Birth of the “Green”
Episode 19 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean begins with the Speedwagon Foundation’s doctors watching over Jotaro Kujo. They note that Jotaro’s awakened several times but ends up falling asleep for another twenty-four hours. This is all thanks to the Star Platinum disc reinserted into his body. Jotaro has obtained some knowledge but has no recollection of his family or himself. The doctors argue with his entire memory wiped out, he has no reason to live. He’s also been losing muscle mass. The doctors infer that his only chance of recovery would be to retrieve his memory disc. The doctor tries reaching for his other disc, but Jotaro slams his arm in his direction, breaking an IV drop container. He receives a wound on his arm that forms into Jolyne’s name. Meanwhile, F.F. treats Jolyne’s injuries while she’s thinking about her father. She ends up adopting a similar scar on her forearm as Jotaro does. The wound ends up healing swiftly. 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. Jolyne, Anastasia, and F.F. head 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 reminds her of their deal. F.F. points out that there could be enemies nearby, 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 the 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. The man faces them, but his 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 look around the area and discover that all the dead prisoners have turned into plants. 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 Jolyne out. He ignores her reaction and ponders about Dio’s bone. He assumes the bone is causing the metamorphosis phenomenon around them and not an enemy’s Stand. He believes since Jolyne touched the gentleman who had the bone in his hand, she is now affected and susceptible to becoming a plant. A root from the dead corpses grabs the bone and carries it into the open. Jolyne spots the bone and tries retrieving it. However, several roots and flowers start springing 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. He pulls Jolyne into 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. Nevertheless, Jolyne proceeds to grab the baby. She questions its nature and wonders what Whitesnake has planned for it. F.F. decides to grab Jolyne and put her back into the sunlight. Jolyne grabs a hold of the baby before then. At the same time, 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 that his name is Guccio. Although F.F. is hesitant to help him because he might be a Stand user. 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. Our trio scales 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. Afterward, our heroes made it 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. Oddly enough, 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
Although I didn’t like how Kenzou got defeated, the fight between him and our heroes was entertaining and engaging all the same. Since Enrico Pucci mentioned that he was sending four formidable Stand users to take out Jolyne, I was thrilled to receive four amazing fights involving our current roster of heroes and his assassins. 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. However, this anime has subverted expectations before with Kenzou and Westwood. I expected the same would come from the final two Stand users. Instead, we see one crying for their mother and the other walking into the sunset, acting like a drunk man in an alleyway. Although D an’ 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. Everything outside of that was the icing on the cake. Anastasia’s love for Jolyne is starting to grow on me. While Anastasia seems serious about the ordeal, I can’t help but laugh at his attempts to woo Jolyne. Furthermore, 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.
