Battle Tendency

Battle Tendency (戦闘潮流, Sentō Chōryū) is the second story arc of the manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1987 to 1989. As it is the second part of the series, the 69 chapters pick up where the first left off and are numbered 45 to 113, with the tankōbon volumes numbered 6 to 12. It was preceded by Phantom Blood and followed by Stardust Crusaders. In its original publication, it was referred to as JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 2 Joseph Joestar: His Proud Lineage (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 第二部 ジョセフ・ジョースター ―その誇り高き血統, JoJo no Kimyō na Bōken Dai Ni Bu Josefu Jōsutā Sono Hokoritakaki Kettō).

Battle Tendency was adapted in the 2012 television anime adaptation by David Production between December 7, 2012 and April 5, 2013.

Plot

The second arc takes place in 1938 and follows Joseph Joestar, the grandson of Jonathan Joestar, living in New York with his grandmother Erina. Joseph seems to have inherited the power of the Hamon, as he has a natural ability to use it. When old family friend Robert E. O. Speedwagon is reported dead in Mexico, Joseph takes it on himself to go check it out. His curiosity is piqued when he is attacked in New York City by Speedwagon's former ally-turned-foe Straizo, who has used the stone mask upon himself to become a vampire. After an intense battle, Straizo reveals to Joseph that a mysterious "Man in the Pillar" is about to be awakened before proceeding to kill himself by creating a Hamon within his own body. When he goes to Mexico he discovers a secret underground facility where the Nazis are trying to revive a man who seems to have been trapped in a stone pillar for 2,000 years. Here Joseph meets the Nazi Rudol von Stroheim.