The biggest trademark difference between each part of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is the uprooting of the whole series for the continuation. Each part does not share a setting and later on we’ll see how shared characters are used more to bridge the gaps between parts rather than help serve as a direct continuation. Each part submerges the audience in a brand new setting and as time goes on, we’ll discover the familiarity established during these transitions to help readers feel at east. Today is the beginning of those transitions as we jump from 1880s England to 1930s New York for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, part 2: Battle Tendency.
Battle Tendency is the story of Joseph Joestar, grandson of Phantom Blood’s Jonathan, as destiny guides him to becoming involved with the creators of the stone mask that Dio used to turn himself and others into vampires. These creators, known as the Pillar Men, are ancient supernatural beings who created the stone mask to help overcome their weakness to sunlight so they may ascend to being the perfect creatures. Joseph’s journey to stop the Pillar Men from becoming invincible takes him all around the world as tensions are boiling over on the cusp of World War 2.
Joseph is one of the most interesting Joestar descendants in the whole series due to both his character and his placement within the series. Joseph has a very dynamic personality as a huge goofball, trickster, and coward, and is notable for not being above using underhanded tactics to win. This is a stark contrast to the noble do-gooder Jonathan made all the more apparent by Joseph’s story directly following Jonathan’s. Despite being so different, Joseph also shares some very basic traits with Jonathan such as his loyalty to his friends and a general penchant for doing the morally right thing.
Establishing a villain in the continuation of a story can be very difficult. The role needs to be filled by an entity that is stronger than the previous villain to help raise the stakes but not too closely related to them for fear of coming off as a cliche. The Pillar Men fit this role perfectly by being related to the conflict of Phantom Blood without being related to Dio himself. By presenting the new villains as the creators of the mask that Dio used to gain his power, Battle Tendency teases the idea that Dio is just a pawn in a game larger than he could have ever realized.
As the sequel piece, Battle Tendency begins showing the audience that each part is not wholly unique and may share similar beats to past parts as destiny continues to play a large theme throughout the series. This is done through the introduction of Caesar Zeppeli, grandson of Will Zeppeli. Caesar is given much more personality than Will was and is shown to be a calm, collected person placed in a role slightly behind that of Joseph’s. It could be argued that Caesar’s importance ultimately outweighs Will’s due to Caesar’s prominence despite Will being the person who helped tie the two families together.
Battle Tendency also sees the rise of one Robert Speedwagon, a side character from Phantom Blood who was cast in the role of being Jonathan’s best friend. Speedwagon is very much a side character through Phantom Blood, but Battle Tendency gives him a much more prominent role as the benefactor of the Joestar family by having him become an oil tycoon and using that money to found an organization with the purpose of assisting the Joestars for years to come. The Speedwagon Foundation exists as a very thinly-veiled plot device and is used to great effect beginning in Battle Tendency.
On the surface, Battle Tendency gives the appearance of a much more dynamic narrative with much more comedy than Phantom Blood as well as the story taking place in settings around the world. Joseph’s wisecracking gives this part a much lighter mood than its predecessor, and the overall tone shares the exciting spirit of adventure from an Indiana Jones film as opposed to Phantom Blood’s dark, grim tone borrowed from a traditional vampire film. Battle Tendency is only slightly longer than Phantom Blood, but these seemingly small differences manage to make it feel even longer in a fulfilling way.
Despite all signs pointing to Battle Tendency having a quicker pace, it still manages to touch the same plot points as Phantom Blood with a similar writing style throughout its story. These two parts are radically different from the rest of the series as will be seen in the future, but they still manage to compliment each other in their own unique way. Given the scope of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure as a whole, it would not be a stretch to consider both parts to be an extended prologue for the series.
Tomorrow we’ll get to the core of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure with Stardust Crusaders, which is easily the most iconic part of the series and where the series firmly cements its identity. Battle Tendency is available on the Shonen Jump app and you know the details of that.
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