and even if they do release it in batches, the release dates shouldn't be so far apart. Netflix started airing the story of Jolyne Cujoh last year, and the fans had to wait more than six months to see how the story progresses. Now that the next batch is coming out soon, one would hope that the final batch of episodes drops in the same year.
Overall, it was a bad idea on Netflix's part to divide the story into batches as Stone Ocean was already a controversial part because of its ending and the treatment of one of the most adored JoJo characters. With this idea, Netflix has only caused problems for itself unless they decide to alter/add some content in the ending, which might appease anime-only fans. The manga-only fans have to reserve their judgment until they see what Netflix does with the anime's ending.