Part 2: Battle Tendency



Part 2 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, subtitled Battle Tendency, is preceded by Phantom Blood and followed by Stardust Crusaders. Joseph Joestar is the JoJo of this part and Kars is the main antagonist. The Pillar Men are the villainous faction.

This part reveals the origins and conclusion to the story of the Stone Masks and is the final part featuring Hamon as the main power system.

Original published under the title Part II: Joseph Joestar - His Proud Lineage, the manga was serialized from 1987 to 1989 in Weekly Shonen Jump, beginning almost one year after the series began.

It was adapted into a TV anime in 2012, paired with Part 1 as the first season in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The Animation.

The Part 2 manga was officially released in English in 2015.

Blu-Ray Disc set
''“Battle Tendency,” set decades after “Phantom Blood,” follows Joseph Joestar, the grandson of Jonathan, after he learns a second Stone Mask has been found in Mexico. It now falls on his broad, muscle-bound shoulders to prevent an ancient evil from rising to conquer the Earth!''

Summary
The second part, set in the year 1938, follows Jonathan's grandson Joseph Joestar. He too is trained in Hamon through Hamon master Lisa Lisa, who happens to be his own mother. Joseph comes face-to-face with the creators of the ancient Stone Mask, the Pillar Men, who are much stronger than a typical vampire. He must defeat this ancient race of super-beings with the help of Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli, Lisa Lisa, and Rudol Von Stroheim before they can recover the Red Stone of Aja and become rulers of the world. Battle Tendency ends with Joseph defeating Kars, at the expense of losing his right hand, and ending the story of the Stone Mask for good.

Cast

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JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: JORGE JOESTAR (2012)
A non-canon light novel written by Otaro Maijo that acts as a spin-off to Part 2 (as well as basically every other part up to Part 7) that tells the story of Joseph Joestar's father George II, Lisa Lisa, and all the wacky hijinks they get into in this weird crossover nexus thing that I cannot even begin to describe. Odd numbered chapters detail the story of George Joestar II, the son of Jonathan and father of Joseph, during his life in the Canary Islands with Lisa Lisa and Erina. There he encounters mysterious occurrences at the hands of "Wounds," and the leftover trauma caused by Dio Brando.

The even numbered chapters detail the story of Joji Joestar, a kid detective from Japan, who becomes friends with a boy named Tsukumojuku, another detective who goes missing in the town of Morioh. Joji goes to Morioh to investigate his disappearance, and gets involved with the multi-layered plot of presidents, Stands, floating islands, and 36 Kars on Mars. In the final two chapters these stories cross over for one ridiculous showdown with the Ultimate Stand User, Dio Brando, and Made in Heaven Ultimate Requiem. Stands in this novel are named after films rather than music.

La extraña aventura de JoJo: rey infinito (2022)
(JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The King of Infinity) A light novel between Battle Tendency and Stardust Crusaders. It features Lisa Lisa as a main character, now in her mid 80s, as she encounters mysterious Stands in South America. It's revealed in this short story that Lisa Lisa became the head of Paranormal Phenomena Section of the Speedwagon Foundation. The first part, the Guatemala Arc, was written by Junjo Shindo for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's 35th Anniversary and came out in March 2022 in the Spring issue of JOJO magazine. The second part, Peru Arc, released in December 2022 in the Winter issue of JOJO magazine.

Creation & Development
Battle Tendency 's title was added late into the series. For Part 2's title, Araki intended on conveying the social background at the time, which was literally the tendency to battle, to get stronger and stronger and eventually become the "Ultimate Lifeform."

Trivia

 * There are scrapped Part 2 scenes that were shown off along with the Phantom Blood film. It's unknown if it was possibly part of a Part 1 epilogue, an anime, OVA, or movie adaptation.
 * This is the final part that uses Hamon as a major plot element, as it would be replaced with Stands starting with Part 3.
 * Hamon is used sparingly in Part 3 but is no longer a major part of the story.
 * In the flashback with Joseph and Speedwagon on a plane getting hijacked, Joseph can be seen reading a comic book in his seat. In the original manga this comic book was Superman, but for the anime adaptation it was changed to a volume of Baoh, Araki's previous work.

Iconography
The most iconic piece of imagery for Part 2 is the parts McGuffin, the Red Stone of Aja, of which the conflict is primarily centered around. It is the perfect gemstone for the Pillar Men to attach to the Stone Mask that would grant them power over the Sun, making them invincible super beings. It is used in imagery in the manga and in supplementary material, appearing most prominently either around Lisa Lisa's neck or embedded in the Stone Mask. It is also the main draw in the second OP of the first season of the anime adaptation, with imagery of characters reaching out for it, and the title sequence ending with a visual of the stone shining in front of Aztec ruins.

Another prominent icon in Battle Tendency is the Ripple, the main power system of the part which it shares with Phantom Blood. This is more often used in the Bunkoban release of the manga in the main icon design along with Joseph's hand in a martial arts-type position.

Continuity

 * Joseph Joestar, the protagonist of this part, is the son of George Joestar II, named after his grandfather.
 * It is revealed in flashbacks that George II was killed in the war by one of Dio's remaining zombies who escaped and found his way into the British army.
 * In Jorge Joestar, this is explained by having one of these zombies be Antonio Torres, who has the Wound of Molting. On George's wedding day, he is attacked by Antonio's army of skin clones and is attacked and "killed" by him in his own house. In reality, he was actually sent into the future in an alternate timeline, which he eventually returned from. This is explained in the canon story as just a random zombie.
 * The novel also reveals that when he returned back to his own time he became a film producer, which connects to what is said at the end of Part 2, that Lisa Lisa eventually remarried a film producer after the events of the story.
 * The Pillar Men, the creators of the Stone Mask from the previous part, are shown off for the first time. It is revealed that they created it to bypass the sun, in conjunction with the Red Stone of Aja to become superbeings.
 * Will Zeppeli from Phantom Blood is revealed to have had a son who was studying the Pillar Men. He, too, had a son, Caesar, who becomes a member of Joseph Joestar's group and eventually dies protecting him in the same way his grandfather died protecting Jonathan.
 * This was a retcon in the original manga, as the initial release of Phantom Blood claimed that Will had no family. After Part 2's release this was corrected to fit in with the changed narrative.
 * Several Part 1 characters return in this part.
 * Robert E. O. Speedwagon returns as a supporting character. After 50 years, he became an oil tycoon and super rich. He founded the Speedwagon Foundation, which will continue to support the Joestar family for almost a hundred years. He is said at the end of the part to have died of heart disease, a bachelor.
 * Straizo also returns, the only surviving member of Tonpetty's Hamon clan. He returns 50 years later in search of the remining Stone Masks, inspired by Dio's fall from humanity, he too wants to become ageless. After donning a Stone Mask, he becomes an immortal vampire, but is eventually defeated by Joseph.
 * Erina also returns, as Joseph's Granny Erina. She is said at the end of the part to have died peacefully of old age.
 * At the end of the part, the anime adaptation includes a scene of Erina on her death bed, with Joseph and his wife Suzi Q beside their daughter Holly, who originally made her first appearance in the manga during Part 3.
 * The anime also adds a post-credit scene of Jotaro in his prison cell from the beginning of Part 3.
 * The Joestar Birthmark, which is formally introduced in Part 3, is totally absent from this part because Araki didn't write that plot point in yet. While the birthmark is absent in the manga, the anime adaptation added it in retroactively to fit with what's known in Part 3.
 * Joseph's Stand in Part 3, Hermit Purple, is described as being the "Hamon User's Stand," and Araki claims that if the Stardust Crusaders were to go back in time and see Joseph during the events of Part 2, they would see him with purple vines wrapped around him, implying that his Stand has always been a dormant part of him due to him being a proficient Hamon User.

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"'Part 3 finally starts next week! This is a new adventure that includes Joseph and a new protagonist. Cheers!'"