I watched the episode again, and Dario is shown tossing the briefcase away, which causes the mask to fall out.
Let's Watch JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
- Thread starter Leila Hann
- Start date
- Anime
- Location
- Patriarchova
Right you are. I think I got thrown off by the loud clicking sound that it made when he latched the briefcase up again.
Will edit.
EDIT: edited this post to let you know that I edited the review post with the edit that you told me to edit in. By editing.
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Lord Ultimus
Beautiful...
- Location
- Undisclosed Warehouse
And the fans that aren't ironic are quite characters themselves.
- Location
- Land of the Midday Sun
Part 1 could be called "Araki tries to copy Tetsuo Hara's drawings while writing his own story". Early (until Part 4) JoJo artstyle is very heavily influenced by Hokuto no Ken, which was very big in the early '80. Keep this in mind when talking about the characters artstyle and proportions (and I hope the anime did correct some of those early on).
As for Dio's name, there's a reason he's called that. Various ones really, but one that not so talked about is that Araki likes Italy.
Lord Ultimus
Beautiful...
- Location
- Undisclosed Warehouse
Wasn't manga (specifically non-gag shonen stuff) back in the eighties very much Manly Musclebound MEN as opposed to the bishie high schoolers of today?
mothematics
How wide is the concept of "you"?
- Location
- the bottom of a coffee cup
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Yeah, it was A Look. Hypermasculine walls of muscle etc.
- Location
- Patriarchova
That creates some fridge hilarity later in this episode in particular.
Like, look at some of those shots, and remember that these characters are supposed to be 12-13 years old.
Lord Ultimus
Beautiful...
- Location
- Undisclosed Warehouse
I consider that to be part of the charm of Part 1. The melodrama more or less makes JoJo in all its incarnations.
Vindictus
XENO
- Location
- Texas
CV12Hornet
Riter.
- Location
- Tacoma, Washington
Power fantasies were very big in Japanese media during the 80s, what with it being the height of the economic boom and all. Add in a dose of inspiration from American action movie stars, and bam! Beefcake for days.
Honestly, you could write a thesis on how shonen manga has changed between the 80s and today, and Jojo is one of the causes of that change.
The fandom has not missed this, no. Back in 2012, there were a lot of jokes made to that effect.
The Sandman
So Zetta Slowpoke
- Location
- Wherever I am, which isn't where I'm not
It's what Liefeld wanted to draw if he grew up.
tankdrop24
Tread First into Hell
- Location
- The Center of the Universe: Toronto, Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I'd say what can make even the parts of Jojo that are lacking in quality enjoyable for some is actually similar in my mind to say, what makes the Room enjoyable. Many of the component parts are absurd and poorly thought out at best, but they're all wrong in just such a right way that it comes together such that, while not unironically good, certainly has a unique charm of it's own.
The Narrator
Disembodied Voice
- Location
- Somewhere Offscreen
The writer's apparently read Les Miserables, because that's how Thenardier met Marius' dad in the original novel: he was looting corpses on the battlefield after Waterloo and Colonel Baron Pontmercy turned out to not be dead and mistakenly thought that Thenardier was rescuing him.
Daniel Estacado
ZA WARUDO
Dude, Araki is basically a reverse weeb.
EDIT: also he looks great for a guy who is 57.
The Narrator
Disembodied Voice
- Location
- Somewhere Offscreen
Amusingly, I think the only adaptation of Les Miserables that includes that part of the story is the anime version.
- Location
- America in all but name
Also, as someone who's watched Utena and gotten himself intellectually embroiled in feminist discourse, I found Jojo's open statement of how he only fought the Droog Brothers not for Peach's sake, but for the sake of upholding his personal reputation as a "gentleman", to be bizarrely investing.
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Private Lee O'Malley
Easygoing Egoist
- Location
- Gensokyo
If you ever reach a point where you go "Man these bodies are excessively huge." trust me, the anime toned it down heavily compared to the manga.
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- Location
- Athens, Greece
Unless I'm significantly misremembering I don't think he was talking about reputation. He was talking about his self-perception and his sense of self-worth -- he sees himself as a gentleman and he wants to act like a gentleman.
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Private Lee O'Malley
Easygoing Egoist
- Location
- Gensokyo
Exactly, he wants to be a gentleman. That's why his punches are so weak, he was just being a gentle man.
- Location
- secret base
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Exactly, he wants to be a gentleman. That's why his punches are so weak, he was just being a gentle man.
- Location
- US
Yeah it's def what Liefield wishes he could draw.
SalsaDeGranada
Thankful for our Cradle's Graces
- Location
- Philippines
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- Location
- secret base
- Pronouns
- She/Her
No, he's just from the same species as Keanu Reeves
- Location
- Budapest
Well, he did grew up. Turns out, the guy who was the butt of every joke actually took all the criticism to his heart (gasp! even the mean ones!) and worked his ass off to become better and guess what? He did. He can draw shit like feet now, seriously, you wouldn't recognize his works now.
If only all creators would be like that... but that's for the previous thread.
S1E1: Dio the Invader (pt 2)
- Location
- Patriarchova
A coach pulls up to the Joestar manor, while JoJo happens to be standing - alone - outside the door. Instead of getting out of the coach like a normal person, Dio first throws his suitcase out through the curtain door so hard it bounces off of the cobblestones.
Either that was an apology, or the translation is so hopelessly off that I'm going to need to find a different sub.
Nice going, dumbass.
That's where I'll be stopping this for today. The remaining third of the episode is much stronger than what came before, but even so its a pretty unengaging experience. I was told before starting that I shouldn't expect JBA to be psychologically grounded, but I was also told that it would have enough batshit over-the-top action and excitement for that to barely matter. Unfortunately, the pilot is selling itself entirely as a human drama without any bizarre adventures in sight, and JBA is just not any good at being that.
And then he leaps out of it, like a lion launching itself out of the bushes at an unsuspecting prey animal, while a dramatic pink Anime Action Background blazes behind him, before coming down in a three-point superhero landing beside the suitcase.
Just offscreen, Deadpool points and chuckles.
If this is supposed to be an establishing character moment for Dio, I have absolutely no idea what its supposed to be telling us about him. He didn't seem overly dramatic or physically hyperactive in the preceding montage. Quite the opposite; he was made out to be the very picture of poise and restraint. I would guess he's just really, really excited about coming to live with the Joestars, but after the next few scenes, well, I don't think its that either.
Also, after rising to his feet Dio gives JoJo a stare so intense that it needs both a gothic musical cue AND a caption.
If this is supposed to be an establishing character moment for Dio, I have absolutely no idea what its supposed to be telling us about him. He didn't seem overly dramatic or physically hyperactive in the preceding montage. Quite the opposite; he was made out to be the very picture of poise and restraint. I would guess he's just really, really excited about coming to live with the Joestars, but after the next few scenes, well, I don't think its that either.
Also, after rising to his feet Dio gives JoJo a stare so intense that it needs both a gothic musical cue AND a caption.
I can't read Japanese, so I don't know what that says, but I'm having trouble thinking of a word that's appropriate to blow up in hyper-dramatic giant 3d font for THIS situation. Any Japanese speakers who may be reading this, feel free to tell me.
JoJo (whose proper name is revealed to be Jonathan) recognizes that this must be Dio, his new foster brother whose arrival the Joestars have been expecting. They exchange greetings, and then Danny the dog comes running over, and Dio kicks him in the face.
Dio, I don't think you thought your cunning plan to get rich off the Joestars all the way through.
Naturally, JoJo is less than happy about this, and makes ready to kick Dio the dog-kicker's ass. Not that he has my confidence in his ability to do so, based on his performance against the Super Bully Brothers, but honestly I don't think that the outcome of this fight should matter too much as far as Dio is concerned. Hell, winning the fight would probably be worse for Dio than losing it. If George comes out to see both his dog and his son bleeding on the ground, Dio's going to be extremely lucky if he only gets thrown out on the streets and not sent to jail. Or hell, just fucking shot; he's a prole boy in Victorian England, after all, I doubt George would have trouble getting away with it.
Fortunately for Dio, George and his servants step out through the door before any blows can be exchanged, and he's savvy enough to apologize to George and explain that he's afraid of dogs and kicked it on a reflex when it came running at him. Its a reasonable explanation, and I might have bought it myself if we didn't also get a Dio internal monologue that strongly implies that he's lying.
There's a problem with him lying about this, though; if it wasn't a reflex, why did Dio kick the dog? Was it just shortsighted malice that he only realized after the fact might reflect badly on him? Was he testing his boundaries, to see how much he can get away with? In the former case, I have trouble believing that Dio is going to last very long among his new foster family, because having that little self-control and foresight about the expressions of one's sadism doesn't exactly make for a successful sociopath. If the latter, he chose a really, really, REALLY dumb way of testing those boundaries, because kicking the dog is a major enough transgression that it could have serious consequences if it does turn out to be a push too far and he hasn't bought himself any social capital to burn yet.
Now, I can buy either of those explanations if we remember that Dio is a barely-pubescent boy and thus probably doesn't exactly have the best judgement in the world. But, well. There's a big problem with how the story handles this going forward.
George brings the two boys into the lobby and gives Dio a little welcoming speech, telling the servants and other manor staff to treat him as they treat JoJo. We see the mask hanging on the wall alongside some other colonial plunder, and the camera even cuts up to it briefly while George is giving his speech.
JoJo (whose proper name is revealed to be Jonathan) recognizes that this must be Dio, his new foster brother whose arrival the Joestars have been expecting. They exchange greetings, and then Danny the dog comes running over, and Dio kicks him in the face.
Dio, I don't think you thought your cunning plan to get rich off the Joestars all the way through.
Naturally, JoJo is less than happy about this, and makes ready to kick Dio the dog-kicker's ass. Not that he has my confidence in his ability to do so, based on his performance against the Super Bully Brothers, but honestly I don't think that the outcome of this fight should matter too much as far as Dio is concerned. Hell, winning the fight would probably be worse for Dio than losing it. If George comes out to see both his dog and his son bleeding on the ground, Dio's going to be extremely lucky if he only gets thrown out on the streets and not sent to jail. Or hell, just fucking shot; he's a prole boy in Victorian England, after all, I doubt George would have trouble getting away with it.
Fortunately for Dio, George and his servants step out through the door before any blows can be exchanged, and he's savvy enough to apologize to George and explain that he's afraid of dogs and kicked it on a reflex when it came running at him. Its a reasonable explanation, and I might have bought it myself if we didn't also get a Dio internal monologue that strongly implies that he's lying.
There's a problem with him lying about this, though; if it wasn't a reflex, why did Dio kick the dog? Was it just shortsighted malice that he only realized after the fact might reflect badly on him? Was he testing his boundaries, to see how much he can get away with? In the former case, I have trouble believing that Dio is going to last very long among his new foster family, because having that little self-control and foresight about the expressions of one's sadism doesn't exactly make for a successful sociopath. If the latter, he chose a really, really, REALLY dumb way of testing those boundaries, because kicking the dog is a major enough transgression that it could have serious consequences if it does turn out to be a push too far and he hasn't bought himself any social capital to burn yet.
Now, I can buy either of those explanations if we remember that Dio is a barely-pubescent boy and thus probably doesn't exactly have the best judgement in the world. But, well. There's a big problem with how the story handles this going forward.
George brings the two boys into the lobby and gives Dio a little welcoming speech, telling the servants and other manor staff to treat him as they treat JoJo. We see the mask hanging on the wall alongside some other colonial plunder, and the camera even cuts up to it briefly while George is giving his speech.
Either the show is just communicating to us that the mask never left the Joestars' possession, or its trying to suggest that the mask is watching the scene unfold. Not enough information to say which, yet, but either way its an economical use of visuals during the episode's crowded runtime.
George then tells the two boys "You both lost your mothers, and you're both around the same age. You should get along well."
George um. Well. He has an interesting grasp of human psychology.
He also whispers in JoJo's ear to just forget about the dog. JoJo agrees to this, as he seems to find Dio's explanation convincing. JoJo's internal monologue is still unnerved by Dio's failure to apologize for kicking the dog, and we're obviously supposed to take this as a warning sign about Dio. However, I was unable to take it as a sign of anything besides JoJo being either deaf or stupid, because Dio did apologize for kicking the dog. He did it just a minute ago.
George then tells the two boys "You both lost your mothers, and you're both around the same age. You should get along well."
George um. Well. He has an interesting grasp of human psychology.
He also whispers in JoJo's ear to just forget about the dog. JoJo agrees to this, as he seems to find Dio's explanation convincing. JoJo's internal monologue is still unnerved by Dio's failure to apologize for kicking the dog, and we're obviously supposed to take this as a warning sign about Dio. However, I was unable to take it as a sign of anything besides JoJo being either deaf or stupid, because Dio did apologize for kicking the dog. He did it just a minute ago.
Either that was an apology, or the translation is so hopelessly off that I'm going to need to find a different sub.
George sends the servants away and climbs the stairs, inviting Dio to follow him so he can show him to his room. JoJo picks up Dio's suitcase to bring it after him, but Dio grabs his wrist and tears my suspension of disbelief into teeny, tiny pieces.
First, Dio twists JoJo's arm painfully and shouts at him to never dare touch his things again. Then, he puts JoJo in a judo lock and elbows him in the stomach hard enough to make him double over, while saying that he'll have a servant do it (very obviously implying that he finds the servants' touch less objectionable than JoJo's). He then bends down and grabs JoJo by the ear while giving him a classic megalomania speech about himself being in charge from now on, and also threatens to hurt the dog again unless JoJo keeps it away from him.
First, Dio twists JoJo's arm painfully and shouts at him to never dare touch his things again. Then, he puts JoJo in a judo lock and elbows him in the stomach hard enough to make him double over, while saying that he'll have a servant do it (very obviously implying that he finds the servants' touch less objectionable than JoJo's). He then bends down and grabs JoJo by the ear while giving him a classic megalomania speech about himself being in charge from now on, and also threatens to hurt the dog again unless JoJo keeps it away from him.
There's one interesting detail in this scene. Dio is very careful to specify that he's not AFRAID of dogs, he just doesn't like them. This sounds like suspiciously specific denial to me, and it would make sense for a narcissistic egomaniac like Dio apparently is to be sore on this point and incriminate himself while being so. But, well, that's the ONLY potentially good or subtle thing about this exchange. For me, this was the moment where I decided that this show really kind of sucks.
Because you see, JoJo doesn't tell his father about this. None of the servants seem to notice either. Dio just physically assaulted his host's only son within five minutes of his arrival, completely unprovoked, and the show doesn't even put a fig leaf of an explanation over why there are no consequences for this.
...
We've established that George is a weirdo with a very warped view of human behavior, but that still isn't nearly enough. Basically, this scene (and half a dozen others that are about to follow it) is working on four assumptions.
1) George is unwilling to acknowledge or deal with Dio's behavior.
2) Dio somehow KNEW, from the INSTANT HE ARRIVED, that George would be this way.
3) JoJo himself is unable or unwilling to physically fight back.
4) Dio somehow KNEW, from the INSTANT HE ARRIVED, that JoJo would be this way.
1) and 3) are plausible-ish, though they needed foreshadowing...and even then, there's a reason I said "ish." I've met parents who were willing to let outsiders abuse their own children out of ill-defined notions of manners or misconceptions about normal behavior, but this case is a) much more extreme than anything I've seen, and b) so immediate after Dio's meeting with George, before Dio has had a chance to charm or gaslight him. Likewise, our ONE establishing character moment for JoJo before now was all about how brave and forthright he is. He's physically weak, but he's NOT someone who will stay silent out of fear, and he has zero tolerance for bullies. That was literally the sum total of his characterization until now.
2) and 4) are even bigger problems. Dio's smug expressions and voice tones all suggest that he knows he can get away with this, and the episode is going to do nothing besides substantiate this belief. How could he possibly have known that? He's only known these people for five minutes at the very outside!
What I very much suspect is that the original manga had Dio behaving better upon arrival, learning the lay of the land, and then slowly pushing his boundaries while wrapping George around his finger until it gets to the point where he can physically abuse JoeJoe in his own house with impunity. That would make sense. What we're seeing in the anime does NOT make sense, and it isn't even entertaining in its nonsense. If this sequence was indeed the result of the animation studio condensing several weeks or months worth of in-universe events into a single scene, then they did it in just about the stupidest and most character-assassinating way possible for all three of the named male leads.
...
The next piece of baffling WTFery comes after the very next cut, where we see Dio and JoJo being homeschooled (or just having their homework overseen? I dunno) by George. JoJo, who has presumably spent his whole life exposed to books and tutors, is lagging far behind Dio academically, despite Dio's education having consisted of whatever books he could get ahold of and find time to read between dodging bottles and getting beat up by gamblers. I could maybe buy this with the assumption that Dio is an incredible genius, but even that is insufficient to explain the scene after this one, in which we learn that Dio also has better TABLE MANNERS than JoJo.
Because you see, JoJo doesn't tell his father about this. None of the servants seem to notice either. Dio just physically assaulted his host's only son within five minutes of his arrival, completely unprovoked, and the show doesn't even put a fig leaf of an explanation over why there are no consequences for this.
...
We've established that George is a weirdo with a very warped view of human behavior, but that still isn't nearly enough. Basically, this scene (and half a dozen others that are about to follow it) is working on four assumptions.
1) George is unwilling to acknowledge or deal with Dio's behavior.
2) Dio somehow KNEW, from the INSTANT HE ARRIVED, that George would be this way.
3) JoJo himself is unable or unwilling to physically fight back.
4) Dio somehow KNEW, from the INSTANT HE ARRIVED, that JoJo would be this way.
1) and 3) are plausible-ish, though they needed foreshadowing...and even then, there's a reason I said "ish." I've met parents who were willing to let outsiders abuse their own children out of ill-defined notions of manners or misconceptions about normal behavior, but this case is a) much more extreme than anything I've seen, and b) so immediate after Dio's meeting with George, before Dio has had a chance to charm or gaslight him. Likewise, our ONE establishing character moment for JoJo before now was all about how brave and forthright he is. He's physically weak, but he's NOT someone who will stay silent out of fear, and he has zero tolerance for bullies. That was literally the sum total of his characterization until now.
2) and 4) are even bigger problems. Dio's smug expressions and voice tones all suggest that he knows he can get away with this, and the episode is going to do nothing besides substantiate this belief. How could he possibly have known that? He's only known these people for five minutes at the very outside!
What I very much suspect is that the original manga had Dio behaving better upon arrival, learning the lay of the land, and then slowly pushing his boundaries while wrapping George around his finger until it gets to the point where he can physically abuse JoeJoe in his own house with impunity. That would make sense. What we're seeing in the anime does NOT make sense, and it isn't even entertaining in its nonsense. If this sequence was indeed the result of the animation studio condensing several weeks or months worth of in-universe events into a single scene, then they did it in just about the stupidest and most character-assassinating way possible for all three of the named male leads.
...
The next piece of baffling WTFery comes after the very next cut, where we see Dio and JoJo being homeschooled (or just having their homework overseen? I dunno) by George. JoJo, who has presumably spent his whole life exposed to books and tutors, is lagging far behind Dio academically, despite Dio's education having consisted of whatever books he could get ahold of and find time to read between dodging bottles and getting beat up by gamblers. I could maybe buy this with the assumption that Dio is an incredible genius, but even that is insufficient to explain the scene after this one, in which we learn that Dio also has better TABLE MANNERS than JoJo.
Remember, the only time we've ever seen Dio interact with food before was him getting his face mashed into it at some filthy, rough-and-tumble pub.
...
You know, there is one possible way to reconcile Dio's skillset with his background (thanks once again to a co-watcher for raising this possibility). It would also explain his incongruous penchant for makeup and eyeshadow, and the barely repressed, out-of-nowhere hate he seems to harbor for his pampered, upper-class counterpart. That being that in addition to playing chess to support himself and his father, Dio has been turning tricks, and managed to attract some upper class clientele.
No, really, think about this. Victorian London slumdog boy raised in an abandoned factory who somehow had enough exposure to the upper crust to be able put their manners (including table manners) into practice immediately upon being adopted, has an almost reflexive HATRED for that same class that he acts on whenever he can (inexplicably, but that's besides the point) get away with it, and he wore makeup and kept his hair long and luxuriant even when we saw him in the slums. Table manners. He's been having dinner with rich people.
Given that he couldn't possibly have been older than thirteen when he got his opportunity to flee this life and move in with the Joestars, well. This doesn't excuse his cruel and violent behavior, but it makes it a hell of a lot more understandable.
...
Now, the worst scene in an episode that's unfortunately turned out to be full of bad scenes.
JoJo is at a sort of unofficial outdoors boxing club with a bunch of his friends. The framing makes it clear that JoJo is a frequent and popular participant in this gathering. JoJo is surprised when Dio (who the other junior boxers refer to as "the new guy in town") shows up and challenges him to a match. JoJo goes at him with an impressive flurry of practiced, full-armed punches, and the spectators are all amazed when Dio is able to avoid them all and then take JoJo out with just two punches of his own. Its very strongly implied that JoJo was one of the more skilled members of the group.
...
You know, there is one possible way to reconcile Dio's skillset with his background (thanks once again to a co-watcher for raising this possibility). It would also explain his incongruous penchant for makeup and eyeshadow, and the barely repressed, out-of-nowhere hate he seems to harbor for his pampered, upper-class counterpart. That being that in addition to playing chess to support himself and his father, Dio has been turning tricks, and managed to attract some upper class clientele.
No, really, think about this. Victorian London slumdog boy raised in an abandoned factory who somehow had enough exposure to the upper crust to be able put their manners (including table manners) into practice immediately upon being adopted, has an almost reflexive HATRED for that same class that he acts on whenever he can (inexplicably, but that's besides the point) get away with it, and he wore makeup and kept his hair long and luxuriant even when we saw him in the slums. Table manners. He's been having dinner with rich people.
Given that he couldn't possibly have been older than thirteen when he got his opportunity to flee this life and move in with the Joestars, well. This doesn't excuse his cruel and violent behavior, but it makes it a hell of a lot more understandable.
...
Now, the worst scene in an episode that's unfortunately turned out to be full of bad scenes.
JoJo is at a sort of unofficial outdoors boxing club with a bunch of his friends. The framing makes it clear that JoJo is a frequent and popular participant in this gathering. JoJo is surprised when Dio (who the other junior boxers refer to as "the new guy in town") shows up and challenges him to a match. JoJo goes at him with an impressive flurry of practiced, full-armed punches, and the spectators are all amazed when Dio is able to avoid them all and then take JoJo out with just two punches of his own. Its very strongly implied that JoJo was one of the more skilled members of the group.
In case, you've forgotten, let me remind you that just a few minutes ago, we saw JoJo hilariously fail to put up a fight against the SBB. It wasn't just a matter of him being outfought, or them having fought dirty. The visuals, dialogue, and framing were all very consistent about JoJo being physically weak and not knowing how to fight at all.
Fucking hell, his CHARACTER MODEL has changed between that scene and this one to give him more muscle mass.
Now, you'd think that some time has passed between then and now, and JoJo has bulked up and taken up boxing since Peach's Predicament. Except, the other boys just specified that Dio is "the new kid in town," and we saw the date on Dario's tombstone (1880). So, it can't possibly have been more than a year since the "12 years later" timeskip, and there are some visual details that suggest its been much less.
So, either JoJo bulked up and trained up in a ridiculously short timeframe like a twelve year old version of Popeye the Sailor Man dropped in a bathtub of spinach, or its a retcon. One of the other boys remarks that JoJo is "looking stronger," but looking stronger since WHEN? How long is it supposed to have BEEN?
But this next bit now. As he's punching JoJo in the face, Dio decides to stab his thumb into JoJo's eye just as an act of dominance or sadism. No one notices or cares about this obvious foul (I looked it up, and yeah, no, even in nineteenth century England that would have been a no-no), but after what happened in the lobby I was more or less expecting that. What I WASN'T expecting was for Dio to jam his thumb into JoJo's eye socket deep enough to send blood trailing out behind him as he falls...while wearing a padded boxing glove.
Fucking hell, his CHARACTER MODEL has changed between that scene and this one to give him more muscle mass.
Now, you'd think that some time has passed between then and now, and JoJo has bulked up and taken up boxing since Peach's Predicament. Except, the other boys just specified that Dio is "the new kid in town," and we saw the date on Dario's tombstone (1880). So, it can't possibly have been more than a year since the "12 years later" timeskip, and there are some visual details that suggest its been much less.
So, either JoJo bulked up and trained up in a ridiculously short timeframe like a twelve year old version of Popeye the Sailor Man dropped in a bathtub of spinach, or its a retcon. One of the other boys remarks that JoJo is "looking stronger," but looking stronger since WHEN? How long is it supposed to have BEEN?
But this next bit now. As he's punching JoJo in the face, Dio decides to stab his thumb into JoJo's eye just as an act of dominance or sadism. No one notices or cares about this obvious foul (I looked it up, and yeah, no, even in nineteenth century England that would have been a no-no), but after what happened in the lobby I was more or less expecting that. What I WASN'T expecting was for Dio to jam his thumb into JoJo's eye socket deep enough to send blood trailing out behind him as he falls...while wearing a padded boxing glove.
Well, it doesn't show the glove mysteriously flickering out of existence, so we're not nearly at the RWBY tier of "shamelessly lie to the audience about what's onscreen in front of them at this very moment." But given the kind of gloves they're wearing, and the way Dio's fingers would have had to twist to pull that off, I'm still calling bullshit. After the show has forgotten that Dio apologized for kicking the dog, and forgotten that JoJo is supposed to be bad at fighting, I'm not exactly inclined to be charitable when the most plausible explanation for what I'm seeing onscreen is "the writers and/or animators fucked up."
Dio immediately becomes the most popular boy in their social group by virtue of his geometry-defying boxing foul. And uses that popularity to start spreading socially isolating rumors about JoJo. Which the other boys believe immediately, despite JoJo's implied popularity and Dio being "literally who?" as far as any of them knew until just now.
...
I've seen this kind of bully do their thing before. I've been the victim of one. And this isn't how it works.
JoJo wasn't a weak link in Dio's new social group, as far as this scene communicated. All the boys were cheering for JoJo right up until the moment that Dio won, at which point they all did a mysterious 180. He's clearly supposed to have been popular, or at least reasonably well liked. You can't just turn that around overnight, no matter how socially astute and manipulative you are. People like Dio usually choose victims who are already near the bottom of the social pyramid, who have few current friends to alienate from them and who there's already some antipathy or at least apathy from the majority to work with.
Honestly, this scene is even more unbelievable to me than the stuff with George, even without the questionable eyegouge. And, as before, it really gives me the impression that the studio was trying to condense a long, gradually escalating bullying arc into just a few minutes of runtime, and did a terrible job at it. Either that, or the writers just realized that they don't actually know how to write a manipulative sociopath and knowingly took every possible shortcut around actually portraying it, instead just jumping to the end results...without even timeskipping passed the stuff they didn't want to write.
A scene can get away with being wholly unconvincing if it provides some kind of entertaining spectacle or humor or something. But unless you hate JoJo and want to see him suffer, or just have a fetish for eye injuries, this scene isn't buying any entertainment value with its SoD expenditure.
...
We get an internal monologue from Dio explaining that he's planning to take away everything in JoJo's life so that by the time they're adults he'll have nothing. No explanation of how this is actually going to help Dio with anything, besides giving him an outlet for his spite, though I guess its possible that he's hoping to push JoJo to suicide so he can get the whole inheritance or something. Cut to JoJo, sitting miserably in a tree and musing about how Dio seems to be taking over his life. Holy redundant narration, Deadpool. Some other boys come wandering by, but refuse to hang out with JoJo after he greets them due to the rumors that Dio has been spreading about him.
JoJo's reaction to this almost needs to be seen to be believed. After a moment of stunned silence as he watches the other boys retreat, he starts repeating Dio's name. Quietly at first, but then louder and louder, until he's screaming it while jumping up in the air and waving his arms around.
Dio immediately becomes the most popular boy in their social group by virtue of his geometry-defying boxing foul. And uses that popularity to start spreading socially isolating rumors about JoJo. Which the other boys believe immediately, despite JoJo's implied popularity and Dio being "literally who?" as far as any of them knew until just now.
...
I've seen this kind of bully do their thing before. I've been the victim of one. And this isn't how it works.
JoJo wasn't a weak link in Dio's new social group, as far as this scene communicated. All the boys were cheering for JoJo right up until the moment that Dio won, at which point they all did a mysterious 180. He's clearly supposed to have been popular, or at least reasonably well liked. You can't just turn that around overnight, no matter how socially astute and manipulative you are. People like Dio usually choose victims who are already near the bottom of the social pyramid, who have few current friends to alienate from them and who there's already some antipathy or at least apathy from the majority to work with.
Honestly, this scene is even more unbelievable to me than the stuff with George, even without the questionable eyegouge. And, as before, it really gives me the impression that the studio was trying to condense a long, gradually escalating bullying arc into just a few minutes of runtime, and did a terrible job at it. Either that, or the writers just realized that they don't actually know how to write a manipulative sociopath and knowingly took every possible shortcut around actually portraying it, instead just jumping to the end results...without even timeskipping passed the stuff they didn't want to write.
A scene can get away with being wholly unconvincing if it provides some kind of entertaining spectacle or humor or something. But unless you hate JoJo and want to see him suffer, or just have a fetish for eye injuries, this scene isn't buying any entertainment value with its SoD expenditure.
...
We get an internal monologue from Dio explaining that he's planning to take away everything in JoJo's life so that by the time they're adults he'll have nothing. No explanation of how this is actually going to help Dio with anything, besides giving him an outlet for his spite, though I guess its possible that he's hoping to push JoJo to suicide so he can get the whole inheritance or something. Cut to JoJo, sitting miserably in a tree and musing about how Dio seems to be taking over his life. Holy redundant narration, Deadpool. Some other boys come wandering by, but refuse to hang out with JoJo after he greets them due to the rumors that Dio has been spreading about him.
JoJo's reaction to this almost needs to be seen to be believed. After a moment of stunned silence as he watches the other boys retreat, he starts repeating Dio's name. Quietly at first, but then louder and louder, until he's screaming it while jumping up in the air and waving his arms around.
Then, he drops to the ground and does the Princess Bride roll down the grassy hill, still shouting Dio's name over and over again.
If I saw this scene out of context, I'm not sure how long it would take me to consider the possibility that I was looking at anything besides frustration over an unrequited crush. It reminded me of nothing so much as this:
And even IN context, here's the expression Dio was making at JoJo before the boxing match started:
Matching expressions to the intended emotion is not exactly this show's strong suit. Dio's eyeshadow (which, a beautician friend informs me, isn't even era appropriate unless Dio ACTUALLY IS a child prostitute) doesn't help either.
Amusing though the (almost certainly accidental) homoerotic subtext might be, Peach shows up to rain on that parade as she demurely leaves a basket of grapes for JoJo under the tree he had just been in, along with that bloody handkerchief that he dropped however many weeks or months ago that was supposed to be. She's been hanging onto the bloody handkerchief of rando boy who saved her for purely selfish reasons for a while.
Also, remember; JoJo has been "looking stronger," which means the show is somewhat acknowledging that it must have taken him time to learn to fight that well from where we saw him before. HOW LONG WAS PEACH HOLDING ONTO THAT BLOODY HANDKERCHIEF?
I may have to amend my assessment of Peach being this show's Only Sane Woman.
Amusing though the (almost certainly accidental) homoerotic subtext might be, Peach shows up to rain on that parade as she demurely leaves a basket of grapes for JoJo under the tree he had just been in, along with that bloody handkerchief that he dropped however many weeks or months ago that was supposed to be. She's been hanging onto the bloody handkerchief of rando boy who saved her for purely selfish reasons for a while.
Also, remember; JoJo has been "looking stronger," which means the show is somewhat acknowledging that it must have taken him time to learn to fight that well from where we saw him before. HOW LONG WAS PEACH HOLDING ONTO THAT BLOODY HANDKERCHIEF?
I may have to amend my assessment of Peach being this show's Only Sane Woman.
She runs away rather than actually speak with him, because anime, but its strongly implied that this is Love.
Also, JoJo feeds some of the grapes to his dog. Grapes are poisonous to dogs.
Also, JoJo feeds some of the grapes to his dog. Grapes are poisonous to dogs.
Nice going, dumbass.
That's where I'll be stopping this for today. The remaining third of the episode is much stronger than what came before, but even so its a pretty unengaging experience. I was told before starting that I shouldn't expect JBA to be psychologically grounded, but I was also told that it would have enough batshit over-the-top action and excitement for that to barely matter. Unfortunately, the pilot is selling itself entirely as a human drama without any bizarre adventures in sight, and JBA is just not any good at being that.
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