In “Race to the Brink,” Kars tracked down the location of the Super Aja stone in the hands of Stroheim, the man who intercepted the package from Eshideshi. He’s here to take it whatever the cost even if it means fighting the Nazis and JoJo together.
“Young Caesar” runs down the history of Caesar Zeppeli as he approaches the likely hiding place of Kars. Hirohiko Araki goes back to the melodramatic roots of Jojo with this story. Caesar has an encounter he was not expecting and has a chance to take revenge for the death of his dear friend Mark. Watching these two episodes again inspired me to go back and revisit the manga yet again.
1. “Sympathy for the Devil”
Kars has really been pretty much in the background until his full appearance in “Race to the Brink.” We get a real feel for what he is capable of as he gets to shine in this episode as he fights both the machine man Stroheim and Joseph. Stroheim may believe he’s got the upper hand, having been remade to fight a creature like Santana, but Kars proves to be a much more surgically deadly opponent. He is only thwarted in his quest to retrieve the Super Aja Stone by Joseph, who’s quick witted enough to use his desires against him. The real thought though that comes out of this fight has little to do with the fight itself. Kars somehow knows that JoJo killed Eshideshi and desires to kill him to get revenge. He’s got no network of spies working for him like Stroheim, there is no obvious way he might know what he seems to. It’s such a small thing; it doesn’t ruin the episode at all but it’s a question that lingers as it never gets explained. His knowledge implies a kind of mental link between them, but it never comes into play other then in this moment. His anger is great motivation for the fight between Joseph and Kars, but it was unnecessary as the Aja stone was already enough motivation. It was and unnecessary enticement to the fight and detracts from the consistency of the storytelling.
2. ”Shoot to Thrill”
Rudol Von Stroheim is a kind of confusing character. His unlikely return brings some weird Nazi diesel punk science into the show with his weaponized cyborg body. He is kitted out with an array of abilities that are at least supposed to be tuned to fighting the Pillar Men. Even if he’s kind of on JoJo’s side, he is a very hard character to really warm up to, if we are even meant to, what with his constant extolling of Nazis and Nazi Science. Even Joseph thinks conflicted things about Rudol, and he is obviously impressed by the tenacity of the once man, now mostly machine, but he’s understandable leery about placing too much trust in him. They have a grudging respect between them but unlike with Caesar, it’s not rivalry nor is it friendship. In any other world they would otherwise be enemies, but their ultimate goal in the moment is the same.
3. “Touch and Go”
At the end of “Race to the Brink,” Caesar loses his cool with Joseph over his brushing off the legacy of their grandparents. Caesar heads out on his own to face the leader of the Pillar Men, leaving Lisa Lisa to explain to JoJo their complicated past. Caesar’s past was much more rough and tumble them that of Joseph; both of them grew up lacking a father, but Caesar’s up and disappeared one day, leaving his brothers and sisters in the hands of disreputable relatives. Caesar grew up homeless and has much more in common with the street thug that Speedwagon was then the privileged child that Joseph is. He was someone who learned to fight by necessity and developed a connection to his Hamon skills instinctively. As with the flashbacks in the first arc, the story is told in fast forward, but our investment in Caesar at this point makes all the various tragedies in the story ring truer. Knowing how he became the hero we see now makes the events in the rest of the episode more poignant.
Continued below4. “Since You’re Gone”
Wham is truly a frightening opponent. In “Young Caesar,” we learn that in addition to his wind attacks, we see he is capable of much more. As Caesar approaches Kars’ hiding place, he perceives he’s not alone and that perception saves his life. Wham can apparently block the sun with his control of the air around him, an ability that makes him also temporarily invisible. It’s a visual treat both in the manga and in the anime that is slightly reminiscent of the cloaking effect in the Predator films. Caesar too has some surprises in store too, including a couple techniques that are a good balance of the skill that Wham displays. The fight between Caesar and Wham is a well balanced affair, given Caesar’s growth and his focus on light. The animation in this fight is a visual feast as well as being a beautifully choreographed battle. “Young Caesar” has given us so much about Caesar, his history, and his growth there can really be one outcome for this battle.
5. “If You Want Blood (You’ve Got It)”
Hirohiko Araki goes so often for melodrama in his storytelling, but has developed a much more deft hand at it. He may have telegraphed how the fight between Caesar and Wham might go (by telling the tragic story of Caesar’s past), but the history enriched the connection to him in this moment. In the “Phantom Blood” arc, our connection to William A. Zeppeli was less developed when he faced his end. That loss was something I felt because I really wanted to miss Jonathan’s mentor, but the impending loss of Caesar is closer to the heart. We have come to really like him and know him even better now after witnessing his past. Like I said earlier, the revelation of his past kind of telegraphed how this episode would end. His sacrifice nicely mirrored that of his grandfather fifty years before and said a lot about his character. Though I liked the story up until this point, this was the moment that made “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure” my favorite manga series and the animation did it great justice. It’s over the top melodrama and somehow still hits with a lot of emotional impact.
