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Chapter 83. Stand
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"Although I had this premonition when reviewing the "Battle Tendency" script..."
"As the BOSS of the second part, the Pillar Men are likely much stronger than the vampires, but... isn't this just too powerful?!"
Looking at the footage broadcast through the full-dive device, Akiyuki Shinbo exclaimed.
If Joseph's battle with Straizo was a clash between intellect and strength, where each step had to be perfectly executed for Joseph to achieve victory against Straizo, then...
Santana, who was discovered in a Mexican ruin and later resurrected by the German army, named after the 'hot wind blowing over Mexico,' exhibited only pure strength in his battle against the vampires created and controlled by the German army.
It was an unmatched species suppression!
And most importantly, Joseph's victory over Straizo was not only due to the Ripple's effectiveness against vampires but also because, with the advancement of technology, weapon power had been continually increased through successive wars.
Although Ripple's limitations mean that steel objects must be held by Ripple warriors to effectively transmit Ripple, bullets, for instance, lose Ripple when they leave the gun.
No matter how powerful they are, they won't affect vampires at all.
However, vampire life energy isn't infinite. Each time they restore their bodies, they consume their stored life energy.
As long as it continues to be consumed, even vampires will experience significant deterioration of their bodily functions, leading to 'aging' where they can't control their bodies.
In other words, large amounts of firearms can effectively 'cut through' vampires without the need for the kind of physical prowess that allowed DIO's vampires to completely disregard firearms.
Therefore, once it became clear that the Pillar Men's wisdom and abilities were beyond what Germany could control, Stroheim had no hesitation in ordering the use of firearms to eliminate Santana.
With an unending barrage of bullets, they aimed to deplete Santana's life energy.
But what was the result?
Utterly useless!
At least with the armament available at the Mexican German base, they truly had no way to deal with Santana.
They could only watch him kill in the crowd.
This was also what amazed Akiyuki Shinbo after watching the sample footage.
The script's description was still too conservative.
This wasn't just a replacement for vampires.
This was invincibility!
And according to the strength set for Santana in the "Battle Tendency" script, within the Pillar Men group, Santana could even be considered a baby!?
Isn't this just numerical inflation?
Even though Pillar Men, as creators of the Stone Mask, should logically be superior to the vampires created by it, as the main enemy in the second part of the series, the Pillar Men should indeed be more formidable in some aspects compared to vampires to support the story of the second part.
Just like in RPG adventure games, where a hero doesn't immediately encounter the final boss upon leaving the novice village but rather faces slimes first.
But the situation in "Battle Tendency" is like facing the Four Demon Kings immediately after defeating slimes!
"Supervisor Pucci, are you sure we want to film it this way?"
After repeatedly reviewing the script and digging through his industry experience, Akiyuki Shinbo couldn't help but ask Pucci: "Can Ripple warriors really keep up with the growth speed of the antagonists?"
"Even though I know that in the later parts of the story, Joseph and the others will learn more refined Ripple techniques, no matter how much Ripple is enhanced, in essence, Ripple, which materializes as life energy, can't ultimately defeat a perfect being."
"Isn't this what you, Supervisor Pucci, also believe, and that's why you wrote such a script?"
Akiyuki Shinbo had seen the final showdown and its outcome in the "Battle Tendency" script.
And precisely because of this,
He couldn't help but admire Pucci's imagination.
To come up with a method to defeat a perfect being who seemed almost invincible!
However, "JOJO's Bizarre Adventure" has a total of six parts.
Or rather, at least six parts.
This is itself an Easter egg buried in the OP of "Phantom Blood".
In other words, once "Battle Tendency" reveals that the Pillar Men are the masterminds behind the Stone Mask and exposes why they created it,
The story of "JOJO's Bizarre Adventure" has essentially already concluded.
At least all the apparent foreshadowing has been wrapped up.
Even if filming were to continue,
With the perfect being as the pinnacle and Ripple's ever-evolving techniques under Joseph's breakthroughs…
It's not that Akiyuki Shinbo doesn't trust Pucci.
But the fact is, "Battle Tendency" is the ceiling for this entire series.
It can't be that after the third part comes out, the perfect beings would become as easily defeated as the vampires in the second part, right?
So Akiyuki Shinbo wanted to advise Pucci to reconsider.
The ideas of Pillar Men and perfect beings are truly excellent.
They could completely mold Santana into the ultimate BOSS of "Battle Tendency".
While Kars and the others, along with the perfect beings, could be saved for the third part.
"Just like with the story pace of "Phantom Blood"... Shinbo, is this what you think?"
Understanding Akiyuki Shinbo's concerns and realizing that what Shinbo said was indeed true—that "Battle Tendency" was a work that pushed Ripple to its limits—Pucci, with a slightly reassuring expression, said: "Even though you've been in the industry for so many years, how come you still haven't seen it as clearly as President Cujoh?"
Handing over the urgent email from Jolyne Cujoh to Akiyuki Shinbo, Pucci smiled at his shocked expression: "Since the Ripple path has been taken to its utmost, why not abandon this path and choose a different one?"
"A path with no visible limits!"
"I call it—Stand!"