so, why /is/ Joshu good actually and doesn't deserve all the hate he gets?
Because the hate comes mostly from the people who are incapable of empathizing with what’s honestly a really pitiable person. They only see the negatives and don’t question why he acts like he does. Also, he’s brave AF.
And don’t get me wrong: there ARE negatives.
Joshu is by no means a completely misunderstood good person, he’s kind of a scumbag, but so are most JoJo characters. And yet, people apparently just love to hate Joshu specifically.
When I started reading Jojolion, I initially couldn’t help but just feel bad for the guy, because I realized what he struggles with, and how it affects him as a person who’s honestly just trying his best most of the time.
Here’s the big thing that I think puts a LOT in perspective:
Joshu is essentially the prime example of the neglected middle child. He has an older brother who is his father’s pride and joy, an older sister who is a successful model, and a younger, blind sister who everyone coddles. Norisuke is very loving and playful with his daughters and very chummy with his older son, but Joshu never really gets the same loving treatment.
Instead, Joshu is seen treated sternly and unfairly by his brother and father, who both just seem annoyed by his presence. It’s very, painfully clear to me that this is something that makes Joshu extremely insecure, as it can be easily observed from his facial expressions. For example, here’s him when Josuke is given his usual space on family photographs;
He’s shown shivering when Norisuke yells at him, and standing next to his father clearly means a lot to him, but his feelings are not taken into account at all.
This clearly causes him a lot of stress, as he is already insecure about his position in the family, and it makes PERFECT SENSE for him to feel threatened by Josuke, who immediately gained his father’s love, respect, and support.
This kind of behavior towards Joshu is seen again during the beetle battle arc with Jobin, who belittles him several times in a short amount of time, and orders him to cheer for Josuke (threatening him with violence if he won’t), despite Joshu clearly not liking Josuke for reasons that I really can’t judge him for.
And Joshu always obliges.
Mind you - this is not the behavior they have towards Joshu ALL the time, but Joshu is the only Higashikata kid we see getting this kind of treatment.
Joshu, to me, comes across as someone who is absolutely starved for validation from his brother and father, but he never gets it. Instead, he’s constantly pushed around and belittled by them, and treated as an annoyance. A stranger in their home is being given more care and respect than the son.
It just felt really really hard to me to watch what I feel was sadly a fairly realistic depiction of how some children in larger families just don’t get the same amount of love and support as others.
Okay, now I’ll tackle some of the biggest things that people point at when they try to claim that Joshu is a terrible character;
He's a “nice guy” and is possessive over Yasuho who's not interested
He tried to r*pe Yasuho (I’ll say it right here and now: This is a COMPLETE AND UTTER misrepresentation of the events that transpired)
When we start Jojolion, Joshu has a mistaken impression that him and Yasuho are a couple. That assumption is not completely groundless on his part, because both him and Yasuho confirm that they DID kiss, so you really can’t blame him for having a certain idea of a relationship.
When first seeing Josuke and Yasuho, Joshu gets the wrong idea and believes that Josuke was at the very least being extremely inappropriate to Yasuho, with him being naked and all. He immediately tries to save her by attacking him.
Joshu is indeed very possessive of Yasuho and while that’s not something that can be excused, we CAN track down to the reason why he acts that way, and that reason once again goes back to him being neglected by his family.
It looks to me like Yasuho remained his friend because she pitied him, as she off-handedly acknowledges how poorly socialized he is;
If his father and brother cared to give him a better example and lead him, he would probably be less of a creep. Instead, all he had was his confused feelings, the entitlement that come from being raised in a rich family, and no one to teach him how to properly behave - mind you that he also grew up without a mother.
The reason he clings to Yasuho as much as he does is very likely because she gave him the empathy that he feels like he lacks at home. She’s essentially his comfort person.
I think it’s also important to point out that Joshu is not possessive of Yasuho in an objectifying manner - he genuinely cares for her and wants to protect her. That doesn’t excuse some of his actions of course, but I think it’s still fair to acknowledge it.
Next, the r*pe accusation, and context is EVERYTHING here.
Here’s what happened to lead up to the so-called r*pe attempt, and this includes spoilers for the Paper Moon King arc (Vol.6, Chapers 23-25)
Yasuho was attacked by a stand that made everyone look the same to her, and was unable to tell one person from the other. She called Josuke for help, but while waiting for him, she ran into Joshu.
What followed was a whole slew of statements that Joshu TERRIBLY misinterpreted, as his thirsty unsocialized ass tends to do.
One thing leads to another and Joshu takes off his pants - at which point Yasuho realized that he’s not Josuke, at which point she screams Josuke’s name, and Joshu practically freezes in place, the gears in his head probably starting to turn a bit. And then Yasuho knocks him out and that’s where that ends.
I’d say that Joshu was definitely over-eager to get into Yasuho’s pants, but he only did what he thought she wanted, and I believe that if he wasn’t knocked out when he was, he would probably back off once the mistake was acknowledged. Joshu did not want to r*pe Yasuho. That was NEVER his intent.
Joshu is someone who’s entitled, but he’s not evil.
Last thing I see people point to when shit talking Joshu is his harassment of Kaato, and honestly, I am shocked that people are even remotely able to misinterpret that scene, which does nothing but show how protective Joshu is of his family, and how quick he is to defend them.
The following is a spoiler of Vol.14, Chapter 58.
We see the mother of the Higashikata family return after being imprisoned for 15 years for killing a child. She is a murderer and enters the house uninvited, possibly while everyone else was still sleeping.
This is how Norisuke, the father, reacts:
The father is so startled by the presence of this woman, that he screams and falls on the ground with shock. He then proceeds to yell at her, demanding for her to get out. She doesn’t.
The convicted murderer then proceeds to walk towards Daiya, the youngest daughter, and that’s when Joshu immediately takes action.
He trips Kaato with a chair and then proceeds to speak to her with a very clear intent to try to make her leave.
Is what he said inappropriate? Abso-fucking-lutely.
But that was the INTENT.
I genuinely don’t understand why people think this is something that proves that Joshu is a terrible person when what he’s doing is honestly really damn brave.
Think back to how Norisuke reacted to Kaato. For what Joshu knew, she could’ve had an extremely dangerous ability, but he jumped in to stop her from reaching his little sister anyway.
One last thing, and this is a spoiler for some of the most recent chapters of Jojolion; the Endless Calamity arc (Vol.24, chapter 95)
I want to point out one more extremely brave thing Joshu has done;
He saved Yasuho’s life while once again possibly putting his own life in danger.
Here’s the scene:
Joshu and his sisters just watched his older brother possibly murder their father during a heated confrontation and a clash of ideals.
During this, Yasuho is currently dying. Her stand is trapped in a cellphone, and not close enough to an electrical socket to escape. Jobin had FULL INTENT to kill her. But then this scene happens;
The phone is suddenly by the socket, and Paisley Park got to escape. We never see it being moved, but there is a panel specifically directing our attention to Joshu’s foot.
Someone moved the phone to let Paisley Park escape, and all signs point to that being Joshu.
Again - Joshu, who just watched his brother possibly murder his father, and who had fully attempted murdering his friend. From what Joshu was concerned, nothing would stop Jobin from killing him as well.
Joshu has flaws. He’s entitled, he’s annoying and he’s creepy.
He’s also very stupid and very naive at times.
But there are also reasons for why he turned out this way, and those reasons are just.. plainly sad. I can’t help but to pity this character and just hope the best for him, because he deserves to feel loved by someone because he’s not a bad person.
Personally, I think Joshu is a really interesting character and I thoroughly enjoyed every most moments featuring him, especially interacting with his family, because their relationships come across very realistic and lovable (minus the times Joshu is unfairly belittled).
He’s also a really funny character whose ideas, thoughts, and opinions and just a delight to read every time he gets to just act casually.
PS - his hairstyle is great and y’all are just mean
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