JJOCT7 R3M7 Jojolity

Judge Asura (Logic)

As a little bit of behind the scenes, given the thematic point where the write up ended, I considered making “support your fellow hero” a prong of the objective, but I decided against it in the name of parsimony and to focus on the “be a warrior hero and defeat scores of enemies” vibe of the match.

For all their broad AoE, Calabasas’s thesis that “because a hero does what they can, a hero must protect as efficiently and sustainably as possible lest they incapacitate themself” is well met, but its integration is thinner than I would hope. Planning sustainably is more often framed as refraining from action rather than a thoroughly and specifically integrated approach. Again, flashes of plays speaking to this thesis, but more would have been appreciated. [7]

Blake’s final boast that the soldiers “run and hide before you all are slaughtered by art itself!” is really stirring, but the plays don’t quite cohere in supporting a particular thesis. Various heroes are inspirations for various techs—Rambo being the one of particular note—to help Blake leverage his single target damage for mass attacks, but it doesn’t quite coalesce into an exploration of Blake as hero-artisan.

However, the emphasis on his weapons’ versatility and utility does support the contention that his are not simple tools for killing, so another [7] feels reasonable.

Judge Yasha (Flame)

Both teams were tasked with “be a Hero!” — Cal takes this with a general tone, protecting civilians while taking some lessons from heroes they know (albeit only in the opening), while the rest focuses on working alongside Blake and helping to cover each other but otherwise nothing really mechanical. Blake on the other hand emulates heroic figures from various sources, basing his pieces of tech on them while not putting as much thought into the narrative side of things outside the final speech. Both were good Jojolity attempts however, putting them both at a solid **7** each!

Judge Mithra (Alpha)

Now then, onto JoJolity. Here, I have some problems I’d like to table.

These, again, are probably personal problems, but I’d like to table them regardless: Lip Service, and The Illusory Truth Effect.

We’ll start with the latter: The Illusory Truth Effect! The concept is defined by repetition, insofar as by constantly repeating a phrase, or by rereading it over and over again, a person will eventually accept it as truth.

To speak on the Moped Billiard Rhinos’ strat, Calabasas constantly reminds us that he is a hero, and doing heroic acts. Oftentimes, this sort of rhetoric can be used to juxtapose horrible deeds against the idea of heroism by constantly admonishing someone horrible with the falsehood of good deeds. Instead, it’s usage here is to mark Cal as a hero.

If I wasn’t convinced by the end of the strat that it was certainly true, I would’ve docked it for it. Introduce yourself as a hero, yes, then prove it in deed. Heroism is not calling yourself a hero, just as gentlemanliness isn’t calling yourself a gentleman! Raise your sword in the face of evil to defend the weak, no matter how you feel!

Now, with Blake, we’ll move to the former: Lip Service. Where I had thought going in that your heroism would be solely in deed, I was instead given the names of an old hero, Robin Hood, and John Rambo. Yes, his name is John Rambo.

The heroes feel almost out of place, as if they were integrated late into the game. When they were brought up, I felt it was more distracting than narratively useful. I understand the connection between the heroes and the scenery, but why choose them? How do they relate to the strat's greater narrative?

I will admit that this is an awkward angle, given how rarely those connotations appear, but I'm tabling it partially because of that rarity; while the moves are reused, remade, and made better as time rolls on, the nods disappear.

To move to the final speech, we have the final knot tying the strat together. While it doesn't speak Usopp's name, I can hear it in the winds as I read it I feel that without that and the final play that follows being there, I wouldn't know how to delib it.

With all of those issues tabled, I feel that Calabassas deserves a 7 and Blake, deserves a 6.