Ultra Security House Unit

Episode 15 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean begins with a flashback in which Sports Maximum and Whitesnake discuss the number of souls in the universe. Whitesnake suggests that the number of living creatures remains consistent, even if the number of souls in the universe declines. He presents Maximum with a theory about souls, but Maximum dismisses the idea. ..

Whitesnake directs the discussion toward Dio’s bone. He asks Maximum to use his new powers to modify and revitalize it. Maximum doesn’t know if he can do it and slightly declines his request. He states that a single piece of bone will not be enough to revive Dio. This encourages Whitesnake to threaten Maximum about taking away his powers.

Maximum folds his arms and looks down at Dio’s bone. Once finished, Whitesnake looks down to see a hole in his hand. Pucci screams nearby as his hand starts bleeding out. The bone is no longer in Whitesnake’s possession, but Maximum assures him that he can feel its presence. He tells Whitesnake that it’s heading for the Ultra Security Punishment Ward. Whitesnake realizes that Dio’s plan is now in effect and decides to follow the trail of the bone.

In a shocking twist, it appears that Emporio (Jolyne’s new child friend from season one) and F.F. were watching this scene play out through Maximum’s memory disc. Despite Emporio’s worries about Jolyne’s safety, F.F. confirms that Jolyne is aware of Whitesnake’s plan, as she had inserted the memory disc into her head before being locked up in the Ultra Security Punishment Ward. F.F. tells Emporio that Jolyne relinquished herself to the guards as a part of her plan.

FF still wants to help Jolyne with her plan, but feels she needs backup. Emporio confirms that Weather Report and Ermes Costello are in the infirmary recovering from their wounds. He also shares some important knowledge about the Ultra Security House Unit’s structure and what FF will need to do to get inside. FF glances over at Emporio’s pink-haired friend Narcisco Anastasia. FF suggests asking him for help, but Emporio shoots her hopes down. ..

F.F. ignores Emporio and asks Anastasia for help. He ignores her, causing F.F. great irritation. Emporio reveals that Anastasia is a murderer who likes to keep to himself. Then, Emporio shares Anastasia’s backstory to F.F., explaining that Anastasia loved taking things apart during his childhood, but this passion ended up backfiring on him. He was condemned for the murder of his ex-girlfriend and her lover, as he took them apart; surprisingly, the court declared he was a “sane” individual, but still locked him up for his actions. ..

Anastasia reiterates that she isn’t someone to rely on, as Weather Report is one of the few people who can keep her in line. F.F. looks at Anastasia, who’s minding her business and reading a book. F.F. thinks it would be best to force her to help him and deploys his finger gun (the same one she uses in her fight against the invisible alligator).

Anastasia pops up beside her and agrees to help F.F. locate Jolyne. He leaves their location gracefully. Confused by his decision, Emporio heads after Anastasia and asks him what he is after. Anastasia abruptly reveals that he’s helping F.F. out because he has fallen in love with Jolyne and plans to be her sworn protector and one day marry her in exchange for his assistance. ..

Anastasia explains that her Stand, Diver Down, can store and delay his attacks through objects. Once stored, he can release the built-up momentum at any given time to deal severe damage to his foes.

Dio Brando and Enrico Pucci discuss the weaknesses of Stand abilities. Pucci asks Dio for his opinion on the weakest Stand he’s ever seen. Dio responds that every Stand has its own set of weaknesses and advantages, so there’s no such thing as a weak or strong stand. Pucci is taken aback as he deems his question a foolish one.

Dio informs Pucci that his question wasn’t a foolish one. Dio reveals that “Survivor” was the weakest stand he’s come across. He informs Pucci that it’s the weakest because it’s the most difficult Stand to handle. Dio tells Pucci a story going over the history of this Stand’s user and how it functions. ..

This story takes place in 1982 and involves a group of hikers who ended up dying during their excavation of the French mountains. It was revealed they had murdered each other in a fistfight. Before their excursion, Dio learned that they had met a mysterious man who activated “Survivor.” Dio explains to Pucci that Survivor can emit a fragile electric signal that travels through water and effected each hiker’s brain, causing them to go rogue. Dio argues the ability was useless because it can’t distinguish allies from enemies. With his interest piqued, Pucci asks Dio for its disc to safeguard it.

Jolyne is in her cell, and she doesn’t respond when the guards open the door. They tell her that it’s shower time, but Jolyne doesn’t respond when they open the door. She simply hides behind her bed to the guards’ joy. One of them orders the guard next to him to pay him, as they were betting to see if Jolyne would hide behind her bed or not.

Jolyne slyly deploys one of her strings to search the ward in hopes of finding Dio’s bone. The guards proceed to wash Jolyne through the use of a hose. This leads to water being scattered all over the cell, causing numerous puddles to crop up in the ward. Unknowingly, this activates Survivor, indicating to us that its Stand user is hiding somewhere in the ward. A guard named Sonny Likir accidentally sprays his partner, Viviano Westwood, and apologizes. Westwood doesn’t take his action kindly and throws a punch at Likir’s shoulder.

Likir and Westwood are fighting. Likir throws a punch that causes Westwood to cry out in fear. Westwood enjoys the idea of fighting his friend.

After this exchange, it was revealed that the two guards have some degree of x-ray vision. Jolyne is bewildered by the whole scenario and can’t believe they’re dumb enough to leave the cell door open to engage in a fight. The two guards continue fighting and eventually, Likir folds after Westwood snaps his leg. Jolyne contemplates if a Stand user is pulling the strings. ..

Enrico Pucci, the head of the fashion house, is reading the Bible in his office when he sends four Stand Users after Jolyne. Westwood frees all the cellmates and issues them to fight each other. The episode concludes with Jolyne watching the scene unfold in horror with a deranged Westwood declaring that it’s “Fight Club” time. ..

The Episode Review

This episode is a strong improvement on the last. It features a more challenging protagonist and plenty of unexpected outcomes. However, there are some flaws that I found.

In “Jolyne vs. Westwood”, the anime challenges its protagonist more in this episode. Not only does Jolyne need to contend with Westwood’s incredible strength, but she needs to worry about the other prisoners getting in her way. Don’t forget she’s also unaware of the four formidable Stand users Pucci sent to exterminate her along with who or what is causing Westwood to act insane. This builds up anticipation for the next episodes brilliantly. It leaves a sense of mystery as to how Jolyne plans to triumph over these many hurdles. ..

This anime is great for exploring a new concept in the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure franchise. The discussion of weak stands makes me appreciate Stone Ocean more as his primary villain, since he’s asking questions about topics I never thought would be explored this far into the franchise. I hope the series can explore more of this while keeping it relevant to its protagonist’s mission.

This episode was great for giving more attention to side characters. I found the bit between Anastasia and F.F. comedic and heartwarming. It showcases F.F.’s naivety about humans and gives us more knowledge regarding one of Stone Ocean’s mysterious characters. The animation and soundtrack in this episode were hardcore and magnificent. The fights and their accompanying soundtracks continue to please and excite me. Westwood and Likir’s is extremely gruesome and bloody. Their fight captures the same energy and looks as those in Attack On Titan, Mortal Kombat, and Street Fighter II: The Arcade Edition.

Although I found the segment between Dio and Pucci fascinating, it could’ve been paced better. It takes up a lot of time, and some information shared could have been removed. I had similar issues regarding Sports Maximum and Pucci’s discussion about souls. I already find Maximum to be the series’s worst villain yet and to see him take up more screen time made me a tad bored.

argument that Anastasia’s feelings for Jolyne aren’t genuine enough. It comes out of the left field and presents more questions than answers. I believe that Anastasia is in love with Jolyne, but her confession is not sincere.

This episode is more enjoyable than the previous one. It raises the stakes and presents us with some hidden lore not touched upon enough in the other JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure seasons. We’ll have to wait and see what happens next!