The moment where Johnny uses the horse to fly through the air and activate Tusk Act 4 gives me goosebumps. It's such culmination for the story; all of it has been building up to these few pages. Johnny is at his lowest, reeling from the death of his friend. And he finds the last little bit of strength within in him to use the steel ball for the first and only time- something we've been waiting to see him do since chapter 1. And he finally activates the last form of his stand, complete with this stunning spread. It's flooring. What a moment. And then Tusk spins so hard that it opens the door to another dimension and delivers the only ora rush of the part. Something else that has been carefully saved for just the perfect moment.
Valentine being caught in the spin feels a bit meandering and long, but it still works. He's caught in this purgatory that he can only escape by choosing to die. It's a compelling situation for a character to be in. It makes you wonder just how many universes he tries in hopes of founding one outside chance of survival. And it's so gratifying to see his cheap universe hopping trick blow up in his face. Surely, the handkerchief scene has to be a Pulp Fiction reference, right? It also provides a nice bit of humanization for Valentine. On the topic of movie references, the part where Valentine takes out the handkerchief reminds of the "Martha" scene from Batman vs Superman. The idea behind that scene (execution notwithstanding) was for both characters to realize "holy shit. This guy I've been trying to kill is human. He has parents and family issues just like me. And I feel like that really works here. Johnny is reminded that Valentine is a human just trying to do his best to make the world a better place. Which is more than Johnny can say.
Break My Heart, Break Your Heart is such a well done mini-arc. I love when stories culminate with the hero and villain just having conversation and trying to change each others' minds. Araki's weird decision to start using pictograms for each sentence undermines the emotion a bit, but doesn't throw things too off course. And that's because Valentine's speech was just stellar.
Valentine starts out by supposing that suffering is a necessary part of humanity- that all joy and suffering balances out to a sum of 0. He believes that it is his responsibility as president to ensure that America is the center of that joy and that the equivalent suffering is exported to the rest of the world. I've talked about this when breaking down Love Train's ability already, but I am very glad to see this become more than just subtext. How convenient that people who exposite this worldview are always the ones who end up on the privileged end of the deal.
Valentine talks about how he has made sacrifices to get to this point, but has tried to minimalize casualties in doing so. Throughout the whole thing, Valentine's motives and intent are never in question. If nothing else, he is authentic. He believes powerfully that he must do what is best for America, even if he has to die a thousand deaths across time and space to make that happen. And while I object to his "America First" philosophy, his goals may be less selfish than Johnny's. At least, they're both selfish. But Johnny is personally selfish, while Valentine is selfish at a national level. Valentine will do what is necessary for America to prosper, but Johnny has gotten his hands dirty all for the sake of his own benefit. Johnny killed Sandman, put Lucy in mortal danger, tried to destroy the corpse, and almost sold out Gyro to Sugar Mountain. And what does he have to show for it? His own benefit at the cost of just about everyone else around him. It's the same sort of selfishness Valentine shows, but it's on the level of Johnny and the people around him, rather than America and the rest of the world. If you're someone who has a sense of nationalism or patriotism, Valentine's case will come across as much more righteous. But that's a lens I'm unable to view this story through. Instead, it reads to me as much more morally grey.
Actually, I think Johnny is less bad because he would at least limit the effects to himself, instead of being a fucking imperialist.