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Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan Review

The Jojo spinoff to check out

By SamPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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I always crave new content to watch when it comes to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. When Netflix announced it was adding this miniseries centered around Diamond is Unbreakable's Rohan, I was very excited. I never know what to expect with Jojo, and Rohan isn’t one of my favorite characters, so I walked into this one totally blind. I’m very happy I did, because the short miniseries was a shot of Jojo adrenaline right into my veins.

Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan is a miniseries of sorts. It’s made up of four episodes and consists of the title character, manga artist Rohan, recounting tales of absolutely bonkers incidents that he's witnessed in his life. Rohan often isn’t the central character to these stories, instead being a side character in most of them. It’s a very simple concept for a show, and acts more like a wild aside to the series. In a way, you could almost watch this without having a whole lot of Jojo knowledge to begin with. I was delighted to see the usual Diamond crew listening eagerly to Rohan’s stories at the local café. However, they serve no function other than just be there and give the audience more of the characters they love.

This show is all the insane Jojo action you could want, from extreme color palette changes to over the top drama. There are scenes where characters have to eat corn the proper way, or try to catch popcorn in their mouth, and it’s a life or death stressful moment to watch. The most mundane things become insane, and the situations every character suddenly finds themselves in are so baffling. It’s a lot of fun, especially for someone who misses the shenanigans JJBA is known for. Each episode has a different focus. One is about a man who becomes obsessed with fitness, another is about a dead boyfriend who bleeds…a lot. I don’t want to say much about the stories. It’s much more fun to experience them for the first time when you have no clue what’s in store.

Of course, this show works as well as it does because it’s based around Rohan Kishibe himself. I’ve mentioned that Rohan isn’t my favorite character from JJBA, but he sure is a well-rounded and developed one. Rohan can be all sorts of things. Arrogant, curious, daring, creative, (occasionally) kind, the list goes on. Even though I may not like him as much, he’s very popular. Seeing more of him is sure to be a blast for most Jojo fans.

What I enjoyed about Rohan the most in this miniseries was seeing so many good moments that show off his softer side as opposed to his somewhat standoffish ways seen in Diamond. Even though he’s often separate from the action, his storytelling weaves the tale in a way that’s engaging and suspenseful. He is a manga artist after all. He loves research and experience to make his own stories feel rich and authentic. Having this character as a storyteller is fitting.

Something else to note about Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan is the tone. I love how each episode is completely different. It feels almost like an anime Twilight Zone. The stories are eerie and creepy. There are some straight up horrific moments that gave me chills. Even the openings and endings gave off that unnerving vibe.

I thought the suspense was very well done. The stories are about incidents that aren’t quite as magical and otherworldly as the Jojo show itself, but are just strange enough to make you nervous. It was a bit like magical realism. No one was a Stand user or up to anything too nefarious, it was just a bunch of ordinary tales given a supernatural twist. It wasn’t at all what I thought we’d get, but it was amazing.

Overall, I was very pleasantly surprised by Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan. I wish there was more to watch. There are more Rohan one shots out there, so as always, let’s just keep praying for even more great Jojo content.

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Sam

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