#what is it with my favorite jojo characters and loincloths

[doctordoombignaturals]

would you believe me if I said he's one of my favorite jjba characters like ever . he's in my top 5

[winterbites]

(Major JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime spoiler warning) My review of...

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency is my absolute favorite season of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. 16 episodes long, this is where Akari really began to show his viewers just how crazy his work could get and set the bar for the rest of the series.

Just like with Phantom Blood, Battle Tendency is pretty short so it has a narrator to help time pass while not leaving the viewer in the dark, it also doesn't have much on-screen character growth but it certainly has the same fantastic animation. Personally, I don't think there are any bad qualities in this season but I'll try to list the pros and cons equally and neutrally (I really do love this season).

To start, the soundtrack of this season had me wanking every single episode because it's just that good. I even looked up the soundtrack and saved a few songs (my favorite from it is Awaken). I love the inspired sounds and music from different countries integrated with the flashy pop (your Prince inspiration is showing again, Akari).

In terms of visuals, Phantom Blood's intro will always be my number one with or without sound effects; however, Battle Tendency's intro is definitely my 3rd favorite and jumps to my 2nd favorite when the sound effects are added. I adore the mix of the 3D-looking 2D art style, regular 2D art style, and the sketched elements of the Pillar Men's attacks; not to mention the whole intro is made even spicier with the large array of color palletes used.

As for the outro, I like it just as much as Phantom Blood's. The smooth transition from one season's outro to the next adds flavor and really shows the relationship between the two even though they don't have much to do with each other story-wise.

Next are the characters; I like them much better than many characters from a lot of the other seasons. In Battle Tendency, the characters were each given their own unique personality, morals, goals and very different physical designs. You had a German soldier who literally blew himself up no less than 3 times in the name of his country and risked his life many more times, eventually dying, for the same reason. You had Joseph who wasn't the righteous gentleman the way Jonathan was but instead is comedic and brave with strong familial values. You had strong female characters, each with their own unique designs and characteristics that reflected their age. You had all this and so much more, like an Italian soldier that you fall in love with as soon as he hits the screen only to have him die literally 10 minutes later within the same episode.

Now, remember when I said that this season is really where JoJo's Bizarre Adventure earned the bizarre in its title? I'll tell you why that is, and it's because of its antagonists: the Pillar Men. Starting off, their goddamn clothes. Odd clothing and fashion choices is a staple in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, but the Pillar Men take it to a new extreme with their loinclothes. That's literally it, that's all they wear. However, it's the way their bodies were designed and the way they constantly flash incredibly flamboyant poses that makes it so fucking weird (and yet nobody wants to mention them when comparing fashion choices across the anime). The Pillar Men had their own personalities, morals and codes of honor just like the rest of the cast as well as an enveloping, yet brief, shared backstory. By the way, did I mention their theme, Awaken, is fucking great? Because it is. Honestly, I think the Pillar Men are the best part of Battle Tendency and I highly enjoyed them and their character designs (great job, Akari!)

However, there were three specific things I didn't like in Battle Tendency. First was that Akari threw Straizo under the bus to further the plot. In my post about Phantom Blood, I said that there wasn't a lot of character development that could be done in 9 episodes and I stand by that. However, I don't believe that Straizo, a former friend in battle and life of Jonathan's, would give in to the corruption of vampirism and eternal life to the point of trying to murder his friend's grandson, especially since Straizo is obviously an important figure and friend within Joseph's life as well.

Second is that the viewers never got to see the extent of Lisa Lisa's powers. There was the big battle between Kars and Lisa Lisa that was being hyped to extraordinary extremes and then it kind of fell flat when Kars decided to be a realistic little bitch about the whole situation. I congratulate and even thank Akari for breaking off from the norm of villains going though unnecessary lengths to get what they want (in Kars' case, a full blown battle with a woman he knows is incredibly powerful and could very possibly kick his ass) and I know that it's the job of the main protagonist to take down the main antagonist, but I can't help but feel cheated because, through the show, we were never really shown just what Lisa Lisa can do.

Lastly is Caesar's death; it was the most unnecessary death in the whole series. I know he was high on emotion when faced with the choice of going after the Pillar Men, but he was always shown to be obedient to Lisa Lisa. So, to have him deliberately disobey Lisa Lisa's, and basically the whole party's, decision to NOT go after the Pillar Men, it didn't make much sense to me. To Akari's credit, the death was agonizingly heartbreaking and I cried a river during the sequence, so good job to him for making such a touching scene and David Production and the voice actors for really bringing it to life.

Finally, adding toward the pros of this season is the comedy: Battle Tendency is hilarious. I won't say much in this category since the creative humor needs to be experienced first-hand, but I will say that it's absolutely wonderful and had me crying tears of laughter the whole way through.