User:HudgynS/Phantom Blood (Musical)
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Tsuneyasu Motoyoshi wrote the script, and Ney Hasegawa, director of the Fujiyama Anette theater company, directed the musical. Dove Attia and Rod Janois, known for their work on the LUPIN musical, composed the music.[3]
The musical was originally scheduled to premiere on February 6, 2024. However, on February 4, 2024, it was announced that the performances from February 6 to 8 were cancelled due to delays. On February 8, 2024, it was announced that the performances from February 10 to 11 were cancelled as well.[4]
Pre-orders for the Blu-ray release of the musical were announced in the May 2024 issue of Ultra Jump on April 18, 2024. "Sunlight Yellow" and "Midnight Blue" versions of the Blu-ray are available, each featuring one of Jonathan and Zeppeli's double cast actors. Both versions, as well as a limited-edition box set containing a bonus disc, are planned to release sometime in December 2024.[2]
Synopsis
The story revolves around the mysterious Stone Mask excavated from Mexico and follows the adventurous tale of the fateful destinies of two young men. Set in England in the 19th century, Jonathan Joestar, nicknamed "JoJo", is the only son of the noble Joestar family. His father, Sir Joestar, raises him under strict yet warm guidance to become a "true gentleman". The Joestar household adopts Dio Brando, who was born and raised in the slums, believing that Dio's deceased father, Dario Brando, had saved Sir Joestar's life. Sir Joestar raises the two as equals, and they grow up strong.
However, Dio schemes to take everything from JoJo; his beloved dog Danny, his friends, his first love Erina Pendleton, and even the Joestar family's wealth. Realizing Dio's evil intentions, JoJo heads to the slums of London, Ogre Street. With the help of his new ally Robert E. O. Speedwagon, they drag Wang Chan back to the Joestar mansion because of his involvement in Dio's conspiracy. In a desperate situation, Dio harnesses the power of the mysterious Stone Mask, displayed in the Joestar house, to gain immense strength.
To counter the overpowering Dio, JoJo endures the rigorous training of Will Anthonio Zeppeli to master the "Ripple Technique". Both of them set out on a journey with Speedwagon to settle the score with Dio. Meanwhile, Dio, with the likes of Jack the Ripper and legendary knights under his command, builds an evil empire and awaits JoJo's arrival.[1]
Summary
Act 1
Dio the Invader
An old man named Robert E. O. Speedwagon introduces himself... He begins by introducing a mysterious Stone Mask, which the Aztec tribe would use in ritual sacrifices to gain power and immortality. However, despite their newfound strength, they mysteriously vanished from the face of the earth ("Eternal Voice")...
The scene then shifts to a carriage accident in 1868. A tramp named Dario Brando, alongside a woman from a bar, comes across the crash. Despite the woman's pleas, Dario begins looting the wreckage, disregarding the cries of a baby whose mother died shielding him from harm. Dario reaches for a ring on one victim's finger, only to be surprised when he suddenly regains consciousness. The ring-bearer, believing Dario had come to save him and his family, introduces himself as George Joestar, and promises to help Dario in return should he ever be in need. Dario is all too happy to play into this deception.
Speedwagon jumps to the year 1881, a time of great upheaval in Great Britain. With the advent of steam trains and the great industrial revolution, an unprecedented ambition for power and riches has awakened in the lower class ("Light and Darkness"). Among that lower class is one Dio Brando, who comes home one day to find Dario, his father, on his deathbed. Knowing his time is soon, Dario tells Dio of the debt the Joestar family owes him, and hands him a letter addressed to them. Certain that the Joestars will adopt his soon-to-be-orphaned son, Dario urges Dio to become rich and never lose to anyone... ("Dio").
Meanwhile, two other commoners tease a girl named Erina Pendleton after stealing her hat. Jonathan Joestar, still a young boy, bravely confronts the bullies to retrieve the hat, only to be beaten and left bloodied by the two. Nevertheless, Jonathan remains unwavering in his determination to become a gentleman, leaving Erina to admire his courage. As Jonathan comes home, he sees a carriage stop in front of his family's mansion. Out of the carriage leaps Dio...
So begins the two boys' shared youth. Dio seems to excel above Jonathan in everything, from his studies and dining manners to his boxing skill... ("Invasion"). Jonathan, all but isolated, takes solace in the company of his canine best friend ("Hey Danny"). However, he soon finds new happiness when Erina leaves a basket of apples for Danny, and the two quickly fall in love ("Fleeting Time").
One day, on her way home after spending time with Jonathan, Erina is stopped by her bullies, now acting as Dio's lackeys. Dio grabs Erina and forcibly kisses her, hoping to ruin Jonathan's budding relationship. Surprisingly, Erina washes her mouth out with muddy water to keep her pride, inciting Dio to strike her in rage. Dio is horrified at his own actions, remembering how Dario beat him and his mother... ("Voice Calling from the Darkness"). Yet he hardly has time to compose himself before Jonathan confronts him, seething with rage.
Despite Dio's superior technique, Jonathan gains the upper hand via sheer fury and lands a barrage of bloody punches on Dio, promising to beat him up until he cries. Dio attempts to retaliate with a knife, but both boys stop in their tracks upon seeing the stone mask grow spines and pop out of the wall, having reacted to Dio's blood landing on it ("I Won't Stop Beating You Until You Cry"). George then stops the fight for good... Later, Danny is accidentally incinerated by the mansion's butler, having somehow been put inside a locked box and left next to the trash. Dio is seen consoling Jonathan over the loss of his best friend.
A Letter from the Past
The year is now 1888. Darkness and terror envelop the streets of London, brought on by a mass murderer named Jack the Ripper. In his shadow, unsavory individuals such as the eastern fortune teller Wang Chan rise... In a local market, another eccentric is told about the current owners of a certain stone mask... Meanwhile, Jonathan and Dio, now college students and apparent close friends, score the winning try in a game of rugby ("Trembling Era ~ Rugby"). As the two set off to tell their father about the game, Jonathan thinks back on the past seven years and wonders why he still can't bring himself to trust Dio ("7 Years of Friendship").
George has recently fallen ill with an unknown illness, but is still well enough to congratulate the two, having heard of their winning play from his friend, a police inspector named Archer. Later, Jonathan further investigates the stone mask in the mansion library. Distracted by his fascination with the mask's secret, he accidentally knocks a box containing old documents from a shelf. Jonathan begins picking up the contents, but notices the letter Dario sent his father seven years ago. Out of morbid curiosity, Jonathan reads the letter and, to his horror, discovers that Dario had the same symptoms his father suffers from now.
At the same time, Dio prepares to deliver George's "medicine" to him, remembering how he killed his father via poison he acquired from Wang Chan ("Voice Calling from the Darkness <Reprise>"). Jonathan confronts Dio, who remains evasive even after hearing the letter's contents aloud. When Jonathan dares him to swear upon his father's honor, however, Dio lashes out and attacks his adoptive brother, only to be thrown aside. Dio resolves to kill Jonathan in order to complete his plan and inherit his adoptive father's fortune.
As Jonathan leaves to seek out an antidote to the poison, Dio breaks into his study and finds the stone mask, which he intends to kill him with. Jonathan soon arrives at London's Ogre Street, the so-called "source of all illnesses." Standing in his way, however, are a host of petty thieves led by none other than a younger Speedwagon. Jonathan fends off the crooks, taking out Speedwagon with a single kick, but remains hopelessly outnumbered. Suddenly, Speedwagon tells his cronies to back off; Jonathan had held back when he attacked him and his comrades, recognizing the humanity of his enemies and sparing their families from the grief that would come from their deaths. Recognizing a gentleman when he sees one, Speedwagon guides Jonathan to the potion dealer as the gang cheers for him ("Ogre Street").
Meanwhile, Dio stalks the streets of a nearby port town, having taken to drink out of stress, like his father before him. Two passing vagrants begin to mock him and his mother, invoking Dio's wrath. Nevertheless, he decides to use one of the vagrants as a human test subject, placing the stone mask on him and fatally stabbing the other to activate it. The mask emits a strange light as it pierces the vagrant's skull, but seemingly only succeeds in killing him—until the man rises moments later as a vampire, far more powerful than before and thirsty only for blood. The vampire grabs Dio by the neck and begins to drain his life energy, only to disintegrate and vanish in the light of the rising sun ("Voice Calling from the Darkness - I Can't Help But Drink").
The eccentric from earlier, Will Anthonio Zeppeli, reminisces about his past with the mask... ("Zeppeli's Notes"). Meanwhile, back at the mansion, Jonathan brings in the poison dealer, who is apprehended by Inspector Archer. Archer, blaming himself for the incident, remembers arresting Dio's father for stealing George's ring many years ago, but being persuaded by the victim himself to let him go. Archer regrets allowing George to cover for Dario, despite recognizing the former's unshakeable kindness ("Golden Spirit"). Nevertheless, Jonathan cannot allow Dio to get away with what he's done.
Attack of the Living Dead
Dio arrives at the mansion, only to be told by Jonathan that George has already been given the antidote. Dio attempts to fake regret for his actions, but Speedwagon suddenly appears, having followed Jonathan home from London. Speedwagon rejects Dio's excuse of a poor upbringing, claiming he was born evil, and reveals that George and the police have been listening in the whole time. Dio, cornered, asks that Jonathan put his handcuffs on. Lamenting his useless plans and his wretched blood, Dio suddenly reveals the mask and announces his intent to reject his humanity. Dio pulls out a knife to stab Jonathan, but George takes the blow, nonetheless triggering the mask with his blood. As the mask lights up once more, Dio laughs as the police fire upon him, knocking him through a window ("Born Evil").
With all parties believing Dio to be dead, Jonathan cradles a dying George in his arms. George gives Jonathan his wife's ring, content to die in the arms of his beloved son. Heartbroken by the loss of the one he tried so hard to save, Jonathan nonetheless feels that part of his father's spirit has been passed on to him ("Courage"). Suddenly, Archer is pulled through the window and killed as Dio re-emerges as an immortal vampire. Despite Jonathan and the officers' best efforts, Dio proves immune to bullets as he effortlessly slaughters the police, reviving them as zombie minions to assault the survivors. Speedwagon's arm is wounded in the crossfire, but Jonathan defeats the zombies with a spear, and the two hide behind a curtain while Dio's back is turned. Dio follows their trail of blood to them, but Jonathan lights the curtain on fire and throws it on top of Dio.
As the fire spreads throughout the mansion and Dio agonizes from the slight damage, Jonathan pushes Speedwagon to safety. He then retreats upstairs, daring Dio to come fight him and settle their shared youth. Dio obliges and easily catches up to him by walking up the wall itself. Jonathan grabs Dio, stabs him with the knife he killed George with, and pushes him onto the Statue of the Goddess of Love, impaling him. Dio, unable to escape, curses Jonathan as the flames apparently consume him ("Youth with Dio").
Act 2
Zeppeli the Eccentric
Three days after the fire, Wang Chan sifts through the rubble of the mansion for valuables. He comes across the stone mask, but Dio's arm grabs and zombifies him before he can reach it. Dio, barely alive, calls to Jonathan ("Voice Calling from the Darkness - Dio"). Meanwhile, Speedwagon visits the hospital he left Jonathan at, but is told by a nurse that Jonathan is not accepting visitors. Soon after, Jonathan awakes to find that the nurse treating him is, in fact, Erina. The two rekindle their romance; listening in on the reunion, Speedwagon comments on their fated bond before withdrawing coolly ("Fleeting Time <Reprise>").
In the back alleys of London, Jack the Ripper strikes once more, cruelly killing a woman he tricked into going out with him. Before he can finish mutilating the body, however, Dio emerges from the shadows. Though his wounds force him to use a wheelchair driven by Wang Chan, Dio demonstrates his immortality to Jack when the killer fails to cut him to bits. Dio offers Jack unimaginable power and even deeper enjoyment of his murderous passion in exchange for his eternal servitude as a zombie, an offer that Jack is eventually swayed into taking ("Trembling Era - Darkness in the Back Alley").
The next morning, Jonathan and Erina fail to find the stone mask in the ruins of the mansion, and conclude that it must have been destroyed. At that moment, Zeppeli appears and pierces Jonathan's diaphragm with his pinky finger, rendering him unable to breathe. The effect is only temporary, however, and soon Jonathan finds that his wounds from the battle have healed. Zeppeli explains that he wields a bizarre technique known as Sendo, which utilizes "Ripple" energy to heal wounds and disintegrate the undead; thanks to his "attack" earlier, Jonathan now holds this power as well, and his latent talent is already beginning to show. Zeppeli also warns Jonathan that Dio is still alive and in possession of the mask, and that he is already destined to fight the vampire ("Resolve of the Ripple"). Jonathan, recognizing his duty, tells Erina that he will return shortly. Alone again, Erina nonetheless feels confident that the two of them are destined to meet again ("Stars Drawn Together").
Jonathan and Zeppeli confront Wang Chan as he is about to assault Speedwagon. Under orders from Dio, Wang Chan attacks the duo, but retreats after being wounded by Jonathan's Ripple energy. Though Jonathan is still unsure about his new power, Zeppeli reassures him that they are different from Dio, in that they feel pain. He then explains that he, too, suffered because of the stone mask: after he discovered the mask on an expedition, his father donned the mask and murdered his entire team before himself disappearing in the sunlight. Recognizing their kindred pasts, the two warriors renew their conviction ("Pain").
Invitation to a Trap
Speedwagon tracks Wang Chan to Windknight's Lot, a small town south of London ("Windknight's Lot"). He accompanies Jonathan and Zeppeli as they travel there by carriage, though Zeppeli remains uneasy now that Dio knows about the Ripple. When the carriage suddenly stops in a tunnel, the group is horrified to discover that Jack the Ripper has killed the horses and driver. Jack confronts the two, but Zeppeli easily drives him off.
The group chases Jack as he flees to Dio, who is busy reviving the town's buried knights ("Dio's World"). Dio decides to sic his new zombie army on the group alongside Jack. Zeppeli suddenly gives Jonathan a glass of wine, tasking him with defeating his foes without spilling a drop. Though the request seems unreasonable... ("The North Wind Made the Vikings").
Vengeful Demons from the Past
Dio finally deigns to appear before the group himself. He announces that his wounds are almost fully healed, though he is himself unsure how many lives he took to do so. Angered by his callousness, Zeppeli attacks the vampire, but his Ripple proves ineffective: by freezing his own arm, Dio is able to stop his adversary's blood flow, and by extension his Ripple energy. Jonathan steps in to help Zeppeli, but both are defeated. Even Speedwagon can only back away from Dio's intimidating power. Confident in his superiority, Dio proceeds to summon the dark knights Bruford and Tarkus, whom he and Jonathan learned about from George's teachings ("Knight's Pride, Gentleman's Heart"). Jonathan fights Bruford as Zeppeli struggles to fight Tarkus and a horde of zombies, allowing Dio to retreat and leaving Speedwagon to watch from the sidelines. Sick of his own gutlessness and indecision, Speedwagon works up the courage to help Zeppeli deal with the zombies and thaw his frozen arm ("Tomorrow is Now").
At the same time, Jonathan deals a decisive blow to Bruford. Bruford gets back up and goes for a final strike, but Jonathan refuses to flinch, correctly anticipating that the knight would stop his sword short. The Ripple has revived Bruford's chivalrous human soul, even as it continues to destroy his body. Saluting his foe's courage, Bruford offers Jonathan his sword, Luck, which he renames to "Pluck" in his honor before passing on. As Jonathan is left distraught by the short-lived friendship, Dio reappears to taunt him. Before Dio can act, however, Zeppeli tosses a Ripple-imbued flower into his eye, forcing him to retreat.
Tarkus suddenly attacks Jonathan with a set of chains, gravely injuring him. Zeppeli attempts to fight Tarkus, but is wrapped up in the chains and mortally crushed. Despite his condition, Zeppeli is able to grab Jonathan's hand and initiate his ultimate technique, Deep Pass Overdrive, transferring all of his remaining life energy into his pupil. Revived and stronger than ever, Jonathan summarily kills Tarkus before bidding a tearful farewell to his master ("Golden Spirit <Reprise>").
Bloody Battle
Alone in an abandoned castle, Dio struggles with his father's memory once more... ("Dio's World <Reprise>"). Jonathan appears... Speedwagon tosses Luck & Pluck to Jonathan, and the two engage in battle. Though Jonathan splits Dio in two, Dio freezes the sword before it can conduct Ripple energy and grabs Jonathan's carotid artery. Jonathan frees himself by twisting Dio's arm, and decides to set his own arms ablaze to conquer Dio's freezing technique. Remembering their shared youth, Jonathan and Dio make their final stands, with Jonathan's heat ultimately winning out and striking Dio in the chest. As his body is vaporized, Dio desperately fires beams of fluid from his eyes as he falls from a balcony. Despite everything, Jonathan still sheds a tear for his brother ("Fire and Ice").
The Final Ripple
The news reports that on December 4, 1888, 73 residents of Windknight's Lot disappeared in the middle of the night. On December 11, two men were seen smashing a stone mask to pieces with a hammer. Three months later, on February 2, 1889, it is reported that Jonathan Joestar has married Erina Pendleton, and the two intend to set sail for America for their honeymoon. Speedwagon makes it to the dock just in time to see them off, unaware at the time just what fate would befall them.
Jonathan and Erina enjoy their honeymoon, happy just to be in each other's arms—until Jonathan suddenly spots Wang Chan aboard the ship. Warning Erina to stay in her room and lock the door, Jonathan pursues Wang Chan to the ship's engine room, where the zombie opens a coffin to reveal Dio's self-decapitated head, "alive" and intact. Dio explains that he has chosen to appear before Jonathan because their fates are one and the same, declaring that Jonathan's body is the only suitable host for his head. Before Jonathan can respond, Dio uses his eye fluid beams to pierce Jonathan in the throat, preventing him from creating Ripple energy and condemning him to a slow death.
Erina stumbles across the scene, pursued by a newborn horde of zombies. The thought of harm befalling her stirs Jonathan into action: as Wang Chan moves to cut off his head on Dio's command, Jonathan releases all of the Ripple energy in his body at once, knocking Wang Chan's body into the engine and beginning a chain reaction that will cause the ship to explode. Erina pleads Jonathan to let her die together with him, but Jonathan asks her to save a nearby orphaned baby, remembering how his mother did the same for him. Taking a hairpin from Erina, Jonathan bids her happiness before stabbing Dio in the neck with it. Jonathan grips his brother's head in his arms, accepting that their fates have become one as he silently passes away. The ship then finally explodes, taking the two with it into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean ("A Story Told Even in the Next Universe").
Jonathan's life may have disappeared into oblivion, but Erina resolves that his descendants will hear of it... ("Phantom Blood").
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Official Site
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Vish (April 18, 2024), "Phantom Blood Musical Blu-ray Announced", JoJo's Bizarre Encyclopedia.
- ↑ Vish (June 1, 2023), "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood Gets Stage Musical Next February", JoJo's Bizarre Encyclopedia.
- ↑ "Imperial Theater February Performance Musical "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood" Notice of cancellation of some performances (February 6th to 8th)", Toho Co., Ltd. Imperial Theater, February 4, 2024.
