Rohan Kishibe ★ History
A detailed chronological summary of the life of Rohan Kishibe.
Early Life
When he was young, he was often left at his babysitter's house, Reimi Sugimoto. During the night of August 13, 1983, his parents had an important thing to attend to and so Rohan was left with Reimi. He was saved by Reimi at the cost of her own life from the serial killer Yoshikage Kira, but was in shock and couldn't serve as a witness. He intentionally chose to not remember much of this life in his adult years.
At some point during his childhood, Rohan, while playing on the beach, fell onto some rocks and broke ribs on the left side of his body. Because of that injury, he experiences pain in that area if he finds himself wherever there is extremely low atmospheric pressure.[1]
Years later, Rohan met a woman named Nanase Fujikura at his grandmother's inn. Rohan, at the age of seventeen at the time, becomes intrigued by her and attempts to use her as a model for his drawing. Nanase shows interest in his drawings and asks to read his work once he finishes it.
Days later, Nanase tells him the story of Nizaemon Yamamura, who created the "Under the Moon", which Nanase describes as "the darkest painting in the world." She leaves the room to answer her phone briefly, but when Rohan goes to check on her, she appeared to be crying about her divorce and goes running out of the house.
A week later, she returned and Rohan knocked on her door. She opened the door and embraced him while crying. Rohan attempts to show her his drawings of her, but she suddenly becomes enraged and begins stabbing the drawings. She runs away crying again, only this time she doesn't come back.
Three months before the events of Diamond is Unbreakable, Keicho Nijimura shoots Rohan with an Arrow, awaking a Stand ability in him.
Diamond is Unbreakable
Meeting the other Stand Users
One day, Koichi Hirose and Toshikazu Hazamada, both fans of his work, attempt to ring at his doorbell to meet him. Rohan mistakes the youngsters for pranksters at first but the misunderstanding is cleared. Rohan is happy to meet his fans and invites the two boys inside with the intention of reading into their lives as inspiration. He brings the pair to his office and explains how he works to them. When he spots a spider, Rohan identifies it, guts it and licks its innards to gather the most information possible about the spider, which freaks out Koichi and Hazamada. When Hazamada pukes, Rohan tries to use this as an inspiration but he stops when he notices Hazamada is exaggerating his puking on purpose.
Rohan leaves the room under the pretense of making tea for his guests. He purposefully lets the drafts of his next chapter in the open so that Koichi and Hazamada are tempted into looking at it. Soon enough, both are turned into books by the power of Heaven's Door. He returns and reads the bio of a horrified Koichi, learning about his experiences and the other Stand Users in town. Fascinated by Koichi's colorful life and admiring Koichi's character, he decides to make the boy his muse. For his safety, he writes a command on Koichi forbidding him from doing Rohan any harm. Indeed, Echoes is forced to miss all its attacks. However, he is appalled by Hazamada's personality and refuses to use his life as material. When Koichi asks him why he's using such extreme methods to gather inspiration, Rohan angrily tells him that he's working to be read and that he's addicted to the rush of completing a chapter, meaning he will get his hand on material no matter what. Immediately after, Rohan rips several pages from Koichi. He then lets the boys leave with an autograph and a sketch, but secretly commands Koichi to come back. Moreover, Koichi still cannot harm Rohan and forgets about the incident every time he wants to call for help.
Battle Against the Joestar Group
During the night, his new material inspires him so much he's practically completed a chapter in a few hours. When Koichi comes back in the morning, Rohan finishes his chapter and rips another page from Koichi's bio. When Okuyasu Nijimura and Josuke Higashikata knock at his door, Koichi crawls to the door and opens it. However, Rohan's command still makes Koichi unable to tell his friends about Rohan and the mangaka patiently waits for Koichi to return to his office. When Koichi returns, he again regains his memories. However, Josuke and Okuyasu have guessed that something is wrong because of an injury on Koichi's hand. Okuyasu threatens Rohan, but he uses Okuyasu's bio to his advantage and psyches him out. When Okuyasu attacks, Rohan shows him his latest page and turns him into a book. Rohan now awaits Josuke (who was right outside the office) to act.
To force Josuke to stay, Rohan orders Okuyasu to burn himself if Josuke leaves, forcing Josuke to step into the office. Josuke opts to keep his eyes closed and run into the general direction of Rohan. Somewhat impressed, Rohan throws pen nibs at Josuke's face, who keeps his eyes closed despite the pain. Then, Rohan decides to taunt Josuke about his hairstyle, knowing that he'll lose control of himself. Josuke approaches Rohan and summons Crazy Diamond. Although Rohan is faster than Crazy Diamond and shows his art before Josuke's Stand can land a punch, Josuke proves to be immune to Rohan's art because he is literally blinded by rage. Crazy Diamond pummels Rohan into his bookshelves. Despite everything, Rohan hears Josuke's tragic backstory and is inspired into etching more manga. However, Josuke finds him and violently beats him up again. Rohan is sent to the hospital. Rohan's manga, Pink Dark Boy, is suspended for a month as a result of his defeat.
Reimi Sugimoto's Ghost and the Killer
Upon leaving the hospital, Kishibe finds a lot of respect for Koichi, in whom he confides, and at the same time holds an extremely deep hatred towards Josuke. One day, Rohan feels some nostalgia about his childhood. Convinced that an artist should be in touch with their childhood, Rohan decides to revisit the neightbourhood he lived in when he was 4, although he was few memories of that place. On his way, Rohan meets Koichi again and pressures the boy into following him. The two spot an unmapped alley and decide to explore it. Soon enough, they realize that the alleys in there are abandoned and that the path loops on itself despite the impossibility of it. Suddenly, a girl greets them. Rohan uses Heaven's Door on her, reading her bio in detail. He learns her name, Reimi Sugimoto but when he gets too personal, Koichi tells him to knock it off. Rohan decides to erase Reimi's recent memories to have a proper introduction. Reimi presents herself and nicely tells the pair to follow her to the exit, pretending that they are simply lost. When Reimi tries to play at pocky horoscope with them, Rohan dismisses it. Suddenly, Reimi decides to tell the two the horrifying story of a girl that was assassinated in one of the houses nearby. One night, a girl heard a disquieting dripping sound coming from her parents' room, but she knew that her dog was by her bed as it licked her hands when she put it down. When the dripping sound continued, the girl gathered the courage to check on it but saw with terror that her dog was dead, its throat slit, and hanging from a coat rack. The killer revealed himself from under the bed and killed the girl. After the story, Rohan sees the dog from the story, Arnold, and realizes that he's been talking to the ghost of the murdered girl.
Rohan and Koichi try to flee but are still stuck in the alleys. Reimi eventually calms them and explains herself. She's a revenant because she isn't at piece, knowing that her killer is still mudering people. Reimi begs Rohan and Koichi to bring the killer to justice, to which the two accepts although Rohan tells her he is more interested in the case as an inspiration. Reimi thus tells the pair how to exit the alley but warns them about spirits that will take them away if they turn back. As they approach the exit, Rohan and Koichi nervously keep walking as they hear and feel things behind them. When Koichi is tricked into turning back, Rohan thankfully uses Heaven's Door to command Koichi's to fly towards the exit. Reimi tells the pair that she will be waiting on the spot and salutes Rohan, which she calls "Rohan-chan".
When Rohan investigates the cemetery to confirm Reimi's story, he meets a local monk who not only confirms her story but also informs him that he was present at the time of the crime. Reimi was babysitting him and threw him from the window to keep him safe from the killer when he attacked her.
Pursuing the Killer
When Yoshikage Kira, Reimi's killer, kills Shigekiyo Yangu, the Stand Users in town are alerted and gather at Reimi's place. They all agree to work together to find the killer.
Although Jotaro and Koichi acquire a solid lead thanks to a button Shigechi left the heroes, Kira unleashes an automatic sub-Stand on them. After a fight, Kira is seemingly cornered but he manages to flee. Worse, he uses Aya Tsuji to change his face with an anonymous salaryman. The heroes lose track of Yoshikage Kira, who has changed identity.
Battle Against Ken Oyanagi
The ghost of Yoshihiro Kira decides to create as many Stand Users as possible in an effort to kill the heroes. One of them, Ken Oyanagi, is a boy who decides to defeat Rohan to make a name for himself. While Rohan takes photographies of every commuter in Morioh, Ken confronts him and asks him to play rock-paper-scissors. Rohan uses Heaven's Door to confirm he isn't an enemy and then ignores him as he believes Ken is an ordinary boy. However, when Rohan calls a taxi, Ken overtakes him into the car and forces a first round. Rohan wins with a "rock". At a café, Rohan sees Josuke, Okuyasu and Yukako sitting together; although they invite him, Rohan looks down on each of them and decides to sit alone. However, Ken steals his seat and makes a scene, forcing Rohan to play again. Rohan wins the second round with "paper". At a bookshop, Ken again takes a book Rohan was interested in. Angry, Rohan punches Ken in retaliation but loses the round because he technically played "rock" against Ken's "paper".
Ken's Stand, Boy II Man, steals a third of Heaven's Door. Rohan realizes the trouble he's in. Ken uses this opportunity to throw doubt in his mind whether he will use "paper" again. In the fourth round, Rohan is fooled into playing "rock" and loses. In the fifth round, Rohan's legs give in as he prepares to play "rock". Luckily, Ken changes his "paper" into a "rock", disturbed when Rohan drops to the ground. Ensues a stalemate. When Josuke and Joseph pass by with Shizuka in his hand, Ken tests his luck. He waves at the JoJo's waging that they will not come. As Josuke hates Rohan with a passion, the two do wave back but leave. Moreover, Ken breaks a window and stands in the middle of the falling shards, coming out unscathed. Ken's luck is at its apex. However, Rohan is determined to make his own luck. In another round, Rohan plays "paper" and Ken plays "scissors", but his the boy's fist closes inexplicably, making it a "rock". Rohan wins and regains his Stand. The mangaka reveals that he's used Shizuka to modify Ken's hand.
Furious, Ken takes Shizuka hostage and forces a new game. Determined, Rohan wins easily. To neutralize Ken, he decides to write a command preventing Ken from ever playing rock-paper-scissors. Desperate, the boy throws himself in front of a truck. Amused, Rohan also throws himself in front of the truck. Luckily, Yoshihiro's photo blocks the view of the driver, forcing him to swerve. Rohan and Ken survive. Ken recognizes his defeat and Rohan merely tells him not to use his Stand. However, they have lost Shizuka and must look for her even though she's invisible.
Playing Cee-lo
When Josuke finds a shapeshifting alien named Mikitaka Hazekura, he concocts a plan that will allow him to win big. Josuke rings at Rohan's doorstep and begs him to play Cee-lo with him. Despite his contempts, Rohan accepts. As a precaution, the mangaka refuses to play with the dice Josuke has brought and uses his own. Unbeknownst to him, Josuke has planned for this and planted Mikitaka beforehand in Rohan's drawer. During the first round, Josuke wins five times his wager with a triple 6. Then, Rohan has the worst possible result. Suspicious about the results and Josuke being visibly panicked, Rohan takes the dice, goes inside his home to take a magnifying glass, and calls Tamami Kobayashi. First, Rohan examines the dice but doesn't see the trick thanks to Josuke's lies. During the second round, while Rohan has a seemingly normal result, Josuke gets a triple 6 again.
Humiliated, Rohan cuts his finger with a pen and declares that he'll discover how Josuke is cheating by the next round. If he does, he'll take Josuke's pinky as punishment. With Tamami's help, Rohan forces Josuke to cheat again. Mikitaka's dizziness threatens to undo his disguise and Josuke is forced to throw the dice with Mikitaka on the verge of being discovered. However, a fire starts in Rohan's house and the mangaka is distracted. This allows Josuke to flee after he quickly heals Rohan's finger. Rohan's hate for Josuke increases.
Highway Star's Pursuit
Some time later, Rohan crosses path with Josuke again in the bus. Rohan's passive-aggressive behaviour makes Josuke uneasy. Inside of a tunnel, Rohan sees a room in the walls of the tunnel, where someone is cutting off a woman's hand. Rohan tries to warn Josuke but he isn't believed thus Rohan checks on the room alone. Driving his motorcycle in the tunnel, he soon finds the room but realizes that something is pursuing him. Rohan flees on his motorcycle and manages to keep the enemy away as long as he drives above 60kmph. Forced to slow down because of a passing truck, Rohan is caught by the Stand Highway Star. Highway Star proceeds to sap Rohan's lifeforce and takes him out. Josuke comes back and also sees the room, where Rohan is kept. Highway Star promises to let Rohan go if he lures Josuke inside, but Rohan refuses out of principle. The mangaka warns Josuke to stay away. When Josuke still steps inside the room, an angry Rohan calls him out on his stupidity. When Highway Star attacks, Rohan makes Josuke fly out of the tunnel and warns him about Highway Star's limitations. To shut him up, Highway Star takes the last of his strength.
After Josuke finds and defeats Yuya Fungami, Rohan is found and recovers although his opinion about Josuke doesn't improve.
Battle Against Cheap Trick
During his investigation, Rohan notices the strange behaviour of a boy named Hayato Kawajiri filming someone in one of his photos. Because his house has been burned down, Rohan makes an appointment with an architect named Masazo Kinoto to appraise the cost of repairs. When Kinoto appears, Rohan uses Heaven's Door to confirm Kinoto is not a Stand User and even writes a command on him. Sure of his safety, Rohan lets Kinoto free. Intrigued by Kinoto's obsessive fear of having his back exposed, Rohan traps the architect to take a look. At first disappointed by Kinoto's ordinary back, he sees the back open and Kinoto dying. Cheap Trick then appears on his back.
Rohan cannot use Heaven's Door without hurting himself and cannot run from the enemy Stand. As it tells him to burn the photos, Rohan decides to call Koichi as he trust him. However, Cheap Trick is invisible to Koichi and Kinoto's body has shrunk to the size of a toy. The boy thinks that Rohan is messing with him and thus leaves. Rohan examines the photos once again, but falls asleep from exhaustion. Cheap Trick almost kills him by ordering several deliveries. As they open the door to his living room, they bump into his chair and wake him up just in time.
Rohan is thus forced to go to Jotaro Kujo and must cross the city. Hiding his back with the trees and walls, Rohan is blocked by a passageway. He decides to walk backward, his back stuck to a passerby. Cheap Trick insults the man to make him turn, but Rohan uses Heaven's Door to force him to keep walking. In an alley, Rohan finds himself surrounded by dogs and cats. He tries to shoo the cats, but Cheap Trick explains that he's slandered Rohan in dog and cat language to turn them against the mangaka. Thankfully, Koichi reappears and Echoes ACT3 makes the animals flee. However, when Echoes uses his power on Rohan's back, Cheap Tricks holds and threatens to rip Rohan's back.
Rohan seemingly loses his mind out of desperation and shows his back to Koichi and Cheap Tricks turns around to possess Koichi. However, Rohan reveals that they are in Ghost Girl's Alley. The malicious spirits of the alley take Cheap Trick away and to seal its fate, Rohan commands the enemy Stand to go to hell. Out of the alley, Reimi looks at Rohan's scattered items and sees the photo of a certain Kosaku Kawajiri.
Another One Bites the Dust
During the final investigation of Yoshikage Kira's new identity, Rohan narrows it down to Kosaku Kawajiri after finding a suspicious photograph of Kosaku being tailed by his son, Hayato Kawajiri, holding a video recorder. Rohan manages to meet with Hayato and uses Heaven's Door to find out more about his father. As Rohan opens contents of Hayato's body book, he discovers a warning on Hayato's pages to not read further. Rohan eventually discovers that Kosaku is actually Yoshikage Kira in disguise. His excitement of this revelation is cut short when a miniature Killer Queen appears, revealing that Kira has unlocked a new Stand Ability, Bites the Dust. By discovering Kira's identity through Hayato, Bites the Dust marks Rohan. Wounded, Rohan feebly attempts to call out to Koichi and Jotaro who were just a few blocks away from him and is promptly killed by an explosion, which, coincidentally, reminded him of his first time with Josuke. Bites the Dust loops time back an hour and in the second version of the hour, Rohan is killed again as he was already marked by Bites the Dust in the previous time loop, despite not meeting Hayato in the current time loop. In the third and final time loop, Kira is forced to deactivate Bites the Dust in order to protect himself when Josuke discovers his identity, sparing Rohan just seconds before his fate.
Later, Rohan arrives with Jotaro and Koichi, as the gang manages to corner Kira. As Kira attempts to use Bites the Dust to escape, the group witnesses Kira's last moments as the serial killer is crushed by an ambulance.
Farewell to the Golden Heart
Later, Rohan and his allies gather to see Reimi Sugimoto off as she ascends to Heaven. Rohan tries to hide his feelings but Koichi forces him to admit he liked her and will miss her. Reimi finally goes to heaven, her goal is fulfilled. (The information below derives from the TV Anime. As such, it may or may not be considered canon.)
With his investigation over, Rohan's hiatus ends and he starts working on his Pink Dark Boy manga again. He is later mentioned by Okuyasu, who states he heard a rumor about Rohan being caught shoplifting at Kameyu store.
The Book: 4th Another Day
Rohan appears drugging 34 cats to find out the one who invaded his house earlier, but forgets about the cat after finding Trinita covered in blood. Searching for his master with Koichi they find the corpse of Hanae Orikasa. Rohan uses his stand on Trinita and discovers that the killer has red marks on his arms, and so tags along with Koichi to find him.
Vento Aureo
He is mentioned by Koichi, who revealed that Rohan used Heaven's Door to make it so Koichi could understand Italian for his trip.
Stone Ocean
When Made in Heaven sped up time to the point where one work day lasted for less than 5 minutes, Rohan was mentioned as the only mangaka to continue to meet his weekly deadlines, easily publishing over 20 pages in less than an hours time without food or sleep. Rohan himself does not appear however, as it is mentioned over the radio.
Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan
At a Confessional
The mangaka heard a horror story from a mysterious sinner confession. As he is visiting Italy, Rohan decides to research the churches, especially for their architecture and spiritual background. He walks into a confession booth to research the interior, but mistakenly walks into the side reserved for the priest. Shortly after, a man walks into the other side of the booth and confesses his sin to Rohan, believing him to be the priest. Rohan hears his confession anyway, interested in getting information out of the man's horror story. The man tells he has been cursed by the spirit of a beggar he had been responsible for the death, who would come to take him at his happiest moment. After telling the story, where the man continues to explain his sins and why he was still alive after apparently killed by the spirit, it is revealed that he had found a servant who was willing to do anything for him, and used plastic surgery to alter both his and the servant's appearances, thereby fooling the beggar into dogging the servant instead. The spirits of the beggar and the beheaded servant then dog the man, and both vow to watch him around the clock to make sure that he does not do anything suspicious again. Rohan watches on with curiosity, deciding to interview him later if given the chance, as he didn't know what happened to the man after that.
Mutsu-kabe Hill
In order to research a Yokai legend for his manga, Rohan buys six mountains to prevent a corporation from building a resort road in that area.
After meeting Naoko Osato on the mountains, Rohan uses Heaven's Door on her and discovers the story of her accidental murder of Gunpei Kamafusa, a gardener whose body never stopped bleeding and whom Naoko has been obliged to take care of since then. Suspecting him to be a yokai, Rohan investigates the region around Naoko's house until he comes across a young girl. The girl tells Rohan she's not allowed to talk to strangers and runs away, and when Rohan tries to catch her, the girl falls and hits her head on a rock, bleeding just like Gunpei. Rohan realizes this girl is actually Naoko's daughter with Gunpei. Surprised the man who became a corpse was able to impregnate Naoko despite being dead, Rohan soon realizes the girl is a yokai trying to possess him. He uses Heaven's Door and notices the girl's memories is starting to fade away because she is dying, so he quickly writes one last memory: "I don't know Rohan Kishibe. Even if I meet him, I won't see him". When the girl comes back she briefly shows her true form to Rohan but leaves after not seeing him. Saved, Rohan names the creature the Mutsu-kabe Hill Yokai, and declares his research complete.
Rohan then meets with his editor Minoru Kaigamori and asks for an advance on his manuscript fees due to being bankrupt. The value of the land he bought became worthless since the plans for construction stopped. He has to live at Koichi's house and even had to sell all of his Sailor Moon merchandise, Led Zeppelin record sleeves and his Rurouni Kenshin volumes. His only remaining asset is a Nicolas de Staël artbook. His editor thinks he's crazy until Rohan explains what he discovered on his adventure.
Rohan Kishibe Goes to Gucci
Rohan, accompanied by an interpreter, goes to a Gucci factory to investigate about his grandmother's treasured bag, that has the strange ability to vanish valuable things. He is informed by the leather goods artisan in charge that it is one of three bags created by a genius artisan from Gucci. Rohan asks for the bag to be fixed, even though the artisan tells him he doesn't understand the bag's true purpose. The interpreter gets Rohan drunk and steals all his valuable things, except for the bag, leaving him wandering alone. Fortunately, he finds an umbrella and a firelighter to shield himself from the rain. Rohan finds a hotel but is unable to pay for any room. It is then that a man shows interest in Rohan's recently found umbrella, offering the exact value of the bills Rohan made the bag vanish for it. Rohan then comes to the conclusion that the bag had a Stand bound to it, with the ability to take away valuable items but giving back their equivalent during misfortune, but laments that he had the bag fixed and now can't make use of the Stand anymore.
Millionaire Village
Rohan and a manga editor by the name of Kyoka Izumi go to investigate a hidden village located in the mountains for his new one-shot at her suggestion. Initially believing it to be related to the mountains he previously bought, Rohan agrees after Izumi tells him how every resident in there became rich at the age of 25. Izumi plans to buy a house in there, as she now is 25 too. They are greeted by the butler Ikkyu, who tests them about good manners. After Izumi fails the test, Rohan discovers that a bird he found earlier had died, while Izumi's mother and fiancee died in a car crash. Rohan becomes suspicious and uses Heaven's Door on Ikkyu to discover the mystery behind the village and trick Ikkyu to break a rule by writing on him.
The village was under a curse that gave things to anyone who showed good manners, while those who didn't lose things. Ikkyu claims that this time Rohan broke a rule, as he hadn't given permission to be turned into a book, and Izumi starts to have a heart attack. Rohan begs for another test to save Izumi and is successful in it, all the while making Ikkyu break a rule (as he wrote earlier). Ikkyu says Rohan cheated and asks for another test, but Rohan denies it and carries Izumi away from the village. He notices the bird also returned to good health.
Poaching Seashore
At Tonio Trussardi's trattoria, Rohan eats an abalone risotto to heal his eye strain. Although they temporarily shrivel, the eyes soon return to full health and the mangaka compliments the chef, also spotting a wheel-chair bound woman in a corner of the restaurant.
Thankful, Tonio asks Rohan for a favor, to help him harvest some disk abalones, a unique type of abalone only found near Morioh. Researching them, Rohan notably learns that they're a traditional delicacy, are preys to octopi, and more importantly that they're invaluable so Rohan guesses that Tonio is asking him to go poaching. Tonio has done his own research and explains that despite the security surrounding their breeding area, there are a precise path and night known since times immemorial during which the duo will be able to harvest the abalone which will be freely swimming in the water.
On this night, Rohan and Tonio sneak toward the poaching reef. Rohan inquires about the woman, leading Tonio to tearfully reveal that he seeks the abalone to cure his girlfriend's disease. Waist-deep into the water, the duo see the spectacle of the swarm of swimming abalones. In joy, Rohan is momentarily distracted and notices that Tonio has sunken at the bottom of the sea: the abalones have stuck onto his body, weighting him down. Tonio is drowning, and Rohan decides to use Tonio's rope on the surface to pull him to safety. While he tries to save the Italian, several abalones also begin to stick themselves onto him. Unable to break their shell, push himself up from the bottom, and only getting more abalone stuck on him, Rohan helplessly sinks. At the bottom, Rohan sees several skeletons and understands that the fabled path and full moon are traps to punish unsuspecting poachers. Thankfully, several octopi are near, and Rohan uses Heaven's Door to command them to target the abalones on him and Tonio, saving the day.
Later, Rohan savors an octopus dish with Okuyasu, Koichi, and Josuke, discussing about octopi. Rohan tries to shout for Tonio, asking for an abalone dish, but seeing Tonio with his cured girlfriend, decides to leave them be.
A Rainy Monday
Rohan sits in a restaurant, using Heaven's Door on a chicken drumstick to examine how safe the chicken is to eat. Talking about miscellaneous subjects including environmental change, Rohan uses a perspective trick to make it appear he's slammed the drumstick inside his smartphone. He then begins telling the story.
It is heavily raining when Rohan reaches a train station. Having a meeting in S-City Rohan decides to use the train. Strangely, people distracted by their smartphones keep bumping on Rohan. In fact the whole train station is on their phones, distractedly walking around. Eventually, he preemptively shouts at a tall, obese man who nearly walks into him. The man on his phone suddenly takes notice of Rohan, and apologizes profusely. Before Rohan can lecture his interlocutor any further, a woman with a stroller - also on her phone - pushes Rohan into the train tracks. The woman screams in horror as trains are arriving from both sides of the station, but Rohan has ample time to save himself. As the obese man tries to reach for Rohan to lift him back to safety, Rohan is highly suspicious. Thinking he's under attack from someone, the mangaka hesitates to grab the man's hand. Unfortunately, the obese man is accidentally pushed into the train tracks too as the trains approach. Using Heaven's Door, Rohan manages to push himself between the train tracks and transforms the man into a book, managing to fit themselves between both passing trains. He also reads his story and only learn that he's a victim like him: something is currently attacking them, but Rohan has no idea who and the duo are suspicious of everyone.
Events conspire to have the obese man overwhelmed by a crowd of people falling into the train tracks. Rohan then witnesses something peculiar. A swarm of strange robotic-like insect all crawl out of the crowd's smartphone, even Rohan's, who realizes he also had been led into the obese man. It is explained that these creatures are a new species of insects soon to be announced by scientists a few years later as Coire electricus lorenzinia (コーイレ・エリクトリカス・ロレンチーニャ Kōire Erikutorikasu Rorenchīnya). Feeding off electromagnetic waves, the insect can control people to prey on the weak. The insects crawl over the obese man's heart. Rohan regrets not being able to save him, as he already had a heart disease and was about to die. The insects seemingly inflict a killing blow, harvesting his bioelectricity. As for the incoming trains, Rohan had commanded a train staffer to use a truck to force the trains to stop, saving the whole crowd. Out of the station, Rohan cancels his meeting but has an idea for a new manuscript.
Deoxyribonucleic Acid
Rohan Kishibe sits in a café along with Yukako Yamagishi and the same woman introduced earlier. She introduces herself as Mai Katahira then reveals a girl playing in a nearby playground is her daughter Mao. Just as she became newly-wed, her husband died away and Mai could not fall in love with anyone else. However, she went to a sperm bank to become pregnant with Mao. Mai then details all the bizarre behavior and physical characteristics of her daughter. She only speaks in reverse, does not make a noise when she walks, and somehow wets everything she walks into. Mao's appearance behind Rohan allows Mai to describe her child further: the young girl has no eyebrows nor eyelashes above her eyes, yet has long eyelashes below and has sideburns; finally she has grown a tail which when touched, makes Mao camouflage herself into her surroundings. Mai demonstrates Mao's power, to Rohan's astonishment. The mangaka uses Heaven's Door on Mao but finds that there is nothing inherently wrong with her. Although Yukako pleads Rohan to cure her, he retorts that there is nothing to cure and takes his leave, telling Mai to assume her choices.
Later, Yukako crosses paths with Rohan, and reveals to him that Mai has married Obanazawa three months after their meeting, which Yukako guesses was a ploy by Mao. She smirks at Rohan's surprise and leaves satisfied.
The Run
Rohan Kishibe appears, his right hand in a splint. Listing his injuries, Rohan regrets his foolish actions in a recent incident. These events are Episode 9: The Run.
At the gym, Rohan and aspiring model and athlete Yoma Hashimoto were running side by side on two treadmills which were connected to the same remote, sitting on a small table between them. The treadmills had a setting on which they would gradually accelerate up to 25kmph and the two would try to grab the remote first once at maximum speed. Remembering his last humiliating loss, Yoma tried to ignore Rohan who made the mistake of teasing him about his work, and thus he accepted the challenge, taking off his sweatshirt to reveal his new ripped body. Losing confidence, Rohan was amazed at the tremendous progress of his rival and noticed subtle wing-shaped muscles, from Yoma's legs to his back.
Wanting their game had to be "fair", Yoma grabbed a dumbbell and broke the window behind them with it. The loser would inevitably trip and thus propelled to a certain death by the treadmills. Panicking as they approached the 25kmph, Rohan tried to preemptively grab the remote, but Yoma intercepted him and broke three of his fingers. At this same moment, Rohan managed to use Heaven's Door and discovered that his obsession with fitness led him to kill his entourage for "interfering with his training". At 25kmph, Rohan was inevitably bested, but Yoma, claiming his victory, noticed too late the scribbling on his hand. Rohan used his Stand to make him use the remote on his treadmill instead. Yoma was flung out of the window while Rohan's treadmill stopped. They were at the 8th floor of the Morioh Grand Hotel.
Rohan has guessed that Yoma had become the avatar of the god of muscle: Hermes. In angering such a being, Rohan has learned that he'd crossed a red line. Hoping to not have invoked Yoma's wrath, all Rohan is worried about was to run from the spot he stood from.
Rohan at the Louvre
Rohan tells Josuke, Okuyasu, and Koichi about Nanase. He then decides to investigate the painting she told him about and travels to Paris. There he discovers the painting is located at an abandoned section in the Louvre and asks to see it. Thinking it's strange that there's a painting in an abandoned section with its archives being top-secret, the interpreter Noguchi accompanies Rohan there with Gaucher and two firefighters. When the group finds the painting they are attacked by a ghost mob of their relatives and everyone save Rohan is killed the same way the ghosts died. Rohan is almost killed by his grandmother, but the ghost of Nanase, who reveals that she was actually his ancestress, reveals to him that the painting uses the memories of its victims. Thus, Rohan erases his memories with Heaven's Door, but not before writing a clue to recover it once he's outside of the Louvre. In the end, his four unfortunate companions are considered missing and Rohan discovers the painting was burned after being examined by scientists, even though he doubts it.
JORGE JOESTAR
In the light novel JORGE JOESTAR, an incarnation of Rohan lives in the 37th universe. Rohan has the same appearance, personality, and Stand as his original universe counterpart. He is friends with Koji Hirose, Muryotaisu Nijimura, and Fukashigi Nijimura, but considers them annoying because they always bring trouble with them every time they appear at his house.
Background
Rohan had a manga called Pink Dark Boy in serialization for twenty years, and had recently started part eight of the series. In January 2012, Rohan purchased the Arrow Cross House after his previous house burned down. The original owners of Arrow Cross House couldn't be found, and the house had appeared on a hill out of nowhere, so it was going to be torn down before Rohan stepped in to buy it.
Rohan found a girl named Reimi Sugimoto there, who he decided to let stay as a guest after discovering that she has amnesia. He attempted to use Heaven's Door on her but couldn't find out anything about her past.[2]
At some point, Rohan found Yoshikage Kira and was almost killed.[3] Bites the Dust's effect was put on Rohan but Reimi's ability allowed her to keep Rohan in a suspended state between life and death beneath the Arrow Cross House, preventing other Stand users from being able to see him. As there was no oxygen in that area, he would not explode. Due to his state of being an "astral projection", Koji, Muryotaisu, and Fukashigi assumed that he was missing for two weeks in July.
On July 24, Rohan found Tsukumojuku Kato's corpse mounted to a stuffed polar bear in his study room. Despite being a light sleeper, the corpse and polar bear somehow appeared there without him noticing. On that night, Reimi and Rohan mixed up their bedrooms and slept in each other's rooms.[2]
Detective Murder Case
Rohan meets Detective Jorge Joestar, who arrived at his house to investigate the case. He is frustrated that his house was already used for a murder like some cliché story. Rohan then lectures Jorge that he should only call him "Rohan" rather than "Kishibe-san" or "Kishibe-sensei". Jorge hesitates so Rohan uses Heaven's Door to prevent Jorge from calling him anything else besides Rohan.
Rohan describes the mystery of the Arrow Cross House. He also mentions how more than one detective was murdered in Morioh recently. The first was Sachiari Hakkyoku, whose body was found seated on a giant stuffed sea turtle, designed to resemble Urashima Taro. Nekoneko Nyan Nyan Nyan was next and was found near Angelo Rock, surrounded by stuffed dogs, cats, and pheasants. Her death resembled the Momotaro folk tale.
Rohan takes Jorge to the scene of the locked room murder. The police had taken away Tsukumojuku's body, but the bear was left behind as it was too large. Rohan shows Jorge copies of the crime scene photographs that he had the police leave behind, leading Jorge to wonder how Rohan was capable of having everyone listen to his orders as if he could bend the world to his will. The two wonder how someone managed to bring a giant polar bear into the room without Rohan noticing. Later, Rohan tells Jorge about Reimi. Rohan shows the exact locations of each murder case on Jorge's map, and Jorge realizes that the triangle of dead detectives matched the exact shape of the Bermuda Triangle.
As an experiment, Jorge borrows Rohan's hair clippers and cuts the fur of the stuffed polar bear. Rohan whines that he could never use those clippers again. After Jorge points out how Rohan could have theoretically not noticed the polar bear due to its white fur in the white room, Rohan reacts with a bizarre noise that causes Jorge to burst out laughing.
Rohan explains what Stands are and what his Stand could do, explaining that Morioh has several Stand users who are drawn to one another. Jorge tries to mention Kira's name, but suddenly forgets it. Rohan had used Heaven's Door to prevent Jorge from saying the name aloud or else Jorge would explode. Suddenly, the doorbell rings and Rohan asks Jorge if he can get his visitors to leave. He flees the room, asking Reimi to come with him. At the door, Jorge is greeted by Muryotaisu, Fukashigi, and Koji, who confront Jorge assuming he did something to Rohan. After Fukashigi mentions Kira's name, Reimi uses Arrow Cross House's ability to protect him from exploding like Rohan.
Jorge deduces that Reimi is actually a humanoid Stand who could control the Arrow Cross House and used her ability to hide Fukashigi. Rohan is intrigued to learn that she is actually a Stand and not a human. Accepting Jorge's request, Rohan uses Heaven's Door on Jorge so that he could see Stands. Jorge then asks Rohan to use Heaven's Door on Muryotaisu and Koji, allowing them to see "astral projections" like Rohan and Fukashigi. Jorge also realizes that each arrow on the house could rotate, explaining why Rohan did not notice anything happening after Tsukumojuku's murder.
Suddenly, Morioh has an earthquake and a chasm opens along its borders. Koji flies into the air with his Stand and reports that Morioh somehow detached off of Japan and became its own island, sailing on the sea. Just then, Rohan also reveals that he had read Jorge's pages from Heaven's Door. All of Jorge's adventures as a detective were listed under a heading titled "Forgery". Behind Jorge's left ear, Rohan found his true story. He was born in 1889 in the Canary Islands, became a pilot, fought in World War II, and then was murdered in 1920 by an air force general.[2]
Mass Hysteria
Separated from Japan, Morioh travels south at an insane speed of 100 knots (185 km/h). Rohan draws a map of Morioh for Jorge. They assume Morioh became an island from the powers of an individual and plan to head to Budogaoka Academy, because the school was located in the center of the dome. Reimi reveals that Kira had canceled the effect of Bites the Dust, so Fukashigi and Rohan were now safe and freed from Arrow Cross House's protection. Suspicious of the timing, Rohan wonders if Kira is the one who is moving Morioh.
A loudspeaker in the distance declares that Morioh will have an emergency meeting at the Budogaoka gymnasium and all citizens must attend. Rohan says his temporary goodbyes to Reimi as she could not come with them and the Nijimuras and Koji tease him for flirting with her. Jorge questions whether he should come with them because he isn't a Stand user, but everyone convinces him to because he's the detective and has to solve the case.
Muryotaisu summons his Stand Grand Blue, manifesting as three dolphins which carry the group and fly away toward the school like rockets. By the time they reached Jozenji, they found the temple had burned to the ground. The remains of the walls and floor were covered in drawings of moths and the citizens there had set themselves on fire. Jorge and Rohan realize that since this place had some sort of mass hysteria, it might also happen at Budogaoka gymnasium where all of Morioh's anxious citizens were gathered. They quickly head to the gym on Grand Blue, finding thousands of people pouring gasoline on each other when they arrive. They acted like zombies, constantly muttering "scared" in a trance. Rohan tried using Heaven's Door but everyone's books were filled with the word "scared" and there was no white space left for him to write any orders. Jorge realizes they could probably alter the conditions of the hysteria by destroying the locked room, so Koji uses Blue Thunder to destroy the gym's walls. As the locked room disappeared, everyone had come to their senses, wondering why they were covered in gasoline.
Rohan and Jorge wonder if there was anyone there who could be Kira. He would have to grab someone on the way to the beauty parlor but Kira was a careful man who couldn't rely on coincidences like that. Rohan states just standing around watching people won't get them anywhere so he heads to Koji.[3]
Rohan flies back to Arrow Cross House with Koji's Blue Thunder, stating that he'll protect Reimi himself. Jorge follows him back to Arrow Cross House anyways. However, Reimi states that Cube House is the safest place for her to be as nothing would affect its walls. Jorge decides that they should all escape into Cube House, but Reimi is unsure whether its old power still exists since it transformed into Arrow Cross House. Jorge then demonstrates that Cube House simultaneously exists with Arrow Cross House, revealing the hidden door below Rohan's rug. Jorge reveals that someone might be hiding down there and asks Rohan for anything he could use as a weapon and escape gear. As Rohan gives Jorge a golf club, Reimi warns Jorge that it's a bad idea to go into Cube House as it's meant for a single occupant. If two people are running around in different rooms there then it could cause severe contradictions, leading to one person possibly being trapped in a parallel universe. Rohan worries about what may happen if they go in now, but Reimi assures him that since she is the owner of Cube House, she can decide where the floors, ceilings, and walls are. The three safely descend into the first room of Cube House and then Jorge goes further into the rooms below to investigate. Eventually, Jorge checks every room but they are all empty. Reimi then screams after checking the camera, as Tsukumojuku Kato is on the screen. Despite being dead, he walks up to the camera and laughs, saying that he guesses his life entirely belongs to Jorge Joestar, before he then vanishes.[4]
Passione Murder Case
After Passione takes over Morioh, Team Bucciarati stays at Arrow Cross House. Kira (actually Kosaku Kawajiri) and Diavolo's bodies are mysteriously also found in Rohan's study with a time of death at 8 AM, despite Rohan and Jorge having been in the room at that time. They find the original universe George Joestar injured on the ground outside and bring him in so Giorno Giovanna could heal him. Rohan makes it so everyone in the house could speak English, Italian, and Japanese.
When George is conscious, Giorno introduces himself and explains what Stands are, revealing that Rohan also made it so George could see Stands. Rohan introduces himself by stating that the only reason he's helping is because he wants all of them to leave as soon as possible, angry that they got George's blood on his bed. Giorno and Rohan explain how they learned George's history by reading everything about him, and decided that he is the best man to solve the mystery of the two deaths. They also reveal to him that Tsukumojuku had died there and another Jorge Joestar was in charge of that case. George is informed of Jorge's adventures and what the current situation is like now in London.
Rohan's Heaven's Door had tried turning the two bodies into books, but the pages were filled with the word "death" in different languages. He then tried using Heaven's Door on the holographic recordings of Videodrome, but only their names and information about their Stands were written on the pages. After Rohan mentions how he had a clock in his study but someone had stolen it, Guido Mista replies that he should just buy another one. Rohan angrily rebukes Mista saying that he has affection for his own items, so Mista backs off. From that hint, George deduces that there must have been a reason for the clock being stolen, with "time" being the key word. He realizes that time must have been sped up, even though their bodies were moving normally.
George asks Rohan for a thermometer so that they could do autopsies. Leone Abbacchio and NYPD Blue are reluctant to take rectal temperatures until George convinces them to by saying they shouldn't let an amateur handle it. Grossing Abbacchio out, Rohan describes how he used the thermometer on various wild animals such as birds, cats, and a boar, but he assures that the thermometer is well sterilized. The two officers take the temperatures and then examine the inside of Kira and Diavolo's mouths and eyes. Abbacchio asks if George figured anything out, but George ignores him. Abbacchio throws the thermometer at George, but the latter dodges and the thermometer shatters, angering Rohan.
Following George's request, all of the clocks in the house are brought to the study by Rohan, Muryotaisu, Fukashigi, and Koji. The Nijimura twins are creeped out at how all of Rohan's clocks are exactly in sync with even the second hands matching, but Rohan argues that he isn't as sloppy as them. George then asks Reimi about the Cube House. Rohan explains how Stands can unexpectedly evolve, so it's natural that Reimi doesn't have her old memories. Noting how Reimi looked depressed after what Rohan said, George asks the manga artist if he ever felt the fear of forgetting what he lived through. Rohan denies by saying he's thrown his whole life into drawing manga so there's nothing frightening about it to him. Koji and the Nijimura twins scold Rohan for his rudeness to Reimi, leading Rohan to finally realize his thoughtlessness. Rohan apologizes and says that he's not trying to be conceited but he just expects too much from people. The Nijimura twins and Koji laugh about his arrogance. George interrupts their banter and explains that he doesn't think Reimi evolved because a Stand forgetting their User would be a problem. Rather, he believes that something traumatic happened and Reimi was inflicted with a Wound.
George explains his final deductions to everyone. Meanwhile, NYPD Blue and Abbacchio notice that Diavolo's pages from Heaven's Door were not in order; his body only had odd pages, meaning that Diavolo had an alternate personality and someone else had the even pages. Rohan discloses that he used Heaven's Door on everybody except Giorno who could already speak Japanese and Italian, and Doppio, since he arrived late. They notice that Doppio is no longer with them so Muryotaisu summons Grand Blue to go find him. The dolphins quickly retrieve him from Cube House below the study, where he angrily points out that he was on the phone. Rohan was suspicious of Doppio from the beginning because of the crazy things he had been saying. However, Heaven's Door reveals that Doppio has both odd and even-numbered pages, so he is a normal person who is just a bit peculiar.
Enrico Pucci arrives and reveals himself as Diavolo and Kira's killers, but Giorno quickly defeats him with Gold Experience Requiem. With Giorno off guard, Rohan uses Heaven's Door on him. They verify that his body has the even-numbered pages. Giorno finally reveals his betrayal and appears in Diavolo's body after healing it. The gangsters and the Japanese group try protecting George but they are all easily defeated by Diavolo, who kidnaps George and jumps into Cube House.[5] In the end, Rohan assists Bucciarati's gang with Jorge's requests.[6]
References
- ↑ TSKR Episode 7, p. 4
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 JORGE JOESTAR Chapter 4: Morioh
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 JORGE JOESTAR Chapter 6: Island
- ↑ JORGE JOESTAR Chapter 8: Nero Nero Island
- ↑ JORGE JOESTAR Chapter 15: Beyond
- ↑ JORGE JOESTAR Chapter 16: Beyond II
