JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Season 1, Episode 9: The Final Hamon
[revised 10/2018]
That's definitely a neat finale to Phantom Blood, the first chapter in this madcap ride that's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Despite it's pretty epic finish, I kind of have to nod when people complain that JJBA did start off pretty weak. Again, the anime manages to allay a lot of the manga's problems by having colourful, shiny moving bits and some really talented voice actors delivering the glorious lines, but despite the rocky middle, Phantom Blood does deliver one of the more satisfying endings of the series.
Going into JoJo's Bizarre Adventure the first time around, I knew that there was going to be multiple Parts, but I definitely didn't know that Part 1 was going to end with Jonathan Joestar's death. Part 1 is easily the shortest of the currently eight JJBA parts, and the one that feels the most experimental. As such, Jonathan doesn't have much in terms of development. He's not one-dimensional, and definitely grows between the naive boy at the start of his youth and the gentleman-reluctant-hero he is at the end of the series, but he's definitely likable enough to carry this story.
And the ending of this episode definitely works well -- with the music and everything -- to remind me of the same feeling when I read this episode's manga equivalent a couple of years ago. Which is "what the fuck, did Jonathan just die?" Especially with how the entire episode is initially set up as a traditional epilogue-after-beating-the-big-bad. We get Erina and Jonathan getting married, and brief check-ins with the side characters. And, of course, Speedwagon smashes the Stone Mask with a goddamn hammer. Got to love that Speedwagon.
We seem to get a "oh, the bad guy is going to be back for some sort of huge showdown in the future" with one of Dio's zombie thralls, Wang Chan, recovering Dio's amputated head, which survived disintegration. (Which really makes Wang Chan's omission from previous episodes a bit unfortunate) But it actually goes on with a storyline of Wang Chan sneaking Dio's head onto the same ship that Jonathan and Erina are on.
And then we get a pretty effective horror movie scene as chaos spreads on the boat with the vampiric zombie invasion being spread all over the boat, with the ship's crew and guests massacring each other. Interestingly, we get Dio having some character development this time around, scolding Wang Chan for mocking Jonathan, developing a huge, huge buttload of respect towards Jonathan Joestar and acknowledging him as a worthy adversary -- a stark contrast to how he was at the beginning of the series. Was this why he was so scared of the Joestar bloodline when he actually does make his return later on? You can totally see just how intense this was for Dio, how he keeps a very serious face on, never devolving to the muda-muda wryyy hamminess anymore. He just wants to take Jonathan's body because he's the only person he respects at this point.
Oh, and all this is going on when Dio is a disembodies head sending his blood vessels out like tentacles, so there's definitely a hint of ridiculousness to it all. It's the darkest hour for Jonathan, who notes that his neck is pierced and he's unable to use hamon. And to save Erina from the zombies, Jonathan manages to kill Wang Chan, force his body to overload the ship's boilers in a "take you with me" plan. Jonathan ends up dying a hero, telling Erina to escape and survive with the only survivor of the massacre -- a little baby -- and hugs Dio's head tight to his chest even to his death, dying without malice. It's a bittersweet end, and really highlights what a true gentleman hero Jonathan is.
It's definitely a huge, abrupt end to Jonathan Joestar's story especially in the manga, where the Part begins with "Jonathan Joestar: His Youth!", implying that this whole vampire thing is just the first of many bizarre adventures. Overall, though, Phantom Blood is a pretty decent story even if it's honestly pretty predictable -- it's a well-executed story (Bruford/Tarkus parts aside), and one that definitely doesn't overstay its welcome. For better or for worse, we're ditching this cast of characters, and we're going to jump into Part 2 of the series, where we actually deal with the fallout of this vampire crisis, and while subsequent parts of JoJo are going to be less and less interconnected, it's definitely a very interesting storytelling method, setting the entirety of Part 1 as more of a prequel than anything. And while my feelings for Phantom Blood is definitely mixed, I do appreciate it for what it is. A simple, minimal-filler story that knows what it wants to tell, and tells that story.
See you for more and more bizarre insanity in the future!
That's definitely a neat finale to Phantom Blood, the first chapter in this madcap ride that's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Despite it's pretty epic finish, I kind of have to nod when people complain that JJBA did start off pretty weak. Again, the anime manages to allay a lot of the manga's problems by having colourful, shiny moving bits and some really talented voice actors delivering the glorious lines, but despite the rocky middle, Phantom Blood does deliver one of the more satisfying endings of the series.Going into JoJo's Bizarre Adventure the first time around, I knew that there was going to be multiple Parts, but I definitely didn't know that Part 1 was going to end with Jonathan Joestar's death. Part 1 is easily the shortest of the currently eight JJBA parts, and the one that feels the most experimental. As such, Jonathan doesn't have much in terms of development. He's not one-dimensional, and definitely grows between the naive boy at the start of his youth and the gentleman-reluctant-hero he is at the end of the series, but he's definitely likable enough to carry this story.
And the ending of this episode definitely works well -- with the music and everything -- to remind me of the same feeling when I read this episode's manga equivalent a couple of years ago. Which is "what the fuck, did Jonathan just die?" Especially with how the entire episode is initially set up as a traditional epilogue-after-beating-the-big-bad. We get Erina and Jonathan getting married, and brief check-ins with the side characters. And, of course, Speedwagon smashes the Stone Mask with a goddamn hammer. Got to love that Speedwagon.We seem to get a "oh, the bad guy is going to be back for some sort of huge showdown in the future" with one of Dio's zombie thralls, Wang Chan, recovering Dio's amputated head, which survived disintegration. (Which really makes Wang Chan's omission from previous episodes a bit unfortunate) But it actually goes on with a storyline of Wang Chan sneaking Dio's head onto the same ship that Jonathan and Erina are on.
And then we get a pretty effective horror movie scene as chaos spreads on the boat with the vampiric zombie invasion being spread all over the boat, with the ship's crew and guests massacring each other. Interestingly, we get Dio having some character development this time around, scolding Wang Chan for mocking Jonathan, developing a huge, huge buttload of respect towards Jonathan Joestar and acknowledging him as a worthy adversary -- a stark contrast to how he was at the beginning of the series. Was this why he was so scared of the Joestar bloodline when he actually does make his return later on? You can totally see just how intense this was for Dio, how he keeps a very serious face on, never devolving to the muda-muda wryyy hamminess anymore. He just wants to take Jonathan's body because he's the only person he respects at this point.Oh, and all this is going on when Dio is a disembodies head sending his blood vessels out like tentacles, so there's definitely a hint of ridiculousness to it all. It's the darkest hour for Jonathan, who notes that his neck is pierced and he's unable to use hamon. And to save Erina from the zombies, Jonathan manages to kill Wang Chan, force his body to overload the ship's boilers in a "take you with me" plan. Jonathan ends up dying a hero, telling Erina to escape and survive with the only survivor of the massacre -- a little baby -- and hugs Dio's head tight to his chest even to his death, dying without malice. It's a bittersweet end, and really highlights what a true gentleman hero Jonathan is.It's definitely a huge, abrupt end to Jonathan Joestar's story especially in the manga, where the Part begins with "Jonathan Joestar: His Youth!", implying that this whole vampire thing is just the first of many bizarre adventures. Overall, though, Phantom Blood is a pretty decent story even if it's honestly pretty predictable -- it's a well-executed story (Bruford/Tarkus parts aside), and one that definitely doesn't overstay its welcome. For better or for worse, we're ditching this cast of characters, and we're going to jump into Part 2 of the series, where we actually deal with the fallout of this vampire crisis, and while subsequent parts of JoJo are going to be less and less interconnected, it's definitely a very interesting storytelling method, setting the entirety of Part 1 as more of a prequel than anything. And while my feelings for Phantom Blood is definitely mixed, I do appreciate it for what it is. A simple, minimal-filler story that knows what it wants to tell, and tells that story.
See you for more and more bizarre insanity in the future!
The JoJo Playlist:
- Minor character Father Styx is, of course, a reference to the song Father, sung by the band Styx.
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