JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 3: Stardust Crusaders Chapter 52 Discussion

Steely Dan thought that going into that girl's brain would've been the end of them but he completely forgot about the tentacle wrapped around Lovers' foot. No matter how much he'll beg, nothing will let Jotaro show mercy after everything he did to him.



He just got the most brutal beatdown yet! Around a thousand platinum-strength fists devastated every single part of his body for nearly half a minute until flying off to violently crash against the nearest wall. That receipt bit made him extra badass too~

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Mod Edit: OP message removed since it was a spoiler which is not related to this chapter.

For a moment, I thought my hypothetical would occur as Lovers flew back with the goal of attaching to Jotaro.  That he’d be caught by it and beat the hell out of Steely Dan anyways, prompting me to feel like I predicted the future.  That didn’t happen, but what did, made me like Jotaro 10x more.  I didn’t particularly care for him, when Abdul died he became my least favorite member of the team.  Yet, now he’s definitely moved up some spots and I think it’s purely due to putting such a powerful character in such an interesting situation.  Before this arc I found him to constantly be a bad boy with a good heart who’d save the day at the end without much more to speak of.  Yet by putting such a power fantasy into a humiliating and humanizing experience where he can’t fight back was what did it for me.  It was seeing him stomach his pride, take a beating for his grandpa, and do so with a burning will.  By being creative and pushing the limits of the character and by making him struggle in a way that felt genuine rather than the formulaic "he has to take a beating before winning", it even makes his danger-sense and precautious methods shine much brighter for me.



Beyond that, I thought this chapter was going to throw me for another change of heart!  During the torture porn of Steely Dan, I thought back to the days of Jonathan and how the only time he chose to torture willingly was during the moment where his heart was being questioned.  It was when Zeppeli died and he was full of rage, feeding his foe to its snakes.  Yet at the same time, Jotaro was not so different from Joseph, gleefully shoving a compass into Donovan’s eye and chaining him to a cactus.  I posed a question in a previous thread, wondering if Jotaro would ever show respect for his enemies.  And suddenly, he pulled an Abdul mercy test, he turned his back on the foe expecting to be attacked.  I was wondering if Steely Dan had learned a lesson and fled; if Jotaro would genuinely let him escape.  But quickly Jotaro stated he never intended to let him escape in the first place!



I also wanted to touch on something regarding the overall story structure.  To preface, I think it’s important not to judge Stardust Crusaders by the standards of storytelling that Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency followed.  That is to say, 52 chapters in, we’d have already finished Phantom Blood and have been nearing the end of Battle Tendency.  Due to the ride or die episodic nature of this part, I can understand the sentiment that “Stardust Crusaders drags”, although I am not going to make such a statement just yet.  Alongside this, my friend asking who my favorite villain was thus far made me consider the villain’s of Stardust Crusaders.  I’d wager on top of the structure already mentioned, the villains of the week imbued into it are another one of the biggest changes.  Rather than the immensely personal Dio or the otherworldly Pillar Men, the villains of this part are comparable to the few minor villains of the previous parts.  Jack the Ripper, Tarkus, Donovan the nazi, Straits, these types.  And because of this, it is obvious to me that the king of part 3's villains is without a doubt, Hol Horse!  The charming, selfish jerk who killed Abdul and has lived through the Joestar gang, Enya, and has gone on to rule the world with Dio!  I only say him rather than Dio because Dio has been a mysterious monologue machine up to this point.

such a satisfying win

One of the most satisfying beat down ever!

Ah, the famous Steely Dan beatdown. One of the greatest ways to fill out some pages.

That was the most satisfying ORA ORA ORA ORA so far.

Haha, this chapter was super funny, Joutarou asking Dan to treat him with more respect was pure gold.

I guess Steely Dan was a coward in the end. He would've been better off taking the mercy that Jotaro granted him. That beatdown was well deserved. Definitely my favorite arc in this part.

MACHINELIKE ACCURACY and MICROSCOPIC VISION? Nice.