Outros have always been an important element of any show, almost as important as the openings,
but not nearly as strong as the actual show at hand.
In JoJo’s case, there was this certain amount of importance for the ending because this
is as much involvement as well get from the creator himself Hirohiko Araki.
See, contrary to popular belief, not all creators of a manga will be there for the whole way
on the adaptation.
They have things to do obviously, and this is left up usually to the creative directors,
the studio at hand, and basically everyone else involved.
Director Naokatsu Tsuda had some to say about this in his interview I saw at Anime Expo
2018.
He was asked, “What are the secrets to creating an opening and ending sequence for JoJo’s?”
He answered that the opening sequence should serve as the intro to the show, but to also
get the audience hyped up.
The ending sequence though, needs to leave audiences feeling like, “Aw man, it’s
done?”
And this interested me, because I could see the direction take for this type of stuff,
but when he mentioned Araki, that’s where I knew where the lines stood.
He was asked about how closely does he work with Araki on the music choices in the opening
and ending sequences.
It turns out the Araki wasn’t one to really have his hand in the openings, but in the
endings, that’s where Araki definitely got himself involved, providing both art and music
choices.
Then that’s when I got through all the endings a few times over to solidify my thoughts on
all this.
You notice the symbolism for what the endings hold, but my focus is more so on the direction
and reason on why we have what we have.
It began with Roundabout by Yes, a track that is now strongly recognized as a JoJo song.
It was a great way to end off an episode with a sense of, “Oh man, what have the got themselves
into now!
I can’t wait for the next episode.
” And it works in both a sense of danger and even hype for what parts it was involved
in.
It was a great cliff-hanger song with the right beat that fits into the respective parts
it is.
Along with that, you have the reasoning of the song itself and the art being used throughout
the ending.
All of it being tied back into a fate intertwined deeper than blood, and how the journey itself
always truly came full circle.
There’s a lot more to the hieroglyphics at hand, but for what the gist of it all is,
that’s what kept it great.
The track itself having strong influence on the tone itself because without it, the art
is missing a dire piece.
Roundabout along with the other endings was chosen by Araki, and like the other endings,
a general consensus by the staff had to have been made to pick said song.
Araki usually gives them a list of songs to chose from for them for the ending.
But you notice that this really was something to be placed so perfectly into JoJo like it
was meant for it, then that moves on into the other endings.
Walk like an Egyptian is probably one to duke it out between itself and I Want You for best
creative design, but the song itself isn’t what gets me the most.
Probably because of the season it’s being used on.
It being the first season means that it’s the general journey of Egypt and all that
before we get to the 9 glory gods.
Which is great and perfectly fine for what it is, but I want to point my focus at Last
Train Home.
Last Train Home by the Pat Metheny Group is probably the most JoJo outro we’ll get for
what it’s meant for and what it puts on us.
Music has always been a huge influence for JoJo, but Araki truly knew what he was doing
when it came to this ending.
It’s actually revealed that Pat Metheny has been as this large influence for JoJo
due to Araki actually writing a lot to some of his music.
For example, the album As Falls Wichita, so Falls Wichita Falls was an album by Pat Metheny
and Lyle Mays that was used during the writing of Steel Ball Run.
The strong ties and writing of these country wide journeys by Araki connecting in ways
we may not see as instantly but are very much there.
You could potentially listen to Last Train Home while finishing up Steel Ball Run and
find yourself with a feeling reminiscent to when Stardust Crusaders was going on or when
you were watching it.
It was a beautiful, yet painful ending.
I remember first hearing it and having this feeling of sadness as if I lost a character
already.
I mean, well I did technically because it was episode 25.
Honestly thought I lost Kakyoin, but I was wrong.
And even with moments to where we do have all the cast there was always this overwhelming
feeling of ending.
Not just that the episode is over, but the journey itself is coming to an end.
And man, it was doing its job of making me feeling what it was meant for when nearing
the end.
It also didn’t help that I actually picked up on a couple of the symbolism in the ending
that made me think about what we really have here.
While the journey will end, not everyone will be on the same train home.
But even with what happens, finishing the anime gave you this sense of happiness when
you see the ending for the last time.
The journey may be over, but what we experienced on this journey will live on through each
character.
I don’t have much to say on I Want You because I felt like it falls in line with Walk like
an Egyptian where the art itself is more so the gift, and the music is a clean vibe going
on to enjoy the ending itself.
Now with all of this, I know that people want me to get on the most recent ending, Freek’n
You by Jodeci.
Here’s the thing, the song itself is not a problem at all.
Trust me, if lyrics are an issue to you then you can refer to the other songs I’ve mentioned
here.
Roundabout was written more so about coming home or going around, and Last train home
doesn’t even have lyrics.
The instrumental is great too!
The only missing direction here is the art itself.
The character renders were made great with all of them doing their respective JoJo poses,
but the thing is, it’s missing a direction in comparison to the other endings.
Especially with having such a layered opening, you would expect the ending would have something
to match that in terms of creative direction.
You can look at all of the other endings and see a remote touch of Araki or even just a
large amount of involvement, but with Part 5’s ending, there’s just something missing.
I’m not expecting change in art, so I’ll cut my losses with trying to suggest anything
because there’s no real point to mess around.
Though I do love the effect thing going on, feels like old school Playstation days where
I’m able to just leave a cd playing and listen to it while doing literally anything.
Jodeci’s amazing people, if you haven’t heard about the group or that much R&B in
general, Araki is telling you to get your pallet out there.
But what’s my main conclusion in all of this.
The last train home ending is what held every element of what a JoJo ending is to be, Jodeci
is amazing, and Roundabout is legitimately scary with how well it fits in to JoJo and
almost any cliff hanger meme you can think of.
Thank you all for watching!
I’ve had this video sitting here since Anime Expo and finally found the time where it would
work best.
More videos coming soon, if there’s any idea as to what you all want to see for a
Halloween special, I’m all ears.
I already got one thing planned, but I love October so I’m down for more.
Hopefully, I’ll see you all in the next one.
Until then, peace out and God Speed.