Sky Guy
Episode 27 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean Part II begins with Emporio flying the helicopter while listening to Jolyne’s feedback. Jolyne tells him to head in a different direction since she senses Pucci’s essence in four locations. Jolyne argues he’d be in Orlando, which is westward. Suddenly, Ermes senses a strange presence soar past them. This entity causes Emporio’s eyelids to close, and he loses his grip on the helicopter. Jolyne and Ermes are later affected by this mysterious entity’s Stand. Jolyne unleashes Stone Ocean to capture the speedy entity, but that doesn’t work. Jolyne grabs Ermes and Emporio and leaps out of the helicopter. Ermes spots some missle-like bullets heading toward them. She smashes one of them but can’t attack the others. Jolyne unleashes Stone Ocean’s threads and latches onto the helicopter. They all land in a nearby river while the helicopter crashes and explodes meters away. Jolyne asks the others if they are okay, and it appears they can now open their eyes again. Ermes informs everyone to keep their eyes peeled because someone sent living organisms after them instead of Stands. Jolyne assumes the enemy’s Stand allows them to control these strange creatures. The Stand user reveals himself to Jolyne and her friends. It appears to be Ungalo’s friend from the previous chapter’s cliffhanger. Jolyne realizes that this man was one of the presences she felt–while aboard the helicopter. In a flashback, we learn he’s named Rikiel–thanks to his conversation with Pucci at Orlando State Hospital. Pucci orders Rikiel to think of his new bloodline and Dio. Rikiel explains the trauma he’s endured since he was 16 involving his swollen eyelids and how people poorly treated him. Pucci comforts Rikiel and discusses a strange phenomenon involving cryptids called rods (skyfish) that are too fast for the naked eye. At the same time, Pucci has Rikiel’s Stand disc in his palm and confirms Rikiel’s attachment to the creatures. Pucci backs away when the skyfish start frolicking around Rikiel. Rikiel confirms he can open his eyes as he looks at the skyfish around him. He asks Pucci if controlling these creatures is a part of his newfound abilities. Pucci’s bewildered that the skyfish were quick enough to hurt him. He deems Rikiel’s Stand ability the name Sky Guy and orders Rikiel to attack Jolyne and her friends. In the present, Jolyne and Ermes plan to attack Rikiel. Rikiel’s awaiting their attack because it’ll allow his skyfish to deal precise damage to them. Jolyne orders Ermes to wait because it’d be wise to learn about his ability first. Jolyne tells Jolyne that Rikiel may want them to close in on him, so he can deal damage, surprising Rikiel. Ermes complies. Ermes has a hunch he wanted them to land near a water-filled area because his attacks wouldn’t be precise in an open field. Rikiel notices his bike sinking in the mud and wants to retrieve it. Ermes throws a few pebbles at him with his back turned and misses on purpose. She placed stickers on them to throw Rikiel off. She removes the stickers from her cloned pebbles. This causes the rocks to head toward her and pierce Rikiel’s face. Rikiel starts having breathing issues, leading him to lose control over the skyfish. The skyfish swarm around Jolyne and her friends. Ermes attempts to grab more rocks, but Rikiel regains control of the skyfish. He orders the skyfish to attack Ermes and Emporio, and the two take massive damage. Rikiel tells them if they stand in Pucci’s way, he’ll have no issues eliminating them. Rikiel reveals Sky Guy to Jolyne and her friends as Jolyne rushes to attack him. However, the skyfish break Jolyne’s foot, causing her to trip. Emporio removes Jotaro’s memory disc from his pants and realizes that the skyfish feed on their body heat. He admits to reading up on these organisms in a book he found in the prison’s library. Emporio reveals that the skyfish convert the body heat they steal from others into their energy. They come near their foes but never touch them. The victims won’t feel the skyfish’s assault until the illness takes a toll on their bodies. Rikiel confirms Emporio’s suspicions but argues that he orders the skyfish to immobilize his foes. Rikiel calls them to tranquilize his opponents, so he can have them steal the body heat from their brain stems. Emporio tells Jolyne to duck under the water, but Jolyne insists he hand her a lighter. Jolyne lights herself on fire, surprising Rikiel and the others. Jolyne knocks Rikiel into his motorcycle and notices the Joestar birthmark on his shoulder. She doesn’t plan to kill Rikiel as she wants to beat him up and attain information from him. Rikiel opens his bike’s gas container and covers himself in it. He touches Jolyne to light himself on fire, which startles her. Rikiel says his skyfish can’t focus on one body part when the target is covered in flames. However, if he’s covered in flames, he can find her vulnerable spot through his senses. Jolyne attacks Rikiel twice but can’t seem to hit him. Rikiel rolls on the ground to put out the flames on his body. He notes that her mouth was her new weak point, so he had his skyfish enter her mouth and steal the body heat emanating from her thalamus. This is why she can’t register Rikiel’s location anymore. Jolyne uses her senses to pinpoint Rikiel’s location and delivers swift punches to subdue him. Rikiel remarks that he had his skyfish infect his body, cutting off the nerves in his head and body. He no longer feels shock or pain and wants to fight until he dies. He grabs Jolyne’s neck and removes the flames from her body that covered her first vertebra. He sends his skyfish to rob the body heat from her neck as she delivers multiple punches. Jolyne ceases punching Rikiel and lies next to him. Rikiel realizes that his hand’s acting numb for some reason as he realizes he kept her neck safe from harm. Emporio and Ermes cheer for Jolyne’s victory over Rikiel. Jolyne asks Rikiel for intel about Pucci. Rikiel says he thanks Pucci for giving him another shot at life. He says that Pucci’s fueled by Dio’s convictions and that he’s simply a pawn that’ll help Pucci reach heaven. Rikiel says that Pucci requires a being with the strongest fate as he feels Jolyne fits the description. Rikiel argues that Weather Report will play a role in Pucci’s plans, which is why he extracted his memory disc many years ago and kept him alive. Rikiel says letting Weather Report run free won’t support Jolyne’s cause. He remarks how Weather must’ve gained a new star shape birthmark alongside Pucci since he’s Pucci’s youngest brother. Ermes knocks Rikiel’s head into the ground and tells Jolyne not to listen to his words. Emporio wonders if Rikiel was speaking the truth about Jolyne’s destiny is tied to Pucci’s convictions. The episode concludes with the narrator spouting about Florida’s motorcycle laws as the skyfish Rikiel once controlled murdered some motorcyclists.
The Episode Review
This was a fun episode of Stone Ocean that gave us a more fleshed-out antagonist than the previous episodes. Unlike Ungalo, viewers receive more background intel about Rikiel and his tragic life before his fateful encounter with Pucci. His battle with Jolyne and her friends contained beautiful animation and visuals. Unfortunately, the episode felt rushed to some extent. It didn’t go into much depth regarding the skyfish Rikiel controlled and the battle’s aftermath feels questionable. On the other hand, this episode gave fans many things to ponder about moving forward. This is regarding Weather Report and Jolyne’s destined ties to Pucci. Many fans may be astonished that Weather Report is Pucci’s youngest brother. It helps Weather’s mission to defeat Pucci feel more personal and makes scenes from the previous part make more sense. At the same time, fans may wonder what’ll come of Jolyne in the upcoming chapters regarding this fate realization placed into her mind. While she’s shown much growth mentally and physically, it’ll be intriguing to witness how Jolyne will conquer these newfound inner emotions. Otherwise, this was a fun and thrilling episode of Stone Ocean. Although Rikiel’s ability wasn’t as creative as Ungalo’s, he received more characterization and development than him, which is appreciated. Hopefully the upcoming trials and enemies our heroes encounter can display a solid mix of both villains. As always, I can’t wait to see what happens next.
