Creating Anime In A Fantasy World

Chapter 255: The Premiere of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure! (Part 17)

Inside theaters across the empire, the sudden appearance of Hamon sent shockwaves through the audience. None of them had expected such a miraculous power to exist—a technique capable of standing against the overwhelming might of vampires.

Though this revelation completely shattered the power balance the film had so carefully built up, not a single viewer found it jarring. On the contrary, it felt as though it had always been meant to appear here, as if it were the natural course of the story.

“Incredible… this Hamon, it’s even more effective against vampires than the Holy Light of the Church!”

“Right? And it can even be transmitted through objects—it’s practically designed to be the perfect nemesis of vampires.”

“With this power, even someone as terrifying as Dio might finally be defeated!”

The audience erupted into heated discussion. After witnessing the desperate battle at the start of the film, these smaller skirmishes could no longer stir them as much. To them, Jonathan Joestar had already proven he could stand toe-to-toe with a vampire using nothing more than human willpower. Now that he wielded Hamon, surely he would triumph over evil.

…

While the moviegoers marveled at the unfolding drama, a different kind of debate arose within the halls of the Imperial Mage Academy. The mages there paid little attention to the plot itself—instead, they hung onto every detail of this mysterious Hamon.

“A technique that draws out energy within the blood through breathing… what a fascinating power.”

“It sounds absurd at first, but in truth, it has a certain logic to it. After all, the essence of magic is also to disturb reality through special frequencies. Like how throwing a stone into water creates ripples. Whether it’s magic or Hamon, both are manipulating vibrations to interfere with the world. The only difference is that Hamon begins with the body, with blood, while magic begins with the mind—with the spread of spiritual power.”

“Then wouldn’t a swordsman’s aura—‘sword energy’—be a similar concept? I’m no swordsman myself, but since they lack the talent for magic, their sword energy can’t come from spiritual power. It must be something like Hamon, vibrations generated within the body.”

“Hah, when you put it that way, it really does make sense. What a shame I’m not a swordsman… If I were, perhaps I could imitate this Hamon myself.”

“But even if someone in real life did develop Hamon, there’s no way it could burn through vampires like in the movie.”

The mages' debates continued to grow in excitement. For scholars whose lives were built upon curiosity of the unknown, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure had finally handed them a concept worth digging into.

And because Hamon’s principle seemed deceptively simple, they could not help but dive into deeper speculation.

Even at the very summit of the Mage Tower, the Arch Mages found themselves drawn into heated discussion of this new technique. Yet not even Dirac, a necromancer whose research delved deepest into the mysteries of the flesh, could truly grasp its essence.

For at its core, Hamon was the development of physical energy itself—a domain alien to mages, whose studies had always centered on the mind and spirit.

By contrast, it was the knights and swordsmen—those who had always honed their strength through the body—who showed the greatest interest in this newfound discipline.

…

Meanwhile, at a Southern Frontier Garrison, soldiers huddled together, their eyes shining after the day’s film. First they were awed by the power of Hamon, and then they, too, could not resist debating the strange technique.

“Hamon, huh… What a wondrous thing.”

“Yeah. I understand breathing techniques, I understand ripples… but put the two together, and suddenly I’ve no idea what to make of it.”

The soldiers’ discussion only grew more heated.

“When you think about it, the foundation of a swordsman’s training is breath control and mastery over one’s own body. In that sense, it’s almost identical to this Hamon. The only difference is that Hamon draws out energy from the blood itself, rather than the usual focus on muscles and raw flesh.”

“But blood is part of the body. In a way, Hamon is just another path toward what swordsmen have always pursued.”

“So if ordinary swordsmen could train not just their muscles and bones, but even the flow of blood within their veins… maybe we could push human limits even further?”

“…Why does that sound so familiar to me?”

“I was just thinking the same thing…”

The campfire crackled as the men fell into deep thought, their voices buzzing with excitement. They were only first or second-rank swordsmen, far from the lofty heights of legends, yet their hearts burned with the same longing. To grow stronger, to chase after a dream—even if the Hamon was nothing but a fictional concept in a film, the seed of hope it planted was very real.

…

Meanwhile, in the imperial capital.

Within the grand hall of the palace, General Wilhelm sat rigid in his seat, a sharp intake of breath escaping him as Hamon was revealed on screen.

“I never imagined… that this film would depict a concept like that.”

“Oh?” Emperor Hubbard, seated beside him, raised an intrigued brow. Though he had practiced martial arts in his youth, he had never reached great mastery. “And what do you mean by that, General?”

Wilhelm hesitated for a moment, weighing his words, before speaking slowly.

“In this world, every swordsman shares a single pursuit: to ascend higher in the path of swordsmanship. To surpass the bottleneck that has held even the greatest Sword Saints back… to reach that fabled next realm.”

He lowered his gaze, voice heavy with memory.

“Through countless generations, Sword Saints have debated why no one could breach that barrier. Most concluded it was because of the flesh itself—because the human body simply could not exceed its natural limits.”

That conclusion had hung over the path of the sword like a death sentence. Yet not all had accepted it. Swordsmen across centuries struggled, sought, and theorized. Many theories were flawed, others outright madness, and countless were proven useless. But among them were a precious few that hinted at possibility—at hope.

Wilhelm clenched a fist on his knee.

“And among those ideas… there was one that struck me. A method that suggested a swordsman could, perhaps, reach the sixth rank by refining the body to its absolute limits. Every part of it—down to the smallest detail. To force the flesh to transcend itself.”

The King leaned forward, eyes narrowing. “And the first step of this method?”

Wilhelm’s eyes gleamed faintly in the glow of the theater light.

“It was the blood. The ever-flowing lifeblood within our veins. To temper it, to master it, for as long as one draws breath… that was the path.”