At the end of the second episode that week, the screen froze on the image of the five protagonists and one dog standing before DIO's mansion, a place so drenched in malice it felt like the darkness was leaking out through the screen itself. As the ending theme began to play, the audience found themselves unusually quiet.
They had followed this journey from the very first episode. They had watched the group fight through one desperate battle after another, survive impossible odds, and keep moving forward no matter how much the road demanded from them. Laughter, grief, tension, relief, excitement - every emotion had piled up until it became something too complicated to name.
But one thing was clear to everyone.
The final battle was here.
The comments flooded in almost immediately. Some admitted they were genuinely nervous. Others started guessing whether the ending would claim lives. A few still tried to reassure themselves, pointing out that Avdol had "died" once already and Alex had still found a way to pull a twist. But the older fans were not so easily comforted. Anyone who had watched Battle Tendency knew exactly what Alex was capable of when he decided to twist the knife.
Inside the house where the latest variety show episode was being filmed, Peter hit pause and turned to the others in the room, the tension of the scene still lingering on his face.
"So? How many people do you think are dying at the end?"
He had just rushed back from the set of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War to record the new episode. Lately, he had been bouncing between two productions without a break, living in a cycle of constant travel, filming, and exhaustion. Normally, he would be discussing the plot with Mark and the others, but here he could talk just as freely. The three people in the room all kept up with Alex's dramas, so the conversation came easily.
Teacher Hugo shook his head and said it was impossible to tell. With Alex's work, guessing what the next episode would do was usually pointless. Teacher Heleno only let out a tired smile and admitted that he was already bracing himself for heartbreak. After all, when Battle Tendency reached its ending, they had watched it together live - and all of them had been completely wrecked by it.
Two days later, something unexpected happened.
Alex appeared on a talk show alongside Boris Andersen, Kakyoin's actor.
That alone was enough to surprise his fans. Anyone who knew Alex knew this much: variety shows and interview programs invited him constantly, but he almost always ignored them. Seeing him willingly sit down for a formal interview was rare enough to feel strange.
What made it even more surprising was that he had not chosen one of the loud, flashy entertainment shows that dominated television. Alex had always found those programs filled with forced games and fake chaos unbearable. They were not his style, and he had no patience for sharing a stage with shallow people performing cheap energy for attention.
Still, the program he chose had a strong audience.
It was a famous interview show led by a host known not only for her ratings, but also for her talent for asking awkward, mistimed, completely baffling questions.
When his young assistant handed him the invitation, Alex nearly had a physical reaction.
The host had a strange reputation online. People joked that anyone she interviewed eventually ended up in some scandal, breakup, or public embarrassment. Of course, Alex knew that was just internet nonsense. Most of her guests were perfectly fine. The real issue was her style. She jumped between topics with no rhythm, laughed at odd moments, asked questions with no buildup, and had a gift for making conversations feel painfully unnatural.
"Boss, we don't really have a choice," his assistant said with a helpless look. "If you want to promote the Stardust Crusaders finale properly, we need a program with real ratings."
She was right.
Even though Stardust Crusaders had earned overwhelming approval from viewers, Alex was still not satisfied with the level of buzz surrounding it. Yes, JOJO was the kind of series that could grow over time. It could spread slowly, build loyalty through word of mouth, and expand its influence year after year. That path existed.
But Alex was not willing to simply wait.
He still carried the stubborn attachment of a longtime JOJO fan, and with the finale approaching, he decided to make one more push. If appearing on an awkward talk show could draw more people to the final episode, then he would do it.
At the studio, Boris Andersen spotted Alex the moment he arrived. He immediately hurried forward, greeted him with both hands, and even dipped his head slightly as they shook hands.
The staff nearby exchanged strange looks.
To outsiders, it seemed overly respectful, almost excessive.
What they did not know was that Boris had every reason to treat him that way.
Years earlier, after losing a role that could have changed his career, Boris had spent a long time stuck in forgettable productions, relying almost entirely on his appearance while being repeatedly cast as the polished, lovesick second male lead. His refined features made it easy for the industry to box him into that kind of role.
It was only when Alex handed him Biakuya father in Bleach that his career finally found an opening. Then Kakyoin changed everything. That role became the strongest mark he had left on the audience so far, the kind of role that could push a man right up to the edge of the first tier.
Respect alone no longer explained Boris's attitude.
As far as he was concerned, Alex had given his career back to him.
A little later, the host walked onto the stage wearing her usual practiced smile. After the standard introduction full of polished praise and empty formalities, Alex and Boris sat down across from her.
At first, everything seemed normal.
"Director Alex, welcome. Is this your first time on our show?"
"It is. Everyone knows I usually - "
"A lot of people are very curious about the progress of Bleach. Could you tell us a little about that?"
Alex went still for a second.
Internally, his reaction was far less calm.
What the hell was that supposed to be?
Had it not already been agreed beforehand that he was there to promote JOJO? Why was she dragging the conversation toward Bleach at the very first opportunity?
His gaze shifted across the studio and landed directly on the director seated off to the side. The man understood the problem immediately and called for a stop. Recording was halted on the spot, and the host was hurriedly reminded not to wander away from the topics they had agreed on beforehand.
Boris, sitting beside Alex, could barely suppress his strained smile. He only had one thought in his head.
If this woman were an actress on Alex's set, she would leave the first day with lifelong trauma.
The host herself felt wronged. In her view, the public really did want to hear about Bleach. She thought she was helping the show. But once she noticed Alex's expression getting darker by the second, she quickly reined herself in and returned to the scripted questions.
For a brief moment, it seemed like the interview had finally gotten back on track.
Then she ruined it again.
"Right now, a lot of female fans online ship the two of you because of Jotaro and Kakyoin in Stardust Crusaders. Are you also that close in real life?"
This time, even Boris nearly broke.
He froze with a stiff, deeply uncomfortable smile - the kind people wear only when they have no idea how to survive the next few seconds. He was a married man. What exactly was he supposed to say to a question like that on television?
Beside him, Alex looked like he wanted to get up and leave on the spot.
Fortunately, the recording did not last long. In practical terms, the interview did not eat too much into Alex's schedule. But the way he stood up the moment filming ended, with no interest in lingering for even a second longer, made one thing obvious to everyone in the studio.
He had not enjoyed that experience at all.
The program's director rubbed his forehead and wondered, for the first time in complete sincerity, whether it was time to send the host to some kind of emotional intelligence training.
At least one thing was comforting.
The show was not live.
If it had been, the audience might have witnessed a moment legendary enough to live forever.
In one imagined version of events, Alex would have let out a cold laugh and said, "Part of the reason I've come this far is that I know better than to argue with foolish people."
And the host, without realizing she had stepped straight into the trap, would have replied, "I don't think that's right."
To which Alex would have answered, expressionless, "Mm. You're right."
For a brief moment, the director almost regretted that such a scene had never happened on camera.
Then another thought occurred to him.
Or maybe... why not air the awkward parts anyway?
The more he thought about it, the more appealing the idea became. Alex being put in an uncomfortable position was rare. Viewers would absolutely pay attention. And as for the host, everyone already knew she was socially clumsy. Airing the interview almost intact would not damage the program. If anything, it might make it perform even better.
Two days later, the episode aired.
Aside from trimming the opening question about Bleach, the rest was left almost untouched.
And just as the director had guessed, it exploded.
The moment the program went live, ratings shot upward. Alex alone was already enough to draw attention wherever he appeared. But the true peak came when the host asked that infamous question about him and Boris. The second viewers saw Alex's face darken on camera, they completely lost it.
For many fans, it was simply too rare.
They were so used to watching Alex control every room he entered that seeing him caught in a genuinely absurd situation felt almost refreshing.
Still, the most important part of the interview came at the end.
When the conversation finally returned to what mattered, Alex looked directly at the audience and spoke in a more serious tone. He told them that the ending of Stardust Crusaders would be incredible, that the final stretch would absolutely be worth watching, and that he hoped everyone would come and watch JOJO together.
That was the moment that truly landed.
The internet reacted immediately. Some people laughed at the host's almost supernatural ability to make even Alex lose patience. Others admitted it was strangely satisfying to watch him get cornered for once. But beneath all the jokes, another feeling was rising.
People could see how much effort Alex was putting into JOJO.
He did not need to do that interview. He did not need to sit there answering awkward questions, enduring bad pacing, and forcing his way through a deeply uncomfortable conversation just to promote a series.
But he did it anyway.
He did it for JOJO.
And that sincerity came through.
The mood inside the fandom shifted almost at once. What began as teasing quickly turned into momentum. Fans started saying that if Alex was willing to go that far to push JOJO higher, then they should do their part too. There were still two days left before the new episode aired. That was enough time to recommend the series to friends, pull classmates into it, and convince more people to give it a chance.
The excitement spread fast.
People began rallying each other with half-joking, half-serious battle cries. Some said that Alex might steal people's wives, but anyone who loved JOJO was still a brother. Others started repeating the series' iconic lines like slogans before a charge. Praise to courage. Praise to humanity. The greatness of man measured by the greatness of his courage.
By then, the energy had fully changed.
This was no longer just a fandom waiting for the finale.
It had become a crowd moving together.
And in that moment, everyone understood the same thing.
Alex had already done everything he could for JOJO.
Now it was the fans' turn to answer.
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