There seems to be this odd hatred for Stone Ocean that I really don't understand. Personally, i love this part, but it's certainly not flawless.
Story: So, we can start right off with the weakest part. And i'll tell you, having the story be the worst part of the manga, is never a good thing. Though that's not to say it's bad, because it most definitely is not. It has a strong premise with an interesting location, and lots of interesting twists. Some fights really didn't hit home, and you can see araki had to change allot of his ideas while writing(note Anasui's initial appearance) which led to quite a few inconsistencies. But I'd still say the story had allot of great moments, like when Jolyne and F.F. were playing catch. Allot of people really hated the stand abilities in this part, which I can semi get behind as many of the abilities were inconsistent made little sense and were rarely used to their full ability. Some enemy stands were laughably horrible, and some fights managed to be only enjoyable because of how overly brutal they were. However I do have to give credit where it's due and say that despite it being very underpowered Jolyne's web is a really great idea, as it has so many possibilities and creative uses. The second half is where the story gets good in my opinion. The thing that turned most people off to part 6 is definitely the ending. near the end things just get balls to the wall insane, clearly araki was on a time crunch so he had to rush the ending. And oh the ending.. it's one of the most out of no where, punch you in the gut, mindfuck endings i've ever seen. I honestly can't decide if it's absolute genius or what the hell were you smoking, Araki?
Art: The art is good as alway. It has realistic body proportions and is very detailed. Interesting great designs for most the characters though Anasui is basically just diavolo in a hat and Jotaro looks just like he did in part 4 but with significantly worse fashion taste. I love the stand designs here. Muscles are drawn strangely drawn, that's not a problem however. Sometimes the characters can look a bit funny, but it's still great.
Characters: characters are the most important part of a story for me, and well, i love the characters. They are all unique and colorful in their own way. There are really no side characters, so i'll just go right into the main characters. Jolyne is the best girl, period. Seriously though, she has great development, she goes from a lonely little girl with daddy issues to a kickass woman that can easily hold her own in a fight, even with possibly the most underpowered stands of any jojo. Hermes is a pretty good character, i may not have been the biggest fan of her character but i thought her backstory was interesting and she had some truly great moments. Weather Report is one of the better characters, he's a touch on the cold side but still likable and is really the only character all the other characters seem to like oddly enough. He has a cool stand but his backstory is... well i'm not too sure about it. Anasui is one of those characters you either love or hate. he seems to not give a single shit about anything or anyone except for Jolyne. Like I legitimately have no idea what this guy was thinking most the time. "Apocalypse? Now is the perfect time to ask for Jotaro's blessing!" I mean I still like him but it's pretty clear why he might be considered unpopular. Foo Fighters is the most wonderful plankton to ever grace this planet with her existence. Seriously, she is great, she's funny, quirky and adorable, just take my word for it. Emporio is a plot convince for the most part, he wasn't the most interesting but i did feel bad for him at the end. Jotaro is basically the same as he was before caring about dolphins more than his own daughter, he's like 40 but looks younger than he did when he was seventeen. all jokes aside I think he may have had some development and some really touching scenes with Jolyne. Pucci is an awesome villain. He the kind of villain that thinks what they're doing is right, when clearly, they're fucking everything up for everyone. I've often heard people criticize him as just another one of dio's minions that worships him and doesn't question anything he says, however this is very untrue because Pucci actually disagrees with Dio on several occasions and this is actually the reason Dio chose pucci to be his "friend", over someone like Vanilla Ice who listened to because he actually had a mind of his own. And was the first person Dio actually respected after Jonathan. As for the minor villains of this arc.... how do I say this... they sucked. Being serious, they're kinda like the villains of part three in that they have no real character or motivations of their own, well except for the sons of Dio, who were, well greato.
Overall id say the plot of stone ocean could have used some work but it's still far from bad and Jolyne is my favorite jojo if that means anything. I'd recommend this part if you've read/watched up to part three.(skipping parts is still a bad idea, just part 3 and 6 are directly linked like 1 and 3, 2 and 4, and 1/3 and 5)
