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[petronia]

Nearing the end of JoJo pt.5 and increasingly cheesed off. WHAT IS WITH BRINGING CHARACTERS BACK JUST SO YOU CAN KILL THEM PROPERLY ALL OVER AGAIN, SRSLY THIS IS NOT EVEN THE FIRST TIME.

ARGH

i'mokayi'mokay

Nobbut. You would think anyone with the gumption to read through 60-plus volumes of JoJo would be inured, but this arc has a named character mortality rate of 95%. =_= It's ridiculous. The only other manga I can think of that are this bad are Death Note (where the plot is SPECIFICALLY ALL ABOUT KILLING PEOPLE) and Rg Veda (which CLAMP has not replicated since, and thank the small gods for that).

Mind you part 5 probably has more in common with jaded-shounen-fangirl-bait not!dark!shoujo series like Peace Maker Kurogane (or, as I keep saying, the imaginary version of Weiss Kreuz that does not suck) than what else was running in WJ at the time - Shaman King? Hunter x Hunter? I find it hard to imagine yr avg 10yr old boy reading this. Not that you get the sense Araki is actively pandering to the fangirl populace, more that he's been doing this for a decade (including a "straightforward" iteration of the consecutively staged battle structure in part 3) and is somewhat of a jaded shounen fangirl himself. Or something. I kind of picture the readership numbers on a gentle decline from the end of part 3, as new readers got into the series with part 4 but not as many as the ones who got bored and wandered off. And then the crazed fanart types jumped in the boat with part 5 but not as many as the part 4 readers who were alienated by the skanky character designs and 95% murder rate, and so forth. So you end up with a small group of hardcore longtimers who have seen it all and bat an eye at nothing, plus a large group of retroactive readers who're younger than expected, plus the people who at any given point decide for reasons of their own to marathon the thing from chapter 1 to current serialisation.

I was going to say at one point that I didn't think the part 5 "minor" villains had as much personality as those in arcs 3-4, and probably this is still true overall (one can't really compare on a one-to-one basis), but somehow as the series progresses one feels increasingly sorry for them. ^^; Probably because the assassination team's intentions are actually somewhat honorable/justifiable? As opposed to evil/just plain mean which is the norm for this series. Personal honour, revenge for dead friends etc. Apart from the issue of Trish - and it's not like they got the chance to talk to her - they didn't do anything Giorno and Buccellati didn't have in mind all along, and the only reason the two groups end up battling and killing each other is because they got played by El Boss, basically. ...Oh, and also they tend to turn up in tag teams, which is a much more sensible way of going about assassinating groups of half a dozen stand users than attacking alone (I remember complaining about this in part 3), but this has the side effect(?) of them draping themselves all over each other and being tragic when the other one dies and is just v. questionable in general. Even the fucked up ones like Cioccolata and Secco, who somehow manage to be so questionable that even the protagonists remark upon it. DUDE IS IT WRONG OF ME TO BE MOVED BY THEIR PSYCHOPATHIC LOVING RELATIONSHIP OF SENSELESS MASS MURDER AND SUGARCUBES. D:

That and you can fabricate crack pairings based on deliciousness. For instance, there is really nothing in the series that would lead you to slash Proscuitto and Melone, but you almost want to, just to write "Proscuitto/Melone = OTP". Because how does it not.

Comments

[jokersama.livejournal.com]

Hee hee hee! I think once I got over the bump of parts 2 and 3, I no longer blink an eye at my favorite characters dying, because my favorite characters tend to be the "second-banana" types and we all know how long "Zeppelis" (both real and fake or possibly distantly related) live in JoJo!

I think I don't mind so much because the few characters who do live tend to be awesome enough that it's not a case of "GODDAMMIT, WHY DO THE COOL ONES HAVE TO DIE SO THE SUCKY ONES CAN LIVE??" And their deaths are usually not wasted, so hey, sucks, but at least it wasn't infuriating as it is in many other series.

Seriously, you'd probably find the PS2 game lots of fun, since CAPCOM has lovingly enacted half of the story (such as Cioccolata feeding sugarcubes to his pet doggy Secco, and rubbing his head and being all YOSHYOSHYOSHYOSHYOSH), and put the rest as unlockable drama tracks with static manga panels. Plus, man, it is just FUN being forced to play through these battles - some of them are hella tough! Geez!

But Cioccolata's thong? ....why, god, why?!...I kind of want to draw him, his color scheme is so tempting...

Hey, Assassinslash is its own cottage industry in JoJo part 5 fandom. Maybe because it's so delicious?

And finally, a fanart link. (http://jojojo.wakatono.jp/hakusyu.html) Don't miss page 2! XDDDD

[petronia.livejournal.com]

I guess I just feel bad for the ones who're still alive, like Jotaro! D: It's sad to be, like, the only survivor of your party.

I'd play the game if I could... >_>

GOLD EXPERIENCE PATRONEM

NO WAIT WOULDN'T THAT MAKE DIO COME OUT OF HIS

NOW I'M CONFUSED

[jokersama.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it does suck! And you see that the survivors generally do keep around mementos of their fallen comrades, and remember them and all that jazz. (I was sort of surprised that Jotato had a picture of everyone in Egypt in his SPW office; he doesn't seem the sentimental type, does he? But maybe it's different if 3/4 of the people in that picture died shortly thereafter! XD;)

HEY MAYBE IT WOULD MAKE MOMMY AND DADDY BOTH DADDIES APPEAR

[naanima.livejournal.com]

...

I WANT IT! I WANT IT! I WANT IT!

I can't get fast connection but I'm pretty sure I can go to an INTERNET CAFE, download and READ! OMFG! I have NO SHAME!

Part 2 is STILL my favourite, I think I've managed to pin point as to why; 1) Joseph as a main chara is cool! 2) I LIKE WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! The fight between him and Caesar make me CRY!!!! *sobs* 3) The NAZIS! 4) The THONGS! 5) CRAZY AZTEC BOYBAND VAMPIRES! ... I need part 5, but must be strong till after assignments and so forth.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

XD Dude, I am pointedly not encouraging you until you pass your classes!

Part 5 is really a beast apart in my mind. (Maybe because Giorno is not quite like the regular Joestars.) Though it does tie in closer with the uber-plot than you're led to believe at the beginning.

[jokersama.livejournal.com]

Part 5 is really a beast apart in my mind. (Maybe because Giorno is not quite like the regular Joestars.) Though it does tie in closer with the uber-plot than you're led to believe at the beginning.

Oh? What do you mean? (I probably agree, I just haven't thought of it that way yet, probably.)

[petronia.livejournal.com]

What, that it's separate in my mind or that it ties back in at the end? XD I guess because parts 1-3 are obviously planned as one series in three acts, and the part 4 storyline is fairly standalone but involves a lot of Joestar Family Drama (tm) with Jotaro and Joseph making important guest appearances, so it very much feels like a continuation. Whereas with part 5 you're told just enough at the beginning to understand how it fits into continuity, and then it branches off and does its own thing with no participation from previous-arc characters. Not to mention it feels completely different from part 4. And the clothes

I guess I sort of started thinking of it as analogous to when they start a new storyline within Marvel or DC-verse? With Jotaro in the role of, like, Wolverine. XD Of course, now I'm in volume 62 and Araki has tied it back, in a MUCHO BRILLIANT NOW LET US ALL PRETEND I PLANNED THIS FROM THE BEGINNING AND DID NOT JUST PULL IT OUT OF MY ASS FIVE MINUTES AGO way that almost begs more questions than it answers. Well. I suppose if one is inclined to write stopgap fic to explain away plotholes JoJo provides good pasture. XD;;

[naanima.livejournal.com]

I'll need to wait for one and half month then I'll have TIME and break and more TIME to read JoJo! ^__^V

Ohhhh, sounds fascinating (from everything I head Giorno is the, um, black sheep of the family... but then again, considering who his father(s) are, um, yeah -_-;;). Me LOVE UBER PLOT!

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Giorno would be shocked to learn he's part of a family (other than, yanno, "the Family" ahahahaha *is shot*). Frankly I really wish the series will deal with this but it doesn't seem like it will. XD

[angrybabble.livejournal.com]

you've now way passed the part I've read through so I guess I can't read any more of your blogs till I work through part 5 myself (AUGH WHEN WILL THAT HAPPEN?!) but uh, I did hear there's lots of death later so I can guess why you're upset? XD; that's why I was TRYING so hard not to like anyone, because other than Giogio I don't know if any of them survive, but I'm thinking not! @_@ Of course it didn't work, I love them all, even that bitch Abbacha. I knew Fugo would leave and I tried not to feel anything for him so I wouldn't care, but instead he became my favorite somehow. T_T etc. I HATE ARAKI FOR MAKING THEM SO DORKY AND LIKABLE T_T oh and for not giving Fugo a profile at the end like he did for everyone else. I WANT TO KNOW FUGO'S FAVORITE MOVIES AND BIRTHDAY, YOU FUCKER.

I felt kind of sorry for the assassins too; after they got back the bodies of Sorbet and Cante, it was practically the HONORABLE thing to do. The only thing they COULD do. It's not like Bruno & co aren't nearly as heartless themselves (well, they do have a higher seigi ratio, but it's certainly not reflected by their initial loyalties/employer).

I think if people were assassin partners in any other series, they'd be 90% less gay. >_> I mean partners usually are higher on the fangirl gayometer, but... Partners in Jojo are just a billion times gayer. It's like reading Yellow or something. STOP LAYING ALL OVER HIM, JUST BECAUSE HE'S YOUR PARTNER DOESN'T MEAN YOU NEED TO BE TOUCHING AT 5 POINTS ALL THE TIME.

And yes, we were discussing the pairing of Risotto con Prosciutto. XD

[petronia.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I dunno, I almost sort of expected Fugo to change his mind and return later to rescue the others, only he didn't. T_T I hope Araki didn't, like, forget about him or something... In general he seems to kill off characters as soon as he decides he doesn't need them anymore (whereas most mangaka have no objection to dragging around a few mostly-useless-but-likeables in the main party) - if indeed he didn't create said characters/powers with the idea of offing them at a given plot point in the first place - so by the time the boss fight rolls around you're practically down to the hero. But Fugo's Purple Haze is actually really strong. :/ Maybe too strong? He just... went with characterisation on that one, I suppose.

I haven't even begun to babble about the whole arc surrounding Doppio, Risotto etc. but Puu has put the fear of spoilers in me. XD

[dipping_sauce]

WHAT IS WITH BRINGING CHARACTERS BACK JUST SO YOU CAN KILL THEM PROPERLY ALL OVER AGAIN, SRSLY THIS IS NOT EVEN THE FIRST TIME.

So it really is the X-Men to the power of gay.

[petronia.livejournal.com]

To the power of STUPID HATS! I keep telling you this is so.

[supplanter.livejournal.com]

I want to know why Jotaro keeps flip-flopping hats—I mean, he has the one he wore in school, and then in part 4 he's wearing a new one to go with his lighter outfit (is it just so he's easier to distinguish from all the school chillun?) and then he's has a hat with a round thing with a hand in it instead of a heart-shaped thing with a hand in it in part 5 and then in part 6 it looks a lot like his school hat but it's got a big star on it and at some point I swear there was a dolphin but there's always a doohickey with a hand on it and does Araki even know what Jotaro looks like without his hat anymore?  His hair stuck out in the beginning of part 3 but by the end it's all stuffed under or something. :OOOOOO

[supplanter.livejournal.com]

So Jojo Part 5 (and 6 <woobies>) are really scanlated all the way to the end?  I must have gotten parts 1 and 2 from you (through you, due to you, one of those) but the page I've been getting jojo from (http://jojo.highervoltage.net) (oh hey, that's speedwagon_lj) only has up to vol56 in part 5, and only the first three volumes or so of part 6, and doesn't seem to have been uploaded for a couple months.  And ignition-one doesn't seem to have found alternate hosting yet.... :\

... do you mean that the rest of the family does get tied in later? :DDDDDDDD

(I am such a sucker... according to wiki, part 3 is the most popular, and go figure that Jotaro is my favorite—maybe if there were more of Joseph when he's not yet quite so old....)

[petronia.livejournal.com]

They're not, I'm afraid - I've got part 5 in raws until the end, and only the first three volumes of part 6 scanlated (which I haven't read yet ^^;). They're updating the part 5 scanlations once every month, something like that. It ties in at the end but not at all in a way you'd expect. XD

[supplanter.livejournal.com]

Why did ignition-one go to part 7 then?  Woe! D:

Oh dear.  I suppose I'd better not have any expectations at all. ^^;;;