Posts Tagged ‘Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure’

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #137

September 9, 2011

I finished up Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 6, with volume 7-17, over the course of this week. When I got into the meat of the story the chapters just flew by. At first I thought that Jolyne and company would break out of prison fairly quickly but in all actuality they spend a good deal of time inside the big house. Of course with any prison story you must have a big break out and as with any Jojo’s story post part 2 it means there will be a stand battle. Oddly enough Jolyne’s escape is more Memento than The Great Escape. The most surprising part of this arc is who lives and who dies in this part of the series. Jojo’s is pretty good at not flinching when it comes to killing characters. Heroes and villains die with equal ease. After Hirohiko Araki kills the protagonist after part 1 you assume all bets are off but Stone Ocean takes it to a new level. You have to give it to Enrico Pucci for being the most credible villains since Dio (not than anyone has come off as a pushover before then). Foo Fighters has easily become my favorite character in the series so far. Jojo’s is a series with some very strange characters but Foo Fighters is near the top of the list. She is great fun and another awesome supporting character in a line of greats for the series. This is a grand and glorious ending the what can be seen as a complete cycle of the series. After this part the universe is literally different and completely new doors have opened up for story possibilities. I did have some revelations about the series after this part and might just do a Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure survival guide article filled with tips on how to survive in the Jojo’s universe by being genre savvy.

I’ve been enjoying Croisee in a Foreign Labyrinth (eps. 2-7) probably for its setting more than anything else. But still it has small enjoyable moments as bits of French culture are revealed through Yune’s experience. I wasn’t expecting a wacky princess character like Alice to show up, but probably more intriguing is her sister Camille. Her connection with Claude has yet to be fully realized but I’m very curious. Doubly so because I expected there would be a romance in the works between Claude and Yune but that may prove false.

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Manga of the Month: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

September 1, 2011

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険) by Hirohiko Araki

Lets just get this out-of-the-way. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure goes from a pretty ugly manga to a better drawn but very oddly stylized manga. If art and character designs are a high priority to you then you are not going to make it through more than a few chapters before you give up in disgust. But everyone else is going to get hooked by one of the best shonen fighting manga ever.

When you first get into shonen fighting manga you are usually wowed by the crazy characters, unique powers, and dramatic fights. But usually after a half a dozen series most people being to see that while a few shonen fighting shows stay fresh most seem to blend together in mediocrity. But even more the One Piece there is a manga that consistently stays fresh and absolutely insane even after 100+ volumes. That manga is Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.

It starts off with a “simple” story. A young man in Victorian England must learn sunlight based kung fu to avenge the death of his father at the hands of an evil vampire. But after a few volumes that young man completes his quest and then subsequently dies. At that point we learn that Jojo’s is actually a generational tale that follows the exploits of the Joestar family. Every few volumes a piece of the grand narrative will come to a close and the story jumps to another member of the Joestar family and their equally strange adventures. There is everything from mob stories to cross continental horse back races.

There are just a laundry list of reason to love Jojo’s. While the manga uses many of the standard parts of the shonen fighting formula it wisely knows that the secret to using that blueprint it to keep the ingredients you use in every iteration fresh.  By constantly changing the cast, powers, and setting at regular intervals the story may have the same vibe but no individual piece stays around long enough to wear out its welcome. Also Hirohiko Araki has a totally eccentric style so the manga is made up of honorable cyborg nazi’s, super powered dogs, invisible babies, and the most powerful and holy magical zombie of all time. Also most of the characters and powers are musical references which give the manga a catchy feel. You really just have to read Jojo’s to understand. Only the third part is commercially available but it is a great introduction to the madness.

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Ongoing Investigations: Case #133

August 12, 2011

In my Tsukihime round-up I finally got around to the Tsukihime PLUS+DISC. Mostly a few little stories added to promote previous releases of Tsukihime and Kagetsu Tohya. The Alliance of Illusionary Eyes is the main meat of the content of the disc and is mostly from the point of view of Akira Seo and her first meeting with Tohno Shiki. Her appearances in Kagetsu Tohya make much more sense after reading this. The other three stories are much sillier but sometimes enlightening. Geccha 1 and 2 are little behind the scenes looks at unanswered questions, plot holes, and unused material in a Type-Moon told in a comedic manner. I wonder how many people ship Arcueid and Ciel as they fight like pair that would surely be hooked up in yaoi fanfiction. Sad Birthday Girl fans can see unused Satsuki’s path material. There is also the utterly weird Kinoko’s Masterpiece Experimental Theater. This is mostly weird to be weird. There is no hidden material here. Just uncle Nrvnqsr Chaos. There is nothing vital here other the Alliance but there is a lot to enjoy. Plus I can attest that you can read all of this in just one lunch break if you put your mind to it.

I was so pleased to find Trigun: Badlands Rumble showing at Otakon this year. The movie plays out like an extended TV episode. This is one last hurrah for the fans really so as such it isn’t the place to start for the unfamiliar. Badlands Rumble features Vash’s legendary good-nature as he tries to protect Amelia who is looking for revenge against notorious bandit Gasback who is rumored to be heading for Macca City. Meryl and Milly are dispatched to keep an eye on things since their insurance company has insured a statue in the city for $$5,000,000,00. Wolfwood gets in on the action too, but I won’t say exactly how. I must say it was wonderful to hear the cheers and claps when Wolfwood appeared for the first time. Everything comes together in a spectacular action-packed end. Beyond new animation, there is nothing to say this wasn’t just a part of the show. I saw it dubbed and it didn’t quite have enough force behind it so I’ll be curious to watch it again on DVD. Trigun: Badlands Rumble is good fun with characters that you love.

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All Points Bulletin: Wonder Woman’s Bizzare Adventure Part 4: Mickey Mouse is Unbreakable

July 24, 2011

If you have any suggestions for what to highlight on an APB drop us a line via email or Twitter.

 Narutaki’s picks:

Hisui’s picks:

Lots of comic book related articles this week so:

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