Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure- Vento Aureo Episode 16: Almost Perfect

Despite everything that was going right, there were some slight choices in this episode that I felt weakened the overall experience of my favorite fight in this part. These points occurred at the very end of the fight where 1. Pesci’s attempts to ruse Buccellati having him focus on him trying to smash the turtle the ground while he actually went inside it to kill the rest of the crew was cut out. I feel that undermines Pesci’s development as with the whole “I’ll kill them” mindset Prosciutto was trying to get across doesn’t reach fruition as Pesci tries to bait Buccellati into thinking his goal was to kill the turtle instead of the rest of the squad. The second and last issue was that Yuuichi Nakamura’s ARIARIARIARI didn’t come off too great, which is a shame because his Arrivederci was pretty fantastic.

Prosciutto and Buccellati are thrown off the train and the former yells for his subordinate to stop the train. Pesci comes to after being kicked into the window and only narrowly catches sight of Prosciutto’s hand fall off the closing zipper as he and Buccellati are flung back. With no idea how to conventionally stop the train, Pesci throws a line with Beach Boy and catches Prosciutto’s right hand and reels the two off-board gangsters before they collide with one of the support columns. Prosciutto takes the time to take back his accusation against Buccellati being a bad capo and praises his abilities as being worthy of being entrusted with this direct mission from the boss, but the pleasantries don’t last long as he still has a mission to do and starts kicking Buccellati off of him. Buccellati counterattacks but his speed is lowered due to the aging effect still active and the Grateful Dead catches his strike but Buccellati’s aim was to strike Beach Boy’s line than Prosciutto himself. After being told of Beach Boy’s attack reflecting effect, Bucellati gets a hold of the line as he unzips Prosciutto’s hand and takes the line for himself while Prosciutto falls off.

Pesci senses the change in hands and his precision with Beach Boy’s sensory effects has him despair over Prosciutto falling off and begins panicking as the rest of the train’s passengers start to become young again. As one of the displeased passengers berates Pesci for being a crybaby, the passenger suddenly screams as he begins to age again and much to Pesci’s surprise and Buccellati’s disbelief, both find that Prosciutto has survived the fall by putting himself on top of the train’s wheel to continue Grateful Dead’s effects. Pesci is utterly moved by Prosciutto’s determination and finally recognizes the heart he needs to finish the mission and steels himself as he casually takes his first kill stepping on the neck of the man yelling at him previously. Pesci reengages Buccellati resting on top of the train with his Beach Boy and Buccellati’s attempts to evade and take out the hook repeatedly fail against Beach Boy’s precision. Buccellati avoids getting torn in half by using a piece of the train-car’s roof to shield a hit from one of the overhanging beams and re-enters the train but with Beach Boy’s hook nearly reaching his heart. Buccellati finds no choice but to bet it all on his own resolve against Pesci’s. Sticky Fingers lets loose a barrage of punches against the line and Buccellati has his own power willingly directed back at him as to completely scatter his body parts to evade Beach Boy’s hook. Sure enough, Pesci has no idea where Buccellati is anymore and the latter goes even further to zip his own heart in half to make sure his heartbeats don’t give away his position. This goes on to a point where Pesci gives up on trying to kill Buccellati for the moment to stop the train and save Prosciutto. Buccellati has his gamble save his life but he’s gone on for so long without piecing himself back together that he starts to lose consciousnesses. Pesci stops the train after kicking a lever and the ensuing momentum has Bruno parts reconvene in a corner for him to restore himself.

Pesci exits the train but Buccellati meets him outside where they decide to have their final bout. Pesci’s resolve still holds strong as a quick flick of Beach Boy cuts through Buccellati’s leg at incredible speed and the battered Prosciutto mutters his blessings toward Pesci’s newfound confidence and gives one last order to finish the mission. Pesci makes the first move and throws his line, and Buccellati does the same and charges headfirst into the action. Buccellati holds both his arms up to shield the hit to buy himself a couple seconds to reach Pesci but the latter predicted this movement and has his hook pierce through his arms and get into Buccellati’s chest immediately. Buccellati however fights back by not striking the line but manipulating its length to wrangle Pesci on his own line. Pesci has one last trick up his sleeve and brings out Trish from the turtle he acquired earlier. Pesci lets Trish live but vows to give Buccellati despair by killing the rest of his team and but Buccellati’s speed hits faster than Pesci’s attempts to smash the turtle to the ground and Buccellati finishes Pesci off. With the team safely restored, Trish asks Buccellati what are all these strange things around her and Buccellati later confirms that Prosciutto contacted his comrades before dying. Hours later, Melone arrives on the scene and collects a sample of Buccellati’s blood at the scene.