This television adaptation of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure series focuses on the offspring of Jonathan Joestar, Joseph. The young man spends his time flitting around the world on a seemingly permanent vacation. This is interrupted when his father’s old friend and now oil magnate Robert E.O. Speedwagon disappears in a mysterious incident in an ancient tomb in Mexico. Feeling bound by his father’s bond to investigate, Joseph Joestar finds himself in New York City.
There, after saving a local pickpocket, Smokey Brown, from racist police brutality, the boy shows his gratitude by leading Joseph to the locations he needs to investigate. At one such place, Joseph suddenly barrages a nearby business with tommy gunfire. He recognized a man known as Straizo, a vampire and former archeologist of the Speedwagon Foundation. The surprise attack catches the vampire off guard and he retreats, licking his wounds. In their second encounter, Joseph learns of the mythical Pillar Men and travels to Mexico to investigate the dig site where Speedwagon disappeared.
This 17-episode romp follows one of the more popular and long-running JJBA characters: Joseph and his progeny are the protagonists of the next two seasons. If you have fans of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure series among your patrons, this show will be a popular addition to your public library shelves.
Joseph and most of his friends are compelling characters. This is the last in the series to address the threat of vampires, and the addition of the Pillar Men to the plot is a fantastic fantasy twist: They are ancient princes who transformed themselves into god-like beings by creating and then consuming vampires.
There is a lot more humor and quite a bit less drama than in the Phantom Blood series. Many discs include the previous series as well. The action is well-considered and well-animated. Fans of fighting and supernatural animated series will want to see JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency. Recommended.
Where does this title belong on public library shelves?
JJBA: Battle Tendency obviously belongs on Anime shelves. If your television collection is diverse, consider placing it among action titles or supernatural titles.