In “Master of the Game” Straits, a Hamon Master, now a vampire, presents a calmer and more dangerous challenge to the new century’s first Jojo. Though no less evil then Dio, this is a more measured and controlled beast and one exploring his powers in a different way. Their battle on the streets of 1930s New York is as noisy, flashy and explosive as you might expect from a pulp age action thriller.
“The Pillar Man” presents us with two new evils in the world. First, the the presence of the Nazi war machine in the new world and the second is something excavated from the dig where Speedwagon almost died.
1. “Where did he even get that Tommy Gun…?”
Borrowing a quote from Smokey at the end of episode 10, I also have to wonder where the hell Joseph pulled that Tommy Gun from. In a wild stretch of the imagination, it may have been in his jacket but that would beg the question as to where he was hiding all the grenades he uses later in the fight with Straits. He pulls it out in much the same way that Japanese Sentai heroes (like the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers) get their power up weapons. Both weapons are dramatic on the screen, but ultimately lack stopping power where it comes to this vampire. The fight is a great back and forth of one-upmanship between Jojo and Straits, leading to an impressive explosion and the gory inhuman aftermath. It also showed that Joseph learned about his grandfather and Duo from Erina, as well as just how prepared he was to protect his beloved grandmother.
2. Think on your feet
Once his initial plan fials to take out Straits, Joseph resorts to his favorite fall back strategy: “run.” It gives him time to think up something new and, in this case, it gives Straits time also to think up a different strategy. The Hamon master turned vampire takes a hostage and uses her to take a measure of this new Jojo. Will Joseph sacrifice himself for a stranger, proving himself to be one kind of man or will he be like Jonathan and prove himself to be a danger to Straits? It’s not something Jojo expected and he does what he does best, plays things by ear and takes a wild risk. He may be brash and rude, but he would never have let Straits kill the girl. He has a clever plan and this time it uses Straits’s powers against him. The scene plays out in ways that neither expect and Jojo learns about Mexico and the mysterious Pillar Man.
b>3. Nazis. Why’d it have to be Nazis?[
Nazis are the perfect villains, as no one expects them to be anything but evil and for a pulp era adventure they are pretty much a must. Sometimes there is one here or there that has a moral code but, by and large, they are pretty unredeemable. In “The Master of the Game,” Araki reminds us that they used every angle to gain world domination, including astrology and the powers of the occult. So, their Mexican spy network getting a hold of the Stone Masks, the mysterious Pillar Man, along with Speedwagon makes the overall threat that much worse. The Major of the spy network base, Rudol Von Stroheim (named after German expat actor Erich Von Stroheim), may resemble Guile from Street Fighter or 80’s martial arts action star Jean-Claude Van Damme, but he is not from a heroic mode. The man immediately shows himself to be as casually cruel and as vain as Dio and proves to be a nationalistic blowhard. Stroheim extols the superiority of German science repeatedly to Speedwagon before threatening him with the application of it. He proves he has a kind of moral code based on courage but, ultimately, it’s one founded on, at best, questionable ideals. The men under him in “The Pillar Man” prove themselves even worse than he is. They are openly abusive and all but rape the Mexican women coming to deliver supplies to the base. Jojo is barely disguised among those women, bearing tequila. The guards are so vile that you are happy when Joseph boots them both in the face after having his crossdressing disguise fail.
Continued below4. New Threats for old…
The Pillar Man represents a new level of threat to the Joestar family and the world around them. He is not something that we have a real name for; he is fully from Hirohiko Araki’s fertile imagination. Santana represents something dangerous to all: an apex predator that even preys on vampires. Everything that isn’t one of them is food and the only thing they fear is sunlight. In “The Pillar Man,” we get hints of just how dangerous he is. We see this as he shatters his own skeleton to enter the ventilation system to escape his prison. We only know him as Santana because of Stroheim deciding to name him like a pet. The Horned man simply wipes the floor with the gun toting nazi guards using their own bullets against them. The only reason it doesn’t all go pear shaped is Jojo intervening with some well used Hamon ingenuity and a fistful of a vain man’s hair.
5. “Bloody Stream”
I’ve written before about loving a really good opening credits sequence, and the opening for the second half of this season almost tops the first for capturing the story arc. Where the original opening featured the iconic first fight between Dio and Jonathan beat for beat, this one captures more the essence of the second story arc. Parts, maybe half, of the credits sequence are stylized featuring silhouettes of the three major characters striking the poses Araki has become known for. Both background and silhouettes are filled with vibrant colors and patterns that are very much pulled from Araki’s color art. The remainder are a montage of character shots, sketchy shots of the major villains and spotlights of major story beats. It’s possibly to some a’s bit of flashy fan service, but to me it really hits all the sweet spots for me, especially the one melodramatic, tragic reference.
