Another death that falls under the same frantic tone. As much as I haven’t had a good cry like Battle Tendency made me, or felt for the characters on a level like Phantom Blood got to me, on the badass scale Stardust Crusaders rules. The major deaths happen quickly, sometimes quicker than anything else I’ve ever read, cough Abdul, and they are a huge spectacle. Polnareff besting the terrifying Vanilla Ice after showing all of his guts and resolve and being carried on the backs of Iggy and Abdul. Or Dio freezing time and slaughtering Kakyoin as he gives his all to get one final message to Mr.Joestar, literally stopping the clock. It’s the time where all the party members are dying in the final conflict and it’s super cool and fast paced. In Kakyoin’s case, as simple as his character arc is, he made good ass friends, and he conquered his fear of Dio; choosing death over kneeling to him. He may not have won, but his loss is like Dire’s loss in Phantom Blood, wounding Dio, metaphorically in this case, but nonetheless in a way that makes it capable for him to fall.
“Sorry for making you worry…”, he was one compassionate bugger until the moment he died.
I’m glad Joseph was there to get the final message, it feels right, he is wonderful at picking up signs. And he tried hamon, a type of attack made for vampires and the undead, something I knew had to come up at some point. In fact, after Dio gloated about Jonathan’s body to Joseph and was hit by Hermit Purple x hamon, he had the most expressive reaction yet I think. He did a muda muda muda earlier so maybe not, but when he was hit by Kakyoin all he did was a ‘tsk’, this one probably means more on a symbolic level for Dio. To him Kakyoin is a punk who bested his control. For Dio, a Joestar and hamon are what forced him to his lowest moments.
