Cool Shock Guy B.T. (魔好青年ビーティー, Makōseinen Bītī, lit. Devil Young Gentleman B.T.) is a spin-off one-shot manga written by Nisio Isin, author of JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE OVER HEAVEN, and illustrated by Posuka Demizu, illustrator of The Promised Neverland.
The spin-off was first announced in the December 2024 issue of Ultra Jump on November 19, 2024. It was published in the Winter 2024 issue of JOJO magazine on December 18, 2024. The chapter is titled The Smoker Under Arms Incident (武装スモーカー事件, Busō Sumōkā Jiken), parodying Poker Under Arms.[1]
It stars an adult B.T., who is employed at Dinosaur Hotel in Las Vegas as a magician. After watching B.T.'s magic show, Koichi Mugikari learns that B.T. is actually employed for helping the hotel's casino handle gamblers who have unusual winning streaks.
Summary
The Smoker Under Arms Incident
In the year 202X, a young adult Koichi Mugikari travels to Las Vegas to Dinosaur Hotel, where B.T. is performing in his own one-man magic show of illusions. The host, a man wearing a dinosaur outfit, introduces B.T. to the stage as the "Magic Gentleman." After the performance, Koichi and B.T. are relaxing in a hotel room. Koichi is thrilled about B.T. being able to have his own show in Las Vegas, but B.T. feels that it was more exciting simply showing tricks to Koichi back when they were in middle school. He also reveals that the hotel didn't hire him purely for his magic tricks. As B.T. sips on Cronenberg whiskey, a bunny girl suddenly knocks on the door, informing B.T. of a bizarre person gambling in the casino hall.
In the monitoring room of the hotel, B.T. and Koichi see a gambler dressed like a gunslinger, Mike Harper, who is on a big winning streak in roulette. Mike places all of his bets on the number 26, shocking the dealer and the audience when the ball lands on the same number. It is revealed that he has now won 35 times in a row on single bets, winning 36x his bet each time, meaning he would earn 1260x his bet. Understanding the situation, B.T. heads to the casino hall to end the gambler's streak.
Roulette is one of the classic staples of casino games, where players have various options to bet on: red or black (win 2x the bet), odd or even numbers (win 2x the bet), an entire row of numbers (win 3x the bet), four numbers (win 9x the bet), three numbers (win 12x the bet), and single numbers (win 36x the bet). There are also "0" and "00" numbers, which are not included when betting on red/black or odd/even. Players start betting by placing their chips on the table after the dealer says "Place your bets", and they can keep betting even after the ball is released onto the spinning wheel, until the dealer says "No more bets."
B.T. challenges Mike to a one-match showdown with no betting limit. Mike is honored to have the Magic Gentleman as his opponent and accepts. The Bunny Girl reveals to Koichi that reclaiming chips from customers with unusual winning streaks is why the hotel hired B.T., because they wouldn't give someone his age his own magic show otherwise. However, Koichi believes that it's the other way around, and B.T. got hired because he loves gambling, not because he wanted to show off his magic. Before beginning the match, B.T. checks to see if the roulette is properly leveled, throwing multiple balls onto the wheel. Sooner than the balls finish landing on their numbers, Mike reveals that the balls are going to land on prime numbers. They land as he claimed, and Mike apologizes for spoiling B.T.'s trick. Provoking B.T., Mike says that he would have preferred to see him manipulate where the balls would land while the wheel was spinning, but B.T. taunts him back.
As the game begins, Koichi wonders how Mike constantly guesses the numbers, since cheating at roulette is nearly impossible. Mike recalls how his boss, Manabu, told him to stay away from the Dinosaur Hotel if he wanted to "work," since B.T. is there. However, Mike ignored his boss's warning, believing magic can't defeat modern science. Suddenly, a cigarette appears in B.T.'s mouth, baffling Mike who wonders where he got it. As smoke surrounds the area, Mike trembles and bets all in on red, surprising the audience that he changed from doing single bets. B.T. manipulates the ball to land on "00", preventing Mike from getting his 36th win. Angered, Mike grabs a hidden gun from his jacket and is about to shoot B.T., but B.T. knocks him out by shooting two roulette balls at his head and hand. B.T. believes that it was worth coming to America since he got to have a duel with a gunslinger.
For stopping Mike, B.T. is rewarded with 30% of the earnings from the casino, though he tells Koichi that if he lost then he would have taken on the entire debt. He explains how Mike kept winning and how he prevented that; Mike had hacked into the casino's security cameras and had AI analyze the footage to predict where the ball would land, receiving the answer through earbuds or a bone conduction headset. B.T. obscured the cameras by lighting the cigarette, filling the area around the roulette table with smoke. He planned that Mike would end up switching to a red/black bet and decided to land the ball on "00". Koichi feels that B.T.'s plan was way too reckless, asking what he would have done if he messed up the landing or if Mike bet on "00" as well. B.T. declares that if that happened then he would have lost everything, nostalgically thinking back to when they were kids and had nothing. As they still have time in the night, B.T. proposes that they play poker together. Koichi passes on gambling, asking that he shows him more magic tricks instead. Koichi concludes by narrating that B.T. is still a "wicked boy" and his best friend.
Characters
List of References
The manga contains many references to Hirohiko Araki's works, notably the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, the original Cool Shock B.T. series, as well as previous works by Araki himself. They can range from mentions to graphical nods.
- Page 1: The cover has B.T. in the same pose and outfit as Cool Shock B.T.'s first chapter.
- Page 2: The covers of Steel Ball Run Volume 1 with Gyro Zeppeli and JOJO magazine 2024 WINTER with Jodio Joestar are shown.
- Page 2: Toyohiro Kanedaichi is shown doing his laundry on the Eiffel Tower replica.
- Page 2: Koichi Mugikari's design is based on the 20-year-old Jonathan Joestar.[2]
- Page 2: A car from F-MEGA is shown on the ground.
- Page 4: Cabbage and Stark, Kira's Coworker, and Rio's Neighbor are in the background.
- Page 5: B.T. has a hat resembling Will Anthonio Zeppeli's.
- Page 5: Cabbage, Kira's Coworker, Wilson Phillips, and the Budogaoka Banker are in the background. Three other characters have facial expressions matching Jotaro Kujo, Noriaki Kakyoin, and Merlai Anne when they laugh in Chapter 154.
- Page 6: There is a photo of Morioh Grand Hotel on the wall.
- Page 7: The "Cronenberg" whiskey B.T. drinks is the same one that Dio Brando drinks in Chapter 9.
- Page 8: Harvest is shown by the poker chips.
- Page 9: A character is holding a rabbit resembling the Little Rabbit plush from Posuka Demizu's The Promised Neverland series.
- Page 9: Features a modern version of Mike Harper from Poker Under Arms.
- Page 17: The bird flying away resembles Pet Shop.
- Page 19: B.T. making the balls land on prime numbers is possibly a reference to Enrico Pucci's habit of counting prime numbers.
- Page 21: Wonder of U is in the audience.
- Page 22: "OPEN THE GAME" is stated like what Daniel J. D'Arby says when starting the poker match against Jotaro in Chapter 214.
- Page 28: Mike quotes D'Arby asking Jotaro where he got his cigarette from and B.T. quotes Jotaro asking Mike if he's feeling okay (Chapter 215).
- Page 29: There are poker chips with Joseph Joestar and Jean Pierre Polnareff's faces on them after their souls were stolen by Osiris.
- Page 30: Will Anthonio Zeppeli is in the audience.
- Page 36: The SFX says Ta-dah! (ドジャーン, Dojyaaa~~n!). This SFX first appears in CSBT Chapter 1 and is often used in its later chapters as well. It is also the catchphrase of Funny Valentine in Steel Ball Run.
- Page 36: The aged Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap's face is used as a seal on an envelope.
- Page 37: THE MATTEKUDASAI is on the table.
- Page 38: B.T. says "Purple Haze".
- Page 40: B.T.'s card has the symbol used for the Cool Shock B.T. series in the bunkoban release of the series.
- Page 41: Koichi's narration is the same as his narration at the end of CSBT Chapter 4 and both Cool Shock Old B.T. chapters, saying that B.T. is a wicked boy but that he's his best friend.
Gallery
JOJO magazine 2024 WINTER Table of Contents
Ultra Jump November 2024 Preview
Trivia
- Cool Shock Guy B.T. takes place in the 2020s and Posuka Demizu's model sheets say it is set around ten years after Cool Shock B.T., which does not match Cool Shock Old B.T.'s timeline. Rather than being in their early thirties, B.T. and Koichi Mugikari would be in their fifties in the 2020s.
References
- ↑ Vish (November 18, 2024), "Hazamada and Cool Shock B.T. Spin-Off Manga, Prosciutto/Pesci Story, and More in JOJO magazine 2024 WINTER", JoJo's Bizarre Encyclopedia.
- ↑ JOJO magazine 2024 WINTER - Cool Shock Guy B.T. Model Sheet Collection