Birth of the “Green”
Episode 19 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean begins with Jotaro Kujo being monitored by the Speedwagon Foundation’s doctors. They note that Jotaro has woken up several times but falls asleep again after only twenty-four hours. This is all thanks to the Star Platinum disc that was reinserted into his body. Jotaro has learned some information but doesn’t remember anything about himself or his family. ..
Jotaro slams his arm in Jolyne’s direction, breaking an IV drop container. He receives a wound on his arm that forms into Jolyne’s name.
Meanwhile, Jolyne is thinking about her father. She ends up adopting a similar scar on her forearm as Jotaro does. The wound ends up healing quickly. This occurrence makes Jolyne realize that her father wanted to protect her and her mother from Stand-related affairs. Jolyne finally understands Jotaro’s actions and plans to forgive him when they reunite.
Anastasia, F.F., and Jolyne are up the stairs. Anastasia whispers and asks F.F. to trip Jolyne. He wants to rescue and share a romantic moment with Jolyne. F.F. doesn’t want to assist him, but Anastasia pressures her to commit the act. F.F. decides to play along and trips Jolyne, but she doesn’t end up falling into Anastasia’s arms nor does she fall on anything in general.
Jolyne finds a man who was playing with Dio’s bone. He’s watching them from above while holding the bone in his hands. She binds one of his arms with her thread and tears off a good slither of his skin. He crawls away from the situation. Jolyne, F.F., and Anastasia head upstairs and witness the man moving on the ground in a snake-like fashion.
The man’s height has increased, and he now has a strange root-like spinal growing from his back. He faces away from them as F.F. holds him at gunpoint. She orders him to turn around, but the man’s face looks deformed and grotesque, haunting our heroes. It appears as if his face had mutated into some human tree - his body begins twisting and mutating further, leading to his head exploding into a tree with flowers. ..
Our protagonists explore an area that has been turned into a plant-covered field. All the dead prisoners have turned into plants, and Dio’s bone ended up rolling next to one of Pucci’s assassin Stand users, D an’ G. D an’ G assesses his situation and believes the bone has a will of its own. He argues that it’s trying to give birth to something based on the plant-covered environment around him. He hesitates to touch or retrieve the bone. He argues doing so could lead to terrifying consequences.
Jolyne begins sprouting plants on her face. Anastasia notices some of them and warns Jolyne. However, when she turns around, the plants disappear. Anastasia checks her body awkwardly and freaks out Jolyne. She ignores her reaction and ponders about Dio’s bone. She assumes the bone is causing the metamorphosis phenomenon around them and not an enemy’s Stand. She believes since Jolyne touched the gentleman who had the bone in his hand, she is now affected and susceptible to becoming a plant. ..
Jolyne spots the bone and tries to retrieve it. However, several roots and flowers spring from her arm, buying the bone some time to escape. Anastasia summons Diver Down to try to wipe off the roots and flowers on Jolyne’s arm. However, these roots won’t budge as they’ve fused with Jolyne’s face. ..
Jolyne is pulled into a shady territory as the plants on her face fade away. They assume everyone has turned into plants, but Jolyne advances into the light because she wants to retrieve that bone. As she’s searching, she comes across a Green Baby bearing the Joestar birthmark. It’s inside a root-centric cocoon. Jolyne reaches for the baby, but her body’s becoming more plant-like by the minute.
Despite Jolyne’s objections, she grabs the baby and F.F. intervenes to put her back into the sunlight. Jolyne then grabs a hold of the baby before Anastasia spots someone hiding in a room. The three investigate the area and come across a meek individual. He begs them for help and reveals his name is Guccio. ..
Anastasia decides to help Guccio anyway. He tells Guccio to approach him. He strokes Guccio’s chest and weirdly explains how everyone has the same amount of ribs. Guccio miraculously calms down, and Anastasia decides to let him go. We scale the west side of the unit to avoid the sunlight.
Meanwhile, D an’ G are looking around the area and wonder where Jolyne and her friends went. However, his attention befalls upon Guccio who is mindlessly wandering the ward. D an’ G approach Guccio and grab his shoulder. Suddenly, Guccio’s ribs spring out from his back and pierce D an’ G’s arms. D an’ G cries for his mommy and yells in pain. We see Guccio head into the sunlight, where it is revealed that he was Survivor’s Stand user.
After the fight, our heroes make their way out of the ward and discuss their future plans. Suddenly, an obese green stand named Yo-Yo Ma chomps at the Green Baby and swallows it. Jolyne proceeds to attack the Stand by punching it in the face. F.F. shoots at it while Diver Down plunges its arm inside its stomach. Unfortunately, Yo-Yo Ma is invulnerable to their attacks, and they can’t retrieve the baby.
Yo-Yo Ma begins acting like Jolyne’s servant and informs them about his Stand User, D an’ G. F.F. attacks the Stand, regardless. Despite this dangerous scenario, Anastasia suggests they should split up. He tells F.F. to remain at the prison to find and murder its Stand user. Meanwhile, Jolyne and Anastasia will leave the environment with Yo-Yo Ma to find a way to extract the baby from its stomach. ..
Anastasia and Jolyne find a boat, but the former has trouble starting it. Yo-Yo Ma explains how to pilot it, and the three depart. At the same time, F.F. is in her thoughts. Jolyne should monitor Yo-Yo Ma since it pretends to be her servant and plans to attack her when she turns her back. The episode concludes with F.F.’s jaw completely melted off because of a sneak attack by Yo-Yo Ma. ..
The Episode Review
Despite the lack of content, I still enjoyed the fight between Kenzou and our heroes. The fight was entertaining and engaging all the same, and I was thrilled to receive four amazing fights involving our current roster of heroes. Unfortunately, we only received two-fourths of that content, leaving me disappointed and underwhelmed.
I understand that Survivor was clarified to be the weakest Stand imaginable though, because it has a difficult time distinguishing between ally and enemy. Guccio also reflects the Stand’s weak-nature well through his personality and meek appearance.
This anime has surprised me with its deviations from the expected. I was expecting Kenzou and Westwood to be the same characters from the beginning, but instead we see one crying for their mother and the other walking into the sunset. This has surprised me, as I thought that the two Stand users would be similar in their actions.
Although D and G still have a chance to prove themselves, I’m disappointed with Guccio’s character. The protagonists also made a fatal move in letting all these characters survive. There is a chance for them to crop up and foil their plans down the line. Finishing off these villains stylishly and dramatically would also make the conclusions of those bouts more engaging and memorable. ..
The animation was spectacular and the dark imagery helped build tension. Seeing the small man’s body transform into this human tree monstrosity sent chills down my spine.
I enjoyed seeing Jotaro make an appearance in this episode. It’s been a while since we last saw him, and it hurts to see him in such a battered state. I found the spiritual moment between him and Jolyne heartwarming and touching. It reminded me a lot of the harmonious moment between Ermes and Gloria in episode 14.
The scene allows us to peer into Jolyne’s mindset, as she now values her father for protecting her and her mother from the chaos involving Stands. It shows how Jolyne has developed for the better. I can’t wait for her to settle the score with Whitesnake and Pucci. On that note, I hope Yo-Yo Ma brings some challenges and tricks to the table. Otherwise, D an’ G will appear worse than Sports Maximum, which is saying a lot. ..
