I think I might have made a mistake when making the choice to start talking about individual Jojo episodes, because how do you break down this show and not just sound like a raving lunatic.
Okay, okay, so Bucciarati puts they key they found in the previous episode in a perfect indent on the back of the turtle, and then the gang all get sucked into a pocket dimension to hide from the two assassins chasing them, one of which looks like a thumb crossed with a pineapple… see what I mean about sounding like a mad man.
Okay, stick with me, so one of the guys makes everyone age really fast, but quicker based on body temperature, so the daughter he is after will age much slower because women’s body temperature doesn’t fluctuate as much.
It sounds like some bloody fever dream. Which is what Jojo has always been I guess. My ramblings kind of sum up the episode, we spend more time with the villains than the heroes, as they jump on the train bound for Venice as they protect the big mysterious boss’s daughter.
The competent hit man; Prosciutto, has a really creepy looking stand called The Grateful Dead, which can accelerate people’s ageing, pretty indiscriminately too. But because this is Jojo, there are a ton of weird self imposed rules, like how it affects people differently based on body temperature. It kind of sums up how weird and specific stands have become since they first popped up and their powers extended to can use fire, has a sword… is a car…
There is some genuinely disturbing imagery within the train as we see the outcome of accelerating ageing, people all shrived up and dried out while a child sized old man bawls for his desiccated mother. It doesn’t help that old people in this art style look gross already.
Inside the turtle base, it’s Giorno who figures out, pretty accurately, that an enemy stand is making them age AND that the effects of body temperature is what is making them age at different rates. Which is an insane leap of logic for someone to make. But it’s Jojo I guess.
Because Mista had a cold drink, he is the only one still able to really deal with the enemy and not a hobbled mess. It’s also lucky that he is the only one with a stand that’s suited for a straight up assassination without a whole lot of collateral damage.
But as he begins his mission and turns on the air con to try and alleviate the effects of the stand, the assassin’s partner with Pineapple-like features manages to catch him in a trap which, hilariously is a fishing rod. Ending the episode with the revelation that Mista and Sex Pistol needs to take out two enemy stand users.
The shades of Part 3 are becoming ever more apparent as I watch this, with a group now needing to travel across the country with an army of assassins attacking them one by one.
In these early parts of the series, it feels like the minor characters have taken more screen time than both Giorno and Bucciarati, who’re supposed to be the main characters. I’m not complaining, it’s just surprising that the titular Jojo seems to be taking a back seat to much of the action of the show. It makes an interesting change though and I’m sure they’ll both get a lot more screen time as the show forges on.
Another fun episode and I’m looking forward to more nonsense going forward.
A Richard Wood Text Adventure 