GioGio's Bizarre Adventure II: Golden Heart, Golden Ring
GioGio's Bizarre Adventure II: Golden Heart, Golden Ring (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険II ゴールデンハート／ゴールデンリング, JoJo no Kimyō na Bōken Tsū: Gōruden Hāto Gōruden Ringu) is a light novel written by Miya Shotaro and Gichi Otsuka with illustrations and limited creative input[3] provided by Hirohiko Araki.
The novel tells an original story set during the events of Vento Aureo, just after Team Bucciarati betrays the boss. A young girl named Coniglio finds herself at the center of a series of massacres conducted by Purple Haze, driving her to harness the healing power of her own Stand, The Cure. At the same time, Passione's operatives within Venice move to corner Bucciarati's group through a series of carefully-laid traps, with The Cure as the cornerstone.
Summary
The Mondo Aria Incident
Coniglio is a young girl working as a maid at the Hotel Mondo Aria in Venice. The position was originally her grandmother's, but Coniglio took her place after her death in a car accident. Two months have passed since then, and Coniglio's life has become one of emptiness and routine. No one else knows of her rabbit-like Stand, The Cure, which has the power to heal any injury or disease. While closing out their shifts, an American friend of Coniglio named Winona offers to take her out for dinner after sending a letter at the post office. While waiting for her return, Coniglio briefly meets a boy named Pannacotta Fugo in the hotel lobby. Just as Winona returns, the lights in the hotel suddenly go out, and Purple Haze is summoned to release its virus. Winona and countless others die horribly in front of an unharmed Coniglio, who lets out a scream of anguish.
Later, Fugo meets with his current boss, who reminds him that Passione's forgiveness hinges on him completing his mission.
Coniglio's Desperation
Coniglio later awakes in the hospital, where she had been taken as a witness. Bearing the weight of her survivor's guilt, Coniglio reflects on her parents' divorce and her classmates' fear of her, which had caused her to isolate herself from others. Sneaking out of her hospital room, Coniglia again glimpses Fugo, who unleashes Purple Haze once more in the hospital. Realizing that The Cure can neutralize the virus by sucking it out of its victims, Coniglio sets out to save everyone.
Through the intervention of a nurse turning on the lights, everyone at the hospital survives the attack—except for one little girl, whose loss weighs heavily on Coniglio's soul. After being discharged and taken home by her mother, Coniglio is confronted in the middle of the night by Fugo, who urges her to save those under attack from Purple Haze nearby. Coniglio attempts to follow the Stand's trail of destruction, but is unable to cure most of its victims. At the sight of a burning hotel building, Coniglio breaks down in despair, oblivious to The Cure's steady growth in size.
Seppia's Gauntlet
Meanwhile, Team Bucciarati reads about the incident at the Mondo Aria in a newspaper and immediately suspects Fugo. However, the group decides to first investigate the accomplice responsible for the lights going out, whom they suspect to be Venetian capo and arms trafficker Seppia. Breaking into the old man's house, the group finds no signs of Seppia, but are able to use Moody Blues to replay his form just as he is kidnapped by other members of the gang.
Bucciarati's group follows Seppia's replay as he is taken by boat. Just as Narancia's radar begins detecting danger, Seppia's replay climbs onto a chair and begins giving orders to place mines, revealing himself to be an alias of Sogliola Lopez, and the mastermind behind his own "kidnapping." Sogliola's Stand, Joy Division, allows him to swap objects he touches at any desired moment in time. As Joy Division swaps floating polystyrene pieces in the river with mines, Bucciarati's group is pushed toward St. Mark's Basilica as the sound of a bell rings out.
Narancia and Abbacchio are suddenly shot from afar, and their Stands mysteriously disappear. Mista realizes that the group is being attacked by his old partner, Rigatoni, whose Public Image Limited allows him to siphon the energy of those he shoots with his sniper rifle. As all of his own Stand energy is used to aim with absolute precision, Rigatoni specializes in assassinating Stand users, using their energy to avoid death. Mista shoots at Rigatoni, but misses with all six of his bullets. Just as Rigatoni fires a shot back, Mista loads a bullet imbued with Giorno's power and fires directly into its path. Gold Experience transforms Mista's bullet into a bat just as Rigatoni's shot reaches it, reflecting the lethal wound toward Rigatoni himself. Mista is nonetheless gravely injured by the final shot, leaving Giorno and Bucciarati to enter the basilica alone.
The Cure, Diseased
Entering the chapel, Giorno and Bucciarati are confronted by a monstrous white rabbit emitting Purple Haze's virus: following Coniglio's breakdown and loss of consciousness, The Cure had only grown as it carried her across Venice, spreading the virus as it went. It had been lured from its aimless killing spree by the sound of St. Mark's Basilica's bell. Safe inside their rubber suits, Sogliola and Fugo watch from afar as Bucciarati and Giorno are viciously attacked by the Stand. When a hole springs in Sogliola's suit, he hastily leaves for an antechamber to change clothes, certain nonetheless of his victory and resulting promotion away from Venice. Before Sogliola can finish changing, however, the two traitors suddenly appear behind him.
Fugo had been the cause of Sogliola's plan coming undone: he had neglected to tell his boss that Giorno had become immune to the virus during his battle against Man in the Mirror. Despite Bucciarati not possessing the same immunity, the two had endeavored to save Coniglio from the rabbit just as she regained consciousness. Inspired once more by Fugo's earlier command, Coniglio commanded The Cure to return to its initial form, saving Giorno and Bucciarati. The two then set out for Sogliola's antechamber, though not before Giorno provided a few parting words of hope to Coniglio.
Shocked by his failure, Sogliola quickly composes himself and uses his ability to swap his own position with the ground, escaping to the hallway underneath. However, Sogliola is confronted by Mista at the end of the corridor, and Bucciarati catches up to him. Sticky Fingers opens a zipper beneath the capo's feet; Sogliola desperately reaches for a nearby rope, realizing too late that Gold Experience had transformed it into a creeper vine. Trapped within the vine and hanging above the hole created by the zipper, Sogliola desperately attempts to touch Bucciarati to swap positions with him, only to receive a lethal barrage of punches from Sticky Fingers instead.
Epilogue
Leaving Venice by boat, Fugo reflects on the revulse he felt toward Sogliola's plan of indiscriminate massacre, and on his conviction to sabotage it even if it meant being seen as a traitor. He harbors no regrets for abandoning Bucciarati on the steps of San Giorgio Maggiore, but feels certain in his heart that his team will reach the boss, and that Coniglio will heal from what she has been through.
Later, an urban legend would spread of a girl and her pet rabbit healing a lost and hopeless person's aches, as if by magic. Two months after leaving Venice for the United States, that girl reflects on her decision to use her power to help others across the world, as atonement for the lives that she could not save. Remembering Giorno's words to her at St. Mark's Basilica, Coniglio renews her resolve to fight her own battle.
Appearances
Publication
Golden Heart, Golden Ring received an official Italian release in 2004, three years after its Japanese release, under the title of Le bizzarre avventure di JoJo: Golden Heart, Golden Ring.
Gallery
Italian cover
Naval mine teleported by Joy Division
Sogliola Lopez and Fugo
Rigatoni and his Stand, Public Image Limited
The Cure in berserk mode attacking Bucciarati
Trivia
- In Chapter 2, Talking Head is erroneously referred to as one of the Stands of La Squadra Esecuzioni that Team Bucciarati faced before arriving at Venice.
- In earlier editions of the Italian version, the name of author Miya Shotaro is misspelled as "Taro Miyasho."
- Voice lines for Narancia and Fugo from the second and fourth chapter are used in GioGio's Bizarre Adventure's Another Story Mode. Narancia's line is from his introduction, where he mentions Mario Segale, and Fugo's line is from his confrontation with Coniglio.[4]
- Panels, chapter covers, and volume covers from Vento Aureo appear throughout the novel.
References
- ↑ 2 Golden Heart / Golden Ring JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (JUMP j BOOKS) - Amazon.com
- ↑ Golden heart, golden ring. Le bizzarre avventure di JoJo - Amazon.it
- ↑ Interview:Vento Aureo Bunko Vol. 10 (August 2005)
- ↑ penguino (September 30, 2021), "Fugo and Narancia both have gameplay lines referencing scenes from the novel "Golden Heart, Golden Ring"", on Twitter.
