Araki named a lumbering, undead juggernaut with a ‘snakes face’ after the Doobie Brothers? At this point, I suppose it’s only a matter of time before Jojo runs into some giant, cybernetic bear named ‘E. Manilow’ or something.
The CASTLEVANIA’s parallels are even harder to miss in this one. As exhilarating as it was to see Jojo throw fiery vengeance down upon Dio (and for the show to play out what felt like a second finale episode in only eight installments), I’m sure we’ll see him or one of his descendants crawl around to bedevil the Joestar clan once again. Konami definitely borrowed a lot from VAMPIRE HUNTER D for that particular franchise, but this unmistakably smells like the Belmont/Dracula dynastic feud. The funny part is…
(Well… wait. This show’s almost entirely composed of funny parts).
== TEASER ==
Something that’s amusing about the show, at this point, is that it really doesn’t feel like a vampire story. I read a lot of essays in film school about all the potential metaphoric undertones which vampires can have in fiction. You know, like how they can represent everything from forbidden sexuality, to xenophobia, to class warfare, to death in itself. I really ruined the whole genre for myself, doing that, because seeing 'vampires' in the logline for any show really makes me lose interest right away.
Well, I can honestly say that I’ve never seen vampirism treated as some forbidden martial art, as it is here. Sure, the fangy-ness still embodies Dio’s quest for power and glory and all that, but it might as well be the Fist of the South Star in this universe. It’s the inversion of basically everything good about the Ripple. I don’t know if there’s anything significant about that, but it does make me wonder if this is where Capcom got the idea for that Satsui no hadou stuff in STREET FIGHTER. Both Akuma and ‘Evil Ryu’ look quite vampiric.
I feel like I’m finally reading the field guide which 20 years of Japanese comics, cartoons and video games took their plays from.
Watch "Bloody Battle Jojo Dio" and decide for yourself, then read my comments about the previous episode.
About the Author
| Tom Pinchuk’s a writer and personality with a large number of comics, videos and features like this to his credit. Visit his website - - tompinchuk.com - - and follow his Twitter: @tompinchuk |
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