The Wonder of You (Story Arc)
It follows Josuke, Mamezuku, and Yasuho's chase after the last member of the Locacaca Organization, the hospital director Satoru Akefu. At the same time, it follows Mitsuba's deeper involvement in the plot surrounding the Locacaca and her family, the return of Ojiro, and the climactic battle between Josuke and Toru's Stand Wonder of U.
Summary
The Heroes Pursue The Mysterious Hospital Director
In the aftermath of the battle against Wu Tomoki, Josuke Higashikata, Yasuho Hirose and Rai Mamezuku assemble. Researching the T.G. University Hospital and discovering its history and profile, they also learn that Wu Tomoki, Urban Guerrilla (revealed to be named "Ryo Shimosato"), Poor Tom, and the unseen hospital director of the hospital are the only people to have entered the secret laboratory. Unable to find any information on the mysterious hospital director, Mamezuku and Josuke conclude that he is the one with the Locacaca branch.
However, Yasuho assures that the Locacaca Research Organization is not in possession of the branch, Mamezuku criticizes her brash actions back in the hospital and argues that both he and Josuke saw the branch being taken with their own eyes. Josuke agrees, although Jobin remains a suspect. The two men decide to investigate the hospital director first. Upset that her theory has fallen on deaf ears, Yasuho incidentally meets Toru again, with whom she instinctively holds hands with but quickly backs off. Expressing a desire to see her again, Toru leaves. Observing from afar, Mamezuku teases Josuke about his relationship with Yasuho but then proposes to research Toru too.
At the Higashikata House, Joshu plays a prank on Hato by detaching his tongue using Nut King Call and throwing it at his sister, playing dumb when Hato accuses him. However, when Daiya sends Tsurugi to look for Norisuke, the boy accidentally steps on Joshu's tongue, causing him to bend over in pain and proving his guilt. Narration reflects on how Stands remain a private topic even among a close-knit family and then ominously reveals that there is a time when the hidden feelings of the heart will inevitably come out and be impossible to stop.
The plot flashes forward to 13 minutes just before the harvest of the Locacaca. Tsurugi steps inside Norisuke's office, where Norisuke's body lays on the floor in a body bag, bleeding severely and with one arm severed. As Tsurugi calmly drags Norisuke's body into the balcony, an origami frog hops out of the body bag.
The plot then jumps back to 7 days, 1 hour and 2 minutes before the harvest of the Locacaca. Mitsuba arrives in front of Tsurugi's school to take him back to their home after a school trip to the Omoshiroyama-Yamadera trail. The crowd is disturbed to see her missing nose, but Mitsuba reassures them that everything is fine before taking Tsurugi with her. However, the leader of the troop then talks with Mitsuba about an incident that happened during the trip. According to the teacher, Tsurugi was teased by a group of girls about rumors of the murder that Jobin committed. Almost immediately after the teasing, the apparent leader of the girls, Mina, is frightened by a frog leaping on her shoe, causing her to fall into a puddle of water. Upset by the topic of the teasing and believing that Tsurugi hasn't done any wrong, Mitsuba threatens to have the leader fired. As she calls for Tsurugi to come home with her, she notices that the boy has hidden behind the slides.
Suddenly, one of the girls that bullied Tsurugi frantically runs up to the leader and cries for her to call an ambulance. Screams and shouts erupt from the school entrance as the body of Mina is discovered, having apparently been crushed between the iron gates of the school. A bystander also notices that Mina's underwear is stained with blood. Mina's mother, sobbing and holding her daughter's body, insists that the gates were far too heavy to have merely closed on their own and that someone intentionally closed them. As the leader asks if anyone saw what happened, the girl that alerted her claims that she saw Tsurugi push the gates closed. The crowd turns to look at Tsurugi, as Mitsuba stands in shock.
6 days, 4 hours, 12 minutes before the harvest. Josuke, Mamezuku and Yasuho start their search for the mysterious hospital director, the supposed last member of the Locacaca Organization. Although she tags along, Yasuho is still certain that the Locacaca is in the Higashikata House.
The trio are informed that the hospital director, Satoru Akefu is right behind them, taking his leave. Despite supposedly being a 89 years old man walking with a cane, Akefu disappears from sight in the crowd of the hospital. Following him down a staircase, Josuke catches a glimpse of an unknown Stand on the ceiling. Josuke summons Soft & Wet to attack it but the Stand disappears and the trio loses track of the director. The group then suddenly collides with a hospital bed rolling in their way and Toru appears again, trying to flirt with Yasuho which causes some suspicion fueled by jealousy from Josuke's part. Nonetheless, Toru politely shows that Dr. Akefu has been sitting behind them.
Puzzled that he escaped notice until now, Josuke and Mamezuku then bump against a glass door, and trip over scattered chairs. Before such incidents, Mamezuku concludes that the hospital director is certainly the mastermind of the whole Locacaca Organization and a Stand User at that. Meanwhile, Josuke notices a suspicious bleeding on the hand that has touched the door. The director then keeps evading the group and eventually exits the hospital. While Yasuho and Josuke become embroiled in a love triangle, with Toru starting to approach Yasuho again and Josuke being unsure of Yasuho's true feeling, Mamezuku's legs have been inexplicably shredded. The trio realizes that they are indeed in the middle of a Stand attack. Yasuho and Josuke continue to seek the director who now has boarded a bus and a car almost crashes into them, forcing them to abandon the chase for now. However, Josuke then gets into trouble when a patient with a broken neck dies after trying to ignite a fight. Josuke is now a suspect and must be detained, leaving Yasuho alone, although Toru is still roaming close to her.
Josuke and Mamezuku manage to evade the police for a while. The pair has notably put a Lamborghini on a tree to hide from the police, using the reprieve to gather their thoughts. They theorize that Satoru Akefu's Stand is attacking by making things knock into them but are unsure about the trigger. Moreover, Mamezuku discovers that Satoru Akefu may be attending a lecture on regenerative medicine at the TG University Hospital. Once they decide to actually go to the lecture, Satoru's Stand reappears only to disappear again when Josuke summons Soft & Wet. Its reappearance makes them realize that it is triggered by the intent of pursuit. As they worriedly leave the car to escape the incoming attack, Josuke and Mamezuku discover with horror that the drops from an incoming rain become lethal projectiles, forcing them to take refuge in a police car. Cornered by Satoru Akefu's attack, Josuke confesses to Mamezuku that at this point, he may still have no proper identity even if he's found out the identities of the two men he is composed of, since he neither has any memory nor has anyone from his past been looking for him. Josuke is thus determined to claim the Locacaca and perform an equivalent exchange as proof of his existence. Josuke thus steps out of the car, willingly letting the raindrops pierce his body to be transported to the hospital. A shocked Mamezuku is left behind, apprehended by the police.
Meanwhile, Yasuho and Toru are sitting together. Reminiscing an incident in which he was inspired to create an invention thanks to Yasuho but was ignored, Toru manages to turn the conversation back to his love life, asking Yasuho again to come back together. Yasuho is distracted by her own researches, and Toru eventually helps Yasuho by showing her a photo revealing not only Satoru Akefu's face, but also revealing that he and Mitsuba Higashikata are acquainted. Convinced that Mitsuba is targeted by Satoru Akefu, Yasuho decides to go to the Higashikata House. There is 48 hours left before the harvest.[1]
Jobin and Tsurugi Wait for the Harvest
6 days, 3 hours, 25 minutes before the Harvest, Mitsuba meets with the parents' association about an incident involving a girl having a gate slammed into her face, with Tsurugi as the prime suspect. While she gets into a fierce argument and insults one of the mothers, Maako Kitani, the camera recording also allows her to spot the hospital director being near the gates as the incident happened.[2]
Mitsuba returns to her home and tries to talk to Jobin about the incident, only causing a lengthy speech about the strength of the Higashikata Family. Puzzled, Mitsuba notices the hospital director Satoru Akefu standing near the edge of the estate ground. Trying to open the window, Mitsuba accidentally breaks her nail on the window frame and gets distracted, losing sight of the director. Reminiscing the findings of Josuke, Yasuho and Mamezuku, Mitsuba is confused as to why the hospital director would lurk near the estate. Asking Jobin for a band-aid, she then catches a glimpse of the new Locacaca tree hidden among cacti. Although Jobin acts unconcerned, he begins to have doubts about Mitsuba.[3]
Ojiro's Return
The same day, Maako then meets with her boyfriend Ojiro Sasame, who attacked Josuke and Yasuho from before, beginning to rant about her current worries such as Mitsuba's disrespect and her dream of acquiring the Higashikata's precious land. Mentioning the rumor about the healing soils around the Higashikata House, Ojiro becomes highly interested and remembers about the Locacaca too.
Ojiro stalks the Higashikata Family and confronts Tsurugi, explaining that he's done his research on the Locacaca Organization and finding Jobin's involvement in the whole affair. Threatening to denounce him, Ojiro lets Tsurugi run back to the Higashikata House and tell Jobin. Jobin hastily checks on the Locacaca, but the two then realize that Tsurugi's hand is under the effect of Fun Fun Fun: he's been holding a mobile phone and has unwittingly leaked the Locacaca's location to Ojiro who is on the roof; in turn, Ojiro sends the information as well as the proofs of Jobin's crimes to Maako. Ojiro now plans to eat some of the Locacaca.
By forcing Tsurugi into a window, shattering the glass, Ojiro then baits Jobin into putting his hands out of the window and marks them. Jobin is cornered and relinquishes the Locacaca to Ojiro, who asks the Higashikata to show his Stand. Swatting away Paper Moon King, Ojiro deems Speed King too dangerous. He thus forces Jobin to close the window on him, impaling his and Tsurugi's necks with glass shards. Sure of his victory, Ojiro steals some money from Jobin then takes the Locacaca and goes back to Maako's house. However, he suddenly realizes he's affected by Speed King's power, and eventually dies. Tsurugi has again tricked Ojiro into thinking the Higashikatas were dead and Jobin goes to retrieve the plants. He also assassinates Maako by affecting a phone and baiting Maako into answering his call, making her blood boil and causing her to fall into the pool and drown, where Ojiro is revealed to have suffered the same fate.[4]
Disaster Strikes the Higashikatas
Back at the Higashikata's, Norisuke read on the newspapers that Josuke and Mamezuku are suspected of murder and becomes worried.[5]
As the day of the harvest approaches, Mitsuba begins to suspect that something is amiss as she learns about the victims of the preceding battles. Not only does she spot the hospital director suspiciously lurking near her house and is almost a victim of an improbable accident, her peace is broken as Tsurugi's Rock Disease goes out of control. Paper Moon King reacts and turns the boy's left half into a giant origami.[6]
The Day of the Harvest
At the TG University Hospital
Two days after his hospitalization, Josuke wakes up at the hospital. The lecture is about to begin but his mission is compromised when a policeman he's taken out falls onto his body, causing heavy damage.[7] Josuke finds himself in a desperate situation but thankfully, Holy wakes up and comes to save him, having sensed his arrival. As she drags him toward the gynecology department, room A2 where she was receiving the Locacaca treatment, Holy explains that her condition has worsened and that a mass of rock moving through her body threatens to put her into a coma regularly. Moreover, she explains that the Locacaca Research Organization has infiltrated the hospital for a long time, performing clinical trials through Tamaki Damo's smuggling ring. At the same time, Satoru begins his lecture and unveils his new miracle medicine, the Locacaca 6251. Josuke and Holy reach room A2 and Holy manages to heal Josuke with some Locacaca 6251 as well before losing consciousness. Seeing his mother in this disastrous state, Josuke recovers and is more determined than ever to get his hands on the fruit.[8]
Josuke decides to revise his plans and instead of pursuing the hospital director head-on, has an unknown parcel delivered somewhere else and then patiently waits inside the hidden laboratory. Akefu receives the visit of a journalist who has received Josuke's package: proofs that the hospital has been conducting illegal clinical trials on Holy Joestar-Kira. Akefu disposes of the journalist and heads towards the laboratory.[9]
At the same time at the police station, Mamezuku manages to work out that the hospital director he sees is the Stand, whose power is fueled by the karma of those who witness it. He manages to sneak out of jail when his cellmate stabs himself, as he unravels his body and hides underneath his cellmate's clothes. An ambulance then brings the cellmate and Rai to the TG University Hospital.[10]
Mamezuku and Akefu roughly reach Josuke at the same time. Mamezuku reveals to Josuke that the hospital director isn't just a humanoid figure; he is also a Stand. Josuke has a plan but Akefu refrains from stepping inside of the room. Instead, he brings out a Rock Insect named Dododo De Dadada which attacks Josuke. Thanks to his bubbles preventing from touching anything, Josuke avoids being heavily wounded. Akefu dares Josuke to come at him, but Josuke points out that if Akefu had the new Locacaca, he wouldn't need to. Thus, Rai realizes that Akefu doesn't have the fruit. Meanwhile, Joshu comes out of the house with the Locacaca, intending to help Yasuho.
The pregnancy, birth, and early childhood development for Rock Humans are detailed. It is most notably revealed that the females can be impregnated by human males, and that their babies implant themselves in the bodies of several hornet queens and leech off of their nutrients until fully developed at 17 years old. At the end Lucy Steel is shown at both a Devil's Palm and Morioh Town, the latter with a Speedwagon Foundation suitcase in her possession. In another flashback, a young Mamezuku is present at his father's funeral where he is approached by Norisuke, who had come to pay his respects. Mamezuku tells Norisuke that he saw an insect (later revealed to be the same species as Dododo De Dadada) destroying their crops and warned his father, who then went out in a typhoon to check for himself, before he died in a landslide. Norisuke denies the possibility that any insect was on the orchard, even claiming to have checked himself.
Mamezuku notices an attendee with white hair before realizing in the present that attendee was Akefu, who reveals his true identity: Wonder of U. Dododo De Dadada launches an attack on Josuke who brings out Soft & Wet to defend himself, but begins leaking a strange substance out of his eyes and mouth as a result of Dododo De Dadada's poisonous attack. Mamezuku uses Doggy Style to block the next attack and tells Josuke to stop moving, thus stopping the effects of the poison. At a moment of impass Wonder of U recalls Mamezuku's father's death, mentioning both the land they owned as well as how he was caught in the flow of a calamity, hinting he was responsible for his demise. Dododo De Dadada approaches a distracted Josuke and Mamezuku calls out to warn him.
Josuke is unable to defend himself from Dododo's attack and his attempts to counterattacks are fruitless as he's handicapped by the asbestos gushing out of his body, including the eyes. As Dododo ambushes Josuke and attempts a finishing blow at his throat, Rai unravels himself. Crawling like a snake on the ceiling, Rai takes Dododo De Dadada by surprise and kills it by stabbing it with his fingertip. While Josuke recovers, Rai confronts Wonder of U and his fingertip is mere centimeters from its face. Nonetheless, Wonder of U keeps taunting Rai about his family and pushes him to attack. In doing so, Rai is gravely wounded by Josuke's trap : in truth, Josuke had laid several bubbles in the room but some of them were hidden and spinning at high speed. By letting Wonder of U come to him, Josuke had hoped to let these trapped bubble kill the enemy Stand but instead, by sheer unluck, these bubbles wounded Mamezuku instead. Worse, one of those bubbles just pierced through Mamezuku's head.
Mamezuku collapses but declares that this fight is not over. Declaring that this "calamity" was instead "good fortune", Mamezuku decides to show a hidden aspect hidden within every Stand but of which nobody is aware of. Letting a bit of wire go down his finger, Mamezuku begins to spin the rope and explains to Josuke that his soap bubbles are actually soft, spinning lines. Opening his suit to reveal a gaping hole in his stomach, Mamezuku reveals the existence of the Spin to Josuke.[11]
At the Higashikata House
Meanwhile, Yasuho has arrived at the Higashikata House and begins to infiltrate the house to find the new Locacaca. Jumping between electronic devices, Yasuho eventually finds a bedridden Tsurugi and tries to ask him the location of the branch. However, she is interrupted when Jobin grabs the mobile phone Paisley Park is hiding in and throws it in the toilet in an attempt to drown Yasuho. Worse, the phone's signal is cut off. Desperate, she grabs one of the cameras overlooking the property and films herself, which catches the attention of Mitsuba and makes her instinctively rush to Tsurugi's room. However, for the sake of Tsurugi's welfare, she decides to not rescue Yasuho when she suddenly sees Satoru Akefu standing near the house, realizing that bad luck always strikes when the hospital director is nearby. To finish her off, Mitsuba summons Awaking III Leaves, but misplaces one of her arrows, whose force is redirected into a wall, thus revealing Jobin's hidden Locacaca tree to the whole family.
When Norisuke arrives at Tsurugi's bedroom, he immediately saves Paisley Park from drowning and demands to know what is happening. Jobin tries to sway Norisuke to his side, but Norisuke summons King Nothing, which investigates the new Locacaca. It materializes Ojiro Sasame, showing Norisuke that Jobin is connected to his death. Overwhelmed by the pressure, Jobin resorts to induce a heat stroke in Norisuke with Speed King. He cries at his action but quickly recomposes himself to lead the Higashikata Family. However, Paisley Park has managed to join Yasuho in the confusion while Satoru Akefu still lurks near the house.
Yasuho calls Toru and asks for his help. Interested when she mentions a way to heal her, Toru drives towards the Higashikata House. In the house itself, Jobin tells his siblings to put the unconscious Norisuke to the second floor and the Locacaca in another hiding spot. Mitsuba then sees the hospital director, who keeps approaching in impossible ways such as going from a corridor to a computer screen, then passing across the bathroom and then under the bedsheets. Mitsuba warns Jobin about the hospital director and, also realizing the nature of the enemy's ability, warns him to not go after him. However, Jobin has summoned Speed King and attacks the director under the bedsheets. The director seemingly disappears, but a string of disasters end in Jobin being drained of his blood, swiftly dying in the process. He collapses and the Locacaca pot rolls towards the garage. It is shown that Toru has arrived but instead of helping Yasuho, he sits and waits for events to unfold. Suddenly, Joshu bursts out of the house, with the Locacaca in his hand. He declares that he will save Yasuho.
Joshu Higashikata has brought the new Locacaca to Yasuho and declares that he'll save her. Despite Yasuho's misgivings, the Locacaca seems to be her only way to save herself. Yasuho explains to Joshu how the Equivalent Exchange works, but he loses himself in his own fantasies about the exchange and push himself onto a dismayed Yasuho. At the same time, Toru decides to allow the exchange to happen in order to confirm the fruit's power. He makes several faint noises while hiding in the thicket, and this makes Yasuho realize that Toru must be the enemy Stand User, as he's been near her since the beginning of the heroes' chase after Satoru Akefu. Yasuho performs an equivalent exchange with Joshu, and heals her arm.
A flashback reveals that Toru had already met Yasuho when she was a little girl. At the time, she helped him find an identity to impersonate: Satoru Akefu. In the now, Yasuho talks to Toru, who prefers to remain hidden. In truth, Toru wants Yasuho to leave and be safe from his power, but Yasuho refuses and takes Joshu's mobile phone to make a call. For his part, Joshu becomes mad and demands that Yasuho give him back his arm. Yasuho refuses and Joshu attacks her. At the same time, Yasuho manages to reach Kei Nijimura and ask her to find Josuke.[12]
Josuke and Yasuho Counterattack
The narration ominously mentions that a failure on a plane in the skies of Morioh has caused a panel from the plane to drop towards the town. At the Higashikata estate, Joshu trips and falls on the ground, allowing Yasuho to continue her call. She explains the situation to Kei and warns her about the enemy's calamity power. In the lab, Josuke tries to bait Wonder of U closer by trying to destroy the supply of Locacaca6251. However, the hospital director's calamity power works against him. Despite his effort, Josuke cannot harm the enemy Stand and ironically impales himself on the wreckage of the vault. However, Born This Way suddenly intervenes as Kei enters the room. Its chilling wind freezes the bubbles and blow them towards Wonder of U, who is slightly wounded on the head. Wonder of U thus realizes that there is indeed a hidden potential within Soft & Wet's bubbles.
The successful attacks on Wonder of U comes at the cost of its broken cane lodging itself in Kei's eye. She collapses, but Josuke is able to pick up her phone to contact Yasuho. Yasuho tells Josuke everything about Toru, while Toru decides to make Wonder of U retreat and comes out of the trees to confront her. Toru tells Yasuho to give him the Locacaca to prevent it from being destroyed in the incoming calamity that will befall her. Joshu tries to defend her, to no avail, and he trips on Yasuho, which allows Toru to take the Locacaca. Seeing something big falling towards her, Yasuho tells Josuke about it, forcing him to chase Wonder of U again. Reminiscing Mamezuku's words about the hidden power in his bubbles, Josuke shoots a single bubble towards Wonder of U. Suddenly, a sphere comes out of his Joestar Birthmark.[13]
Appearances
Chapters
- 083 (930). The New Locacaca
- 084 (931). The Wonder of You, Part 1
- 085 (932). The Wonder of You, Part 2
- 086 (933). The Wonder of You, Part 3
- 087 (934). The Wonder of You, Part 4
- 088 (935). The Wonder of You, Part 5
- 089 (936). The Wonder of You, Part 6
- 090 (937). The Wonder of You, Part 7
- 091 (938). The Wonder of You, Part 8
- 092 (939). The Wonder of You, Part 9
- 093 (940). The Wonder of You, Part 10
- 094 (941). The Wonder of You, Part 11
- 095 (942). The Wonder of You, Part 12
- 096 (943). Just Don't Move
- 097 (944). The Wonder of You, Part 14
- 098 (945). The Wonder of You, Part 15
- 099 (946). The Wonder of You, Part 16
- 100 (947). The Wonder of You, Part 17
- 101 (948). The Wonder of You, Part 18
- 102 (949). The Wonder of You, Part 19
- 103 (950). The Wonder of You, Part 20
- 104 (951). The Wonder of You, Part 21
Volumes
- 21 (125). The Wonder of You
- 22 (126). The Head of TG University Hospital — Satoru Akefu
- 23 (127). Whole Lotta Love
- 24 (128). Just Don't Move
- 25 (129). The Ultimate Dilemma
- 26 (130). Go Beyond
Trivia
- The chapters that make up this story arc were originally separated into four different story arcs in the UJ release, titled The Director of TG University Hospital (TG大学病院の院長, Tī Jī Daigaku Byōin no Inchō) (Chapters 84-86), Ojiro Again (オージロー再び そ, Ōjirō Futatabi) (Chapters 87-88), Dangerous Pursuit (危険な追跡, Kiken na Tsuiseki) (Chapters 89-94), and Endless Calamity (終わりなき厄災, Owarinaki Yakusai) (Chapters 95-104).
- At 22 chapters and 937 pages, The Wonder of You is the longest story arc of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga, beating both DIO's World (19 chapters) and D4C (691 pages).
- At 937 pages, The Wonder of You is also longer than the entirety of Phantom Blood, which sits at 859 pages excluding tailpieces.
References
- ↑ JoJolion Chapter 84: The Wonder of You, Part 1 to JoJolion Chapter 86: The Wonder of You, Part 3
- ↑ JoJolion Chapter 84: The Wonder of You, Part 1
- ↑ JoJolion Chapter 85: The Wonder of You, Part 2
- ↑ JoJolion Chapter 86: The Wonder of You, Part 3 to JoJolion Chapter 88: The Wonder of You, Part 5
- ↑ JoJolion Chapter 89: The Wonder of You, Part 6
- ↑ JoJolion Chapter 91: The Wonder of You, Part 8
- ↑ JoJolion Chapter 91: The Wonder of You, Part 8
- ↑ JoJolion Chapter 92: The Wonder of You, Part 9
- ↑ JoJolion Chapter 97: The Wonder of You, Part 14
- ↑ JoJolion Chapter 96: Just Don't Move
- ↑ JoJolion Chapter 98: The Wonder of You, Part 15 to JoJolion Chapter 100: The Wonder of You, Part 17
- ↑ JoJolion Chapter 93: The Wonder of You, Part 10 to JoJolion Chapter 102: The Wonder of You, Part 19
- ↑ JoJolion Chapter 103: The Wonder of You, Part 20 to JoJolion Chapter 104: The Wonder of You, Part 21
