Would personally love to see you do a breakdown analysis of Bleach considering the seemingly underhanded/slight jab labeling it as an “average” Shonen.
I think an interesting thought is Funny admitted to Johnny that D4C could never find a dimension where his father was alive. Suggesting either his stand can only go to alt universes where Funny is spiritually/morally the same, and the only way that is possible is through his father’s death, or that his stand is not limited to these alt universes but that these are all there is and that he was too late to meet any alternate fathers that mightve survived.
@@st1ckdr1ft Hey, with characters nuanced as Valentine it'll happen. Also to answer your question as to why FV's backstory is ripped from Pulp Fiction is probably because if you get the reference, you're already inclined to believe his father's story to be...less than accurate. Also, as the first villain who's stand power didn't result in time powers but space powers, swapping the watch with the napkin is thematically important. And swapping the anus for the eye...well it could go super deep or it could be just araki saying "Funny has a shitty perspective" literally
Hearing other people praise things I already love just feeds me a different type of enjoyment I love knowing people love this manga just as much as I do.
True Mans World and Civil War have been my favorite fights since I first read part 7 years ago. Thank you for breaking down what makes them so fun to revisit and think over, and painting a clearer picture of the commentary SBR has on nationalism and individualism. This was a great video!
Excellent video! I admit that a lot of the philosophical stuff went a little over my head while reading, and while I understood the basics the more complex aspects of both True Man’s World and Civil War escaped me. You gave me a lot to chew on. Thank you for making this, I really enjoyed it!
This was a very well made video with interesting points. Loved the section about Valentine as a thing I have always appreciated is how he is drawn and written like a slimy politician. When he does something passively evil or clandestine it even has him in shadows or has the panels be smaller at times. While when he gives his grand speeches he gets good angles and strong paneling. Real nationalist snake.
Steel Ball Run was a great part, but never my ultimate favorite. this video is honestly making me like SBR even more than i first did. i never realized the idea of Funny Valentine's alternates being such a cohesive unit as a nationalism thing, but it makes so much sense now
This video is amazing, please make more videos like this, or more in general tbh you’re better than Kaleb IA and Metas, please keep up the great work man
I have to say mayn that was a really good video. I was looking for more deeper analyses on STEEL BALL RUN and didn’t find a video that scratched the itch. After taking on a course in college that is making me think critically about fiction writing and requires good arguments as there are no right or wrong answers it’s a breath of fresh air to understand more of what one of my favorite stories is trying to convey.
I was enraptured watching this. Jojo in general has taught me so much about individualism, and the philosophies in later parts (5-8) have sat with me for years. Thank you for the engaging video and i look forward to your thoughts on other topics! ❤
this video is absolutely wonderful, I’ve had so many similar opinions on SBR and the themes in it, and you just put my thoughts into words, I really hope you get the recognition you deserve later on!! this video is great, and I’m so excited to see your part 6 video! :D
Thank you for this video I'm in jojo fandom for a long time so I can forget details and I'm glad I can remember it without rereading again and again + Analysising is cool too
This is an amazing video, i cant wait to see more like it. I literally love narrative analysis and i love jojos god damn it all google give me more videos from this guy
This was an amazing video- honestly did not catch the symbolism of D4C Love Train, so thanks for that. Steel Ball Run is an example of a story that simply could not be told in any other place- it uses its setting to say something about where it takes place, and in that regard it does something that I think only Jojolion does.
Also (and I really just mean this in a constructive way) maybe try spending more time making a thumbnail that pops. in my opinion this thumbnail did not prepare me for the peak video essay I was about to watch, and I feel like you could bring in a lot more people if the thumbnail was more eye-catching. Just my opinion tho, You should do whatever you feel fits your style
I appreciate it so much !! Yeah the thumbnail is definitely not my best lol. I actually did this video as a school project and I had to cook a thumbnail up really fast to meet the deadline so I promise the next one will be better!!!
this is an amazing video, it helped me see more of the nuances of sbr that i feel are often (unfortunately) missed amongst this fanbase. is it possible you could do a video covering part 5 in some way? i’d love to hear an in depth analysis of my fave jojo part :D
GREAT video! I love when people take a serious look at jjba's story, it's one of my favorite pieces of writing and sometimes I feel like its greatness gets lost on a lot of fans because of memes... which ofc isn't wrong, we all get different things out of the media we consume. But this was a really interesting watch! As a fan that's not from the USA, I think your perspective was really insightful. Looking forward to your next video :^)
This was a really fun watch! It's not as prevalent now but valentine being the hero used to be a common view. Some say that Valentine was written so well that he convinced people to his side like a real politician would. I don't think that's the case though. You already gotta have some nationalistic biases to agree with him at the very least. Valentine's speech assumes patriotism to be inherently good. Some who have grown up in nationalistic countries don't ask themselves if that's true or not. So they would be more like to bhy into his ideology. I never noticed that D4C's ability to transfer valentine's goals to his other selves was a representation of nationalistic ideals, that's a good catch! Definitely makes me appreciate the character more.
Also, D4C transfers base Valentine's memories onto the other Valentine. And since they are so similar already, the new valentine continues the base Valentine's plan. I remember that being shown during one of the switches iirc
Great analysis! Though I do want to point out something at the end. When the american civil war started, funny was 14. In the images, him as a child is much younger than 14, so it can be assumed it was a war prior to this
Honestly my favorite video essay of all time I consider myself a hardcore Jojo fan but I still learnt a heap of new things. Amazing work and I hope that I’ll be able to appreciate another Jojo related video in the future
Amazing. I always liked Valentine because he showed shallow patriotism, violating the ideals his country is based on (his ability literally duplicates people), but you expanded my view on individualism in SBR so much! Thank you for the great video. Do you by any chance plan on analyzing part 8?
I’m definitely planning on it, I feel like it hasn’t been explored much on RU-vid, yet it’s super interesting. It will take a while tho cus I wanna re read it for the best analysis possible !
I've always read Steel Ball Run through a Nietzschean lens. There is no ultimate Ubermensch in the story, but he is found in the President, Johnny, Gyro, and Diego.
That was some excellent script and thoughtful discussion. I love how you related back to historical ideas, occurrences, and people like Jefferson, Mussolini, and French nationalism. As a big enjoyer of the Jojo’s story, to me part 7 did not quite live up to the reputation the western fanbase gives it, in a somewhat weird way. I appreciated that focused backstories and character development of the leads, but I found Johnny hard to relate to and felt like Gyro’s character seemed unfinished. I enjoyed the role of the corpse and side plot of Lucy, but felt that things reached an abrupt climax. And I felt that Valentine’s active role in the plot beginning with the D4C arc was too short and that his acquisition of the corpse seemed unearned (especially coming off of Pucci, a very active villain with motivations explored throughout the whole part). I say all this to explain that I wanted to understand SBR better, to better appreciate the intent behind the writing decisions. I watched the video hoping for a new perspective on things, or one to “fill in the blanks” that left me confused and unsatisfied. And although this video didn’t bump up SBR any higher in my part rankings, the subject of the video as described here did fill in a lot of those blanks, and present a bigger thematic picture for me to appreciate. So consider me a satisfied skeptic and I look forward to the part 6 video. I hope your channel does well!
Those are all very fair criticisms, and that’s awesome that you got a bit more appreciation for the story ! Pucci is definitely my favorite jojo villain, and he’ll get a lot of attention in the part 6 video cus the philosophy he brings to the table is just unmatched ‼️
Just want to add that what you said about Valentine’s backstory with his father was especially revealing. Until that point it had seemed to me like a strange last-minute bit of characterization and sympathy for him, or just a means to set up the final verbal confrontation with Johnny (both being tricks that I feel Araki wouldn’t tend to use), but the idea that it reveals both the origin and the critical flaws of Valentine’s philosophy makes it a lot more meaningful. The deliberate lack of specific words with who the “enemy” was, that’s such a strong tie to nationalism indeed. It’s really impressive how much more meaning a story can feel like it has when there’s one or more core themes for the events and actions of characters to be related to. I don’t consume too much media but Jojo’s has changed the way I view storytelling.
The real fascinating thing about Ringo Roadagain is why people think he's cool. He's dedicated his life to getting good at hurting others and pushing them away. He's solved the hedgehog's dilemma by deciding to make his spines longer and sharper and demanding everyone else he encounters do the same. What is admirable about this? (Don't tell me he's a unique character. Anyone who finds his "step on my land and I shoot" outlook novel has never been to the rural south.) His quest for "self-improvement" has rendered him an irrelevant person with a stagnant life. He's an environmental hazard to be avoided. I'd compare him to a carnivorous plant but at least those eat what they catch and are able to produce offspring. His efforts bear no fruit except pain and pseudo-philosophy to excuse his hiding away from the world. His is the behavior of a person who is afraid of the world. Someone incapable of living like a human, who instead of accepting help pretends to be above it all. Is this what's so compelling about him? Does he present an appealing fantasy of not needing other people? A way to pretend you aren't lonely?
There are admirable parts of his character, like his drive for self-improvement or his self-reliance, but he definitely isn't a character to idolize or respect. If his interest was less destructive, he'd be a lot more admirable
You are right but this is exactly why this arc was so important. Gyro's character develops by taking some of ringo's advice while not adopting his entire philosophy, which is sort of what was said in the video. I think the path to self-improvement is the part of ringo's philosophy that is good, it's at what cost that I have issues with, and it's one aspect of it that gyro definitely didn't adopt, further strengthening the idea of individualism
Amazing video. The contrast between nationalism and individualism is something Iam just as interested as you are. As someone who leans more towards American nationalism i love how funny valentine can make people such as I question his morality and if he “really” is a villain.
