Bohemian Ecstatic (2)
Episode 26 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean Part II begins with Anastasia tracking down Weather Report and his cloned body. Anastasia worries that the Stand user wants to slay his body because it’s vulnerable without his Stand. Anastasia chases his clone and spots Weather Report standing near a wall. He realizes that Weather isn’t influenced by the enemy’s Stand power. Even if Weather can’t hear him, Anastasia requests for him to track down the Stand’s user while he chases his body. A shop owner notices Anastasia and attempts to call the police. The police arrive and ask Anastasia to turn around to see if he’s the same wanted criminal from the reports. At the same time, Anastasia spots his clone running amok in the shop and departing. Anastasia manages to escape the police’s grasp by absorbing some nearby chocolate on his face. The officers let him go, and Anastasia continues his pursuit. Outside, Anastasia sees the shop owner portraying the role of Snow White’s prince. Irritated, Anastasia breaks a nearby Grandfather Clock since he heard some strange sounds originating from it. Suddenly, a baby goat from the story The Wolf and the Seven Goats jumps from behind the Grandfather Clock. The goat recites the story in front of Anastasia, but Anastasia swipes at him to stop him. Anastasia grabs the goat’s book and transforms into the wolf from the narrative. Anastasia realizes the enemy’s Stand wasn’t after his body–it simply wanted to drag him into different stories. Meanwhile, Weather bumps into a fictional interpretation of Van Gogh. However, since Weather was inspired by Van Gogh he starts getting wrapped up in the enemy’s Stand power. At the same time, Anastasia prepares to fight the goat’s mother from their story. Suddenly, the baby goats end up in Anastasia’s body as their mother plans to cut open his body with scissors. A news report confirms that this incident involving fictional beings entering the real world started in Florida, USA. He confirms that figures from artwork are being sighted alongside the fictional characters. Weather plans to combat Van Gogh as he realizes that the Stand user’s attempting to protect Pucci from them. Weather tries shooing Van Gogh away as he delves into how the real Van Gogh ended his life. His story beats correspond to the events starting to unravel before Weather’s eyes. As Van Gogh continues delving into his story, Weather unleashes his Stand and plans to shut the highway down with a rainstorm. Anastasia combats the mother goat and gets his torso cut open. He flees and notices that when a new story starts, nothing can alter its course. Anastasia hops on board a police car to flee from the goats and their mother. He realizes it’s the same officers who confronted him earlier. He plans to hijack the vehicle but gets ambushed by the goats and their mother again. Then, Weather realizes that the enemy Stand user’s changed his course and is resting in an airplane. It’s revealed that the Stand user is the same drug addict that threatened to murder Pucci. The drug addict flaunts his newfound powers and remarks that he can only be defeated directly—we flashback to the night before. Pucci lectures the drug addict and his ally about Jolyne and his plans to attain heaven. Pucci gives these gentlemen a taste of Dio’s power and declares they’re now the sons of Dio. Pucci asks for their help in getting him to Cape Canaveral. In the present, the drug addict is thrilled to have found a new purpose in life. He vows to protect Pucci since he’s thankful for the power he bestowed upon him. Weather realizes he can’t summon a storm that’ll match the airplane’s speed. He turns his attention to Van Gogh’s gun. Weather realizes he has one shot left before the story ends. He warns the fictional Van Gogh not to grab the pistol. Although Weather tries fleeing the scenario, he gets pushed back by Anastasia, who leaps out of the police vehicle. The gun opens fire on Weather and shoots him in the head. At the same time, Weather and Anastasia drown to follow suit with the goat storyline. On the airplane, the drug addict overhears a girl reading Aladdin’s story. He’s wondering why Aladdin’s still in the book. Then, Weather grabs Van Gogh and reveals that he had him create a new character. This character can use an ability where it sucks all the fantasy heroes back into their stories. This character’s story will conclude when he restores order to their reality. The hero proceeds to suck up every character, including Weather and Anastasia. Weather believes they’ll be heading back into their normal bodies, though. On the airplane, we receive a report that every fictional character has returned to their narrative except for Pinocchio. The small girl asks the drug addict for her story back. We receive a title card revealing he’s named Ungalo and that his stand’s name is Bohemian Ecstatic. He’s no longer capable of doing our heroes harm, according to the narrator. Meanwhile, Jolyne shows up at her ex-boyfriend Romeo’s house and surprises him. Romeo has a mental breakdown because he remembers what he did to Jolyne in earlier episodes of the series. He springs to his knees and apologizes to Jolyne. Jolyne tells Romeo she’s willing to look past his betrayal because it wasn’t entirely his fault. She asks Romeo for cash, his vehicle, and if he could keep their meeting on the down low. Romeo complies by handing her some money and his car keys. He promises he’ll confess his crimes and asks if she’ll take him back. Unfortunately, she flees his household instantly. Jolyne meets Emporio and Ermess and hands Emporio the keys. Jolyne’s holding Emporio’s tongue as they listen in on his conversation with the police. Ermess had given Jolyne a sticker prior to her meeting with Romeo to clone his tongue. Romeo pulls through for Jolyne and fabricates the truth for the feds. Emporio informs Jolyne that Romeo not only gave Jolyne keys to his car, but they also have keys to his helicopter. Jolyne rips the sticker off Romeo’s cloned tongue as it returns to Romeo’s mouth. They plan to use his helicopter to reach Pucci in a few hours. At Pucci’s new hideout, Ungalo’s comrade promises to protect Pucci. The episode concludes with him asking Pucci to fix his eyelid issue.
The Episode Review
This was a bizarre episode of Stone Ocean. Fans will be delighted to see Weather Report and Anastasia prevail over Ungalo’s insane Stand power. Furthermore, it’s nice to see Romeo follow through with his promises to Jolyne, considering he’s partially responsible for getting her locked up in Green Dolphin’s prison. Although many would argue for Jolyne to be with Anastasia, it’s pleasant to give Romeo some redeemable qualities. On the other hand, this chapter of Stone Ocean was a little easier to follow than the previous one. While some explanations aren’t as simplified as I’d hoped, the chapter addresses Ungalo’s powers sufficiently. Like in previous chapters of Stone Ocean, this episode’s resolution offers mixed baggage. Our characters’ solutions to matters feel less genuine and more artificial. It is brilliant when Weather has Van Gogh draw a new character to counter Ungalo’s Stand, but it feels too convenient. Many may feel like he magically conjured the solution out of thin air and would’ve preferred if we saw a lead-up to Weather making that call. It’s the “tell and not show” approach in Stone Ocean that makes our heroes’ victories feel more unnatural than anything else. Hopefully, our heroes’ fight with Ungalo’s comrade and Pucci is more authentic and intense. Otherwise, this was a fun chapter of Stone Ocean with great action and tension. It’ll be exciting to see what else series creator Hirohiko Araki has in store for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure anime fans.
