JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken Part 2: Sentou Chouryuu

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Dai Ni Bu Joseph Joestar: Sono Hokoritakaki Kettou

Japanese: ジョジョの奇妙な冒険戦闘潮流

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Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 7

Chapters: 69

Status: Finished

Published: Oct 20, 1987 to Mar 14, 1989

Genres: Action, Adventure

Themes: Historical, Vampire

Demographic: Shounen

Serialization: Shounen Jump (Weekly)

Authors: Araki, Hirohiko (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 8.16¹ (scored by 61,019 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #465²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #125

Members: 99,243

Favorites: 3,316

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Wikipedia

8.16

Ranked #465Popularity #125Members 99,243

MangaShounen Jump (Weekly)Araki, Hirohiko (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /7

Chapters: /69

* Your list is public by default.

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Synopsis

America, 1938. Robert E. O. Speedwagon, his foundation, and Straits venture to Mexico to gather more information about the enigmatic Stone Masks. While excavating the ruins, Speedwagon's men are slaughtered by Strait's sudden betrayal and his lust for power, putting Speedwagon in grave danger.

Meanwhile, at the behest of their ally Speedwagon, Joseph Joestar and his grandmother Erina Pendleton have moved to New York City from London. In this new environment, trouble is always around the corner for the hotheaded man, as cultural differences and stubborn citizens spark frequent fights. However, through the power of his "Ripple"—an ability said to be inherited from his grandfather Jonathan Joestar—he defeats foes effortlessly.

One night at a downtown Italian restaurant, Joseph and Erina are provoked when an enormous man across their table taunts them. A proper gentleman from the same table apologizes and informs the two of a disturbing rumor: Speedwagon has been murdered. With an uncertain future, Joseph's bizarre adventure begins, meeting like-minded yet brawny individuals and unearthing remote mysteries along the way.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

A 17-volume kanzenban version dubbed as JoJonium was published in Japan from December 4, 2013, to March 4, 2015. This edition covered the first three parts of the Jojo no Kimyou na Bouken series and included new cover art which showed redesigns of the characters. The second part, Sentou Chouryuu, was covered in JoJonium's volumes 4-7.

JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken Part 2: Sentou Chouryuu has been published in English by VIZ Media as JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 2: Battle Tendency digitally since April 21, 2015, and physically since November 3, in hardback format with the JoJonium format and content used. It was also published in Italy by Star Comics from May 1994 to March 1995.

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Related Manga

Prequel:	JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken Part 1: Phantom Blood
Sequel:	JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken Part 3: Stardust Crusaders
Spin-off:	Jorge Joestar
Adaptation:	JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken (TV)

More characters
Characters

Joestar, Joseph

Main

Zeppeli, Caesar Anthonio

Main

Lisa Lisa

Main

Kars

Main

Speedwagon, Robert E. O.

Supporting

von Stroheim, Rudol

Supporting

Wamuu

Supporting

Pendleton, Erina

Supporting

Q, Suzie

Supporting

Brown, Smokey

Supporting

More reviewsReviews

Jan 12, 2013

Lindle

Recommended

Any patience you had with the flawed first arc will be rewarded handsomely.

While Phantom Blood was dragged down by an extremely dull protagonist, an overly-evil villain, poor art, and a slow beginning, by the very first chapter Battle Tendency has already done away with half of this. BT picks up 50 years onwards from Phantom Blood, in the 1930s, and now follows the grandson of Jonathan Joestar, Joseph Joestar. While the two are dead ringers for each other in appearance, you would never mistake one for the other - they're polar opposites in terms of personality. Where Jonathan was noble, gentlemanly, and generically heroic, Joseph ...

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Jul 12, 2012

WandererRedux

Recommended

As the second Part of the long running series Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Battle Tendency finds itself in an interesting position that many other series would not find themselves in: it sits between what some might consider an average first act and a third act where many people say "is where the series becomes really good" and it is thus not unheard of for people to gloss over this part all together. Which is a shame as Part 2 is a great part in its own right and doesn't see half of the praise that it deserves.

While the story of Phantom Blood was difficult to explain ... due to just how bizarre yet oddly linear the narrative was on paper, Battle Tendency's is a case of it being both very weird in nature while also being much larger and better defined in scope. Events take place a few decades after the end of Phantom Blood, picking up in 1930's America when the world was on the edge of a second world war. We are quickly introduced to our protagonist Joseph Joestar, age 18 who is a nigh splitting image of his grandfather Jonathan. Joseph possesses an innate ability to harness the power of the Ripple, an ability that he has inherited from his grandfather before him and can use to great effect, quickly utilising it to rescue a pickpocket named Smokey Brown from a couple of corrupt police officers. Meanwhile we are reintroduced to his "Uncle", the aged Robert Speedwagon (who has managed to strike oil and create an organization in his name between the 50 year gap), where it is revealed that he has discovered ruins which allude to the origins of the vampire-creating stone mask. It is here that he uncovers the true origins of the accursed mask and a promise of a threat that is of a much greater scale: vampire transcending beings simply known as the Pillar men.

In summary it's basically more of the same nonsense that was present in Phantom Blood, but more refined and benefitting from a shift in genre; while it can be said that Phantom Blood's atmosphere was designed to reflect classic horror's like Dracula, Battle Tendency strives to provide a more traditional adventure series like Indiana Jones. This is especially apparent as the series visits multiple countries around the world as the story goes on. Note that while the series is more refined than its predecessor it still falls for similar pot holes that hurt the overall tone of the story (probably the best example of this is how the main characters are aided by the Nazi’s at one point without any sense of irony), which is more of a quirk of Hirohiko Araki’s writing style and continues to pop up throughout the series. In the end the story is what it is: the series is funny when it’s meant to be funny, sad when it’s meant to be sad and you're rooting for the main characters to overcome their enemies around every bend of the story, which is exactly what needed to be done.

In contrast to a majority of the characters in Phantom Blood, the characters in Battle Tendency are all interesting and more complex than how they initially appear. Joseph, despite the strong resemblance towards Jonathan (the previous part's protagonist for anyone unfamiliar) is about as similar to him as night is to day: while Jonathan was more of a stupidly naïve hero who always fought in a gentlemanly manner, Joseph starts out as a rebellious, jerk-ish hothead whom is not above fighting dirty or comically running away from a situation. This immediately makes his character a lot more interesting, as it shows that he's a far cry from Jonathan’s near messianic level of heroism yet maintains a sincere care for those who he makes deep connections towards. This causes him to give his all to protect them and in turn leads him into becoming a better person as a result. Overall he’s a much stronger main character than Jonathan was and the story benefits greatly from it. Supporting protagonists and secondary characters are likewise more interesting than in the previous part, with the important ones possessing a surprising amount of depth behind their surface personality traits. Special mentions go towards Caesar, eventual rival and friend of Joseph and Stroheim, a patriotic Nazi soldier whom Joseph encounters on his journey, as they both provide a great contrast between themselves and Joseph. The only real characters one could take an issue with are Suzi Q who was introduced solely to provide a love interest towards Joseph and the Pillar Men whom make some baffling poor decisions for beings of their age and intelligence level. To top things off they're frankly not as memorable or entertaining a villain as the first parts villain, Dio. Of course these are more nit-picky complaints than anything else and can easily be overlooked when focusing on the more positive aspects of the series.

As was the case with Phantom Blood, the combat is the absolute high point of the series and has matured to be a lot more creative in execution. The Ripple fighting style that appeared in previous series reappears here shockingly enough, but the utilisation in Battle Tendency favours focusing Ripple energy (basically chi mixed with UV rays for those unfamiliar) into other objects than transferring the energy into their foes by punching them. This logical evolution adds a broader range of combat possibilities and strategies that were simply in a state of infancy when the Ripple was used in the previous part and is nearly comparable to the “Stand” abilities that appear in part 3 onwards. The abilities that each of the Pillar Men possess are very entertaining as well (if a bit less creative) and subsequently provide excellent enemies to Joseph and Co.

The art style of the series is essentially more of the same as the previous arc; featuring handsome muscle-bound characters and beautiful women with a liking for uniquely styled clothing. Having said this there is definitely an evolution in Araki’s drawing style as lines appear bolder than what they did in Phantom Blood and panels appear somewhat neater, giving an impression of increased experience. Background art is worth a decent mention as well: this series visits a variety of different countries and is able to capture pure scenic at the best of times. All in all the artwork is something that you may enjoy, though it is hardly the author’s best work.

So is Battle Tendency a good manga to read? Yes, provided that you have read Phantom Blood before reading this part. It’s a superior series in nearly every way and gives a good indication of just what direction the series is heading towards. If Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure was to be compared to a butterfly’s lifecycle; Battle Tendency would be Jojo’s chrysalis stage; in the middle of changing from its Phantom Blood larvae stage and heading towards its emergence from its cocoon (Stardust Crusaders), where it becomes something awe inspiring. If nothing else if you're planning to read this series the way through then this part is definitely worth the time you'd spend reading it.

《TO BE CONTINUED||

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Apr 20, 2015

Realhumanbean

Recommended

Following up to the successful Phantom Blood, Hirohiko Araki delivers a perfect example of a good sequel: get everything great about the first and build on it, and get everything bad about the first and improve it. What Araki creates is one of the best direct sequels in manga history.

Story: 8/10
Battle Tendency picks up 50 years after the events of Phantom Blood, around 1940. After the ending of Phantom Blood, Speedwagon moves to America and becomes an insanely rich oil tycoon. He forms the Speedwagon Foundation with the ultimate goal of protecting the Joestar family and killing all vampires. Jonathan's wife, Erina, raises ... her grandson Joseph Joestar, the second true Jojo. Joseph moves to America while Speedwagon discovers frozen vampires in Mexico. However, Nazis led by Rudol von Stroheim kidnap him and accidentally awaken the vampires, known as the Pillar Men. Now they have to team up with Speedwagon, Joseph, Zeppeli's grandson Caesar, and a mysterious martial artist named Lisa Lisa to stop the Pillar Men (Santana, Wham, ACDC, and Kars) from destroying the world. It's a very fun story that never has a slow moment unlike Phantom Blood. Much more comedic than it's predecessor, the dramatic moments still hit hard. The climax, though stupid beyond belief, is nevertheless epic and hilariously over the top.

Art: 8/10
The art has improved greatly since Phantom Blood. Araki is still sticking with the overly macho man style while dealing a little bit better with anatomy. Not much o say here other than it's a great improvement over Phantom Blood, while still retaining its style, a style Araki won't really change until Part 4.

Characters: 8/10
For the most part, the characters are very fun. Speedwagon is pretty much useless, but it fits his character who not only is frail and timid to begin with but is now like 89 years old. von Stroheim, especially when he becomes a cyborg, is simply awesome, and his assertions of Nazi German superiority seem true. Caesar serves a similar role that his grandfather did in Phantom Blood, but he's much more young and hotheaded, making him a perfect counterpart to Joseph. The Pillar Men are pure hype, and Wham specifically is one of the best Jojo antagonists ever. I did not care much for Lisa Lisa or Smokey Brown (A kid that Joseph takes with him when eh tried to pickpocket Joseph) at all.

But to make up for that, Joseph. Addressing the complaints that Jonathan was "too dull" and "too one dimensional", Joseph is a colorful character and unlike Jonathan, is a trickster. Rather than fight nobly, Joseph gets enjoyment out of creating master ruses to piss off his enemies. His trademark "You're next line will be..." is hilarious. Pretty much everything about him is hilarious in fact, whether crossdressing to sneak into a Nazi camp or throwing dismembered arms to choke enemies. It's impossible to not be tricked into following this crazy bastard thanks to his endless charisma, wackiness, and flamboyance.

Enjoyment: 9/10
Battle Tendency is a very fun story arc for all the reasons above. It feels much more like a "bizarre adventure" than Phantom Blood did, and it delivers all the goods expected and more. It's very, very dumb, but that's the fun. And even with the comedy, there are still some damn fine dramatic moments, and it's overall very well written as expected of Araki.

Overall: 8/10
Great fights, great characters, great art, Battle Tendency is just lots of fun. A more than worthy follow up to Phantom Blood, it's like the Terminator 2 of manga.

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JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken Part 2: Sentou Chouryuu
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 2: Battle Tendency
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