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duhragonball · 3 years

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Battle Tendency Liveblog: JJBA Ch.109-113

Hard to believe we’re at the end of this crazy ride.

Last time, Joseph had defeated Kars, only for Stroheim to order his men to finish Kars off with UV rays. Stroheim just wanted Kars to hurry up and die faster, and maybe he also wanted credit for the kill, but instead he played right into Kars hands. After Joseph kicked his ass, Kars put on a Stone Mask he had stowed away somewhere, and he installed the Red Stone of Aja into the Mask.

I should probably go over that a bit, since it hasn’t been mentioned for a while. Kars has been perfecting the Stone Mask technology for thousands of years. It turns humans into vampires, but for his species it unlocks even greater powers. But Kars hit a wall in his research. He wanted to design a mask that would make him the ultimate life form, but he lacked the means to power such a mask. He discovered an answer in the Aja Stone, a mineral that focuses light, but he needed a bigger, more flawless sample of it, and that’s the Stone he’s using right now, the one he captured from Lisa Lisa.

So instead of killing Kars, Stroheim accidentally made his lifelong ambition come true. One nice touch I just noticed is that the Mask itself falls apart as soon as it’s finished its task. I suppose, in theory, someone else could have tried it on and get the same power boost as Kars? Would it even work on a normal human? Well, we’ll never find out.

There’s a couple of ways to interpret this. One is that Kars’ “Super” Mask was highly experimental, and it must have been untested, since he’d never had Lisa’s stone until now. So it’s possible that the thing burned itself out after a single use. The other interpretation is that Kars designed this Mask to self-destruct after the first use, because it was never intended for anyone else but himself. The whole point of this was to become the Ultimate Life Form, the very pinnacle of all living creatures on Earth. I think it was implied that Wammu and Esidisi were expecting to share in this power when the time came, but why would Kars have ever allowed for this? What’s the point of being the greatest and best in the world if you have to share that top spot with two other guys?

Stroheim realllly wants to believe this is all a big fluke, and that he didn’t just make the bad guy stronger. The Ripple wound on Kars’ arm is still there, so Stroheim figures he’ll die anyway. Except Kars doesn’t seem too bothered by his injury. And then...

Yeah, so Kars not only repairs his injured arm, he reshapes his hand into a squirrel. Joseph speaks for us all: What the fuck?

For a hot minute, everyone thinks the squirrel he made is kind of cute, until Kars sends it to find another squirrel and kill it. Then the Kars-squirrel tears a hole through Stroheim and carves a trench in a Nazi soldier from chest to eyeball. Then it rejoins Kars’ wrist, and turns into a flower, and then a butterfly. Some Part 5 and 6 pre-references for ya.

Then the sun comes up. Wait, the Joseph/Wammu fight happened around midnight, right? How many hours have these folks been out here? And it’s February, too, so this had to have been a long night. Anyway, the sun comes up, so we’re saved, right? Wrong. Sunlight doesn’t hurt Kars anymore, thanks to the power he got from his special mask. So now what are they supposed to do?

Well, Joseph’s going to use his last resort: running away. Also, he grabs the Aja Stone, for no apparent reason. Kars grows a pair of wings to chase him. He no longer cares about the Hamon users, because they’re no longer a threat to him. But he wants to kill Joseph personally, both to celebrate his new powers and to avenge the deaths of Wammu and Kars.

Smokey joins Joseph, which doesn’t make much sense to Joseph, but Smokey wants to tell Joseph about Lisa Lisa being his mother. Except Joseph’s a little too distracted by the eldritch horror that’s trying to murder him. Read the room, Smokey.

Here’s a helpful diagram of Kars to explain what his deal is now. Basically, he’s immortal and can regenerate and reshape his whole body, but he had that before, just by being a Pillar Man. The big upgrade is that he’s no longer weak to sunlight (and by extension, the Ripple), and he can now replicate the traits of any life form on Earth. He’s faster than cheetahs and has better hearing than bats and so on. He can go for a full year without eating, and he no longer needs to sleep. Sex is meaningless to him, because procreation is only important for lower life forms to maintain their species. Kars has no need for children or bretheren. “There is but only one summit.”

Maybe Wammu and Esidisi had understood that truth all along, and they never seriously expected Kars to share this power with them. They practically worshipped Kars as it was, so maybe they were only doing this for the greater glory of their leader.

So what does Kars plan to do with all of this power he now has? The Aja Stone was his only goal before, and that’s done. He has no enemies to fear, and as Speedwagon observes, there’s no way left to kill him. This page states that his only purpose now is to create a world to match his own desire, but what is that? What’s Kars’ vision for the Earth now that he’s reached this point?

We never really find out, and I suppose that’s why it’s convenient that he decided to start out by killing Joseph. For all we know, he would have just chilled out and left humanity alone after that, but this way there’s still an immediate threat to deal with.

Miraculously, Joseph manages to stay ahead of Kars long enough to find the airplane that brought Stroheim here. You’d think Kars could have caught up to him with all these fancy new powers, but Kars was never in much of a hurry. He took his time to search for the Aja Stone, and he made it a point to trap Jojo and Lisa rather than risk fighting them fairly. So even now, when he has such an overwhelming advantage, he seems to be playing things the same way. He has no weaknesses, so he may as well take his time and stalk Joseph, if only to watch him squirm.

Joseph tries using the plane’s weapons to even the odds, but Kars grows armadillo hide on his wings to protect himself, and he fires the armor at Joseph like shrapnel. So machinery doesn’t seem to make much of a difference.

So Joseph just flies south, using the plane’s engines to give himself a comfortable lead. He’ll run out of fuel in a couple of hours, but Speedwagon calls him on the radio and tells him that they’ll figure out a plan. Except that Joseph already has his own plan. There’s a volcanic island off the coast of Italy. I assume this is Stromboli Island, since Italy has only three active volcanoes, and Mt. Stromboli is the only one on an island. Anyway, Joseph plans to lure Kars into the volcano, and destroy him with molten lava. I mean, Kars is still flammable, right?

Speedwagon hates this idea, because he doesn’t see any way for Joseph to pull this off without getting killed in the process, and that sounds way too much like what happened to Joseph’s father and grandfather. Oh, and his great-grandfather. I didn’t notice George I up there until just now. Speedwagon tries to tell Joseph about Lisa being his mom, but Joseph can’t hear him because of all the piranha noises in the plane. Wait... what?

Yeah, all the feathers that Kars turned into armor and launched into the fuselage? Well, he’s still controlling those things, and now Kars has turned them into piranhas. Well, I guess not literal fish, since they’d never survive up here. The point is that Kars can control every cell in his body and mimic any animal traits he wants, so if he wants to make small bitey creatures to wreck Joseph’s plane, he might as well make them look like piranhas. ALso he makes an octopus that tears up one of the engines.

So Joseph bails out, but he’s a sitting duck in that parachute. Kars calls him a butterfly caught in a web, which is the second time we’ve seen that analogy in Part 2. Araki just out here telling everyone what Jolyne would be wearing in twelve years.

But the parachute contains a dummy. Why did Joseph waste time drawing a face on it? Because he knew he had to fool Kars’ razor-sharp senses, of course. Kars probably saw the dummy, and got suspicious, but then he noticed the eyes and mouth, and though “Oh, okay, I guess that’s a real person then.”

Anyway, this suckers Kars in so that Joseph can crash into him with his plane and they can both go into the volcano together.

But Kars thinks he can tear up the plane before it lands. Except a robot hand grabs him from behind, and he finds Stroheim stowed away. Wait, so Stroheim outran Joseph AND Kars and hid in this plane before Joseph took off?

Anyway, Stroheim manages to get Joseph out of the plane to relative safety, but he crushes his whole lower body in the process. But it seems to be worth it, because Kars landed smack-dab in the volcano! Awesome! Fuck you, Kars, you screwed over Lisa Lisa, and that’s what you get! He tries to protect himself, but he can’t grow a defense against 1000 degree heat...

... is what I would say, except no, Kars totally does that. Just when Joseph thinks Kars has succumed to the lava, Kars pops out and slices off Joseph’s left arm with his goofy blade.

How the fuck did Kars survive? Well, he couldn’t grow a lava-proof shell, but he could create a porous layer beneath the shell, and use the air inside to insulate the rest of his body from the heat. That wouldn’t protect him indefinitely, but it was enough to get the drop on Joseph.

So that’s it then, right? Not even molten lava can kill Kars, unless you could shove him down in there and keep him still for like ten minutes, and who’s going to pull that off? Stroheim begins to lose all hope...

Then we get a flashback to Kars’ origin. Long, long ago, there was a race of subterranean humanoid with long lifespans and an aversion to sunlight. Prehistoric humans thought of them as gods or demons because of their reclusiveness and power. Also, they would eat humans and animals, so that probably made them dangerous, too.

But I don’t think they were nearly as powerful as the Pillar Men we’ve seen in this story. I say this because the flashback establishes that Kars was the one who discovered the latent power in their brains, and he was the one who invented the Stone Mask technology to harness that latent power. So it stands to reason that much of what he and the others could do was the result of Stone Mask enhancements. The problem is that those enhancements increased the amount of blood they needed to consume, and the others in the Clan feared that Kars’ experiments would destroy their whole ecosystem. So when they tried to stop Kars, he killed them all. The only survivors were himself, Esidisi, and two young children who grew up to become Wammu and Santana.

So that story tells you something about what Kars might do with this newfound “ultimate” power. He didn’t achieve this for the good of his own people, because they’re all dead now, and he wiped most of them out personally. If he would do that to his own kind, the rest of the Earth would be expendable to him.

Back to the present, Joseph’s not giving up yet. He tries to use the Ripple one more time, but it doesn’t work. Worse, Kars counters with his own Ripple. Because Kars can do that now, you see. He’s got the powers of all life on Earth, and that includes Ripple users, I suppose. Worse, Kars’ Hamon power is hundreds of times greater, so he ends up getting badly burned on his right knee.

So now Joseph’s completely out of tricks, and he starts to accept the inevitable. Kars decides that the best way to kill Joseph would be to destroy him with his own finisher, Ripple Overdrive. So he charges up the most powerful Hamon attack he can muster, and just as he’s about to strike...

Joseph impulsively grabs the Red Stone of Aja and uses it to block, kind of like how he stymied Kars back on that cliff in Switerland. Only this time, Kars doesn’t hold back, and the Hamon attack is amplified. It bursts through Joseph’s right hand and into the volcano below.

The narration says that not even Joseph really understood any of this. He just sort of acted on instinct. That bothered me once, but now I see that it wasn’t entirely unconscious impulse. Back in Venice, when Lisa first told Joseph about the Aja Stone, Joseph suggested destroying it to deny Kars his prize. But Lisa said there was a legend that foretold that Kars could never be defeated without the Aja Stone. And that would at least explain why Joseph picked the thing up back in Switzerland before he fled to Mt. Stromboli. Maybe it was unconscious action that made him pick up the stone in this fateful moment, but I think it was a more conscious thought that made him take the stone with him in the first place. On some level, he remembered that legend.

Okay, so there’s a mega-ultra-Super-Saiyan-5-Ripple that just went into a live volcano. What good does that do? Well, it makes the volcano erupt, and it launches Joseph and Kars into the air. So what? Kars can fly. Yeah, he could, but...

You know, Joseph’s lost hand really left an impression on me when I first watched the anime of Part 2, but now that I’ve read the manga, I’ve noticed tons of severed and wounded forearms all through this story, almost as if Araki had been building up to this moment. I’d make a Part 4 joke, but nah, that’s too easy. But it wasn’t even that long ago that Wammu lost both of his hands, and then he launched them as Joseph to distract him. Kars lost his hand before he grew it back and turned it into a squirrel. Hell, Stroheim launched his robot hand at Kars to distract him for the volcano crash. And now Joseph’s hand has somehow launched itself into Kars’ throat to distract him again!

I’m assuming that Hamon energy has a lot to do with this. You’d think Joseph’s hand wouldn’t have survived getting fired up this high, and it shouldn’t be powerful enough or alive enough to bother Kars this much, but it does. So I’m chalking it up to all that Ripple energy. It briefly reanimated Joseph’s hand and made it follow Kars up to this altitude, kind of like how Jonathan controlled Wang Chung’s decapitated body at the end of Part 1.

So Joseph taunts Kars about this, and implies that he planned this somehow. And when Kars pauses to ask if he did plan this, more rocks and stuff from the volcano hit him and send him even higher up into the air.

And Joseph claims that he did plan this entire thing! That’s bullshit, but he hopes Kars will believe it, if only to make him more frustrated. Maybe Joseph didn’t plan all this out, but he seems to have deduced what’s happening here.

Kars has been launched so high into the air, and at such an incredible speed, that he’s achieved escape velocity. Does Kars even realize what that means? I mean, he’s super-intelligent, especially now, and he’s been alive for thousands of years, but what could he really know about outer space? Has he ever even considered it before? It seems like all of his ambitions involve the Earth, and only the Earth, and everything living upon it.

As for Joseph, the chunk of rock he’s on does not fly into space. Instead, it starts to fall back down, and Joseph assumes that he’s probably not going to survive the impact. Eight hours later, Stroheim makes it back and informs Speedwagon that Joseph must have died in the eruption.

But Kars isn’t worried at first, because he thinks he has this whole “vacuum of space” thing figured out. He just takes a page from Wammu’s playbook and makes air jets on his back to expel compressed gas from his body, like the maneuvering thrusts on a spacecraft. Except that’s not nearly enough to counteract the force of the volcano that sent him up here.

Yeah, Kars has no idea how space works. Instinctively, he probably counted on friction to slow him down, except there is no friction in space. He probably also expected his air jets to push him a little bit at a time, and maybe he could pull in more air as needed, except there is no more air. Even the air from his body is denied to him, because it just dissipates into the vacuum of space. Kars talks about the air freezing as it comes out, but I don’t think that’s right. What’s happening to him is like when you use one of those compressed gas canisters to clean your keyboard. Release a lot of the gas at once, and the can starts to get cold. That’s because the liquefied gas left inside the can now has more room, and it begins to boil as it expands. This draws in heat from the surroundings, which makes the can feel cold to the touch. That’s what’s happening to Kars here. All he’s doing it losing all his body heat. Maybe some of the air really is freezing around him, but I don’t know. It depends on whether the sunlight is hitting him, I think.

Anyway, the last thing Kars says is “I can’t go back!!!” And that’s what makes this so perfect. In the anime, we see the Earth recede into the distance as he continues to tumble further and further away. By surviving the lava, Kars had “mastered” the Earth, but now he’s been separated from the Earth. He’s got all this incredible power, but without the Earth, he’s got no one to use it on.

And then we come to the pièce de résistance of Battle Tendency: The epilogue page that establishes, in no uncertain terms, that Kars never returned to the Earth. There’s no miracle escape this time, no clever trick or loophole. He simply doesn’t have the necessary acceleration to push himself back the way he came.

Did he die? Nope, because he made himself immortal, remember? Not even sunlight or starvation can destroy him now. But now death is the only thing he craves, because he’s completely alone and has nothing to do. I can’t imagine he’s very comfortable like this either, because it’s incredibly cold in outer space, and Kars must be able to sense that cold, even if it doesn’t actually hurt him.

And this is such a fitting punishment for a villain like Kars. Just as Stroheim wanted to become superior and lost his humanity in the process, Kars ruthlessly sacrificed friend and foe alike to achieve this Ultimate form, and what good does it do him? It’s become his prison, his hell. At long last, he’s become the supreme being, a world unto himself, but with no one around to lord it over, there’s really no point to any of it.

I just really love this ending. I’m not sure how else I can express it. This is what should have happened to Akio Othori in Revolutionary Girl Utena. But Araki was brace enough to do it to Kars.

I suppose I could attempt some exercise in JoJo Part Comparison and connect Kars’ final fate to all the other JoJo villains. But I dunno, this is getting pretty long in the tooth as it is. I’ll just say that I’m suddenly reminded of Reimi’s final words to Kira in Part 4, when Kira asks where he’s being taken. “Who knows? But I’m sure it’s somewhere you won’t be able to rest in peace.”

So all that’s left is the matter of Joseph’s funeral-- Nah, just kidding, he’s not even dead. What’s weird is that Smokey says he met Joseph “six months ago”, which seems a lot longer than the events of this story. Anyway, Joseph returned to New York, only to find everyone at the cemetary. He wonders who they’re mourning, and he’s shocked to discover it’s him.

So yeah, the rock Joseph was on acted as a “shield”, and he managed to survive the fall, and even ended up near Venice, where Suzie Q found him and tended to his injuries. Stroheim even set him up with a robotic hand to replace the one Kars lopped off. I guess Stroheim never sent word of any of this to the U.S., probably because of Nazi Germany gearing up for World War II.

Anyway, Suzie took care of him for like two weeks, and they got married. So in a way, Joseph did follow in the legacy of Jonathan. Not in the “dying young” way, but the “Beat the bad guy and wake up in the care of a gorgeous blonde lady who eventually marries you” kind of way. You love to see it. But Suzie forgot to send a telegram to New York to let everyone know Joseph was okay, which is why everyone is so shocked and why Joseph is so shocked about them being shocked.

Then we get the epilogues for all the surviving characters. I mentioned this when I liveblogged the Part 5 manga a few years ago, but the stark contrast between Battle Tendency and Vento Aureo is that Part 5 is very ambiguous about its ending. We know who wins and who loses and who survives, but that isn’t really enough. We don’t know what will happen to Giorno Giovanna after Part 5. Does he live up to his lofty dream, or does he succumb to corruption like his wicked father? I think that’s intentional, because Giorno is the “golden wind” in the story. He’s an agent of change, but we don’t get to see the effects of his efforts, only the cause that he fights for. But Part 2 operates in the exact opposite way. We know exactly how and when Speedwagon dies. I’m a little confused how Stroheim could have died at Stalingrad when Kars and a volcano couldn’t kill him, but maybe the Russians had Stand powers. I think the only minor mystery is that we don’t know what happened to Lisa Lisa after 1948. It’s likely that she survived into Part 3, and maybe beyond, but we never see her again.

It’s also kind of weird how upbeat this epilogue is about reporting on the deaths of so many characters. Like, Stroheim died in one of the worst battles in human history, but he went out on his own terms, so it’s cool? I guess? Even the characters without deaths, like Smokey, it’s sort of implicit that he’ll die sooner or later. But it’s a good thing because it’s final and proper. It’s something Kars craves now, but can never experience. A life worth living, made more precious by its limitations. Kars tried to use cheat codes in nature, and he ended up clipping through the map and making the game unplayable. But Smokey, he‘ll be mayor someday.

As for Joseph, we see him in an airport in 1987, bullying Japanese people because his daughter married a Japanese guy and moved there. He’s headed to Japan right now to see her and his grandson, who probably doesn’t even recognize him, it’s been so long.

On the other hand, he appreciates his Walkman, which is either Joseph giving the Japanese some credit, or maybe he’s just too dense to notice the irony.

I hate that he’s listening to the Beatles, because the Beatles are overrated trash. My favorite thing about the Part 2 anime is how they changed his music to “Bloody Stream” by Coda, which a) kicks ass and b) wasn’t a song by the shitty Beatles.

And that’s Battle Tendency. Kind of neat how it closes on Joseph’s flight departing to visit his daughter and grandson, in contrast to the final panel of Part 1, which showed Erina floating in a coffin alone in the ocean. Joseph has bucked the curse and he’s graduated to Part 3, for better or worse.

But I feel kind of weird leaving it here, because I do love the way the anime wrapped up, so I’ll close out with this:

Tsugi ni omae wa “Grazie!” to iu!

#jojo's bizarre adventure #battle tendency #joseph joestar #kars #rudol von stroheim #lisa lisa #robert e o speedwagon #smokey brown #esidisi #wammu #erina joestar #george joestar #jonathan joestar #george joestar ii #suzie q

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ddarker-dreams · 3 years

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LOCK I CAME TO SAY I LOVE YOU AND I DONT KNOW HOW IVE LIVED WITHOUT YOU IN MY LIFE!!! <3

Well actually I'm celebrating leaving my toxic asf job, so it means I have more time to devote to writing (I'm deleting my side blog and redoing it as a main blog with a different email bc tumblr sucks when it comes to side blogs smh - cant reblog/send asks/etc) so if you gave anything you'd like as a birthday present... 👉👈

Anyways here you go take all my uwus

SYL 💖💘 i'm so glad you have been released from the hellish confines of capitalism for at least a while. i cannot wait to see more of your writing,, your insight into yandere characters is top notch. the day we as a human race get more of your writing will be a step closer to world peace, i'm calling it.

ah yes,, my birthday is approaching. still won't be able to drink 😔 piña coladas get to wait another year, unlucky. i honestly would love anything involving yandere chrollo, scaramouche, childe, zhongl, and xiao. they are my main beaus as of the moment. i don't believe you've seen jjba, otherwise i'd mention the part 5 boys.

please be sure to take it easy and celebrate your newfound freedom! i love you 💞💞

#sweet asks #answered #syllything

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hopeaterart · 4 years

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JJBA Gods AU: Titans

AKA what the Pillar Men are in this.

Eons ago, back when George was the only divine creature to exist, there was only one race with consciousness: the Titans. They were creature born out of earth and stone. They were a passive, but powerful people who preferred to go along with the world rather than molding it to their needs.

One day, George decided to create another type of creature with consciousness, one which would be able to ascend to the realm he lived in: humans. After creating a handful of them (and remember: he is a god. His hands are much bigger than ours) he put them into the mortal realm. While the Titans were weirded out by the sudden arrival of these tiny people that liked building things for shelter instead of carving out of the earth, they tolerated them, for the first humans knew to be kind.

But there was one who was unhappy with them. Kars, a genius to his tribe, grew envious of the humans, for when they died, their souls did not return to the Earth, but ascended to something greater. And so, for years, the mad Titan tried to find a way to ascend to the skies and become greater than he already was.

But this did not sit well for the rest of his tribe. They tried to reason with Kars, and when that failed, kill him. But unknown to them, Kars had already started to become stronger through his experiments. At the end of the fight, the sole survivors were Kars, his sole ally Esidisi, and two infants.

Horrified by this act, and afraid that they would be next, the humans called upon their god to protect them from Kars. And so, George cursed the remaining Titans to crumble under the light of the sun, and bestowed magic upon a few select humans so they could protect themselves. And so, humans live in the day, and Titans live in the night.

#JJBA #jojo #JoJo's Bizarre Adventure #jojo no kimyo na boken #gods au #kars #pillar men

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s-p-o-d-e · 4 years

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This is a WIP of a JJBA opening parody, the first opening Sono chi no Sadame to be exact. The characters are from my Rewrite AU fic called An Alternate Alien Fantasy Adventure: RWBY. Link to the fic: Deviantart FFN AO3

In this Rewrite AU, I plan on writing a different protagonist every new volume. To mimic the Jojo opening where the flash goes from Jolyne back to the beginning with Jonathan, here we have the comic flash of Volume 6 back to the beginning of Volume 1 (there may be more than 6 volumes though, not really sure). - Volume 6 protagonist: Weiss Schnee, who is now a human Grimm, a Vampyr. She has long outlived all of team RWBY, tortured by her thirst for blood and all that she has lost over all those years. Her Myrtenaster gives her the Ability to use Glyphs, which she can attach herself onto any surface, including the bizarre ability to travel between reflections on mirrors. Since she is a Grimm however (Grimm in this AU are allergic to all types of Dust except for Ice) she cannot use Myrtenaster most of the time. There are pills she takes to reduce the effects of the Grimm DNA. - Volume 5 protagonist: Krym Sunny Rose - daughter of Ruby Rose and Oscar Pines. Her color scheme I plan to have as both a combination of Ruby's red and Oscar's green, wearing a red scarf as a reference to Ruby's red hood. She has a little Robin Hood theme going on. Her weapon is a minigun crossbow hybrid. I'm honestly still brainstorming her Ability and her region in the story. But the main thing I have down right now is her meeting up with Roman's child, the archenemy of her mother Ruby Rose. - Volume 4 protagonist: Sun Wukong. He and Neptune are trying to win the annual Vacuo scorpion race. It's the race of the century, with lots of Deathstalker this time of year. - Volume 3 protagonist: Winter Schnee - here we see her charging at Adam Taurus, the main villain of the volume in Atlas. - Volume 2 protagonist: Jaune Arc, a young Mistralian boy who isn't the strongest Huntsman in the world. But he is rather skilled in strategies and combat tactics. His weapon Crocea Mors is an heirloom past down by the Arc bloodline. It is unique to the Arc blood, and only reacts and recognizes one with that specific set of DNA. Jaune quickly runs into a problem when he realizes that he can't for the life of him pull the sword out of the shield, thus cannot use the weapon's Ability. This volume, Jaune must find the resolve to defeat the main villain - Queen of Mistral, Cinder Fall. - Volume 1 protagonist: Ruby Rose. A young starry eyed Huntress who aims to catch Vale's biggest crime lord Roman Torchwick and bring his entire crime family down. She quickly learns that Roman is cold, calculating, and incredibly slippery. Roman possesses a secret weapon Ability that he claims make him invincible. Team RWBY must uncover this secret. Her weapon is Crescent Rose, and it gives her the Ability of great speed, allowing her to ride Crescent Rose around like some kind of motorcycle, even letting her go up walls if she travels fast enough.

#rwby #RWBY original character #Weiss #weiss schnee #ruby rose #winter schnee #writing #fanfic #Fanart #jaune #rwby jaune #sun wukong

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fauzhee10069 · 4 years

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Caato Higashikata, the case of a character getting overhyped

aka. Caato Higashikata, the most overhyped part 8 character or Caato and Jobin, the perfect mother & son duo.

Warning: This contains JoJolion (part 8) spoilers, if you are a fan of JJBA but haven’t caught up yet, I suggest to ignore this post (and/or save it from later). This was written when chapter 92 is the latest chapter in JoJolion. I’m not responsible for future errors and contradictions in this post caused by the retcon from the chapters onwards.

Yeah, currently she is one of the potential main villains nominated by the fans, besides Jobin and The Head Doctor.

However, lately Caato hasn't made any new appearance, but the hype from her fans is still raging. She is pretty cool character but sometimes her hype is getting annoying lately. It’s similar case with Suiryuu from One-Punch Man back during the Super Fight arc, when his fans were hyping him to be one of Saitama’s greatest threat, even as strong as Boros. Now, what is left is only the meme (“Suiryuu’s leg band is his limiter LOL”) and I don’t want Caato to be left as a meme.

This post is not about bashing Caato, it explains the problem in overhyping her. It contains about my thought about her, how I view her current role, the character study and how we should take her character at this moment.

Read carefully because if you’re speed-reading, you likely miss my points and accuse that I’m bashing her.

Contents:

What do you think about Caato?

Why don't you think that she will be the main villain?

What are the common reasons for Caato’s fans who want her to be the main villain and what are your thoughts?

What does Caato really need to be a proper main villain?

How about the other main villain candidates, Head Doctor and Jobin?

So how do you see Caato’s role currently?

How shall we consider Caato’s role right now?

<TL;DR is available at the end of the post>

What do you think about Caato?

Like what I said before, she is pretty cool character. Her first appearance is pretty iconic, when she was just released from prison and she coolly called her son. The way she threw away her wedding ring, symbolizes that she has left the past behind.

Then when she casually slipped into the Higashikata house, shocking her children and especially her ex-husband, owning Joshu for humiliating her. It’s pretty fun, reminds me of Joseph and Lisa Lisa’s interaction before he realized that she is his mother.

Then came the flashback, about her and Jobin. Her desire to save her son but on the other hand she also had the desire to live a long life. Resulted in her success in saving Jobin and staying alive by sacrificing the lives of stranger’s son, but at the expense of going to prison and becoming a criminal. Thus, sacrificing 15 years of her life, away from her family and freedom. And instead of lamenting, she casually returned to her normal life without considering her ex-husband’s objection while still supporting her son by providing information.

Her design is quite unique and attractive, though I don’t consider her being that hot and enchanting (not on Lisa Lisa and Lucy’s level). Her style and the way she dresses tends to be more eccentric (like any other Higashikatas).

Yeah, I ended up liking her character. She is normal as a character in JoJo standard but very fun as a mom character in every anime/manga. She is already a fine character, her portrayal is solid. She is already perfect as she is. Therefore, she does not have to be the main villain.

Why don't you think that she will be the main villain?

I have written my reasons before, why I won't like it if she becomes the Main Villain. To be honest, I don’t think her character concept and designation role are suitable for a main villain.

Introduction

First, her cool introduction. I like how Araki drew the angle and prespective in the day of Caato’s release scene. Her face that partially hidden then the angle trick that only reveal a little hint of how she looks. This surely gives us the vibe of major character, that she would be important in the future. Who is she and what is her role? Not only that, he also drew her fairly attractive in contrast to those ugly extras. The chapter also implied that there is something dangerous will be brought by this character.

Then does this mean that she is main villain? Nope. Araki’s introduction of how the main villain (and other major characters) appears is pretty unpredictable. Remember Lucy Steel? Her first appearance is “she was just there” besides Stephen Steel with no dialogue, her design (and face) also looked pretty generic (with that Steely Dan’s hairstyle). I didn’t expect her to be important, she was just a random girl happened to be Stephen’s eye candy (like Yuuya’s girlfriends). But then, fast forward later, she becomes the best girl in Steel Ball Run with prominent roles. Once she becomes important, Araki also draws her later as the hottest JoJo chick since Lisa Lisa.

Then, there is Sandman. We started the Steel Ball Run chapter with him. We saw his POV, he was greatly misunderstood by his fellow Indians from reading the white men’s books. If you are not familiar with JJBA and just happened to read this chapter as your first introduction to the series, you likely would misunderstand Sandman as the main protagonist. As we all know, the main protagonist must belong to the Joestar’s bloodline.

Then what about Caato and her cool intro? I can guarantee that she is important as a character. That’s all. I think between Caato and Lucy’s introductions, it’s only a matter of when Araki decides the role for his characters.

Conclusion: Caato might be a character with important role, full stop.

Character Background

What is Caato’s background? She is introduced as the mother of four Higashikata children, ex-wife of Higashikata Norisuke IV, the current patriarch of the family and the head of its family business (The Fruit Company). An ex-convict as her interesting background. Kinda weak character background for a main villain imo, but this does not automatically debunk her to be the main villain. Some JoJo main villains have very flashy backgrounds, we got non-human entity like The Pillar Men and that flashy vampire, mafia boss, the priest and U.S president. But we also got a mere salary man who wants a quiet life. Jobin himself is just an heir to his family (and business).

However, let’s compare their respective settings, especially in part 4. Kira Yoshikage is just a salary man with his hand fetish who wants a quiet life. Let’s focus on his salary man part first. While Kira only held such ordinary occupation as a main villain, the setting of part 4 in JoJo doesn't have anyone else in more glorious positions. Okay wrong, there are grandpa Joseph as a real estate tycoon and Jotaro as marine biologist. But what do their careers have to do with the plot and main goal in part 4? Nothing. Those career are not required to chase a serial murderer, it requires Stand users.

What about part 8? At least there are currently two people who hold more prominent occupations than the Higashikata mother and son duo. They are The Head Doctor and Holy Joestar-Kira. There was also Damo as the head of the smuggling cartel in the Locacaca Organization but he was already ruled out from the main villain candidate. Is there any correlation between their occupations and the main theme in part 8? Of course, because the main focus in this part is The Locacaca fruit. Both Head Doctor and Holy have conducted research on the fruit as scientists. Just like Caato and Jobin, all of them need (and are fighting over) that fruit. But Head Doctor and Holy were few steps closer in utilizing the fruit for greater purpose. Not only that, the Head Doctor is also the presumed mastermind of the Locacaca Organization and its members are extremely knowledgeable in the nature of the Locacaca.

Besides come from the rich family who can buy that worth hundreds of billions fruit, the lack of prominent position held by Caato and Jobin weakens their potential as the main villain, but that doesn't mean I eliminate them as candidates.

On the other hand, if I really want a female to be the main villain, surely I would prefer Holy over Caato. Sadly but fortunately (and just as I thought), chapter 92 seems to have debunked Holy as the potential villain.

Conclusion: Caato’s character background got challenged.

Objective and Motivation

What is Caato’s objectives likely? What I know so far are: she wanted to save her son’s life, freeing him from the Rock Disease. But it had been solved in the past. After she got released from prison, she wants the Higashikata’s fortune, to take back what she thinks her right. She holds revenge on her ex-husband due to him abandoned her. Her other possibly objective is helping Jobin to get the New Locacaca fruit to save her grandson, maybe… but so far she is still MIA.

Okay, let’s compare her objective with the other main villain’s candidates. What about The Head Doctor? What exactly is his goal? His goal is not very clear yet, but being the presumed mastermind of the Locacaca organization makes me feel that he has grand plan. We can guess that among of them is to gain the power of the New Locacaca's equivalent exchange along with the refinement of Locacaca fruit for medical applications. Also, his current objective is to secure the New Locacaca for its medicinal properties along with the benefit of at the very least the members of his organization and possibly the Rock Human race at large (implied by Urban Guerrilla).

With this, Caato’s motive becomes very personal and ordinarily plain but also more humane and relatable to us whereas the Head Doctor’s motive sounds more grandiose and idealistic. Though personally, I’m more interested in the Head Doctor’s objective because it sounds more interesting to be challenged by our protagonists. Besides that, I'm also not interested in the Higashikata family drama that Caato will bring likely. To get the family’s fortune and take over its business (by controlling her son ala queen mother?). Why would I bother to read a seinen battle manga with a conflict like this if I could just watch some TV dramas with similar plot? Not that I completely reject this plot, but for me this kind of conflict should not be the main focus (and goal) in this story.

Then, what about Jobin’s objective? He finally got the grafted branch and betrayed the Locacaca group. His priority right now is to save Tsurugi and cure him of the rock disease. He is also motivated to improve his family's business with innovation (with this, he often at odds with his father).

Caato might shares similar goal with Jobin, but for me her motivation to achieve one of her goals (in saving Tsurugi) sounds rather weak. I'm not saying that she doesn't care, of course she cares about her family. But I do not feel that her will to save her grandchild would be as strong as her will to save her son years ago. Because for me the family bond between mother and child is definitely stronger than grandmother and her grandchild.

Unless when she has lost all her children and her grandchild is the only offspring left for her (coughErinacough). Of course at this time Caato does not experience that, all of her children are still well and there. Moreover, we haven't seen her interaction with her grandchild yet, how could she develop a strong bond with him? But for Jobin, he was feeling a great urge to save Tsurugi, a feeling similar to what Caato has felt in “Mother & Child” flashback.

So, Caato’s motivation in fulfilling the objective to save her family is more likely for the sake of Jobin than for Tsurugi. Chances are, she will help Jobin due to her empathy. She might just do anything for her son Jobin, including saving her grandchild Tsurugi. But that is because it started from Jobin who really wanted to save his son. Because her motivation is not based on her own will, but from her son’s urge, this motivation is not suitable for a main villain but perfect for a supportive character (either for villain or protagonist).

But what about Pucci? Isn't his motivation and objective largely due to DIO’s influence? Yeah, that’s true. But in my opinion it is also because Pucci and DIO are already match-made-in-heaven (beginning with their friendship). I mean, they are perfect as friends. Before Pucci met DIO, he was already the person who would do anything he can to accomplish his goals, even kill and manipulate others, because he really believes it is for a greater good for everyone. After DIO influenced his belief, Pucci aspires to implement a plan long formulated by DIO to "achieve heaven" to obtain the true happiness. So, from the beginning they have the same goal and when Pucci can fulfill it (with DIO’s help posthumously), why not?

Even if you are not satisfied by this explanation, let’s say that Pucci and Caato's motivations are equally weak, the role of the main villain still favors Pucci more since DIO is posthumous character in part 6 (which is already dead and only appeared in flashbacks), unlike Caato and Jobin which are both still alive and exist in the storyline. Pucci’s objective also sounds grandiose and idealistic just like The Head Doctor. This is fit for the main villain. He achieved heaven by speeding up the time until the universe reset itself. Then the souls of the living would be transferred over to the 'new' universe. Everyone in the new universe gained a sort of clairvoyance, predicting the events just before they happen, something which Pucci believes is true happiness. Pucci’s desire is to make sure everyone knows about their destiny and have them accept it. Demanding alimony and divorce settlements or saving her family member is relatively small goal compared to attaining heaven.

If so, how about part 4 Kira? He doesn’t have any motivation besides wanting a quiet life with his girlfriend. Again, the theme in part 4 and part 8 is completely different. The main objective of part 4 is to pursue a serial murderer who cleverly manages to hide his identity and crime. That serial murderer is Kira Yoshikage, he is the main target in the story. Prior to become a target, he was casually committing his crime. Only when he realized that people began to hunt for him, he developed his new motivation to protect himself. Then, what is the main focus in part 8? It’s about breaking the curse and the Locacaca fruit. The target is not an individual, but rather an object. If so, how will we get the main villain? Either we get none or it will be someone in a high position and has a very big influence, someone that is closest to take the advantage of that fruit, the biggest mastermind or… character that we’re already very familiar with, Jobin. So, comparing part 4 and part 8 wouldn’t work (besides they took in the same setting).

Conclusion: Caato either needs motivation that will affect many characters or a high ground. It doesn't have to be grandiose, but her motivation must be independent from anyone especially Jobin.

What are the common reasons for Caato’s fans who want her to be the main villain and what are your thoughts?

”Her Stand had space-themed ability, just like D4C.”

Caato's Stand appears to take the form of a simple deck of playing cards. However, by placing an object between two cards of the deck, she can store that object in the deck itself as if nothing was there. She can store objects that are considerably larger than the deck, as seen when she brings forth a chair. Currently, its name is still unknown. “Placing an object between two cards” part kinda reminds of D4C in application. Many people also consider Caato's Stand to be space-themed like D4C. Considering that the main villains’ Stands were time-based on the original verse, many fans assume that the main villain’s Stand in the rebooted SBR verse will be space-themed. Thus, the hype of Caato's Stand and conspiracy theory of Kaato as part 8 main villain began.

Not only that, Caato also successfully surprised her family when she managed to sneak into his residence suddenly. How can it possible? Did she use her Stand? It's possible, but this is not always the case. Instead of Stand ability, it could just be a simple comedy scene. You can’t really judge the character’s power from a comical scene, do you think that Nami is physically stronger than Luffy just because she can punch him occasionally? Seriously. Judging a character’s power would be more accurate if that happens in a tense/menacing moment. This is just another fun dynamic of The Higashikata family, but this time also featured the mom/grandma. Come on, she just wanted to be reunited with her family.

If you still demand in-universe explanation, well... JJBA has a rule that Stand users with the same bloodline are be able to feel each other's presence. Since all members of the Higashikata family are Stand users, they should be able to sense each other's presence. But as Joseph from part 3 had said that they are unable to tell exactly whom and how many they sense.

SC chapter 138: DIO’s World - Part 5

if this rule still applies, it would make sense that those Higashikata did not even realize that someone (who is related by blood) had sneaked in their home and they were not aware that their numbers were increasing.

The D4C-alike theory sounds nice but let's look at the facts we have currently: has it been confirmed that Araki will use space as the new theme for his main villain’s Stand? Or will he try out new creative ways by not sticking to the theme? Time-based Stand started in part 3 and we could only see the pattern after at least two villains onwards have the same type of ability. But what about part 1 and part 2? The main villains did not use Stand at that time didn’t have time-based ability, are we going to ignore this possibility in the future?

What I see so far in Caato's Stand is that it works similar to Enigma but limited to her 52 deck of cards, of course it’s still early to judge that its ability is only limited to that, given that the first time we saw D4C, it wasn't very impressive either. But it’s also too soon in hyping that she will demonstrate OP ability. It’s hard to predict whether we will see further into her Stand again or not, but we need to if we really want her to be the main villain. However, problem is that we are getting closer to the climax and end-game. Is there still enough time to hype Caato? Speaking of further abilities, do you remember when Jobin said that there is hidden ability from Speed King that he had not demonstrated yet? Flash forward, we finally have seen more of Speed King ability in his fight with Ojiro.

In addition, there are also those who say that Caato uses cards as medium for her Stand, her French playing cards are used to symbolize the game and she likely holds the trump card, meaning that she would be the master of the game and likely would be the winner. What is the game? The main plot in part 8: the race of the Locacaca fruit. This also related to her name being named after “Card”. But wait, doesn’t Daiya’s Stand also use a game namely chess as a medium? Even compared to playing cards, chess game is closer to symbolizing strategy and mastermind. Moreover, California King Bed’s ability deals on memory, it's more fitting for mastermind.

Read further: Caato’s Stand and its mechanism so far

”Her eyes look split, she could be rock human, or fusion human like Josuke.”

Due to her strange eyes close up in her first introduction chapter coupled with her youthful look, a quite popular theory emerged that Caato’s having the split eyes like Josuke due to the strange dark shadow in the middle of her iris. Speculation that she is a rock human or fusion human of two individuals like Josuke had sprung up (and it still continues among her fans).

However when the official colored JoJolion chapters got released, the coloring team didn't color Caato’s eyes in two different colors. Why did they decide that?

I had tried to break down it and this is the result:

For further explanation, please click here.

”She looks young and the reproduction between human male and rock-human female is possible now, she could be rock human.”

What about her youthful look? Sure, she indeed looks young for a 52 years old gilf compared to Holy who’s also 52. But unlike Lisa Lisa who is indeed considered to be ageless in the story (being a hamon user, Joseph estimated her being around 20s and was shocked when he discovered that she was actually 50), Caato’s sudden appearance in front of her family only surprised them and made them wonder who she is? No comment about her supposedly youthful look, Hato even immediately mentioned her age correctly.

Not only that, her youthful look seemed to have been debunked once Holy made her new appearance in recent chapter and she is no less young looking than her. In the end, this is just a matter of Araki’s new art style. In short, Caato’s youthful looking ended up being irrelevant to the plot.

Read further: Caato Higashikata, is she Lisa Lisa 2.0?

Apart from those matters, chapter 81 also stated that rock humans are able to have sex with humans, but they’re always incompatible (相容れない) with them. It’s still not known whether it means “they can’t reproduce” or “conflict will be inevitable”. But chapter 46 actually said in the pages about Rock Humans that they can’t have children with humans. Unfortunatelly, I could not check whether there is a translation error or not because I can’t find the Japanese raw with the size large enough to be able to read the kanji.

However, recent chapter of JoJolion (99) updated the information regarding the rock-human that only rock-women and humans can have children, but it also showed us how rock-women give birth to their children. If Caato was a rock-human, then that would've meant everyone except Norisuke and Mitsuba were rock-humans, and Tsurugi wouldn't have existed.

Read further: Is Caato a Rock-Woman?

”She got that menacing Aura and she might has hidden agenda, what if she is the mastermind behind all this?”

Based on the theory above, it develops into conspiracy that she becomes the mastermind behind The Locacaca Organization, even she is allegedly the Head Doctor’s superior. I don’t know what basis could have produced this theory other than the assumption that she is a rock human. Could it be due to her menacing aura and being full of mystery? Or how Jobin is being respectful to her? Or maybe is it because her little charm as the officers in the prison like her, because main villain always needs charisma (but Kira and Diavolo). But, of course when you’re leading something, you need charisma (except Diavolo).

We all know that menacing aura, especially among JoJo females, is not limited to villains or people with very high positions. Remember Lisa Lisa’s cold glare to Joseph during his pillar training?

Or Yukako’s horror aura to Koichi in that window scene which is so iconic till it becomes a meme?

Even though menacing Caato looks the best thanks for Araki’s evolving art style, her simple cold glare and menacing aura do not guarantee her to be the main villain… just not enough yet. Yeah sure, her family were wary of her, but it's more because Hato heard the little info about her mother that she was in prison for a murder that she doesn’t recall the full story, Joshu was wary of this unknown woman and Norisuke IV was surprised to her sudden arrival as she did not notify him first. Nothing about her being ultra dangerous.

What about Jobin’s respect for her? Isn't it nice to have a main villain who is well respected… by one person? Why is being respected by Jobin making her potential main villain? Most likely because after all this time the fans predicted Jobin as the main villain, they saw at him as he is subject to her. I think the train of thought like this is still too hasty. For me what's wrong with a child respecting his mother? Of course Caato deserves his respect, she is a loving mother, wanting to save her son’s life from the rock disease. It might sound selfish since she didn't want to sacrifice her life but it’s also very humane. Perhaps she thought that Jobin shouldn’t lose his mother figure too young. Moreover, Jobin is not the only child she had. What about his younger siblings if they have to live without their mother. Although this very ironic, because despite being alive, she eventually left her children and made them grow up without mother figure. Jobin’s respect to his mother is exactly the same as Joseph’s respect to his grandma Erina.

Then, since Jobin shows his respect to Caato, there is also emerging rumor that Caato is controlling Jobin as the mastermind. Does this mean that all this time Jobin's actions have been under her control? How is that possible? Since Jobin might had been the only child who had ever visited her in prison, do you think she often instructed him to do something at that time? So far, have we really seen Caato give any instructions to him? I do not remember. What I can remember the most is when she called and warned Jobin that:

“There is something fishy between Norisuke IV and Josuke but actually I don't really know what. I was married with him for years so I know his habits. There must be something your father is hiding now, you must be careful!” (JJL ch 59 "Dolomite's Blue Lagoon - part 1")

What I really take in her character based on this scene is that she is very supportive mom, taking her time to help Jobin while she also has her own business with Norisuke IV, not controlling him. This reminds me of Yoshihiro’s role in part 4. She even caught their suspicious behavior from them based on her spending time with Norisuke IV as his wife. This kind of intuition commonly can be felt by any married women, no need to be the mastermind to be able to do it.

Is it possible that Caato is the true mastermind? How does she take care of her organization? If indeed she is secretly managing a secret organization, since when? If it's been a long time and she was very busy with it, why did she married a human who is fruit parlor owner, wasting her life for around 17 years and produced 4 children with him? For what purpose? How does she manage of her organization while hiding this fact from her family?

”Surely she was very busy managing the organization.”

If it's been since she was being incarcerated, how was it done? More importantly, does Jobin know? If Caato is indeed leading a secret organization, there's still a lot we need to see: what kind of organization is that? How does Caato run it? What is its main goal? Who are the members? When will they begin to act?

I also hate when they treat Caato as if she is omniscient. One thing that is certain is that she did not know about Mamezuku Rai, the plant appraiser employed by Norisuke IV a year after she was incarcerated (unless Jobin tells her later). Then:

This could have double meaning as well, either she really just learned that the house has been renovated or simply commented about the renovation (I still bet the former). Take a note that the renovation was done 2 years ago (she was still incarcerated atm). But if Caato already knew about renovation (and that shaddy business), how could she not figure out the details of Norisuke IV and Josuke’s secret plans?

As for Locacaca, we still don’t know whether Caato knows about it or not. However, Holy is already ahead of her as Holy even tried to do scientific analysis of it.

Lastly, I also don't think that Caato is really that powerful (as in influence/not Stand) as she was unable to get out of prison earlier (unless you argue that she did it on purpose). Even being a model prisoner didn’t grant her remission. In fact, I become suspicious, is there anyone who intentionally keep her in prison?

”Caato is the true mastermind who led/works with Damokan group as Jobin is just a gofer.”

There is also theory that Caato is the true mastermind from Higashikata family who works with Damokan group in money-laundering and smuggling the Locacaca, instead of Jobin. How so? I bet the theory was born because of this little panel:

They said the timeline with Jobin does not match, I don’t know it doesn’t match with what? I guess it’s about the time between “when Jobin first met Damokan group” and when “Kira discovered Rock Humans’ existence and their illegal fruit business”. Regarding the timeline, actually I've just compiled the timeline of JoJolion events. The thing is that Jobin met Damokan group around 2008 whereas Kira discovered the Rock Humans & it’s shady business in 2009. The key panels here:

JJL chapter 30: King Nothing

JJL chapter 72: The Northern Higashikata Estate, The Orchard

JJL chapter 49: Hato-chan Brought a Boyfriend Over – part 3

So, the time is still match if Jobin is the one who started cooperating with Damokan group. Even if Caato was the actual perpetrator, shouldn't she was still in prison at the time? Can you guarantee that she can act in the outside world while incarcerated? If we look at her backstory, we don't see her using her Stand at all, so we can assume that she didn't have Stand yet at the time (or that her Stand was useless).

They said that this could be a hint:

I think she just meant: “I was helping your business too, how dare you ignore my merits just because I went to prison?”

Her claim that she also helped the family business running smoothly for 15 years is a hint that relates to smuggling, perhaps because the 15 years she said happened to coincide with the length of time she was in prison. However, this word still have double meaning, it’s still possible that 15 years she meant is the time during her marriage with Norisuke IV prior to her incarceration and divorce. When she got arrested, Jobin was a teenager who was around 15 or older (hm… actually he was 17 at the time).

Even if her 15 years of contribution was done during her time in prison, how is that automatically related to the smuggling of Locacaca? I don’t think that Damokan group started operating as long as 15 years ago, at least there is no hint yet that the Rock Humans (and Locacaca) had been invading Morioh 15 years ago.

Read further:

JoJolion Cardspiracy: Caato and Damokan group

What actually happened in Mamezuku Rai’s past? (chapter 99 spoilers)

”She already got her flashback.”

First, what is the purpose of flashback? Flashback is a literary device in a story that provides some background information on events, situations or a character's past history; flashback’s often used to reveal some important truth about a character's past. Have we ever seen Kaato on a flashback? Yes, on JoJolion chapter 64 “Mother & Child”. What did we get from that chapter? The reason why Caato went to prison. She wanted to cure Jobin of his Rock Disease through Equivalent Exchange without sacrificing her life. When a random boy (who bullied Jobin) was dying (due to Speed King’s attack), that's when the opportunity arrived. Jobin successfully cured and Caato was still alive. Alas a few years later the boy's body was found and Caato became the only suspect (and went to prison).

The question is: who is this flashback about? Certainly Jobin and Caato. But who does this flashback actually belong to? If we look at whose point of view was being used in this flashback, this actually used Jobin’s point of view. How so? Surely this flashback have been told by Tsurugi’s POV. But let's think of it, where did he hear this story from? Certainly from his father who is none other than Jobin. It makes no sense if Tsurugi got this story directly from Caato, Tsurugi is currently 10 years old whereas Caato was incarcerated 15 years ago.

That sounds possible, but are you sure? Unless Tsurugi ever visited her grandma in prison so that Caato got a chance to tell him this story in her version. But I can tell that chapter “Mother & Child” uses Jobin’s perspective. At the beginning of the flashback we saw Jobin and Caato in one location. They were still in the same place until Jobin finally joined the scout group. After that we see how Jobin was bullied by the Boy-scout Bully.

Until finally the bully got attacked by Speed King and Jobin rushed to his house and went to see Caato in a panic. Jobin who was deeply scared and did not know what to do really needed his mother’s help. That's when we see Caato took an action and made her decision to do equivalent exchange for Jobin. Jobin had constantly been seen in this flashback whereas there was moment where we didn't see Caato. We have never seen what she was doing when Jobin was away.

The flashback tells us nothing about Caato or Jobin’s motivations, but it serves well in showing the growth of a certain character. Who is it? Of course it’s Jobin. What we got from Caato is that she wanted to save her son but also wanted to stay alive, she succeeded but had to pay for her action by going to prison, full stop. What we got from Jobin is that this incident and what his mother had done have evoked his ambition, he aspires to do innovation for his family business, expanding the trade, getting rid of his competitors and elevating his family’s social standing, to be on top. Despite her absent for 15 years, Caato is the parent who had the biggest influence on Jobin, becoming what he is today.

If to be a main villain requires flashback, sadly this is not her flashback, this one belong to Jobin. Most people focus on the theme of Stand ability as the main villain pattern. If we really rely on pattern to determine the main villain, we shouldn’t forget the flashback that shows the growth of main villain, aka childhood flashback.

Then, whose childhood flashback did we get in part 8? Of course it’s Jobin, again.

Read further: Caato Higashikata, 34 chapters (8 volumes) MIA and still overhyped

What does Caato really need to be a proper main villain?

Her own motivation which does not depend on anyone and will affect all players on the game

In her case, a motivation that is not shared with Jobin and the motivation/objective that will interconnect with other characters, affecting their actions and in this part 8, it shall be related to the Locacaca.

The Higashikata alimony dispute can’t be the main villain’s objective because that objective will only have an internal impact on the Higashikata family, not on the Head Doctor, Holy’s side and Locacaca Organization. The desire to cure her grandchild Tsurugi which requires Locacaca is also not good enough to be her main villain’s motivation because it more belongs to Jobin. Caato requires motivation that comes from her individually and that is not the kind of motivation "to help muh family."

However, those two motivations/objectives do not devalue Caato as a character, the alimony dispute makes her stand out as a character that has her own motivation and doesn’t depend on other characters. Helping Jobin will make her a very supportive character that's a solid role.

Flashback that really tells about her, preferably her childhood (or at least her origin that is outside the Higashikata)

We still need to know more about her a lot, where was she born from and where was her social standing prior to her married life with the Higashikata? How was her childhood life? Her origin? Why did she marry Norisuke IV? And most importantly what past events caused her to be the individual we know today?

How her current position can work to achieve her goals

Will being an ex-convict and Higashikata widow really help her achieve her goals? If not, is there any other status/position that she is currently hiding?

Further ability of her Stand

We need to know the name of her Stand and what else it can do? Of course she also needs ability that must be very difficult to be challenged to by most Stand users.

How about the other main villain candidates, Head Doctor and Jobin?

Head Doctor Akefu (Tooru?)

The head doctor (which his real identity might be Tooru) already seemingly has a grand objective that sounds grandiose and idealistic. A rock human being, allegedly he was the leader of the Locacaca Organization and the mastermind. Even if it’s false, as The Head Doctor working in T.G. University Hospital, it was clear that he’s holding a high position. His Stand, 「Wonder of U」 is already considered dangerous, seeing how our protagonists are struggling with it.

However, his real identity and his origin as an individual is still unknown, his personal motive is also still in the dark. How about his personality? What things he likes? What is his hobby? His relationship with other characters? Daily habits outside his role as villain?

Even so, slowly but surely, his identity is being revealed. Chapter after chapter increasingly assures us that Tooru will be the actual “Head Doctor” that is undercover. Chapter 99 confirmed that he is a rock-human and also the perpetrator who ruined Rai's family & his life in the past. It's clear that Tooru also wants New Locacaca. It’s also implied that being a rock-human, he is older than he looks, which means that there is still a possibility that we will see his connection with the pasts that have not been revealed yet. We need to see more about him and I’m sure we will, because Araki is putting his focus on Tooru’s character arc right now.

Jobin Higashikata

We already know who he is and are pretty familiar with him, we know what thing he likes, his relationship with his family, and his background is pretty clear. We have seen his flashback, we also have seen plenty enough about Speed King. The motivation is not grandiose and idealistic but very humane, he only cares to his family and it’s always about his family. He has a pretty good standing but his position making his relation with the Locacaca less direct compared to Head Doctor. Although he is my best main villain candidate, he is still a wild card in reality. He is closer to be a villain but there is also possibility that he would be reluctant ally for Josuke.

So how do you see Caato’s role currently?

Despite her relatively small appearance, Araki really wrote her character pretty well. We can see a little of her personality, her little background and her relationship with her family. I’ve seen her own motivation as stand-alone individual. Her character is humane and relatable, wanting to save her son while wanting to stay alive as well. Her character is established based on the mother’s role. Like all mothers, she was willing to sacrifice her life for her son. However, her action makes an interesting contrast to Norisuke IV and his mother, both of them chose to sacrifice their own lives. By sacrificing other people's lives, she might be seen as a selfish person. But perhaps because she had more than one child, she needed to stay alive so that they won’t lose their mother figure too young. Eventually she had to pay for her action by going to prison as another form of her sacrifice. Ironically, her selfish way in saving Jobin made her lose 15 years of mother role for her children. Nevertheless, she readily accepted that consequence.

Caato is the parent who earned Jobin’s respect more than Norisuke IV. Her sacrifice (which Norisuke IV did not do) had a huge influence on Jobin and his growth, her action had shaped him, making him the man we know today. Even at this present time, as a mother, she remains supportive for Jobin by trying to warn him and provide him information as best as she could. Jobin often mentions her positively.

Caato’s portrayal might be largely based on the mother’s role, but her characterization doesn’t always revolve around her being a mother. This is shown by her personal intention who wants half of the Higashikata fortune as the payback for her sacrifice. She wants to take back what's rightfully hers.

Only appeared in a few chapters, Araki successfully wrote Caato as a solid character. As a character with "the mom" role, she is already in relatively high tier compared to the other JoJo moms. Regarding her role against the protagonists, she is still the wild card. We do not know yet whether she will fight them or help them later, what's clear is that she's on Jobin’s side. However, I agree with JoJo wikia which compares her role to Yoshihiro (part 4 Kira’s dad).

How shall we consider Caato’s role right now?

I think we should just wait and see, surely she is an interesting character. There is nothing wrong in wanting a female gets a major role, especially as the main villain. Because so far we have never gotten a female as the main villain in JJBA and this is the era where a lot of entertainment media become "woke" and sided with feminism. However in Caato’s character, her potential to be main villain is still weak and not visible yet, although I feel there is already the potential of her to be a villain. My suggestion is we should treat her as a wild card character for the moment.

So for those of you who want Caato to be the main villain, please shut up, just wait and see! Stop overhyping her in every JoJo thread that she will be the main villain, at least don't treat her like she already is, especially when JoJolion's focus is on the Head Doctor right now. Sure, I still want to see more of Caato again as I believe that her role is not finished yet.

To be honest, I also want a JoJo main villain to be female, but with how Caato was created and established, I don’t think that she is set to be the main villain. Sure, it's still too early to say, if indeed Araki would make her the main villain, hopefully he could play it correctly. I also want to see a female main villain in JJBA, but I won’t be disappointed if the main villain we get in this part 8 is another man. Because honestly, I don’t want JJBA becomes woke just for the sake being woke by putting political correctness and feminist agenda over the quality of storyline.

Caato are you ok?

So, Caato are you ok?

Are you ok Caato?

They don’t want you

They don’t think you

Will be main villain

”I’m okay, so what?”

TL;DR: Caato is already a well written character, she doesn’t have to be the main villain to make her standing out and be a prominent character, not being the main villain doesn't make her lack of anything. It’s fine if you hype her as the main villain but we still need to see her further. So please don't tell us that she will definitely become the one as if it becomes a fact. There is still long way to go and we need to see more of her.

See also:

The legit hype Caatofags once had

JoJolion: The Main Villain and The Red Herrings

JoJolion timeline LOG

#kaato higashikata #jojolion theory #jjba main villain #character study #my thoughts #jojolion #jobin higashikata #satoru akefu #tooru jojo #jjba meta #meta post #character analysis #main villain theory #jojo's bizarre adventure #jjba part 8 #jojo spoilers #caato #stfu caatofags

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abzanascendancy · 7 years

Text

In Today’s Magic Story...

The Race, Part 1

Oh shit! It’s on! Deathrace to Orazca! Only who’s Dick Dastardly?

And finally, the Legion of Dusk gets their first full-length story!

“Regular attacks, violent storms, giant dinosaurs, the humidity, a pirate with the head of a bull... after a while all these things just become part of everyday life in Ixalan.” -- Some random Legion of Dusk vampire, probably.

A hierophant, eh? Well I’m just gonna pretend he looks like Kakyoin.

Also, close but not quite Praise the Sun.

Aren’t blood fasts supposed to be a good thing? So why is this one weirdo lost to rapture causing all the others to be hesitant?

The human guards dared not open the door.

NO SHIT. Sure, let’s just open the door to a starving vampire! I’m sure he won’t drink our blood!

Women can be priests too. #Feminism

Oh shit, this is Mavren Fein’s backstory!

Mavren Fein actually took the sacrament from Saint Elenda herself -- he knew the first vampire personally.

Just when I thought I wouldn’t make another JJBA reference in this piece, this vampire claws up the side of a wall, with his face like a terrible mask. WRYYYYYYYYYYY!!!

...his teeth could not pierce the armor before the other guards ran forward, kicking him off the ledge.

Blood Fast? This! Is! ADANTO!!! -kicks-

Side-note, I’m glad we’re getting good art of Inspiring Cleric. Whomever they are, their lipstick game is on point. And that gothic script though!

Was Manuel one of the humans serving under the Legion of Dusk for the priest to know of his sins? Or is sin-reading a vampire trait on Ixalan?

You heard it here first, folks. Saint Elenda is officially a warrior nun. Can’t wait for the creature type update!

Pedron the Wicked, a vampire, betrayed his own kind, eh? Sounds awfully familiar...

Shit, that’s the third JJBA reference! Kakyoin, DIO, and now pillar men! Please let Sorin be in this, and please let him still be trapped in stone when he planeswalks!

Saint Elenda is 9 feet tall, raven-wing hair, and lightning nails. We better get a card for her!

Further connecting Sorin to this plane, a winged beast. Ugin?

Saint Elenda followed this winged beast to the west, which is how she (presumably) ended up on Ixalan.

Wait a sec. So she went to Ixalan, returned to teach the vampires immortality... then presumably left again? Couldn’t even lead the vampires herself? I’m sure she had her reasons.

Ah, the coppery smell of blood, I can taste it now!

"My apologies for the mess I've made." -- Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle

You call what you have in your artwork a staff? Buddy, that’s a freaking spear or halberd!

Vona

Woaaaoooaaaoooaaah! Vona Lisaaaa~! You’re guaranteed to run this town! Woaaaoooaaaoooaaah! Vona Lisaaaa~! I’d pay to see you frooooooooooown!

Vona of Iedo, Culler of Sinners, Butcher of Magan, the Unburnt, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, Mother of Dragons....

So becoming a vampire is a spell. Does this mean anyone can become a vampire provided they know the spell? Hmm...

Being a vampire grants you proficiency in stealth.

She was never afraid to walk alone at night for the soul of night beat in her heart, coursed through her blood.

I think there should be a comma between “night” and “for”, but oh well. And I have screenshots of the first version so I can prove I’m not entirely crazy!

Why on earth would the church ever want to stop thirsting for blood?

Factions within factions. Mavren Fein wants to grant vampires true immortality, but Vona Lisa wants to keep the vampires drinking blood.

And yes, this is another instance of black-aligned characters becoming villains. Mavren Fein? By all accounts, a good guy. Add black mana to white mana? Vona Lisa of Iedo, Culler of Sinners, Butcher of Magan...

She had become a noble with her own lands, but the territory was poor and rocky, and it became quickly apparent she was not an able administrator. Her ennui lasted a decade. One night, in a fit of boredom, she decided to break the monotony. It was fun, mundane as a child's game, a quick way to pass the time. She stalked each of her human serfs in their beds and in their fields, and over the course of one happy week killed each of them as part of a pleasant game. Vona rejoiced in the sport of it, and abandoned her humble estate. --- It only worked if she told no one else how little she cared for the rules that bound her. The secret kept it exciting.

I know I was complaining about color alignment just now, but HOW ARE YOU WHITE-ALIGNED?????

The Belligerent, you say? Karma karma karma karma karma chameleon~

Or perhaps not. Vona Lisa’s scene seems to take place at the end of Something Else Entirely.

Vona Lisa of Iedo, Culler of Sinners, Butcher of Magan, the Unburnt, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, Breaker of Chains, Mother of Dragons, Survivor of Shipwrecks...

They mattered in the sense that strangers in a market mattered—they were alive and had their focuses and their purposes and their tasks, but their function was peripheral to hers. Vona's crew was a means to an end. They had reached the shores of Ixalan and had thus achieved their end. But hers? Her purpose was one touched by divinity and delivered by the queen herself.

Again, HOW ARE YOU WHITE-ALIGNED?????

Vampires have saint-senses, so I presume they also have sin-senses. Good to know.

Vona Lisa changes creature types to become a Barbarian Vampire.

If the rumors are true, then the stranger who bears the compass is her captain. -- Vona, Butcher of Magan

Oh shit. Jace had the compass last.

If a person should die the death they deserve, Vraska’s going to ensure Vona is vored by dinosaurs.

Jace

So wait, the Legion of Dusk don’t actually get a full-length story all to themselves? Haha!

Jace remembers how to swim.

Vraska goes back to rescue her crew. Best captain.

Having just survived a nautical disaster, he had no intention of dying now.

Really good words to live by, in general.

Again, I love how the official name is and forever will be Useless Island.

He felt like he was at the starting gate for a race...

I certainly hope so, otherwise we’re gonna have to rename the story.

His heart caught in his chest. Malcolm. Breeches. Gavven. Amelia. These were the only people he could remember ever knowing.

Yeah, this has added weight considering these are the only people Jace has ever known. They’re his family.

On a less serious but no less important note, NOT BREECHES! WE CAN’T LOSE OUR GOBLIN FRIEND!

Panic jolted through Jace's mind, but as instinct overtook him, his perception slowed almost to a standstill. --- Time resumed. Jace gasped. The vampire in front of him stumbled in the sand and collapsed to the ground, snoring.

Vimpires? Time-stopping? DIO!!!

Vraska ex Machina!

Oh good, we only lost a non-essential npc. BREECHES LIVES!!!

Breeches. You do not -- do not -- split the party.

Of course Jace is in charge of reuniting the party. It’s not as if he’s going to fall into some sort of crevice and... oh...

"We're not here to stay. Leave the locals alone," said the gorgon, "but kill every vampire you find."

I’m liking Vraska more and more.

I wonder what the range is in disguising the footprints Jace & Vraska leave behind. Is it just a passive spell cast to enchant the ground?

Good thing Jace is ripped now, he can do all the rowing.

Once again, Useless Island.

“Yes. But they can take care of themselves," she said. "I'm their captain, not their mother...”

Lies. You take care of all these rowdy pirate children and they love you. End of discussion.

Vraska finally decides to tell Jace about planes. Why now is a good time, I’m not sure. Perhaps he could die by falling into a crevice and she’d feel guilty about not telling him.

Planeswalking is different for everyone. Vraska literally fades into the shadows as the world darkens around her. Epic.

"A dragon taught me how to sail, Jace. Who knows what is possible anymore?" -- The Talented Captain Vraska

"We thought the compass was just pointing to the city, but it points to blooms of powerful magic." He nodded at Vraska's pocket. "Instead of magnetic north, it points to aetheric north, and it also points toward large outliers of similar kinds of magic. That's why it pointed to me when you found me, and that's why it's probably pointing to you now. I tried to tell you on the boat before we crashed."

So the compass points towards powerful magics, such as the one keeping planeswalkers here...

"The barrier must rely on the same magic we use to planeswalk! That's why the compass points there! You figured it out!"

Put on your speculation caps! If the Immortal Sun is a planar portal, what if it was set to Ixalan? A return-to-sender situation. People could enter, but once they entered Ixalan, if they tried to leave they’d be redirected to the plane they were just on.

I can already hear the shipping wars starting from this next part...

Saved by the bell.

The Dread Pirate Angrath still lives! As does that Dastardly Traitor Kumena.

Huatli

You really think the merfolk are gonna help you, Huatli? They’ve spent decades preventing the Sun Empire from finding Orazca -- hell, they don’t even know where it is! Apart from possibly Tishana...

Huatli was deeply practical. Her mounts were not her children or pets. They were tools to be treated with respect, an extension of her warrior-self.

A lot of white-aligned characters using people as tools. Huh.

Also we get info on dinosaur raising & bonding.

What are the colors of the Brazen Coalition? Why don’t we see any pirate flags???

-insert Metal Gear Solid alert sound here-

She turned to Teyeuh. "Return to the city and summon our forces to deter the survivors."

For those keeping track at home, this is now a Battle of Three Armies.

Also, still no info on Teyeuh.

Tishana’s down, but she’s not out!

Also, even while unconscious, jade armor floats around merfolk. That is some high-quality jewelry.

Huatli opts for diplomacy.

Face-fins pull back sharply in surprise. A note for y’all with Ixalan Merfolk fan-characters. Like me!

...her gut told her that negotiating with this one may be like asking one of the Sun Empire shamans for advice on what food to eat that day. No answer would be straightforward.

Is this a thing? Asking shamans what food to eat today?

On that note, to any shamans reading this, what food should I eat today?

I think Huatli failed her diplomacy check. One does not simply tell a River Herald “I want to go to Orazca.”

Huatli chose her words carefully, "I wielded a strange magic, and I saw a golden city." Tishana gave a deadpan look. "You saw a golden city." "Yes."

God, I love it! Every single time! This is never gonna get old!

"Something within me made me see the city. I am certain it is proof that my mission is crucial to the survival of both Sun Empire and the River Heralds alike. We are not each other's enemy."

Now that is a nat 20 diplomacy roll worthy of a Warrior Poet.

The merfolk's pupils thinned. "I know only that the surface of our world is impassible from underneath. Some can fall in, but once submerged, cannot leap out."

Tishana is woke.

The merfolk knelt and looked Huatli in the eye. "If you say you saw a city when you skimmed the edges of our world, then I believe you."

They both know Huatli didn’t see Orazca.

Tishana sees your petty dinosaur mount and raises you one badass elemental. Granny can cross the street by herself, thanks!

Why do I feel like Inti is going to die, or else bring the rest of the Sun Empire to Orazca?

Watch your language when you talk about Vraska’s crew, Huatli.

Granny Tishana can see through your bullshit.

"I've been casting illusions longer than you've been alive." -- Granny Tishana

To her knowledge, no River Herald had ever willingly worked with a Sun Empire warrior.

Well this wouldn’t be the first plane where a peoples’ history was erased and kept hidden from them, now would it?

"You don't know where it is . . . at all?" The merfolk glared back. "We know its general location."

This is just a good exchange.

Quick! We must have the McGuffin!

Whoo, what a story! Talk about races, I feel like I just finished a marathon writing this! Vampires! Music! Breeches! Planeswalking! Elementals! Shipwrecks! Excitement! I am so pumped for The Race Part 2! But will Vraska and Jace keep the compass out of enemy hands? Will Huatli and Tishana remain allies? What will Kumena do with his head start? Is Angrath going to reach the city first in a surprise upset? And will I stop calling her Vona Lisa? Stay tuned!

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diverdowns · 7 years

Note

Gyro for the ask meme

(send me a character and i’ll rate them + their story arcs!)

GYRO.. my love… too good for this (alternate) world tbh, i love him more than i love life itself. he’s so good. who wouldn’t love him? gyro defense squad 2k17

this got a bit out of hand, so feast your eyes on my rambling under the cut:

> gyro zeppeli

JESUS JUST FUCK ME UP, i love gyro. the thing with his teeth, is like, kinda weird, but it grew on me tbh, and i dont know how to feel about this. he’s so gorgeous — and sure, i can blame a lot of that on araki’s art style in part 7-8 making everyone unfairly pretty, but i mean.. have you seen this cowboy? he’s also nowhere near my usual type, but like.. i dunno, i just love him too much. he’s perfect. god. i’m losing my ability to type coherently. i need to take a moment, hold on. i love gyro so much.

there are days when i stare out the window and i just suddenly remember how much i love gyro zeppeli and i’m suddenly overcome with pain and also Emotion

can you relate to this character on a personal level?: no | not really | somewhat | yes | they are me

i love gyro but…. yeah, he’s totally Not Me. gyro’s typed as estp quite a bit, which means i mean, at least superficially by mbti, we’re almost all opposites in the way we approach things + our general views — which is true. i’m not driven by any kind of ideal, and i’m not necessarily a noble person — gyro is both of those, and he notably has trouble taking a life, which is contrasted with johnny’s “killing intent.” on that front, and in general, i’d definitely relate more to johnny than to gyro, as a whole. (honestly it’s probably because i can relate to johnny that i ended up loving gyro so much.)

ahahah, gyro seems like a really great bro, in general. he’s loyal, knows how to joke around and have a good time, and you can always count on him to have your back when things really get rough. he’s like, one of the Dream Jobros. i’d love to just hang out with him and be, well, bros. (of course… if i thought me x gyro would ever really work out, i definitely wouldn’t complain about that, either.)

anyway, where do i even begin to talk about gyro? i love him. overall, i don’t think i’ve ever really talked about it on this blog but… steel ball run is, in my opinion, overall the best jjba part. my subjective favorite is battle tendency, but if i had to pick a part that i think is overall just the best, in terms of writing, art, characters — just, everything — it’d be sbr. this honestly surprised me a lot, because i wasn’t expecting to like sbr, from the premise. i have a bad track record with western themes — i normally just don’t like / don’t get into them.

steel ball run hit me like a cowboy wrecking ball, oh man. and one of the main reasons sbr was just so good was because of the robustness of the main characters’ development and characterization. i could write a whole essay about how much i loved johnny as a main character and how human his struggles and motivations were, but gyro was every bit as good, and gyro is, in my opinion, the backbone of a lot of sbr.

johnny’s the protagonist, but gyro provides a lot of driving force for the continuation of the race — johnny, throughout the first half, just cares about walking again. gyro’s the one with loftier goals, the one who wants to win this race and return to his family. this shifts, of course, as johnny and gyro develop more motivations and goals — their hunt for the corpse parts and the bond developing between them, for example. i can honestly say that if gyro wasn’t as solid of a character, steel ball run would not have been the goddamn masterpiece i thought it was.

in an interesting subversion, gyro has a reason for running the race that’s bigger than himself — he wants to save a child and bring honor to his family and his country, and normally these are the kinds of goals that are totally appropriate for a setting like this. but not in sbr! johnny calls him out, because the thing is, while these ideals are well and good in theory, gyro doesn’t have a personal stake in it yet — he doesn’t really want to win enough for himself to, well, win. it’s such an interesting twist on the classic “you need a goal greater than yourself!” trope, and while the execution’s a little weird at times (i mean, the “real man’s world” thing was actually a pretty interesting plot arc, but boy was it a strange concept at first), i think it’s really well done and introduces gyro as a complex character who’s just trying to find good reasons to do the things he already knows are right.

compared to johnny, gyro’s more of a static character, but we see him open up to johnny over the course of part 7, and it’s — well, everything i’d wanted to see from caejose, really. we see gyro bond on a personal level with johnny, transcending the simple mentor-student bond we saw in phantom blood, forming something definitely more reminiscent of caesar and joseph’s alliance in battle tendency. (and maybe that’s why it hit me so hard, because i had never really gotten over caejose) but god do gyro and johnny help each other grow, so, so much. their growth and their story arcs are so intricately codependent on each other, and it’s so gratifying as a reader to be able to see them develop along with their friendship. everything feels so natural and gyro, at no point, comes across as unrealistic or artificial. he’s written so well and the concept for his character is so great, and i honestly love everything about him.

(this became less Real analysis and a “why i love gyro and also sbr” ramble but it’s like, 3 am and i’ve been on a plane for 4 hours, so cut me some slack. good thing this is just an informal ask meme, whew)

#gyro zeppeli #steel ball run #sbr #killer queue

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caestusvulpes · 7 months

Text

"Hachi, kid, if y'want me t'win the big turtle fer you I'll absolutely oblige."

#ic | an apparition that's beckoning me #jjba | this is a calling to the human race #standbowed #WOULD YOU BELIEVE I HAD HACHI IN MIND REBLOGGING THAT VIDEO.

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caestusarchivum · 2 years

Note

“ you can’t help me! ” -kyo 😔

"Why not?" The fish-out-of-temporal-water questioned, genuinely hurt. "Look, I don't know why y'want the fruit, Nijimura. I don't care why, neither. I jus' know that it's... really important t'ya, so I wanna help in any way I can. Regardless've yer reservation y'got goin' on."

She brings her hands together, water swirling in her palm as its transmuted into a fresh fig that she presents, holding it out into the light. "If I get m'hands on its chemical structure, if I can study a sample, I can make as many've the bastards as y'need! I'm offerin' ya m'Stand's ability-- an' yer too stubborn t'listen t'me? T'trust me?"

The fig... collapses, and turns into dried grass as Hikari returns the water to her body. She transmutes the remaining material to a greenish-brown dust. Violet eyes stare vacantly in dissapointment, and, if one really took a look, genuine terror. "I need the fruit, Nijimura. It might be the key home. I can't get a sample alone. I need yer help, too, like I know y'need mine."

#ic | this memory ignites #jjba | this is a calling to the human race #tapestry | isn't this desire that you're looking for #utepliss #hikari: if you dont accept i'm quite literally gonna go fuckin bonkers.

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mutant-jojos · 7 years

Text

In the spirit of Aggressively Arospec Month, I’ve decided to repost the aro Jotaro fic I wrote back in March. Normally I’d just link the AO3 post, but seeing as Tungle.hell doesn’t let outside links appear in tags anymore, I’ll just post it here. It’s short enough, anyway.

This is a very personal piece that was written very hastily, partly as a vent fic, and partly out of bitterness that the one (1) fic in the aromantic tag for JJBA at the time was about Polnareff having a one-sided crush on Kakyoin. It may not be the best fic in the world, but I hope it at least helps someone understand what it’s like to be aromantic. Please don’t forget about us.

Rating: M (Swearing, mentions of sexual stuff) Words: 2,212 Characters: Jotaro and Kakyoin Pairings: NONE Content warnings: Internalized arophobia, whatever the hell you would call mentions of fucking anthropomorphic trains (...it makes more sense in context I swear)

Jotaro lay on his side on his bed, a book in one hand, the other absent-mindedly petting Star Platinum (who was happily gnawing on a sock). On the floor in mostly disassembled heap was Kakyoin, scrolling through his phone with his one intact hand, reading Wikipedia or looking at post-modern surrealist memes or whatever it was Kakyoin did online anyway.

To an outsider, it might have seemed like they were ignoring each other and thus being bad friends, but it was quite the opposite. It was their ideal type of “hanging out”- just enjoying each other’s company, with the freedom to pursue their own interests, and no pressure to interact or search for some sort of compromise instead of doing what they each wanted to do. And besides, they did occasionally engage in conversation, just not to an unnecessary extent.

“Hey,” Kakyoin broke the silence, tilting his head back to look at Jotaro. “If you could play any obscure video game, what would it be?”

Jotaro snorted. “I don’t think I even know any obscure games. I’m not a dorito gremlin like you,” he teased.

“Oh, come on. There’s gotta be at least something weird you’ve always wanted to play,” Kakyoin prodded, smirking slightly.

Jotaro put his book down for a moment as he thought about it, trying to recall any video games that sounded interesting.

“I don’t know… I guess, maybe… Earthbound,” he decided. “Dunno what it’s about exactly, but I heard it’s kinda fucked up. And I guess you get to hit things with a baseball bat, so that’s cool.”

Kakyoin nodded. “I think the plot is like… Zelda, but it’s South Park, and designed to break your spirit,” he described vaguely.

“Oh, in that case I take it back. South Park is obnoxious.”

“It’s not literally South Park,” Kakyoin corrected him. “Just, you know, it’s like grade schoolers from the city doing fucked up shit… or… Look, I’ve never played it, I don’t know,” he admitted finally.

“Well then you shouldn’t have asked me to pick an obscure game,” Jotaro pointed out. “Anyway, I know you only asked so you could tell me about something, so go ahead.”

“I want to play the Fullmetal Alchemist video games,” Kakyoin said resolutely. Clearly, Jotaro had been correct.

Jotaro raised an eyebrow in surprise. “I didn’t know it had video games.”

“Yeah, there’s a couple,” Kakyoin replied. “They’re kind of hard to find these days, so I’ve never managed to get one, but I’ve wanted to play them for a while. I heard there’s one where Ed dies,” he added with a slow, wide-eyed nod, as if sharing some controversial rumor.

“That makes no sense. He’s the protagonist, he can’t die,” Jotaro said with a confused frown.

“I think he like, gets stabbed or something, and then he comes back to life…”

“...Isn’t like, the entire point of the series that people can’t come back from the dead? Like, I’m pretty sure they made that clear in episode 1,” Jotaro pointed out, even more confused.

“I know, it makes no sense. Which is why I totally want to see it,” Kakyoin laughed. “Ed was my first crush, you know.”

Jotaro went quiet for several seconds.

“...Al’s better,” Jotaro mumbled after a while.

“Oh, so Al was your Fullmetal crush?” Kakyoin teased.

Jotaro frowned in disgust. That was not what he’d meant.

“No.”

“Really? Then why are you blushing?” Kakyoin countered with a knowing smirk.

“Because it’s an embarrassing question, now leave me alone,” Jotaro growled, pulling his hat down over his face. The conversation was quickly becoming something Jotaro did not wish to discuss.

“Alright,” Kakyoin gave in, sounding slightly apologetic. “Answer me one question, though.”

“What is it?”

“Who was your first crush?” Kakyoin asked curiously.

Oh no.

Oh no. Shit. Fuck. Oh no. Why did Kakyoin have to ask that question? How the hell was Jotaro supposed to answer that? It wasn’t like he could just say he’d never had one, what kind of 18-year-old had never had a crush? Jotaro realized he’d have to make something up. He petted Star Platinum nervously as he went through mental lists of people, trying to pick someone that sounded reasonable for him to be attracted to.

“...R-Rosalind Franklin,” he decided after a minute, and then mentally kicked himself for being so hasty with his answer. Rosalind Franklin? Really?

“Ok, that’s a lie,” Kakyoin replied.

Jotaro’s eyes widened in horror. ��What… what makes you say that,” he deadpanned. He briefly considered stopping time and just leaving, but that would only increase Kakyoin’s suspicions.

“For one thing, you sounded really uncertain and kind of like you were just making that up. And besides, aren’t you gay?” Kakyoin explained.

“Uh.” Was Jotaro gay?

Probably, he thought. It seemed like a reasonable conclusion. How could he be so foolish as to forget he was, evidently, gay? Damn you, Rosalind Franklin.

“What’s up with you? You’re being weirdly dodgy about this,” Kakyoin pointed out, frowning slightly. “Is there something you’re afraid to tell me?”

Jotaro didn’t respond; he didn’t know how to. He was completely backed into a corner. Out of options, he adjusted his hat again, and sighed before reluctantly answering.

“I’m fucked up, Kakyoin,” he said quietly.

“I know, but what’s that have to do with anything?” Kakyoin asked gently.

“I don’t get crushes. I just don’t. I don’t think I can,” Jotaro explained, running his fingers along the brim of his hat nervously. “I don’t even really know what a crush is supposed to feel like. Hell, I thought romance was fake until like, last year,” he added with an anxious laugh.

Kakyoin gave him a confused, slightly worried look. “What do you mean, fake? You thought people only pretend to get married and all that? Jotaro, that makes no sense.”

Jotaro shook his head. “No, not exactly, like… Back in middle school I’d see all these kids dating and shit, and I always thought ‘Oh, they don’t really like each other. Nobody gets those kinds of feelings at this age. They’re just imitating what they see on TV.’ And I guess I just kinda kept thinking that without realizing it, until I was like 17 and then it finally hit me that… It’s just me, I’m the weird one,” he finished with a sigh.

“Oh… I see,” Kakyoin said with a slow, careful nod, as if thinking carefully about Jotaro’s confession. “Um… Sorry I pressured you like that. That was wrong of me,” he admitted apologetically, looking away.

Jotaro gave a little shrug, and pretended to go back to reading his book- though really, his heart was racing too much to pay attention to it. He pulled Star Platinum close to his chest, and held the odd creature like a cat as he tried to calm down, or at least to look calm. Kakyoin had returned to his phone and seemed determined about whatever he was doing, and his lack of real reaction to Jotaro’s confession worried Jotaro. Was Kakyoin angry at him?

The minutes passed in agonizing silence, the only sounds being the ticking of the clock on the wall, the gentle gurgling of the fish tank filter, and the occasional electronic clacking of Kakyoin typing on his phone. As Star Platinum chewed on the sleeve of Jotaro’s hoodie, Jotaro found himself regretting everything he’d said in the past 5 minutes. And then regretting everything he had said ever, in his entire life. He regretted his whole existence. He felt like he’d just ruined his only friendship by admitting just how weird he really was. And sure, he had a laundry list of issues that had never bothered Kakyoin, but surely Kakyoin had to have a limit, right? He wasn’t talking to him, so Jotaro must have finally found the breaking point. This was it. It was all over. Jotaro had fucked up, all because he… didn’t have a crush on Alphonse Elric? Was that the original topic? It didn’t matter. Friendship was dead and so was Jotaro. Happiness was a lie and all roads led to anxiety.

“Hey, are you ok?” Kakyoin asked, breaking Jotaro’s train of thought.

“What,” Jotaro responded flatly, feeling slightly confused. By his side, Star Platinum squeaked and wiggled around in an attempt to escape Jotaro’s too-tight hug.

“You look like you’re kinda freaking out,” Kakyoin informed him sympathetically, as Star Platinum finally managed to slip free, and ran to his bed.

“I’m fine,” Jotaro replied hastily.

“You don’t look fine.”

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

Jotaro gave Kakyoin a slow, awkward thumbs up. Clearly the epitome of composure.

Kakyoin frowned worriedly. “Hey, look, I’m not mad at you or anything, I promise. It’s perfectly ok with me that you don’t like anyone,” he assured Jotaro.

“...Are you sure?” Jotaro questioned hesitantly.

“Jojo, you’d still be my best friend even if you were exclusively attracted to anthropomorphic trains,” Kakyoin promised, with a slight laugh.

“Why the fuck would I be into that?” Jotaro exclaimed in disgust, sitting up abruptly.

“I dunno, there seem to be a surprising amount of people who want to fuck Thomas the Tank Engine gijinkas,” Kakyoin replied with a shrug.

Jotaro shuddered. “Please, never say that sentence ever again.”

“Gladly,” Kakyoin agreed.

Kakyoin reformed his body, his unravelled arms and legs pulling together like a retracting yo-yo to return to a human shape, and then sat down at the foot of the bed.

“So I looked up some stuff, and… Forgive me if I’m jumping to conclusions, but from what you said it sounds like you might be aromantic,” he began seriously.

Jotaro frowned at him confusedly. “No, I just said I don’t do romance,” he reiterated, misunderstanding Kakyoin’s statement.

“Not ‘a romantic’, aromantic,” Kakyoin corrected him. “‘A’ as in ‘without’.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s like… supposedly there’s two types of attraction- Ok no, there’s actually more than that, but like as far as dating and all that goes there’s two: romantic attraction and sexual attraction,” Kakyoin began his explanation. “Romantic attraction is all the kissing and getting married and I love yous and all that-” (Jotaro rolled his eyes in disgust) “-And sexual attraction is fairly self-explanatory.”

“Makes sense,” Jotaro said, and looked at Kakyoin expectantly, waiting for him to get to the point.

“So someone who’s aromantic might experience sexual attraction, but not romantic attraction,” Kakyoin finished.

Jotaro paused for a moment to think about this. It certainly seemed logical, sure, but…

“That’s just hypothetical, though,” he decided.

Kakyoin raised an eyebrow. “Well… Sure, I guess you could look at it that way, but most sociological stuff is pretty hypothetical by definition,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, but people like that don’t really exist,” Jotaro insisted.

“Of course they do,” Kakyoin argued.

Jotaro gave him an unconvinced look. “So you’re telling me that there are people out there other than me who have never liked anyone, aren’t going to like anyone, and aren’t just royally fucked up in the head?” he repeated sarcastically.

“That’s exactly what I’ve been saying this whole time, yeah,” Kakyoin answered, trying his best to be patient but still sounding ever so slightly irritated.

Jotaro shook his head. “I don’t buy it. That just doesn’t happen to other people.”

“And how would you know, anyway?” Kakyoin countered, to Jotaro’s surprise. “You only have six people you talk to on a regular basis, I swear you leave the house like once every time Halley’s comet comes around, and you don’t use social media much either,” he pointed out. “If all the women in the world shaved their heads, you wouldn’t notice unless it was mentioned in a scientific journal.”

Damn.

“...Fine, I guess you have a point,” Jotaro admitted reluctantly.

Maybe Kakyoin was right. Maybe there was more to it than just Jotaro’s mental health issues. Really, it wasn’t like he wanted to be alone; he’d just grown up so surrounded by romance that he found it hard to believe that there could be anyone out there who felt the same way he did.

But maybe… maybe he wasn’t so broken after all.

Kakyoin gave Jotaro a gentle nudge.

“Besides… Even if you’re the only one in the world, that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. You don’t have to like anyone. It’s ok,” he promised, gentle yet persistent.

Jotaro stared at Kakyoin for a minute, not sure what to say. He wasn’t really one to express his emotions much, but… Somehow, hearing those words felt like he’d finally found something he’d been searching for his whole life, without even knowing it. Like something was finally going right.

“...Thanks,” he said quietly, and he meant it.

Kakyoin smiled in response, looking almost proud. “Of course.”

“Hey… Don’t mention this to anyone, ok?” Jotaro added as an afterthought. While it was nice that Kakyoin accepted him, the last thing he needed was Joseph “New Crush Every Month” Joestar getting on his back about things.

“Sure,” Kakyoin agreed.

“Thanks,” Jotaro repeated once again. Hesitantly, he reached for Kakyoin’s hand, a quiet, shy gesture of affection.

Kakyoin responded by moving in close to Jotaro’s side, leaning his head against Jotaro. Jotaro sighed contentedly and put an arm around Kakyoin’s shoulders.

“Want to watch a movie?” Kakyoin suggested.

“Yeah.”

Maybe things weren’t so bad after all.

#JJBA #Jotaro Kujo #Aromantic #Arospec #AggressivelyArospecWeek #Writing

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duhragonball · 3 years

Text

Battle Tendency Liveblog: JJBA Ch. 65-66

This is the start of the “Ultimate Warriors from Ancient Times” arc, but I want to focus on these two chapters because they feature Mark. I’ve got a lot to say about Mark under the cut, but the short version is that he’s a lousy Nazi and he deserves everything that happens to him.

A large chunk of Chapter 65 is just Caesar hanging out in Joseph and Speedwagon’s hotel room. They try to play cards, but they’re both cheats. This wouldn’t bother me at all until Speedwagon points out that he’s been here for eight hours, and never bothered to explain why. You’d think Joseph would have demanded an answer a long time ago, since he’s not known for patience.

As it turns out, Caesar’s been waiting for Mark, a buddy of his in the German Army. Stroheim was in the German Army too, and he told Joseph that the Nazis had discovered three other Pillar Men in Rome. That’s why he and Speedwagon came here, after all. Well, Caesar’s an Italian, and Italy and Germany are allies, so Caesar managed to persuade the Germans (through Mark) to let him take a look at the Pillar Men. So in this chapter, Mark rolls up in a car and drives them over to the site.

But we already know what happened at the site in Chapter 64. The Pillar Men have already reawakened, and all the Nazi soldiers stationed there have been slaughtered. When Mark leads our heroes into the catacombs, they find the remains of the Germans, while Mark bumps into the Pillar Men themselves. (Note: the above image is not to scale).

The thing is, bumping into the Pillar Men is hazardous to your health. We saw that vampire grab Santana and large chunks of his body were completely absorbed. The same thing happens to Mark, only faster, because Wamuu doesn’t even slow down as he walks past him. He just walks right through Mark and half of his body is gone.

So when I first watched the JoJo anime, it was right after I watched the Hellsing Ultimate anime, and I got a kick out of seeing two completely different anime takes on vampire lore. Let’s face it, the Pillar Men are presented as something beyond mere vampires, but they’re basically just super-vampires, not so different from Alucard in Hellsing. And both make use of the Nazis, except in Hellsing, the Nazis are the villains, while in Battle Tendency, they’re kinda sorta allies. Stroheim is clearly a bad guy, because he killed his prisoners and tormented Speedwagon, but Mark is presented as a completely sympathetic person. He’s got a sweetheart back home, Caesar’s the one who introduced them, and he’s planning to get married the next time he goes back to Germany. And for his very brief appearance in JJBA, he’s completely friendly and helpful to the heroes. We’re supposed to feel very sorry for him when he gets killed here.

Part 2 is my favorite, but I think this stands out as it’s biggest flaw. I get the idea. Hellsing was dealing with a lot of dark themes, and the protagonists were horrifying in their own right. So Kouta Hirano used the Nazis as villains to humanize his vampire characters. By contrast, Hirohiko Araki seems to be using the Nazis to dehumanize the Pillar Men. They’re so evil that even the Nazis look halfway decent by comparison. At least the Nazis are human, with human loves and fears and honor. The Pillar Men kill Mark without even noticing him, and Speedwagon likens this to a human stepping on an ant. I get what Araki is trying to do here, but it rings hollow. Fuck Mark, and fuck his Nazi fiance. The first time we see him, we get a close up of his Iron Cross medal, with the damn swastika in the middle of it. We’re supposed to buy into the idea that he’s “one of the good Germans”, and it’s 1938, so World War II hasn’t officially started yet, so somehow Mark is supposed to be cool. But no, I don’t buy it.

Let me go off on a little sidebar and try to explain how we got here. Battle Tendency was published in 1988. Back then, Hitler had been dead for decades, and Germany had been partitioned into two countries, East and West Germany. The Nazis seemed to have been consigned to the dustbin of history, and as time passed, pop culture grew more comfortable using the Nazis as historical villains in stories like this one. There was a sense that yeah, the Nazis were really bad, but they were gone now, and they would never come back. I think there was a similar mentality surrounding the Soviet Union after the U.S.S.R. dissolved. By the 2000′s there were all sorts of internet memes about Nazi stuff and Soviet stuff and it was rationalized as harmless envelope-pushing.

The problem is, it doesn’t seem so harmless in 2021, when Russia is a autocracy that meddles in U.S. elections, emboldening white nationalists in the process. The “alt-right” fanatics who marched in Charlottesville in 2017? The rioters who stormed the Capitol building this past January? Those assholes probably wouldn’t call themselves Nazis, but neither did the Nazis. They called themselves “National Socialists”, because they were trying to make their ugly policies sound more legitimate. The same holds true for “alt-right”, “economic nationalist”, “Qanon”, “truther”, and so on. They’re just new labels for the same old horseshit.

I don’t want to judge Battle Tendency too harshly, because it’s the product of a different time, an era when people could at least pretend that Nazism was one of the few problems that we didn’t have to worry about any more. The same mentality can be found in Hellsing. The Nazis in Hellsing are definitely villains, but the conceit is that they’re all immortal vampires or werewolves, because that’s the only way the Nazi menace could possibly exist in 1999. Otherwise, they’d all be dead of old age. Battle Tendency is set in 1938, so it takes the liberty of presenting sympathetic Nazis, because we already know they’ll be defeated in the end, right? We might as well see what makes them tick.

Araki may have thought that using Nazis in a story set in the 1930s would be no different than using Napoleonic French soldiers in a story set in the 1800s. And in the long run, that might be true, but I don’t think we’re there yet. In the here and now, it’s aged rather poorly.

Of course, just because Caesar and Joseph feel bad for Mark doesn’t mean I have to. And Araki may have been more self-aware than I’m giving him credit for. Nazi Germany wanted to set itself up as the Master Race, and in this fictional world, the Pillar Men have come to do the same thing, only they’re much, much further ahead of the game. I think part of the point of Stroheim and Mark was to contrast the Nazis’ supreamcist attitudes with Kars’ ambitions. For all of Stroheim’s boasting, he’s helpless against Kars’ might. But at the same time, for all of Kars’ power and brilliance, he’s ultimately chasing the same pipe dream as Hilter and his followers.

Let’s get back on track. While the good guys react in horror at what happened to Mark, the Pillar Men just stand around nearby and discuss their situation. They completely ignore our heroes, just like they ignored Mark. Kars wants to locate the Red Stone of Aja, because it’s the secret ingredient to the mask he designed that will make them immune to sunlight. Esidisi doesn’t understand how the stone helps their plan, but he’s totally on board. But as they head out, Wamuu suddenly attacks Kars, because Kars stepped in his shadow, and apparently Wamuu just lashes out at anyone who does this, friend or foe.

Wamuu is deeply sorry for this, and begs to be punished, but Kars apologizes instead, because he knows about Wamuu’s whole shadow thing and he feels that he’s the one who made the mistake here. I really love this exchange, because it defines the Pillar Men so well. As indifferent as they are to human lives, they respect one another a great deal. Kars is the leader, but he still treats the other two guys like close associates. He needs Wamuu’s sharp senses and keen warrior instincts. Meanwhile, Wamuu and Eisidisi practically worship Kars like a god. They’ve literally followed him around the world and across thousands of years in pursuit of his vision.

So yeah, if the goal here was to use Mark’s suffering to make me hate the Pillar Men, it doesn’t work. The Pillar Men are evil, sure, but they’re pretty cool bad guys. On the other hand, Mark looks ridiculous here, with Caesar holding and talking to half of his body. This looks like something out of a Tex Avery cartoon.

I mean, let’s set aside the whole Nazi thing for a moment. Why should I feel sorry for Mark? Because he’s in pain? He got cut in half! He should have died instantly! Because he was going to get married? We only met this guy one chapter ago! Because he’s Caesar’s friend? Well Caesar’s kind of a jerk too.

Anyway, Mark begs Caesar to kill him and end his suffering, so Caesar uses the Ripple to stop his heart. Or the half of it that’s still there, I guess.

Okay, so the whole point of Mark’s death is to really get the good guys fired up to battle the Pillar Men, right? Okay, Caesar tries to take them on, and he opens with the Bubble Launcher, the same move he talked about earlier. It didn’t beat Joseph, but Caesar’s Hamon power does hurt Wamuu’s skin, which is more than Joseph managed to do against Santana.

The Bubble Launcher is supposed to surround the opponent with dozens of soap bubbles charged with Hamon energy. Wamuu can’t escape without touching them and getting hurt. But Wamuu just sprouts all these long braids from his head and clothes, and swings them around with superhuman precision to know the bubbles away without hurting himself.

As it turns out, these Pillar Men are familiar with Hamon. Santana was surprised to encounter Joseph Joestar’s powers, but Wamuu and the others have fought Ripple users in the past. And Wamuu’s more intrigued than worried...

Oh, as one final aside, on the car ride to the catacombs, Speedwagon asked Caesar if he tried to use the Ripple to destroy the Pillar Men before they woke up, and Caesar explains that it didn’t work while they were in their dormant state. Remember, at the very start of this story, Speedwagon called Straizo because he wanted someone to use the Ripple to destroy Santana before he could wake up. Now we see that even if Straizo had agreed to his request, it wouldn’t have done any good. Sunlight doesn’t seem to kill the Pillar Men so much as it makes them turn to stone, and the Ripple only hurts them while they’re flesh and blood. So the only way to kill them seems to be by using Hamon in a direct confrontation, and that’s a tall order...

#jojo's bizarre adventure #battle tendency #joseph joestar #caesar zeppeli #robert e o speedwagon #mark #wamuu #kars #esidisi #get wrecked mark

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