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Chapter 167. Still Too Young
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"Stardust Crusaders" is a very unique piece of work.
Or rather, Kujo Jotaro, the protagonist of "Stardust Crusaders", differs from most other protagonists in stories, and even from most "JoJo" protagonists.
Let's take the simplest example:
In "Phantom Blood", Jonathan Joestar has a learning process for Hamon when facing the vampire DIO.
And in "Battle Tendency", Joseph Joestar is introduced as a natural-born Hamon user. His exceptional tactical mind allows him to easily defeat vampires like Santana, who lacks proper Ripple techniques. However, when Joseph faces Kars and the Pillar Men, he still goes through the process of learning how to control Hamon in Venice.
These processes represent the growth journey of the protagonists in the series.
It's through sharing these challenges with the protagonist that viewers deepen their connection with the character and the story.
This is why Cujoh Jolyne came up with the idea of reducing Jotaro's screen time to make "Stardust Crusaders" less watchable.
Once the protagonist's growth process is cut down...
Without this shared struggle, will the audience still resonate with the protagonist? Will they find it reasonable for the protagonist to defeat powerful enemies?
But Jotaro...
He's an exception!
As mentioned earlier, a normal character's growth should resemble Kakyoin's.
Awakening his Stand at an early age, Kakyoin never had friends who could truly understand him. It wasn't until he met others with Stand abilities like him that he experienced the joy of friendship after seventeen years of loneliness, achieving growth through this newfound bond.
Or take Polnareff, for instance.
His Stand, [Silver Chariot], awakened due to his mastery of swordsmanship. Not only did this signify that Polnareff's skills had reached the pinnacle, but it also imbued him with a strong sense of pride in his swordsmanship.
As a martial arts novel once said: "Only by mastering emotion can one master the sword."
If Polnareff didn't believe in his swordsmanship, how could he have honed a mere skill into a unique Stand?
This pride stayed with him until his devastating defeat by Avdol, and not even that could rid him of it.
Later, after being spurred on by J. Geil and Hol Horse, and witnessing Avdol's death, he finally learned the importance of comradeship, let go of his pride, and recognized his own weakness. Together with his allies, he grew stronger.
These are examples of normal character development!
But Jotaro?
Apart from learning about Stands and realizing during the final battle with DIO that [Star Platinum] is of the same type as [The World], how has he changed since the beginning?
He hasn't!
There is virtually no significant change!
Even when Kakyoin was being controlled by DIO, Jotaro's statement that he would be the judge echoed his past actions of hitting teachers and dining without paying.
It's clear from those words that, even without his Stand or meeting Kakyoin, Jotaro was always playing the role of a "judge" in his own way.
The appearance of the Stand merely expanded the scope of Jotaro's judgment to include other Stand users.
And this special trait of Jotaro as a protagonist, along with the uniqueness of "Stardust Crusaders"...
At this moment, when the song ringing in their ears wasn't "Stand Proud", the OP of "Stardust Crusaders", nor "Stardust Crusaders", Jotaro's theme..
But rather the "Virtuous Pope", Kakyoin's theme...
The audience wasn't surprised.
Instead, they felt a rush of excitement, in sync with Kakyoin pulling out a coin from his pocket!
As the "Virtuous Pope" played!
Their hearts surged with emotion!
"This coin belongs to whoever picks it up!"
"It's a shiny coin that reflects your face!"
Kakyoin flicked the coin into the air with his finger, shouting loudly.
If J. Geil could use the lie of handing out money to manipulate the homeless to surround them by exploiting their greed...
What would happen if faced with a real coin?
Of course, the homeless would be completely distracted, their eyes fixed on the coin, waiting to snatch it when it fell!
In other words...
"This way, everyone's attention is focused on one spot!"
Kakyoin smiled at Polnareff: "Now we can track [Hanged Man]'s next move!"
"Thanks, Kakyoin!"
Polnareff responded.
And the final step was left for him to complete!
"The one whose cries sound best is you, J. Geil!"
"Cry all the way to hell!"
"But there's one thing I won't leave to hell's wardens to handle and that is —"
With all the reflective surfaces gone and [Hanged Man]'s trajectory confirmed...
Polnareff didn't even need a second to defeat it!
"— To turn you into pincushion!"
Revenge, of course, is only meaningful when carried out by his own hands!
"I've waited so long for this moment!!"
— [Hanged Man], J. Geil, dead.
…
"This is truly Pucci's work! This is the "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" I wanted to see!!"
Josuke Higashikata deleted the angry comment he was about to send in the chatbox.
He realized now just how young and naive he had been before.
And never before had he so strongly wanted to become a Stand user!
"Should I go and take a look?"
Still puzzled as to why he had passed the audition process after his previous blunder during his heated phase...
Josuke hesitated over the letter he'd received recently, inviting him to come to the set after passing the audition.
Upon seeing that the deadline hadn't passed yet, he couldn't help but get excited again: "Should I just give it a shot!?"