JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean – Episode 34 Recap & Review

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Episode 34 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean Part II begins Pucci’s new Stand attacking Jolyne. He finally notices Emporio and attempts to kill him, but Jolyne stops his assault. Pucci plans to murder Jolyne first as the gang tries to learn what they’re up against.

Emporio tells the others to watch out for Pucci’s attacks because he can somehow turn objects he touches inside out.l This is why Jolyne’s flesh broke through her outer skin’s surface. Emporio gives his friends a lecture on gravity and matter. He tells them that gravity attracts matter toward the center of mass and that everything can be affected by it.

Emporio assumes that Pucci’s Stand’s ability alters gravity and changes its direction. He doesn’t know Pucci’s range, but he knows he can make everything fall sideways. Jolyne tosses Emporio to Anastasia and fights Pucci’s new Stand by herself. Jolyne gets hit by Pucci’s Stand but tells the others that can turn her limbs right side out thanks to her ability. She has to utilize a good portion of her threads to stitch her wounds though.

Jolyne remarks that she can damage his Stand with normal attacks. During their fight, Jolyne’s foot gets caught by a piece of metal, but she dodges most of Pucci’s attacks. Jolyne realizes that Pucci’s new Stand is carefully planning its attacks and aims to damage her vital organs like her head and chest. Jolyne deducts that Pucci’s new Stand is a remote control type.

Jolyne feels the Priest is staring at their fight from afar but doesn’t know where he could be. Anastasia jumps into the fight, but Pucci’s Stand knocks him out. Jolyne uses her threads to grab Anastasia. She also manages to wrap the thread around Pucci’s Stand’s neck. Anastasia and Emporio tell Jolyne to let Anastasia go because Pucci’s Stand plans to grab a hold of her thread.

If he succeeds, Jolyne’s arm will get inverted alongside the string since the threads stemming from her arm. Pucci’s Stand grabs Jolyne’s thread and starts inverting it, and we get a cutscene revealing its name as C-Moon. Meanwhile, military personnel reports the strange gravity phenomenon happening in the area to their boss. Some helicopter pilots try to reach the Vision Center but get pulled into the area’s gravity and die.

At the same time, Jolyne summons Stone Ocean and tries attacking C-Moon. However, C-Moon touches some steel plating to stand itself up. C-Moon gets up and hits some tiles. The tiles head for Jolyne, but she blocks them with Stone Ocean. Before the thread inversion could complete its course, Anastasia summons Diver Down to submerge his Stand into her rope.

Instead of Jolyne’s arm turning inside out, Anastasia’s body will turn inside out. Jolyne uses the opportunity to attack C-Moon, but the Stand summons a mystical barrier to protect itself from her assault. Pucci reveals himself and vows to get rid of the Joestar bloodline. Jolyne attacks him again but realizes her body’s being pulled to the sky. Pucci claims he’s the center of gravity, and wherever he stands, gravity is reversed.

The closer people get to him–the stronger the gravity gets. Pucci walks over to his Stand and asks him to punch Jolyne in her stomach. After the Stand commits the deed, Pucci asks it to follow him to the Vision Center. Pucci tells Jolyne’s comrades that it’s too late for her. Her heart has been turned inside out, and she can no longer feel pain or think. Jolyne’s body crumbles as Anastasia and Emporio cry.

Pucci shares his goals for wanting to pursue happiness for all human beings. He’ll consider Jolyne’s and everyone else’s demise, as a casualty in his path to success. Emporio hears his phone ringing, and Emporio picks it up. He had received a message from Jotaro, who has finally recovered from his wounds. Jotaro informs Emporio that he can sense Jolyne’s aura and that she’s still alive but barely.

Emporio tells Anastasia to find Jolyne because he believes Pucci knows she’s alive too. Pucci’s baffled that Jolyne’s still alive and starts looking for her. Anastasia uses Diver Down to propel himself to the Vision Center. He plans to murder Pucci with his bare hands to protect Jolyne. The episode concludes with a shot of an abandoned airplane at the Vision Center.

The Episode Review

Stone Ocean continues delivering phenomenal action and strategy with this bout between Pucci’s new Stand C-Moon and our heroes. From its fluid fight choreography to its soothing sound design, I found myself at the edge of my seat with this bout. There were many instances where I was worried about everyone’s safety.

At the same time, I’m impressed by Jolyne’s remarkable intellect during her bout with Pucci. She’s come a long way since her fight with Gwess at the Green Dolphin Street Prison. It’s great to see her utilize her wit to outperform someone with this extraordinary level of power. I’m certain many viewers are baffled that she managed to survive getting her heart inverted by C-Moon, too.

Nonetheless, I’m excited to see Jotaro return to the series. His subtle death at the hand of Johngalli A and Pucci left me as stunned as other fans. It’ll be great to see him and Jolyne fight Pucci. It’ll remind many anime fans of notable anime like Dragon Ball Z, where parents team up with their children to combat a menacing villain. Let’s hope Jolyne can last long enough to make that moment a reality.

Otherwise, this episode had phenomenal animation, compelling music, and satisfying tension. The whole military mischief and other moments didn’t seem necessary. Besides that, episode 34 left fans with something fun to chew on as we head into the series remaining four chapters. Fingers crossed that Stone Ocean delivers a stellar final fight of epic proportions.