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REVIEW: ‘Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Vento Aureo’ Episode 27: “King Crimson vs Metallica”

I consider myself a pretty strong woman when it comes to handling  depictions of violence in movies and TV. I’m generally unphased by most  graphic imagery in media and even enjoy myself a good bloody action romp  now and again. However, very few things are able to make me cringe as  much as the Metallica fight in Jojo. Even as someone who isn’t  very squeamish, I found the fight very difficult to stomach when I first  read Part 5 three years ago to the point where I had to look away from  the artwork just to finish reading the chapter. In spite of that, the  fight is still a fun romp that gives a spotlight to the mysterious boss  and his alternate persona Doppio.

Image from Crunchyroll

In the last episode, we finally got a glimpse at the boss’s alter  ego, Vinegar Doppio, and his dark origin. We found out that he was born  in an all-women’s prison and was taken to live in a village after his  birth. During this time, he was raised by a local priest and fell in  love with Trish’s eventual mother, Donatella Una. One day, when Doppio’s  adoptive father checked his room, he found Doppio’s mother buried alive  under the floor. The village burned down that night and Doppio was  assumed to be dead from the fire. This episode begins where the last  episode left off, with the final confrontation between Doppio and the  last remaining La Squadra member, Risotto Nero. Doppio uses King  Crimson’s Epitaph to see how Risotto will attack next, and he sees a  vision where he uses Metallica to create a pair of scissors inside his  throat. This next action subsequently occurs, and Doppio reacts by  immediately pulling the scissors out from under his skin. Risotto then  figures out what Doppio’s ability is and makes sure that his next attack  kills, but Doppio is able to avoid the attack and sever Risotto’s foot  in the process.

As the fight progresses, Risotto begins to piece together that Doppio  is actually the boss’s alter ego and, in an effort to avenge his fallen  teammates, he strikes Doppio multiple times to the point where he  suffers from iron deficiency and struggles to breathe. However, this  actually works out in Doppio’s favor, as Narancia’s Aerosmith had been  scouting the area the entire time searching for nearby enemies. Since  Risotto is the only one breathing, he’s detected by Aerosmith and  immediately gunned down, finishing him off in an unexpected turn of  events and allowing Doppio to escape undetected.

Image from Crunchyroll

One thing that was incredibly surprising about this episode was the  lack of censorship. For those who aren’t familiar with the standards and  practices of Japanese television, blood and gore are seen as much more  inappropriate than sexual content, so more violent programs are often  censored to meet the standards of Japanese TV networks. If you were  wondering why shows like Tokyo Ghoul were so heavily censored during  their initial airings, that’s why. Given how much censorship Jojo has  gone under in the past for less violent moments, I fully expected this  episode to be heavily edited to the point of being borderline  unwatchable, but there was surprisingly very little, if any, censorship.  I don’t know if the network that airs Jojo has gotten more lax with  violence since Diamond is Unbreakable or what, but it’s nice to  see that I won’t have to wait a year for the dub to air on Adult Swim  for a watchable version of this episode.

On the topic of gore, let’s talk about why Metallica is one of the  most disturbing Stands in the entire series. While it could be argued  that Purple Haze or Notorious B.I.G are even creepier in their  destructive power and designs, Metallica is much more brutal than either  of those and has the potential to kill its enemy much slower and more  painfully than any of those Stands. At least Purple Haze’s virus kills  within seconds of infection, unlike Metallica, which can make its  opponents slowly die of iron deficiency after being torn apart from the  inside with razors and other sharp objects. Add that with Risotto’s  invisibility and the fact that iron is such a common substance and  you’ve got one of the most terrifying Stands in all of Jojo.

Also, fun fact, Metallica’s design is loosely based on the  Hattifatteners from the Finnish comic series The Moomins. Yes, that one  European kids’ series with the scarecrow guy and white cow thing that’s  been getting really popular on Tumblr lately. Funny how one of the most  brutal stands in all of Jojo, named after one of the most  recognizable heavy metal bands ever, was inspired by something as  wholesome and innocent as Moomins.

Image from Crunchyroll

Copious amounts of gore aside, the Metallica fight was honestly a great change of pace from Vento Aureo’s  usual structure. As much as I love the Bucci Gang, it’s nice to have a  break from them for an episode and focus on another character,  especially if that other character is the part’s mysterious main  antagonist. The existence of The Boss/Doppio has been shrouded in  mystery throughout the entire part’s run, and now that we’re getting  ever closer to the climax, it’s nice that we’re finally starting to  piece together parts of the Boss’s origins and figuring out who he  really is, even if Doppio is the bigger focus than his main personality.  Speaking of Doppio, his use of random objects as phones to contact the  boss will never be unfunny, especially when it’s frogs.

The fight itself was also really good. Thanks to the lack of  censorship the visuals really get to shine in this episode and we get to  see some really smooth animation during the fight. I really like how  Narancia’s Aerosmith ended up playing into the fight’s conclusion and  how Doppio was able to use his limited breathing to his advantage in  that situation. Not only was it a really clever resolution, but it was  also an interesting way to tie Team Bucciarati into the next episode  without having them be too prominent and still having The Boss/Doppio as  the focus of this episode.





Images: Crunchyroll

Featured Image: Jojo Animation

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