Previous seasons of JoJo have gone way over the length of the average season, but will Stone Ocean do the same?
Why Was Stone Ocean Released in 12 Episode Blocks?
The first part of Stone Ocean was released in 2021 via Netflix, with Part 2 airing in August 2022. 12 episodes was the chosen length for both to fit with the length of the average anime season for domestic broadcast. Traditionally, series of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure were released with weekly episodes on Japanese TV in anime cours which is standard for most series. However, Stone Ocean was released as an original net animation (ONA, or ‘straight to digital’) series. In line with other Netflix series, instead of episodes being released weekly, 12 episodes were released at once. 12 episodes is the length of the average anime season. After Part 1 was released on Netflix, the series aired on Japanese TV as part of the Winter 2022 season. Once it had concluded its TV run, Stone Ocean Part 2 was announced.
How Many Episodes will JoJo Stone Ocean Have in Total?
It has been confirmed that JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean will have a final total of 38 episodes. It was confirmed on JoJo’s official website (in Japanese) that Stone Ocean Part 3 will be the final instalment in the story. The third part will contain episodes 25-38. It was initially expected that Stone Ocean would have around 36 to 40 episodes, so the final confirmed episode count does not come as a big surprise. The Stone Ocean manga comprises around 17 volumes and 158 chapters. The first part largely covered the first five volumes, meaning there was roughly enough content for just over two more 12-episode parts – Part 2 and Part 3. A total episode count of 38 episodes is in line with the previous two seasons of JoJo. Both Diamond is Unbreakable (19 volumes) and Golden Wind (16 volumes) had a similar amount of content to Stone Ocean, and both had 39 episodes. There could have been a slight change to the total episode count for Stone Ocean, given its different broadcasting arrangements through Netflix. However, it was always likely to remain in the ballpark of previous JoJo seasons.
