What Makes Someone a Joestar?
So I’ve been diving headfirst into Stone Ocean recently; I finished the second batch a while ago, and just finished re-reading the manga. I’m feeling Very Normal about the whole thing, and so I wanted to take some time to write about what I think is the most heartbreakingly beautiful part of the story, as well as how it embodies what makes JoJo different from so many other series out there.
It should go without saying that Stone Ocean is meant to be a culmination of all the previous parts. The “main story” of JoJo can be traced from Part 1 through Part 3, before concluding with Part 6. Strictly speaking, the main universe is “about” the Joestars and their conflicts with the Brandos; Parts 2, 4 and 5, while amazing, are more meant to flesh out the universe and characters in preparation for the conclusion of this overarching storyline. (I should mention that Part 4 is by far my favorite and this isn’t meant to be criticizing these parts, lol)
So, obviously, with Part 6 being the last Part in the main universe, Araki had a tall task ahead of him. How would he decide to end this story - this war that started 131 years ago, when an unfortunate carriage driver careened off a cliff and set Fate into motion? Who would be the one to deal the final blow, to be the instrument of justice that set right all the wrongs that DIO had wrought?
Most mangaka would’ve said “the main character”. Others, slightly less conventional ones, would’ve said “all the characters together - or maybe, Jotaro, since he was the one who killed DIO in Part 3. Or maybe, Pucci wins, and the storyline ends with tragedy.”
All valid answers. But Araki chose differently.
Araki decided that the hero of Part 6 would be a scared little boy. A boy who was emboldened by the main character’s sacrifice. A boy who became so much braver, so much cleverer, so much more determined than he ever could’ve dreamed he could be.
Emporio Alniño is the last character anyone could’ve expected to be the sole survivor of Part 6. I can only imagine how confused, scared and hopeless weekly readers must’ve felt - “Jolyne and Jotaro are dead! Emporio is the only one left? And now we need to wait a week for next chapter? How are we gonna get out of this?”
But Emporio rose to the occasion. Screaming, crying as he watched his friend, the older sister he never had, torn apart by an unstoppable god, he found the courage to win. And, in one of the saddest, most heartrending moments in JoJo, the Part ends as he watches look-alikes of his friends meeting for the first time, knowing that they don’t recognize him and that he is the only being in the entire universe that knows this pain. A truly amazing ending, which ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT DESERVE THE BAD REPUTATION IT HAS IN THE FANDOM-
Anyway. What does this have to do with the title of the post?
Well. It all ties back to that insanely daring, one-of-a-kind decision that Araki made.
What does that decision say about JoJo as a whole? (Or at least, about the main universe.) It’s a decision that centers around the climax of six parts, of 16 real-world years of storytelling - surely it has some bearing on what the story up to this point has meant.
Well, let’s look at Jolyne. The protagonist of Part 6, the daughter of invincible shonen badass Jotaro Kujo. Throughout the part, she displays the ferocity, tenacity, and cleverness that we’ve come to expect from the Joestar bloodline; skinning guards alive to escape their grasps, lighting herself on fire to best one of the sons of DIO, printing out an image in binary to overcome a Stand that messes with one’s memory. All incredibly impressive... but those traits are not what end up saving the day.
Instead, the trait that Jolyne possesses - that all the Joestars possess - that ends up saving the entire universe... is kindness.
Jolyne’s selfless, senseless kindness - which inspired her to risk her life to save a little boy she had just met, to defend him as they escaped from prison and fought to revive her father, that inspired her to stand up to a time-bending demon just to buy a few seconds for him to escape. It is that kindness that allows Emporio to live, that drives him to avenge the main cast and free humanity from an eternity of sleeping slave-dom.
And that, right there, is what I think makes JoJo so different from so many other shonen. In any other shonen, Jolyne would’ve overcome Pucci by being the strongest, or the fastest, or the smartest. And to be sure, those qualities are great! Every Joestar has those qualities to some degree, and they certainly couldn’t have overcome the obstacles they do in their Parts without them. But when the cards are down and it’s the main JoJo vs the main villain, what ends up saving the day every time?
The allies that the JoJos have made. The no-lifes, the thugs, the villains and nobodies, that the JoJos, through their impossible kindness, were able to redeem.
And that’s what I think makes a Joestar. Their ability to bring out the best in others. Okuyasu was just a street punk mindlessly following his brother’s orders; but when faced with Josuke’s mercy and casual compassion, he was able to become one of Morioh’s staunchest defenders. Bucciarati was a mafioso who had completely given up hope of bringing about change, who wasn’t above torturing and psychologically manipulating a teenage boy who he didn’t even know for sure was a murderer. But when faced with Giorno’s golden dream, he woke up from his fate as a sleeping slave, and was able to bring about a better tomorrow for all of Italy.
I could go on. But hopefully you get the point by now - and maybe you can apply this to your own favorite characters in the series. In the main universe, the Joestar legacy is one of compassion. Being the strongest or the smartest means nothing if you don’t have allies on your side; and JoJo as a whole goes to great, pain-staking lengths to show that we, as a species, excel when we are together. That it is the human connection between us that allows us to overcome gods of time, or immortal vampires, or any other manner of boogeymen and monsters that constantly threaten our future. And I just think... that’s so refreshing.
So many shonen make a big deal of their MCs being “special”. Because they were born with a special power, or because they can beat up the opponent enough that it brings about change. And, to be clear, the “power of friendship” is a shonen trope for a reason; JoJo isn’t the first series to have this kind of message in a long shot. But I just... feel like JoJo does it so well. It never feels cheap, or contrived; and I think that’s because, rather than just being used as a plot device to allow our heroes to beat villains that they logically shouldn’t be able to, JoJo threads that message into its very core. Not a single moment goes by without the series reminding you of this fundamental truth; and as I described above, it all culminates in the ultimate act of kindness resulting in the ultimate victory.
JoJo is a weird series. It’s about overly masculine men making strange, sexual poses at each other. It’s about ghosts punching each other until they explode. It’s dumb, it’s cheesy, and sometimes it straight up doesn’t make sense.
But at the end of the day, it is a story that posits that humanity can overcome the impossible. And the vehicle through which they deliver that message - the JoJos, a name synonymous with shonen manga, with badassery and masculinity - are special... because they help others be who they were meant to be.
I think there’s something unspeakably beautiful about that.
