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themanofax · 2 years

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What Makes Someone a Joestar?

So I’ve been diving headfirst into Stone Ocean recently; I finished the second batch a while ago, and just finished re-reading the manga. I’m feeling Very Normal about the whole thing, and so I wanted to take some time to write about what I think is the most heartbreakingly beautiful part of the story, as well as how it embodies what makes JoJo different from so many other series out there.

It should go without saying that Stone Ocean is meant to be a culmination of all the previous parts. The “main story” of JoJo can be traced from Part 1 through Part 3, before concluding with Part 6. Strictly speaking, the main universe is “about” the Joestars and their conflicts with the Brandos; Parts 2, 4 and 5, while amazing, are more meant to flesh out the universe and characters in preparation for the conclusion of this overarching storyline. (I should mention that Part 4 is by far my favorite and this isn’t meant to be criticizing these parts, lol)

So, obviously, with Part 6 being the last Part in the main universe, Araki had a tall task ahead of him. How would he decide to end this story - this war that started 131 years ago, when an unfortunate carriage driver careened off a cliff and set Fate into motion? Who would be the one to deal the final blow, to be the instrument of justice that set right all the wrongs that DIO had wrought?

Most mangaka would’ve said “the main character”. Others, slightly less conventional ones, would’ve said “all the characters together - or maybe, Jotaro, since he was the one who killed DIO in Part 3. Or maybe, Pucci wins, and the storyline ends with tragedy.”

All valid answers. But Araki chose differently.

Araki decided that the hero of Part 6 would be a scared little boy. A boy who was emboldened by the main character’s sacrifice. A boy who became so much braver, so much cleverer, so much more determined than he ever could’ve dreamed he could be.

Emporio Alniño is the last character anyone could’ve expected to be the sole survivor of Part 6. I can only imagine how confused, scared and hopeless weekly readers must’ve felt - “Jolyne and Jotaro are dead! Emporio is the only one left? And now we need to wait a week for next chapter? How are we gonna get out of this?”

But Emporio rose to the occasion. Screaming, crying as he watched his friend, the older sister he never had, torn apart by an unstoppable god, he found the courage to win. And, in one of the saddest, most heartrending moments in JoJo, the Part ends as he watches look-alikes of his friends meeting for the first time, knowing that they don’t recognize him and that he is the only being in the entire universe that knows this pain. A truly amazing ending, which ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT DESERVE THE BAD REPUTATION IT HAS IN THE FANDOM-

Anyway. What does this have to do with the title of the post?

Well. It all ties back to that insanely daring, one-of-a-kind decision that Araki made.

What does that decision say about JoJo as a whole? (Or at least, about the main universe.) It’s a decision that centers around the climax of six parts, of 16 real-world years of storytelling - surely it has some bearing on what the story up to this point has meant.

Well, let’s look at Jolyne. The protagonist of Part 6, the daughter of invincible shonen badass Jotaro Kujo. Throughout the part, she displays the ferocity, tenacity, and cleverness that we’ve come to expect from the Joestar bloodline; skinning guards alive to escape their grasps, lighting herself on fire to best one of the sons of DIO, printing out an image in binary to overcome a Stand that messes with one’s memory. All incredibly impressive... but those traits are not what end up saving the day.

Instead, the trait that Jolyne possesses - that all the Joestars possess - that ends up saving the entire universe... is kindness.

Jolyne’s selfless, senseless kindness - which inspired her to risk her life to save a little boy she had just met, to defend him as they escaped from prison and fought to revive her father, that inspired her to stand up to a time-bending demon just to buy a few seconds for him to escape. It is that kindness that allows Emporio to live, that drives him to avenge the main cast and free humanity from an eternity of sleeping slave-dom.

And that, right there, is what I think makes JoJo so different from so many other shonen. In any other shonen, Jolyne would’ve overcome Pucci by being the strongest, or the fastest, or the smartest. And to be sure, those qualities are great! Every Joestar has those qualities to some degree, and they certainly couldn’t have overcome the obstacles they do in their Parts without them. But when the cards are down and it’s the main JoJo vs the main villain, what ends up saving the day every time?

The allies that the JoJos have made. The no-lifes, the thugs, the villains and nobodies, that the JoJos, through their impossible kindness, were able to redeem.

And that’s what I think makes a Joestar. Their ability to bring out the best in others. Okuyasu was just a street punk mindlessly following his brother’s orders; but when faced with Josuke’s mercy and casual compassion, he was able to become one of Morioh’s staunchest defenders. Bucciarati was a mafioso who had completely given up hope of bringing about change, who wasn’t above torturing and psychologically manipulating a teenage boy who he didn’t even know for sure was a murderer. But when faced with Giorno’s golden dream, he woke up from his fate as a sleeping slave, and was able to bring about a better tomorrow for all of Italy.

I could go on. But hopefully you get the point by now - and maybe you can apply this to your own favorite characters in the series. In the main universe, the Joestar legacy is one of compassion. Being the strongest or the smartest means nothing if you don’t have allies on your side; and JoJo as a whole goes to great, pain-staking lengths to show that we, as a species, excel when we are together. That it is the human connection between us that allows us to overcome gods of time, or immortal vampires, or any other manner of boogeymen and monsters that constantly threaten our future. And I just think... that’s so refreshing.

So many shonen make a big deal of their MCs being “special”. Because they were born with a special power, or because they can beat up the opponent enough that it brings about change. And, to be clear, the “power of friendship” is a shonen trope for a reason; JoJo isn’t the first series to have this kind of message in a long shot. But I just... feel like JoJo does it so well. It never feels cheap, or contrived; and I think that’s because, rather than just being used as a plot device to allow our heroes to beat villains that they logically shouldn’t be able to, JoJo threads that message into its very core. Not a single moment goes by without the series reminding you of this fundamental truth; and as I described above, it all culminates in the ultimate act of kindness resulting in the ultimate victory.

JoJo is a weird series. It’s about overly masculine men making strange, sexual poses at each other. It’s about ghosts punching each other until they explode. It’s dumb, it’s cheesy, and sometimes it straight up doesn’t make sense.

But at the end of the day, it is a story that posits that humanity can overcome the impossible. And the vehicle through which they deliver that message - the JoJos, a name synonymous with shonen manga, with badassery and masculinity - are special... because they help others be who they were meant to be.

I think there’s something unspeakably beautiful about that.

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aja154ever · 6 years

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BSD Stage: Dark Era

I’ve been wanting to write a report aka feelings post about this stage play, but for days I wasn’t able to compose my words (and myself). I’m glad I found this review by our beloved @looking-for-stray-dogs and now please excuse me as I add my own thoughts (while trying my best to be coherent) on this. I encourage you to read her post first because more details about the play are written there!

Under the cut for spoilers! All photos are from official accounts

Stage is indeed a different platform and more than any of the adaptations - light novel, anime - this medium is the one that felt the most alive. Well literally ofc, but you know, you just feel the fact that... they are there. Odasaku, Ango, teen Dazai. In 3D human forms, breathing, hurting, falling apart inside... dying.

I was not near enough to see their facial expressions very very clearly, except for the scenes when they were very near the edge of the stage. So what hit me the most was the emotion in their voices - which I happen to be very particular with since I am a voice actor fan.

I liked that Odasaku here is more emotional than the one in anime.

His smiles. Oh my gosh. How much he enjoyed playing with the kids.

His voice. How it cracks more and more as he pats the head of each kid when he was saying good night to them. It was totally breaking when he was down to the last one, Sakura, which was akin to how our hearts have broken, too.

And yes, when Dazai was stopping him from going, Odasaku’s voice was cracking when he told Dazai that he wanted to be a novelist. I really felt how much he wanted it, but there was no way it could ever come true at that point. He was not just grieving for the kids; Odasaku was grieving for himself, too.

Ango. I don’t know what is it but Araki-san’s portrayal made me like Ango even more. He did indeed betray his friends, but he.was.very.much.hurting.too. I deeply appreciated that they included that epilogue scene in the novel when Ango was looking at the picture of the three of them together.

Mori. Yes! His voice was indeed very fitting and there were even times when he almost sounded like Miyamoto-san (anime VA). At some parts though, Mori and Elise’s appearance was somewhat distracting esp when I could’ve preferred to focus on the scene that was not about them. Like, Mori’s appearance is fine but Elise doing all the same grumpy reactions in the background was kinda off for me.

Music insert. Oh gosh. I couldn’t listen to Kaze ga Fuku Machi days after the play because the feels were too much for me to take in. This is my favorite BSD song, and the song’s lyrics are engraved in my heart and wow oh my gosh, I was not prepared that they suddenly played it during that scene. It was *heavy breathing* when Odasaku screamed after the kids exploded. And suddenly, I couldn’t see the stage anymore... for my eyes were filled with tears. I can’t compare Taniguchi-san (stage actor) and Suwabe-san’s (anime VA) screams during that scene, both are heart-crushing no matter what, but hearing it live on stage really pierced through my heart.

Reason Living. This is my second favorite BSD song, but as opposed to the previous one, I somewhat didn’t like where this song was inserted in the play. It was right after Odasaku died. The song was too lively and loud for that moment. Maybe nothing can replace Kaze ga Fuku Machi for me in this scene, but maybe it wouldn’t sound fit if they repeat the same song after using it in the screaming scene.

Dazai. *sighs* Where do I even start? I think I was one of the first people who shed tears during the play, and it was because of Dazai. It was just from their first scene, when Dazai was telling Odasaku about the stories of how he got his injuries. I know, that’s not a scene where anyone is supposed to cry, but gosh. Tawada Hideya’s acting. Contrary to Lea’s opinion that the Dazai in this stage is flirty, the message that came across to me is that this stage showed how much of a child Dazai Osamu was back then. The way he freely acts when he’s together with his friends in contrast to the demon prodigy of the Port Mafia. Sometimes we look at Mafia Dazai but forget that despite their experiences in the past, he was still young. And Odasaku understood that way before and way deeper than anyone else.

I really liked that they included that precious line in the light novel when Odasaku was talking to Gide, “That guy was just a child who’s too smart. Just a crying child who’s been left alone in the darkness, a world of nothingness far emptier than the world can see.” (translation by nkhrchy.tumblr)

This was my tweet after watching the stage play:

On the other hand, I have a very huge bias towards Miyano Mamoru as Dazai’s voice actor. While Hideyan did touch me in many scenes on his portrayal of teen Dazai, there were lines when I found them lacking. As Lea had mentioned, one of that was the scene when Dazai was begging the Mimic soldier to shoot him. He did yell, “PLEASE”, too strongly and loudly, I think, intending to drown Odasaku’s voice of stopping him. However I also thought that a soft, begging one would be more appropriate.

Another one is when Dazai told Mori that the reason he is going is that, “He is a friend.” I think the anime was more emotional in this one esp with the close-up of the peaceful look on Dazai’s face, and the silent pause.

Lastly, the Odasaku dying scene (ouch, how do we call that). Miyano Mamoru’s desperate but helpless trembling voice in that scene is imprinted in my heart and my ears - when I say I have it memorized, I mean it. Most probably because of this post (please listen to it with earphones): Odasaku’s Final Moments. So I’m sorry but I really couldn’t help but compare it so somehow, Hideyan’s acting in that scene didn’t give me as much feels as the anime did. However, seeing the light novel scene of Dazai lighting up Odasaku’s cigarette in that scene, then the anime scene of Dazai’s bandages getting pulled off, and lastly the scene fading out to Odasaku passing away on his friend’s lap with Dazai tilting his head up silently after - which then showed us his pained expression - was a good seal to the scene. I couldn’t ask for more. Oh.my.gosh.stop

And ofc, the final scene which Asagiri-sensei thoughtfully added. Dazai was back in Bar Lupin, in his ADA clothes, happily saying, “Odasaku, I found it! A job that saves people.” Odasaku appears, and Dazai continues... “Are you happy for me?” Odasaku doesn’t utter a single word, but smiles and pats Dazai on the head, and leaves.

This is giving me a thousand feels because I know, I can feel it, let me say it.

Dazai, Odasaku is very proud of and very happy for you.

This is just for me, but Odasaku saying nothing, but just pats his head while smiling? It’s giving me the feels that - at least one of Odasaku’s orphans made it.

*screams*

*inhales*

*picks up myself*

*exhales*

Over-all, it was definitely a very beautiful adaptation of the light novel. Lea has already pointed out a lot of things in her post above so I also didn’t mention the other details in this post. Can’t really say that it’s perfect, but the stage play adaptation was more than satisfying and really made me love BSD and Asagiri-sensei MORE.

Lastly, I leave you with this tweet...

#dazai protection squad #thank you so much odasaku #bungou stray dogs #bsd stage #bsd dark era #oda sakunosuke #dazai osamu #sakaguchi ango #my original content

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jojo-appreciator · 7 years

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Imo one of the major themes of Jjba is that working together and trusting other people gets you farther than working alone. But the endings of the first 3 parts have that part's Jojo facing the main villain alone, which seems like it should contradict the message of the importance of working with other people. And in a lot of other works it would. But the way Araki writes it Imo having the protagonist be alone at the end only reinforces that theme. Stardust Crusaders is when Araki really starts to get good at this imo. Stardust Crusaders is much more an ensamble cast than Phantom Blood and and Battle Tendency are. Phantom Blood is very much focused around Jonathan and his journey as the start of the Joestar legacy. Zeppeli gets much of his story told in flashbacks but he has already accepted his fate before he meets Jonathan, so his character growth is less focused on than that of Jonathan's. Speedwagon goes through the most change of any of the leads, but the focus is still on Jonathan and how Jonathan affects Speedwagon. There is less of a bond between Zeppeli and Speedwagon imo. (It's still there! And important! But it seems like less attention is put on it) But Speedwagon doesn't die. So his absence from the final battle is not really tragic. Jonathan being alone does something different from what Joseph and Jotaro being alone do In Battle Tendency, Caesar, Lisa Lisa, and Stroheim (ugh) all get characterization but the focus is still mostly on Joseph and how he changes them and what he learns from them. Joseph is alone for the final battle but Caesar's absence is the one that is most strongly felt. Joseph made a choice to leave the others for the final battle, so it feels imo more heroic, less tragic. It's fitting for Joseph to do this foolhardy thing and go it alone. Stardust Crusaders is much more focused on the rest of the group. All the characters get chapters focusing on them. They get fleshed out individually and as part of the team. So the overall arc of the part is of the Crusaders growing from each other and learning to work as a team. The Darby brothers fights both show how much Jotaro has grown to care for his friends. The first one has him risk his own soul for his friends but he still defeats Darby alone. The second Darby fight again shows how determined Jotaro is to protect his friends, but in that fight Jotaro is only able to defeat Darby by getting Joseph to help him. He knows he can depend on other people now. He trusts his teammates. So when he's all alone at the end of SDC it makes the loss of his friends that much more powerful. He needs them and they aren't there because Dio killed them. Imo it's more emotional than when Jonathan and Joseph are alone at the ends of their parts. Dio has taken everything from Jotaro at the end of SDC. All these important relationships he's been able to depend on for the first time in his life and they're gone. He can't even save most of them. They're already dead. And like, The Hero Has To Face The Big Bad Alone is by no means a new concept and is one of the most obvious tropes in Jojo's, I just think he does it really well. Like how Araki gets a different feeling out of the same trope with each ending and avoids the problems some other writers fall into when writing that kind of ending: namely to have all the ensamble characterization that happened before seem like its only purpose was to make the protagonist grow. Whereas in Jojo's, the supporting characters are an important part of the themes of the work and each bring something individual to the story, not just tools to sacrifice for Protagonist Pain.

#except for Avdol who died for Polnareff pain #meta #long post #half asleep ramblings #does this make any sense #jonathan joestar #joseph joestar #jotaro kujo #phantom blood #battle tendency #stardust Crusaders #sdc #pb #bt

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seizenber · 7 years

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Let's Talk About Love [CHAPTER 1]

Kuroko no Basket’s Fanfiction

Romance/Drama

Akashi Seijuurou x Momoi Satsuki (Hyuuga Junpei x Aida Riko, Kagami Taiga x Alexandra Garcia, Harasawa Katsunori x Araki Masako)

Sorry for bad grammars, typo, etc. I do my best when writing this fanfic. Enjoy!

. . . . . . I think my life would be perfect since I’ve married Momoi Satsuki 7 years ago. I feel grateful to have such a beautiful wife like her. She’s not just beautiful, you can say that she is an ideal type of every men in the universe. She is beautiful, smart, a skillful wife and mother. I know that it sounds crazy but it’s true.

Even an Akashi like me should admit that I had a hard time to get closer to her because I realized that I wasn’t the only one who tried to make her felt the same way. I know that even Aomine had something to her though Satsuki said to me that they’re just childhood friends.

Well, despite of that fact, I still feel grateful about married Satsuki and having a beautiful daughter 2 years after we got married. Her name is Akashi Shiori, I purposely named her with my late mother’s name and fortunately Satsuki didn’t mind with that name.

Now, I really feel that I have a perfect life; I was born as Akashi Seijuurou, married Satsuki and has an adorable daughter, even I’ve been a President of my own company. I know that all of you are questioning about how come I get everything so easily?

But, I don’t know what happens a month before our 6th wedding anniversary. I can’t remember exactly what makes me suspicious to my wife. The only thing I remember is the day we have a dinner with our friends, I see her without our marriage ring. And another thing that makes me more suspicious to her is when I realize that she’s rarely at home when I get off work.

I married Riko 3 years ago. Yes, I know that our marriage life is just started now, yet we can’t be called as a newly married couple anymore.

I don’t know the right answer if you ask me a question about my happiness after got married with Riko. I mean, well, I really happy to be with her, becoming her husband and spending a lot of time with her. But, even when she tries so hard to smile in front of me as if she is really happy, I know that she feels empty at the same time.

When we have a family gathering, I always try my best to have a good relationship with her family. Talk about everything with my father-in-law, visit my late mother-in-law’s grave, have fun with her cousins, etc. But, to be honest, at the same time, I always feel like I want to escape from them as soon as possible. It doesn’t mean that I actually hate being with them, but I realize that I’m not meant to be there with them.

Riko works at Akashi Group as Akashi Seijuurou’s secretary. It’s been almost 4 years and I know that she does her best about her job. Akashi tells me by himself about her work and I feel grateful that everything goes well. But, I’m embarrassed for myself.

How can a husband like me is unemployment and let my wife works alone? She should stay at home, do her job as a wife, after that waiting for me when I get off my work. But, haha, what a shame! Even I can’t say anything more.

Because of that, I choose to not have any plan about having a child with her. It’s not like I don’t want to. It’s because our condition. I know that Riko is always envy with Satsuki, Akashi’s wife, she has a cute daughter. Riko really likes to spend her time with Shiori, their daughter. I feel sorry about myself. I love Riko so much, but the only thing I can do is making her embarrassed with my status. Moreover, I told her that I’ll be ready to have a child if I have a job. She tried to understand me, but I know she feels something and choosing to not tell me what she feels after heard what I said to her.

“Taiga, listen to me,” my father gets closer to me, “Your mother wants you to come back to LA soon.”

I rolls my eyes. “What else? If she has something to say to me, why doesn’t she talk to me through the phone? Why do I have to come back?”

I see him inhales his breath.

“I know it, kiddo,” ugh, he calls me with that nickname again, “But she insists to bring you back, Taiga. You know your mother so well.”

“Come on, Dad. Because I know Mom so well, I choose to stay here with Alex and Tatsuya.”

I know that he’s a little bit surprised with my words.

“Oh, so you know it?”

“Exactly, Dad. Is there anything that Mom wants to talk with me if it’s not about Alex and Tatsuya?”

Maybe he feels uneasy with this awkward situation. But, I can’t hold it anymore if what my parents’ going to say is about my wife and her son.

“I know that you will reject it, Taiga. But, think about it again. Think about your Mom condition. She’s always sad after you decided to marrying Alex.”

I can feel the anger was trying to control me right now.

“What’s the problem? Is it because I married her without talk about it to you and Mom? Or is it because she’s been divorced with her ex husband and Tatsuya is their son?” I ask him impatiently, “Tell Mom that I choose to stay here, Dad.”

I don’t give my father a chance to answer my question. I almost lost my mind. What’s wrong with marrying Alex? It’s just a status. It doesn’t matter with anything about us. Why they always make her status and Tatsuya as the problem of our marriage?

My car stops in front of the kindergarten before finally Masako takes her handbag and gives me a little smile. As she comes toward the gate, she greets her adorable students who come along with their parents. I see one of them is grabbing her hand, a little girl with a pigtail, Masako smiles to her and then they walk away into the kindergarten.

I grab my phone, texting her something before driving my car to my office. I feel grateful when I find that I don’t get myself in traffic jam like usual. It’s still 8 a.m. in the morning of course. I’m sure mostly people take a train because they avoid to get in traffic jam.

All of sudden, I’m surprised with the sound of my phone. Masako replies my message.

From: Masako

Thank you, Katsunori-kun. Have a nice day too. Be careful when you’re driving. Don’t forget to have a lunch later.

I smile when I read her message. But, I decide to not reply her message because I know that she dislikes someone who trying to make a mess with her when she wants to focus on her job as a teacher.

And then, I see the red light so I stop my car for a while. To avoid the boredom, I try to do something as I wait the light changes into green light. I take out my phone again and open Facebook application just for seeing my timeline. Suddenly, when I scrolled down my timeline, I find some articles that Masako liked in Facebook last night.

I look at my phone, exactly on the articles, then I can feel sadness comes to me. Well, I can’t make sure if it was really sadness or sorry. Probably I feel both. My eyes look straight on the articles about baby and parenting. She was clicking ‘like’ button of the articles last night.

I sigh deeply meanwhile I lean on my chair. Now my eyes are looking at the street. Suddenly I remember what happened when we visited obstetrician in hospital to make sure something since Masako felt nausea lately. I waited with her alone in front of the examination room. Hope something that we really dream for 8 years of our marriage would come true. We believe that it would happen soon and that day was the day that we’ve waited for long times.

But, what the obstetrician said to us just like someone stab a knife into your heart and letting your blood streaming down on your skin. He said that Masako is barren. That’s why we never have a chance to be in a position as parents. When I heard about that, the only thing that came to my head was my wife’s condition. For the first time, I saw her crying like that. As she lost something important from her life.

It’s not a love story. But, this story is about those who involve in the sacred bond of marriage and what they’re talking about when it comes to love after getting married.

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