JoJo's Bizarre Adventure S01E17 Review: Tears of ACDC

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Season 1, Episode 17: The Deeper Plan

[revised 10/2018]

I always forgot that ACDC was built up as the second-highest ranking Pillar Man after Kars, because in a slight subversion of normal shonen action manga convention, ACDC ended up being the first of the three that Joseph and Caesar face in battle. And that fight ends up taking up the majority of this episode.

After the slower episode 16, we jump straight back into action as ACDC shows up in Air Supplena Island, with that glorious, distinctive voice provided by Keiji Fujiwara [Maes Hughes in Full Metal Alchemist and Leorio in Hunter x Hunter] that combines a weird accent that's a mix between a badass fighter and a crotchety old man.

Of course, we do get a bit of an exposition mission statement as the Pillar Men discuss their goal, where they need the SUPER Aja Stone (not to be confused with regular Aja stones), and their end-goal is to combine it with the Stone Mask to pierce their bodies. It's never really explained why the Stone Masks are unable to pierce the Pillar Men's bodies when it's previously implied that the Pillar Men created the Stone Masks, so... uh... what? We also learn, of course, that Lisa Lisa has the Super Aja Stone, which means that confrontation is inevitable. And they can't destroy the Super Aja Stone, because that's also the only way to defeat the Pillar Men.

It's a bit of an overly convenient plot device, that Super Aja Stone. Not the biggest fan of it, to be honest.

Anyway, after exposition, it seems that Joseph and Caesar are going to have to continue their training and get to the final test as they fight the assistant trainers Messina and Loggins atop a giant spike pit (they can walk with hamon), but ACDC shows up, kicks Loggins in the lungs so hard he dies, and we get a proper fight between Joseph and ACDC. Unlike Wamuu, though, ACDC is not very interested in actually fighting Joseph, knowing that he's got an objective and that's to steal the Super Aja. This allows Joseph to get the drop on ACDC, and using some hamon and string tricks, manages to slice off ACDC's arm

Joseph continues to taunt ACDC, talking about how he gets first blood... and then: "HUYYEYYEHHHH". Yeah, ACDC crying is pretty out of nowhere in the manga, and it's similarly out of nowhere and delivered excellently by the voice actor, and as Joseph notes -- it's way, way creepier than him just being angry or furious. And then ACDC just clams up and cuts off his emotion, is pretty jarring, and really sells how inhuman these Pillar Men are -- they look human, speak the human tongue, but things like emotional coping and stuff are quite different.

ACDC then quickly turns the table on Joseph, claiming the dead Loggins's arm as his own. ACDC's special power (like Wamuu's Holy Sandstorm) is revealed to be literal hot-bloodedness, and he's able to manipulate his blood vessels like little hoses to spray boiling blood as a weapon. Some choice body horror bits include ACDC's fingernails sliding out and revealing vein tentacles, or his self-mutilation later on in the fight, or the utterly and unnecessarily graphic melting of Loggins's corpse.

The battle sort of stretches on credibility a bit, but apparently, while offscreen, Joseph manages to lay down this complex set of wire knots able to trap ACDC even if part of the trap is cut. It genuinely feels a bit off, pacing-wise, though, and I kinda wished that the episode managed to pace things out to make Joseph's trickery a bit more believable. It's entertaining enough, though, and we get a lot of fun, hammy scenes, like ACDC crumpling himself and impaling himself on the spikes just to mock Joseph, loud "NAAA" shouting, Joseph mocking ACDC's "sexy" lips and a whole lot of "Your next line is X!" back-and-forth between the two of them.

Of course, Joseph ends up claiming victory and sets ACDC ablaze with Hamon, burning his body up and striking a victory pose. It's a neat enough battle that shows just how far Joseph has gone in hamon manipulation, while at the same time keeps his focus as a guile hero intact. Of course, silly old Joseph really should've noticed a gigantic brain and veins that is taking a ride on his back.

Overall, I did find the episode immensely entertaining, if only for the insanely hammy banter between ACDC and Joseph, both of whom just try to one-up the other in hamminess. While it certainly could have been paced better, I can't say I dislike this episode.