Boomstick: Jonathan Joestar, the very first JoJo who ever... Joj'ed.
Wiz: These two anime monster-hunters are as deadly with a blade as they are infinitely good-natured.
Boomstick: But don't cross them, or else they might leave you breathless.
The third episode of DEATH BATTLE!'s ninth season pits two warriors wielding the power of the sun against each other. Though they may be some of the kindest and friendliest combatants featured on the show, neither is to be underestimated, and unrivaled Japanese swordsmanship will face off against unrelenting British determination to see which will win a death battle.
The hosts first look at Tanjiro Kamado, a native of Taisho-era Japan. Despite the advances and relative peace of the time, the country was plagued by demons, a race of superhuman nocturnal cannibals led by one Muzan Kibutsuji, who killed and ate innocents across Japan, including most of the Kamado clan, save for the eldest son Tanjiro, who had taken shelter with a neighbor the preceding night, and his younger sister Nezuko. Discovering that she had been turned into a demon, Tanjiro resolved to cure his sister's curse and slay his family's murderer Muzan, and to do so, he was sent by Giyu Tomioka to join the Demon Slayer Corps, a secret society of warriors dedicated to fighting the demon menace.
The main weapon of these Demon Slayers is the Nichirin Blade, a katana forged from a unique sunlight-absorbing ore that is one of the few things that can permanently kill a demon via decapitation. This sword becomes even more fearsome when combined with one of several special breathing techniques, called Total Concentration Breathing, to boost the power of its users to match their superhuman foes. This breathing increases the user's concentration and reaction speeds and can even manipulate the flow of their blood to slow the spread of poison and speed up coagulation, letting them quickly heal from injury and fatigue. Not only that, it can also aid several styles of swordsmanship by manifesting magical elemental powers, the first of which Tanjiro mastered being Water Breathing, a flexible defensive style that creates water to let the blade slice like a raging current. This would prove to be a perfect fit for Tanjiro, a tactical genius able to discern and exploit weaknesses in the heat of battle, and he swiftly became a prodigy at demon slaying. The very first breathing style, Hinokami Kagura, also known as Sun Breathing, was accidentally taught to Tanjiro's ancestors by its creator Yoriichi and eventually to Tanjiro himself, and allows him to conjure sun-like flames with his sword that can slow a demon's natural healing and increase his speed and power. This comes with a cost, however: the Hinokami Kagura swiftly exhausts its user, to the point of debilitation with overuse. But for Tanjiro, the stress and exertion can also potentially activate his Demon Slayer Mark, a large birthmark on his forehead. This boosts his speed and strength even further, and grants him access to the See-Through World, an ability that slows his perception of time, allows him to see a foe's internal organs and muscles, and predict their future movements. This last ability can also be done with just his sense of smell alone, allowing Tanjiro to sense opponents hundreds of yards away and detect openings in battle.
Despite these powerful abilities, Tanjiro's innocent and sweet exterior defies the hardened personality most people would expect him to have with his past and abilities, though this by no means makes him a pushover, as he's durable enough to survive a stab to the stomach, fast enough to dodge bolts of lightning, and strong enough to derail a demonic train. This last feat was done to Doma, a demon who was powerful enough to create an icy statue of the Buddha in only a few seconds. With the help of his friends and allies, Tanjiro was able to keep up with and defeat him and the likes of Hantengu, Akaza, and eventually Muzan himself, successfully avenging his family, curing Nezuko, and ridding Japan of demonkind to usher in a new age of peace.
The hosts then move to the West to go over Tanjiro's opponent, the kindhearted British gentleman Jonathan Joestar, better known by his nickname, "JoJo". Born into a noble family in the late 19th century, JoJo's calm yet lonely life would be upended when his father George adopted Dio Brando to repay a debt to the late Dario Brando, the father of Dio who had accidentally saved George and an infant Jonathan from the wreckage of a carriage crash that had claimed the life of Mary, George's wife and Jonathan's mother. Almost immediately after he arrived at the Joestar estate, Dio began to torment Jonathan, in a bid to break him emotionally and make himself the favored son to inherit the Joestar fortune. This backfired, however, when Dio's abuse eventually caused JoJo to lash out and brutally beat his tormenter to the point of tears. As the two grew up, Jonathan eventually discovered that Dio had switched tactics and was secretly poisoning his father. After befriending the street thug Robert E.O. Speedwagon following a brief scuffle, retrieving an antidote, and confronting Dio alongside Speedwagon and local police, the cornered blonde stabbed and killed George, using the blood spilled to activate a stone mask JoJo had been studying and becoming a vampire. And though Jonathan defeated Dio in the ensuing battle and recovered from his most severe injuries, he learned from a mysterious Italian man, William Antonio Zeppeli, that Dio had survived, and was now bent on world domination.
Fortunately for Jonathan, Zeppeli was a practitioner of Hamon, an ancient martial art designed to combat vampires such as Dio by channeling the power of the sun through their limbs, and he was more than willing to take on JoJo as his protege. Hamon energy can greatly increase the user's physical abilities, enough to disintegrate vampires in a single blow, and Zeppeli taught Jonathan how to use it to do battle with his now-undead foe. Among the powers granted by Hamon, JoJo is able to perform the Zoom Punch by dislocating the joints in his arm to strike from farther away (with the Hamon energy dulling the pain of doing so), can walk on water, magnetize plants together, and even control the muscles in an opponent's body. This energy can also be transferred through liquids like water and solid objects such as metal, and Jonathan can channel it into his fists to perform the Sunlight Yellow Overdrive, a furious barrage of punches that is his strongest attack.
With his training complete, Jonathan, Zeppeli, and Speedwagon embarked on a journey to invade Dio's domain and kill him, waging war against him and his undead army of zombies, including the knights Bruford and Tarkus, the latter of whom being strong enough to pull large boulders from the ground and cleave cliffs in twain with a sword. During the battle with him, Jonathan would become hung from the ceiling by a chained collar around his neck, and Zeppeli was wrapped in the same chain while fighting the undead knight to save JoJo. Moments later, Tarkus pulled the chain hard enough to snap JoJo's neck and slice Zeppeli in two, but in the latter's last moments, he transferred all of his power to Jonathan, healing his broken neck and combining their strength, enough to allow Jonathan to slice through Tarkus's arm barehanded. With his newfound power, Jonathan confronted Dio to avenge his fallen family and friends, and after a fierce struggle, defeated the vampire with a fiery Scarlet Overdrive. While this may sound like an impressive feat considering Dio's later ability to fight faster-than-light Stands such as Jotaro Kujo's Star Platinum, other Hamon users such as Jonathan's grandson Joseph are able to dodge beams of light, and Jonathan's greatest strengths besides his strength and speed are his intelligence and resolve, the latter of which allowed him to defeat his vampiric foe both before and after his quest. However, the latter victory would prove to be bittersweet, as while on his honeymoon cruise with his childhood sweetheart Erina, she and Jonathan were ambushed by the still-surviving Dio, now reduced to a head. And though he now lacked a body, Dio mortally wounded JoJo, whose final act would be to sink the cruiser to imprison himself and Dio beneath the waves and ensure Erina, their unborn son George II, and a lone baby would survive. Yet despite everything his adoptive brother had done to him throughout his life, Jonathan still loved him, holding Dio's head in a familial embrace as he quietly died.
Boomstick: And they all had one thing in common, his name: JoJo! ...Wait, is the Ripple his di—
The time for battle is nigh, and both sun-energy saviors have been fully analyzed. One promotion for the language-learning app Babbel later, and it's time for a death battle!
The scene opens on the edge of a forest, where the first JoJo and the Kamado siblings face each other, both men with swords at the ready. As Jonathan orders Tanjiro to step aside, having mistaken Nezuko for one of Dio's undead minions, she flees to a safe distance before Tanjiro tells the Joestar to leave her alone. Believing him to be under a form of mind control, Jonathan proclaims on his honor as a gentleman that he will set the Kamado brother free. Tanjiro only has a moment to innocently ask him if he's hit his head before Jonathan swings his Luck & Pluck at him...
FIGHT!
Tanjiro counters and the two begin clashing swords. Using his Water Breathing, Tanjiro knocks Jonathan’s sword out of his hands. While briefly taken aback, Jonathan begins attacking with his fists while giving a monologue, which Tanjiro finds adorable. Jonathan knocks Tanjiro away with a Zoom Punch before retrieving his sword. The younger swordsman rebounds off a tree and weaves around Jonathan, throwing a slash at him from behind. JoJo blocks the blade with a punch, much to Tanjiro’s shock. Shaking off the surprise, the Demon Slayer headbutts his opponent before piercing his chest with his sword.
Kicking Tanjiro away, Jonathan shakes off the daze from the headbutt and rips a tree out of the ground to use as a weapon. Tanjiro is able to block and dodge the tree attacks before slicing it apart with Hinokami Kagura. Sniffing the air, Tanjiro is able to predict Jonathan’s sneak attack and counter it, earning more praise from his opponent. The two cross swords a few more times before Jonathan hits Tanjiro with a Scarlet Overdrive, sending the younger man flying. As Jonathan charges up and lunges, Tanjiro realizes that his opponent’s power also comes from breathing and starts targeting JoJo’s neck. The two lock blades and Jonathan uses Metal Silver Overdrive.
Tanjiro is stunned but presses on, using Hinokami Kagura to shatter Jonathan’s sword. Seizing his chance, Tanjiro closes the gap and stabs Jonathan through the chest. However, Jonathan contracts his lungs to the point that the blade misses them. Having Tanjiro right where he wants him, Jonathan unleashes a barrage of Hamon-fueled blows with his Sunlight Yellow Overdrive, fatally wounding the Demon Slayer.
With his dying breath, Tanjiro says that Nezuko is his sister, causing Jonathan to tear up at his reason for fighting. JoJo vows to protect Nezuko, causing Tanjiro to smile as he passes away. As Nezuko peeks out from her hiding spot, Jonathan offers her his hand. She reaches for it before flinching as the scene cuts to black.
K.O!
The tragedy befalling the Joestar gentleman and the Kamado siblings to one side, Wiz and Boomstick move to discuss how the first JoJo pulled out the victory against his younger opponent. Tanjiro boasted the superior training and experience factor; he had far more experienced mentors and his Demon Slayer career spanned multiple years, whereas Jonathan's training with the Hamon only lasted about a few months. He also was by far the better swordsman, as Jonathan only really improvised his sword skills, but that was where the advantages mostly stopped. Unlike Tanjiro, Jonathan had impressive hand-to-hand fighting that made up for his lacking weapon skills, and Tanjiro was mostly useless when stripped of a weapon.
The Joestar was also Tanjiro's superior in every other area that mattered. Scaling both fighters to strength feats performed by Doma and Tarkus put Jonathan at a respectable 2x strength difference; although said characters were early foes that Tanjiro and Jonathan had beaten, and both would go on to topple stronger foes, the strength gap would mostly remain the same. Tanjiro could dodge lightning attacks, but Jonathan could easily be scaled to other Hamon users like his grandson Joseph, who could dodge beams of light which puts Jonathan's potential speeds at 3000x greater than Tanjiro's. For further consistency, similar speeds were achieved by DIO during the events of Stardust Crusaders, where he was using Jonathan's own body. Such advantages nullified Tanjiro other key abilities, as he couldn't rely on the See-Through World to strike at Jonathan's lungs since his opponent would have been too fast, and the attacks he could land wouldn't be enough to faze Jonathan much either. Jonathan's Hamon in turn would have allowed him to bypass Tanjiro's normal defenses and attack his insides; something as simple as a blade lock would have been enough for Jonathan to get the opening he needed to do so. Lastly, although his breathing techniques could also be used to heal him, Tanjiro cannot use it at the same time as his offensive abilities, whereas Hamon had no such limit and would've allowed Jonathan to fight as long as he needed to.
Simply put, the Demon Slayer valiantly put up one of the bravest fights seen in Death Battle's history, but the Joestar progenitor had the skills, wit, luck and pluck needed to outlast him in a one-on-one duel.
Wiz: The winner is Jonathan Joestar!
This Death Battle includes the following tropes:
- Ambiguous Ending: After the fight's conclusion, Jonathan realizes Tajiro's devotion to protect his sister Nezuko and makes a Declaration of Protection in his stead. Jonathan then extends a hand to her. She reaches her hand out to meet his, only to suddenly pull away. The screen cuts to black at that point, leaving it unclear if it was a short moment of hesitation, or an outright Rejected Apology for the man killing her brother. A twitter post from the writer of the episode would later confirm it to be the former and that Nezuko did go with Jonathan
. - Always Someone Better: Jonathan's Hamon is this to Tanjiro's Total Concentration Breathing, especially in regards to the Hinokami Kagura. As powerful as the Hinokami Kagura is, it is also very taxing and can leave Tanjiro open, not to mention Total Concentration Breathing's healing ability requires Tanjiro to be out of a fight for a short period of time. In contrast, Jonathan's Hamon heals him even while he's in the middle of a fight and lacks the Hinokami Kagura's drawback, on top of allowing Jonathan better control of his motor functions and muscles, including his opponent's. There's also the fact that Jonathan is better skilled at hand-to-hand combat, whereas Tanjiro has almost always fought with his sword and has little experience in hand-to-hand.
- Bait-and-Switch: The end of the fight sees Tanjiro land what looks to be a killing blow, or at least a crippling one on Jonathan as he was aiming for his lungs...only for Tanjiro to realize Jonathan moved his body at the very last second and the Nichirin blade barely missed his lungs. Jonathan proceeds to gain the upper hand with Sunlight Yellow Overdrive.
- Bittersweet Ending: Tanjiro dies at Jonathan's hand, but he clears up the misunderstanding and Jonathan promises he'll look after Nezuko. The Death Battle ends with Jonathan extending a helping hand to Nezuko, though she's clearly hesitant to trust the man who just murdered her brother. Even Boomstick is brought to tears by the outcome at the start of the results.
- Crippling Overspecialization: A major weakness of Tanjiro's is that while he is the superior swordsman between himself and Jonathan, he can't use his offensive Breathing techniques without his sword and he doesn't have any fallback options if he loses it outside of trying to get it back. In contrast, Jonathan's preferred fighting style is with his fists and he's far more comfortable with hand-to-hand than swordplay. When both combatants lose their swords for one reason or another, Jonathan is able to keep going and makes short work of the now-helpless Tanjiro.
- Hero Antagonist: Jonathan mistakes Nezuko for being one of Dio's minions and believes Tanjiro's being manipulated by her. Despite the misunderstanding, he commends and compliments Tanjiro whenever the latter does something that impresses him.Jonathan: You could teach me a thing or two!
- Inelegant Blubbering: After Jonathan learns that Nezuko was Tanjiro's sister, he ends up crying in an ungentlemanly manner.
- Lodged Blade Removal: Averted. After being impaled, Jonathan doesn't remove Tanjiro's sword from his chest at any point.
- Major Injury Underreaction: Jonathan hardly reacts to being stabbed through the chest. Justified since he can numb the pain with his Hamon and he doesn't remove the blade, reducing the risk of bleeding out.
- Mercy Kill: In true gentleman fashion, Jonathan uses Hamon to deliver a painless death to Tanjiro rather than a gory one that is to be expected from Death Battle.
- Must Make Amends: After learning that Nezuko was Tanjiro's sister and not a minion of Dio, Jonathan vows that he will protect Nezuko as atonment.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Jonathan is brought to tears when Tanjiro tells him Nezuko is his sister, which leads to him swearing he'll protect Nezuko in Tanjiro's place before delivering a Mercy Kill.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Considering their kind nature, as well as the fact that they usually fight to protect humans, it's a little odd that Tanjiro and Jonathan actively try to kill each other here. Especially true with Jonathan: he believes Tanjiro is under mind control, which gives him even less reason to kill him. As a result, Tanjiro's death is treated as A Tragedy of Impulsiveness, brought about by Jonathan going all out and sending him flying into the rocks with his final attack, fatally injuring him. As a result, Jonathan is deeply saddened over his mistake, and after vowing to protect Nezuko in Tanjiro's stead before giving him a painless death rather than let him suffer.
- Poor Communication Kills: Had Tanjiro told Jonathan at the start of the fight that Nezuko was his sister and not one of Dio's minions, odds are the battle would never have happened at all.
- Shout-Out:
- In Tanjiro's analysis, Boomstick makes the quote of "That demon turned himself into a train, Wiz! Funniest shit I've ever seen." This is a reference to the "He turned himself into a pickle, funniest shit I've ever seen" meme.
- Boomstick references Phineas and Ferb, of all things, when describing Hamon.Boomstick: Man, if I had a nickel for every anime protagonist who killed monsters with the power of breathing, well, that would be two nickels, but let's agree it's weird that it happened twice.
- Willfully Weak: As noted in the post-battle analysis, Jonathan could have easily turned the tide of the fight at any time with his Hamon, which could affect Tanjiro even through his sword whenever his Nichirin and Jonathan's Pluck collided. The only reason Jonathan didn't do so was that it would be unsportsmanlike. That, and he is a gentleman.
