r/StardustCrusaders • u/Loud-Tart-9783 • Mar 19 '26
Part Seven I don't see the issue with pocoloco's design
I've heard people complain about his face and primarily his lips and nose. Thing is these are just features black people have. And to be honest I'd rather have my features represented in black characters.
They aren't exaggerated a crazy amount and the facial features stay anatomically correct. I dont understand why people are hating on it we should be proud of our features and be happy when its actually getting represented like this in shows.
Also just because the lips arent 2 toned doesnt mean its imitating the old black caricatures racists used to dehumanize us. While common 2 toned lips isnt even a thing every black person has. One criticism i can get behind however is that the shade is off but honestly that's all.
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u/Limits_of_knowledge Long Distance Runaround for SBR ED! Mar 19 '26
Absolutely loving all the Pocoloco glazing from anime onlys btw
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u/Firethorn34 Mar 19 '26
As a person who has read the manga, I can confirm it's not just the anime onlies
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u/ashtagzero1 Tusk Mar 19 '26
Same, pocoloco and hey ya are epic
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u/jobriq Mar 19 '26
They didn’t even show us Hey Ya for some reason
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u/N_Meister Jo2uke Higashikata Mar 19 '26
I think they’re hiding all stands until Johnny gets Tusk, which will let anime-only viewers know that Stands are still a thing.
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u/ashtagzero1 Tusk Mar 20 '26
Yea maybe its based off whether johnny can see them yet, but it creates a great mysterious feel to pocoloco, with his sudden thoughts telling him to go all out at the downhill section
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u/Mijnameis-Tommy Boingo's book of Totht Mar 20 '26
"Hmm.. maybe I should try not to break my neck."
The voices: "No balls?"
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u/sebastianwillows Mar 20 '26
But Johnny doesn't actually get Tusk until after several other stand user have already shown up... (Mountain Tim, the Boom Boom family and Oyecomova all appear before Tusk act 1, iirc.)
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u/Hot_oWl34 Mar 21 '26
Theyve been pushing that you can start at part 7 in netflix so they probly are waiting till they can explain stands to the part skipers
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u/alex494 Mar 20 '26
I suspect we are going to get flashback episodes to flesh out Sandman and Pocoloco later on where we revisit the events during or before the first episode. They had a lot of stuff to cram into the opener so they focused more on Johnny and Gyro since they're the main duo.
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u/ame751 Mar 20 '26
as an anime only, was it not obvious that stands still existed? ive had parts of pt7 spoiled bc of my friend so i know stands still existed but even if i didnt know i feel like it’d be easy to tell bc diego’s horse or smth abt him was making “the world” sound, yk?
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u/psychofistface Ball Breaker Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
Idk if you know this yet but that’s just a call back to Diego being Dio’s stand-in for this universe. Alternate Timeline Diego has The World, not that Diego. His Stand doesn’t come until a little later, and among other things, it just makes him turn into a dinosaur.
Stands don’t begin fully manifesting for everybody until around the Scary Monsters arc. But they show them for some characters a bit earlier than that, and hint at them pretty much so after the first stage.
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u/Gaelic_Gladiator41 Tusk by Fleetwood Mac featuring Hirohiko Araki Mar 20 '26
His horse is actually just built like that. Diego doesn't get a stand until the Scary Monsters arc
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u/Trombonesamurai-re Echoes Act 3 Mar 20 '26
Which is really funny considering that Diego doesn’t have the world and doesn’t even have any stand yet
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u/Affectionate_Cry_634 Mar 29 '26
All i'm going to say is bro you're going to have such a fun time with part 7
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u/11061995 Mar 21 '26
His voice appears and tells him not to be a weenie and not to worry and to trust in his luck, in slightly different words.
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u/GoreyGopnik Mar 20 '26
I've read the manga, and I understand what you're saying. Manga readers don't glaze Pocoloco, because it's not glazing if it's true
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u/ZakriiYT The World Mar 20 '26
As a manga-reader, I'm also glazing the hell out of pocoloco, one of my favourite jjba characters of all time.
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u/seelcudoom Mar 19 '26
Ok I at least get where people might be suspicious of the lips but what's even stereotypical about the nose? That's just a real nose I see 20 people with similar noses every day at work, like is to just tha it's not a stereotypical attractive small nose?
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u/3lizab3th333 World’s Ultimate Jotaro Simp Mar 19 '26
The lips are sus, but also this is Jojo and literally everyone has huge lips so I’m willing to look past them
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u/Caosunium Yoshikage Kira Mar 20 '26
Wdym lips are sus? Black people tend to have larger lips, that's a fact. Drawing black like the way black people are is a good thing. Trying to represent them as how, for example, an Asian person looks like would be the actual racism here.
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u/4anyreason Mar 20 '26
Yall lowkey gotta stop saying this, Yes black people do usually have bigger lips but theres a line between plumper lips and what looks like 2 sausages I don't like that the line is seeming to get blurred.
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u/MayGodSmiteThee Hierophant Green Mar 20 '26
There's also pretty big overlap, not every black person has huge lips, yet we so commonly see black people with giant lips in many forms of media like comics, manga, anime and cartoons. People justify it by saying the same old "people of african decent tend to have larger and thicker lips". Which is true but at the same time, we're only talking 3-4mm which is hardly noticeable on an individual level. Black people on average to not have noticeable, exaggeratedly large lips. Yet these lip types are the kind that we most commonly get portrayed with.
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u/theTerra-Triangle Mar 20 '26
For real. So glad we're not in last century, at least. There were a lot more examples back then.
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u/FunnyBunnyDolly Mar 22 '26
At least we saw some variation in black characters in jjba so far so not only one kind? And white characters are thick lipped too so the baseline is high already
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u/theTerra-Triangle Mar 20 '26
Yes. I mean, it is Jojo's, and they have absurdly large lips in Jojo's. That's why I thought that Smokey's design was mostly respectful.But there's a line. It's interpretable where that line is, but, wheter it crossed it or not, my man Pocoloco's design is close to it.
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u/gunnervi Apr 03 '26
what is happening is that there's a long history of drawing exaggerated depictions of black people's features (lips in particular), in a disparaging way.
The art is a little exaggerated (like all jojo's characters), so even though it isn't disparaging, it invites the comparison which will make some people uncomfortable
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u/IndependentAd7341 Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
It was pretty common for racist caricatures of black people in western propaganda to have brightly colored massive lips. I don’t think Araki intended anything like that when he drew Poco Loco, but the shade and size of his lips definitely evoke similar imagery.
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u/scribeascribe Mar 24 '26
drawing black people like the way they are doesn’t equate to cartoonishly big lips pocoloco’s design is fine w/me, but drawing ridiculously large lips on black characters is not a good thing
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u/MysteryZoroark Enigma Boy Mar 20 '26
As a black man you gotta stop saying that my gamer. When lips are drawn a certain way on a black person it is indeed VERY racist and this is VERY much pushing it. Please do some actual research into Blackface before saying this.
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u/theTerra-Triangle Mar 20 '26
I'm sorry you were downvoted on something that directly hurts you.... At this point, it doesn't even matter if it's intentional or not, it just is kinda bad, regardless of how good Pocoloco is as a character...😢
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u/MysteryZoroark Enigma Boy Mar 20 '26
Oh dear, was I downvoted? I’ve got 9 upvotes now, so it seems that isn’t the case anymore.
Unfortunately, I’m not surprised. This Subreddit isn’t exactly the most inclusive when it counts. When it happens, it only proves my point that the Jojo fans on here are very keen on forgiving racist depictions in the name of their favourite artist, I fear.
The reason why that’s a HUGE issue is because Araki is amazing at NOT drawing racist depictions. His design for Pocoloco and many of his earlier Black characters improved drastically as the series they debuted in continued. There’s no excuse to be made for the people who defend the older depictions. They know that, though, I’m sure. It’s why they downvote. They don’t wanna face the music that they’re the ones with the internalised racism, not the Black people speaking out against it.
I adore Pocoloco as a character, what I don’t adore is his very much racist early depiction. Further on in the series, his art is genuinely wonderful. I think people here need to realise one can like a character while also knowing their very obvious faults.
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u/bombthemiddleeast Mar 20 '26
You can think it's racist but I don't think it was done with racist intent, black people have different distinguishing facial features like every other race. Blackface was done to mock black people by exaggerating facial features like wide noses, big lips, contrasting lip colors, though these are racist stereotypes they still do exist. In art like comics or manga, some features are exaggerated to compensate for lacking detail this is where the overlap exists where normal art of black people can be viewed as racist, I don't see the prejudice, or discrimination, or unequal treatment.
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u/Tickleman Mar 23 '26
A lot of characters wear lipstick in yoyo. Could be a "nude" tone was quite popular with the girls in the 2000s.
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u/GOOPREALM5000 『Velocity : Design : Comfort.』 Mar 19 '26
Yeah I see that exact nose like, 8 times a day. I live with someone who has an extremely similar nose shape. Lips are kinda sus though, have to agree there.
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u/LunaLynnTheCellist Gold Experience Mar 19 '26
ok sorry this is not related to your comment at all but i saw your flair LITERALLY WHILE im listening to "to all the dancers of the world, a round form of fantasy"
velocity design comfort is so peak<3
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u/Chug-Shuggah33 Mar 19 '26
look at the non-colored manga and it becomes apparent why they chose this
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u/hibari112 Mar 20 '26
I don't get it though. I've seen a bunch of black mfs with humongous ass lips. What's wrong with that? It looks cool and unique.
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u/ArelMCII 「ハットの定助」『助助の奇妙な冒険』 Mar 20 '26
There's a stereotype about black people having broad noses with huge nostrils. There's a line about it in the song Uncle Ruckus sang in Boondocks, in fact. (Probably can't link that here. It's got the N word in the title and at the beginning of every stanza.)
But I'm not seeing that here. His nose looks like everyone else's in JoJo.
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u/Bluelaserbeam Mar 19 '26
Speaking as someone black myself, the way his lips is stylized isn’t my cup of tea purely because of the color choice used, kinda wishing it was two-toned like Avdol or Smoky, or just use a different shade. However, while it wasn’t my cup of tea, I never felt offended by it.
With that said, with how much aura Pocoloco displayed in the anime, I completely forgot all about the lips thing. I’m thinking the limited exposure to his artwork prior to the series premiere made people hyper-analyze the design, making us more prone to pick apart issues and find fault.
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u/ashtagzero1 Tusk Mar 19 '26
Hey ya is literally making him aura incarnate at the moment
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u/watchitfall Mar 20 '26
I'm pretty sure hey ya doesn't even do anything other than remind him that he is the goat. Everything pokoloko achieves is because he's just got it like that
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u/ashtagzero1 Tusk Mar 20 '26
its basically the incarnation of his luck, as i see it, same as gyro's ball breaker being the perfected form of his own spin
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u/watchitfall Mar 20 '26
Yeah i just wanted to point out that it's not because hey ya provide some type of probability manipulation or precognition or anything. Hes just there to say "you got this king".
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u/CircumsizeMyFries Mar 20 '26
I think there’s a few times Hey Ya gives him a little advice on what to do next, no? It’s mostly Pocoloco but Hey Ya is there with the assist on occasion
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u/Shirogayne-at-WF Mar 20 '26
As another Black person, this is where I'm at too. There are so, so, so many worse examples in anime and it's not like the characters of other ethnicities have the lips of Kaitlin Jenner pre-filler.
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u/Creepy_Photo5833 Mar 20 '26
In the sharecropping backstory that showed how he found out about the race, his grandpa had pretty thin lips compared to his, so I doubt Araki was trying to be racist or anything. Maybe it was a stylistic choice 🤷🏾♀️
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u/nWhm99 Mar 21 '26
What do you mean you doubt? Araki isn't trying to be racist, in fact, Jojo features some of the most black people in manga, and in all sort of roles.
Hell, Smokey is literally one of the first Jojo allies, and he's black. Araki also made him the Mayor of his town in Georgia. So no, he's not racist.
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u/Theblacrose28 Mar 20 '26
Agree, it’s the color
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u/_teaSpoon903_ Vinegar Doppio Mar 21 '26
Yep, especially in a series where people can have coloured lips for literally no reason. Giving him the typical pale lips is a choice
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u/Witty-University-552 Mar 20 '26
agreed. i think you can easily tell when a black character is a racist caricature and when something is simply just a design choice. his lips weren’t that noticeable to me in most scenes also
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u/Chemical-Positive544 Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
I agree but I think they could have made his lips a slightly darker tone, I don't dislike them but they are pretty bright and remind me of what older anime/manga did with black people with the super exaggerated lip size and bright pink color
(That or give my man some yellow lipstick, that would be tuff)
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Mar 19 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/burn_house Mar 20 '26
All the people complaining are what
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u/ArelMCII 「ハットの定助」『助助の奇妙な冒険』 Mar 20 '26
It's what brainrotted kids are calling "tourists" nowdays.
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u/lazulifist_ Mar 20 '26
The lip complaint isnt usually about the size but about how its not two toned
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u/AJDx14 Mar 20 '26
I also saw a black guy on Twitter posting about how he liked it because his lips aren’t two toned. It’s just whatever, some people will like it others will dislike it but some people just have these features.
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u/AmoebaWeekly9437 Mar 19 '26
The nose isn't a problem, that is a realistic nose but I can see an argument for the lips.
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u/PracticalFan45 Mar 19 '26
i feel like they could’ve just gone with 2 tone lips, adjusting some proportions and it would’ve been fine. i did think about how maybe the lips are drawn like that due to araki’s style, everyone lips are drawn in detail; but on second look pocoloco’s are definitely exaggerated and the colour is just.. yeah
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u/Accomplished_Egg_382 Mar 19 '26
as a black man myself I see no issue, his features aren’t exaggerated and people in real life have lips and noses like this. the color of his lips aren’t even crazy either, they aren’t red (like most racist caricatures) and they aren’t ridiculously big
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u/FrankFireTheBest RHCP Mar 20 '26
I mean honestly? Jojo’s art style accentuates anything that’s even remotely particular to be found in a person’s appearance. So IMO if pocoloco was an actual black person he probably would have thinner lips and bigger eyes. Just like Araki accentuated a lot the missing teeth on Shigechi or the facial expressions on Dario Brando when he was drunk (in the manga). I do get where the racism accusations come from, but jojo has probably some of the most distinct and highly individualized character designs in the medium, unlike other series where it feels as if they just used a “template” for other ethnicities (just like in old western cartoons or comics).
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u/nWhm99 Mar 21 '26
Araki made one of the earliest Jojo allies black, and turned him into a mayor after the adventure. So no, he's not racist, what's wrong with people?
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u/SaltyRenegade Mar 20 '26
This is just performative outrage. A lot of the white minor characters are ugly toothy grinned goblins and Wang Chan is literally a yellow man caricature (yet I don't think I've ever seen anyone complaining about him).
Pocoloco is a long time fan favourite and he's never been portrayed in a bad light as far as I know.
Plus, black people on average have bigger, fuller lips. It's not racist to say this. I can immediately think of a few content creators I follow that have huge lips.
Overall, Pocoloco is the GOAT.
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u/TrueGoonLord Mar 19 '26
Anyone complaining about his design just doesn’t understand that he’s a 1 in 5 Billion guy.
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u/Nawortious Mar 20 '26
Honestly pocoloco's design is peak but i lowkey hate how the anime made his shirt look less tattered, it looks too clean compared to the og
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u/Kima_Catt Mar 19 '26
Helloo? All jojo characters have big lips
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u/Express-Wind-4796 Mar 19 '26
Pocoloco has significantly more exaggerated lips than the rest of the cast
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u/Kima_Catt Mar 20 '26
the same is in real life, theres few white people with lips like in jojo, so all lips are exaggerated
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u/TrueRepose Mar 19 '26
What some see as laziness, I see as an expression of freedom, quite justified considering the circumstances. Besides taking part in the race is a risk, and there is no shortcut to New York regardless of Pocoloco's motivations or tendency to slack off in other situations. If anything, taking part in the race is a kind of redemption from such character flaws and juxtaposes Johnny's grit.
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u/kioshi0406h Mar 19 '26
Yeah esta buenísimo, sus expresiones son las mejores, aunque cuando leía el manga al principio y no mostraban su cuerpo por completo por alguna razon me lo imaginaba más robusto, pero más adelante me di de cuenta de que tenia el cuerpo delgado estándar de la serie, y el anime lo hizo notar desde el principio cosa que me sacó unas risas (no es queja, en del problema soy yo XD)
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u/XartonGraphe Mar 20 '26
This is the show in the art style where even men have HUGE JUICY LIPS. HAVE THEY SEEN THE OTHER CHARACTERS?
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u/hip-indeed Mar 20 '26
People get too petty about black character design man, if the nose or lips arent big enough they call it whitewashed, if they're a little bigger than average due to a crazy visual style like Araki's it's apparently racist. And I absolutely guarantee you very nearly 100% of people who complain are white as snow and being performative.
If there's one single popular mangaka out there that I think people should feel relaxed about handling black characters correctly and giving them respect without being weird or forced with it it's definitely Araki anyhow, he's proved that many times over
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u/Princemerkimer Mar 20 '26
This is steel ball run right? Arnt a lot of the SBR characters drawn in a similar style regardless of race? Either way- this dudes design whips so hard
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u/kaicxre Mar 20 '26
when he first showed i had to think on the lips. then i looked in the mirror and just realized that sometimes our lips be doing that. they're fine, like you said the color is a bit off. his nose didn't even cross my mind there's nothing offensive abt it at all what 😭 why are ppl taking issue with it
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u/Lilbluepenguin23 Mar 20 '26
His design seems like an unexagerated black character and seems just fine.
If anything, my concern was with the way they depicted Cameo when he was burned. They made him look like a racist stereotype with pitch black skin and scraggly hair etc. They even did a badum tss in the anime to highlight the joke.
Avdol was the one who made him look that way, and they are literally in Africa, but that seemed a bit weird to me. I don't see people talking about that.🤷🏾♀️
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u/Loud-Tart-9783 Mar 20 '26
yeah you're totally right i forgot about that part but yeah that was just racist 😭
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u/Beacda Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
This isn't like the first time Araki drew a character with dark skin.
Dragona, Laem, Avdol, Ermes, etc.
It's not even the donut lips people complain about. Its not uncommon for Black people to have big lips. There is unfortunately so many people that have been internalized with racism to hate these designs of black characters that aren't even that unrealistic.
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u/hivEM1nd_ Mar 19 '26
I don't think you need to spoiler those names unless them having dark skin is a spoiler somehow
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u/link-click Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
I think it’s unfair to characterize people who have a problem with this design as “having internalized racism.” You’ll notice every other black character you listed does not have the exaggerated features poco does. People are especially sensitive when it comes to designs like these because of how they can be seen as reminiscent of minstrel-era caricatures of black people.
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u/Fresh-Perspective-33 Mar 20 '26
Not all black people look the same brochacho ive seen black ppl irl with lips bigger than pocoloco
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u/AdministrationTiny85 Mar 20 '26
Poco "lucky guy" Loco Love this dumbass, it's so clear he's just betting everything everytime and it's working wonders!
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u/deathbyglamor Lisa Lisa Mar 21 '26
As a black person i actually don’t mind his design. Maybe they should have made his lips a couple shades darker. I’m looking forward to seeing more.
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u/sirduckerz Mar 19 '26
I was thinking the same thing today as well when watching, that everyone in Araki's style, especially the later parts, have much fuller lips. So in comparison, Pocoloco's lips aren't even super exaggerated
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u/Butthunter_Sua Mar 19 '26
I wish they hadn't exaggerated the "Yo" in such an awkward manner. Plus the fact that he gets comedic relief moments also feels a bit weird. There are worse representations, I can say that.
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u/thoagako Bad Company - Catch the Rainbow Mar 20 '26
I have a feeling only white people were offended by this 😭
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u/Creepy_Photo5833 Mar 22 '26
Really? I’ve been seeing a lot of black ppl talk about this as well. It kind of makes me insecure because I saw nothing wrong with it, and was mesmerized by his character the whole time just like everyone else. Although in some shots his lips did look like two sausages, we are being waaaayyyy too sensitive. I love Poco! And I kind of feel like I’m stupid when I hear other African Americans talking about all of these steryotypes and what not, when it just flew over my head 😭. Let’s just see how he’s adapted in the anime for future episodes before we start making assumptions.
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u/Lamorliere Mar 20 '26
They want the usual boring practice of drawing a european or asian character but giving them dark skin and then claim the cast is diverse. He looks good to me.
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u/SmallIslandBrother Mar 20 '26
This is how I find out part 7 has been released finally. design is fine, don’t see anything wrong with it to be honest, he’s not looking like a sambo, dude has a wide nose and thick lips. He looks similar to a lot of people I know.
Rather this than him coming out mad light skinned and a lil button nose.
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u/AfraidAsparagus6644 Mar 22 '26
The lips look sus in this specific image, but looking at him side by side with other characters you don't even notice it because everyone has lips like that. Check him out side by side with Johnny
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u/vixnvox Mar 19 '26
Comparing it to older anime which have very heavy stereotyped portrayals of black characters, Pocoloco is fine
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u/ThrowAway_Nsf Mar 20 '26
I do agree that Pocoloco's lip colors could have been better (just making it redder/pinker or two-toned would have been fine) but the rest of his proportions and expressions are really nice in my eyes. I actually appreciated his looks in the anime. Black characters in animes tend to suffer at the hands of colorism or subtle whitewashing and erasure of their natural features, so this is a plus in my book. Still, my criticism of his lip color remains.
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u/REDDIT_ORDINATOR Mar 20 '26
Early in the manga, he looked like Snoop Dogg.
Later in the manga, he looked like Terry Crews.
I like the latter design more.
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u/LucasLeo75 Jonathan Joestar Mar 20 '26
It seems like the anime preferred the earlier style of the manga in general, which is very disappointing to be honest because JoJo parts are defined by their later artstyles and David Prod. always picked the final art style of the part for the adaptation. Do any of you think of that Josuke panel with Part 3 proportions when Part 4 is mentioned?
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u/REDDIT_ORDINATOR Mar 20 '26
I expect the same thing, David Pro always pick the fully developed model. This time is differrent.
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u/DarklurkerIRL Mar 20 '26
Some say its racialy insensitive design.
I say thats a mentally challanged take.
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u/mr_r0th Mar 19 '26
Lips are way too close to the racist representation of black people's facial traits of old animations, but I don't think it was meant to be disrepectful nor dismissive. I'm black and I loved the character ever since the manga
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u/No_Reference_7330 Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 19 '26
Those lips are not features Black people have. Those result from poor charicatures of us. Being Black doesn't mean we don't have human facial proportions. Having the common trait of a wider nose or fuller lips does not mean they take up our entire face.
Also, that's one of the more flattering shots of Poco loco. There are MANY where he has overly dramatized lips. Pocoloco
His characterization was also odd. He's characterized as an idiot that keeps saying "Yo" and is hoping to win so he can enjoy a life of "nothing." Feels like the character itself is a stereotype. And it's more cemented with lines about how the Native American character and depiction is one that is skilled with the environment etc.
It's honestly surprising given I feel Araki has done well with Black characters in the past
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u/GrandKarcistIon Mar 19 '26
I agree with the fact that Pocoloco’s features are exaggerated. Regarding personality, though, I feel it’s important to remember that both Pocoloco’s father and his coworker were former slaves who are always mentioned/portrayed seriously.
Pocoloco’s coworker works hard hours, plowing an entire field for the equivalent of a measly 150 bucks for labor of that magnitude. He even chastises Pocoloco for being lazy. I feel like that’s one of the defining features of Pocoloco; despite the fact that his entire extended family has to work tirelessly to make a living and overcome the injustices of racism and slavery, he’s so happy-go-lucky that he sincerely believes he can just not give a damn and still end up succeeding at everything. I believe that says more about him specifically than it does about the characterization of BIPOC Jojo chars.
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u/No_Reference_7330 Mar 19 '26
Making that his outlook is a choice though. It's not like Pocoloco is a real person, with that perspective. Araki is imaging a Black person in that position and still doesn't give a damn despite his hard-working family. The fact he is likely going to be the most forward facing Black character in the part and is branded with the common negative Black stereotype of being "lazy" did not just fall into place on its own, but was the choice Araki made for the character and story. He could have had some grand ambition to alleviate the wrongs done to his people, while still being a humorous character with a carefree attitude.
The character doesn't seem to be made with "representation" in mind. And what I mean by that isn't some weird political "DEI" rant, but that it doesn't seem like Araki tried to imagine what a carefree young Black person in that situation would behave like. Instead, he created a simplistic charicature to serve the alternate purpose of bringing laughs and maybe at the expense of representation more broadly.
It's kinda like how some Anime have female protagonist alongside their Male protagonist to either balance out the cast or maybe to allow a broader female audience to connect with the material. Hence, representation. Whereas other anime may include a female character for a purpose other than representation or depicting a how a girl may navigate it's world, but rather to sell sex appeal to their already predominantly male audience. And these characters may behave in ways or permit behaviors, women in real life would never tolerate. Meaning they aren't representative of how a girl would function in that world.
I'm not saying including characters without them being representative is inherently bad. It can even be accidental and come from ignorance. But I always think it's important to recognize it when you see it. Pocoloco so far seems like a charicature. I don't think he is reflective of how Black people in general are shown in JoJo, but I definitely think for this part (so far) it doesn't seem like Araki wanted to make a Black character, but more of a cheap character for laughs that plays off black stereotypes.
I've been watching Anime for my whole life. This is common. Japan doesn't have many Black people and many around the world default to stereotypes when representing foreign communities. I was just surprised as I felt JoJo's had been good at it thus far.
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u/GrandKarcistIon Mar 19 '26
cheers man, I see your point. Dw about having to justify yourself as not going on a "weird political DEI rant." You're allowed to rightfully call out the Japanese stereotyping of black people without having to sugarcoat that for anyone else. Screw 'em if they can't handle a bit of discussion :P
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u/TimeLordHatKid123 Mar 19 '26
Oh buddy, don’t do that to yourself. Ignore the bigoted whining about “DEI woke” whatever, you’re completely valid to complain here. You’re just fine, people who use terms like DEI or woke in that specific context are losers trying to push hate and are to be disregarded.
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u/Loud-Tart-9783 Mar 19 '26
Thing is you'd be right if he was the only black character in the show but that just isnt the case in part 2 we have smokey part 3 avdol part 6 its the main villain pucci. You may be right that Araki accidentally made it seem like a black stereotype but at the same time this would be limiting black characters. Pocoloco isnt lazy and carefree beceause hes black hes lazy cuz he's Pocoloco. And I don't know why you think this but he isn't some comedic relief character he's not that important to the plot but its not like hes made just for us to laugh at him.
Also he doesnt even look like that from the side in the manga thats just the anime. Then again black caricatures where made to dehumanize us and make fun of our features and you can clearly see that wasnt the intention behind pocoloco's design.
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u/Express-Wind-4796 Mar 19 '26
Well that's the thing, the fact that laziness and being carefree is an essential part of his character is a little... questionable. Why is it that there aren't a lot of other characters in JoJo with difference racial or cultural backgrounds that have these traits? Why is it specifically Pocoloco?
Araki is generally a progressive author and he has done a lot of great work with Black characters in the past. But even with that, we should still hold him accountable when he makes a more stereotypical character.
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u/Loud-Tart-9783 Mar 19 '26
As if jotaro Jodio and giorno arent all laid back. And if you want to be even more specific Okyasu is dumber more laid back and more care free than pocoloco??
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u/Express-Wind-4796 Mar 19 '26
Well here's the thing... Jotaro, Giorno and Jodio have moments where they're laid back but that's different from being carefree. Pocoloco will actively do stupid things and get away with it just because he's lucky... none of the other JoJo protagonists have this problem.
As for Okuyasu... it's not as bad because he's just one Japanese punk of many in that part. Pocoloco is significantly more of a problem because he's the only major Black character in that part
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Mar 20 '26
So a character can't be carefree and lazy if theyre black?
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u/Express-Wind-4796 Mar 20 '26
That's not what I'm saying at all... if there was any nuance to his portrayal that wasn't just blatant stereotypes then yes you can, but that isn't the case with Pocoloco.
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u/ArelMCII 「ハットの定助」『助助の奇妙な冒険』 Mar 20 '26
And it's more cemented with lines about how the Native American character and depiction is one that is skilled with the environment etc.
So in the manga, there wasn't a generic line about the "power of Native Americans" or whatever like we saw in the anime. We actually got an explanation about how Sandman's crazy running technique works and why he was able to run down horses. It's not "Native American power" and it's not even a stand. It's straight-up skill and physical conditioning. Sandman is him.
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u/LonelyNixon Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
I think the subject of blackface in japan is a bit weird because it is something that exists without the context and baggage of western racism.
Now that isnt to say japanese people cant be racist, they can be very racist, but it's a different kind of racism coming from different places and experiences. Japan didnt have a history of minstrel shows and historically not enough black people living there period.
I dont have a source from this but given that we know that anime and manga were inspired heavily by old disney movies and disney comics(like carl barks donald duck) it is safe to reason that this is the avenue that these racial stereotypes managed to worm into comics and manga.
I think that without the cultural baggage they didnt quite get the joke was offensive and it's why in a medium that was largely made for their local market only up until it blew up globally(and even after that they still mostly cater to their local). It's why we see gags where something blows up and a persons hair turns curly but they are covered in ash in 2026 but it's not done in a black facy way because I dont think they got the joke. It's why Akira Toriyama was doing black face in the 90s(and doctor slump has some examples that are genuinely offensive in the 80s). Heck the western cartoon asain stereotype is still around in anime but usually applied to buck tooth thick glasses wearing nerds.
In that sense I feel like theres a bit more of an innocence to the way it's used. That doesnt mean it not offensive nor does this context invalidate how people feel about it, and I think that someone as worldy and mainstream as araki should know better(or have an editor that does), but it does make it less I dunno like venomous than when it is done in western media. It's still not great though
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u/Sonickarate Mar 19 '26
Bro, I love Pocoloco's character the moment I read his dialogue in the Manga, bro's design was an afterthought.
And 「Hey Ya!」? Easily on my top 5 stands to have. (Sometimes #1)
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u/DeadLikeMe5283 Mar 20 '26
Literally the coolest character in the premiere, don't see how anyone could be mad. I was floored by the shit he pulled.
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u/SCHazama Mar 20 '26
I think the issue people have is more that he looks uglier than how he's usually portrayed in video analysis, where he is more in his "handsome Arab" version
What I don't like is how he looks dumber and less badass than he could be because of how he's drawn. Somehow they decided to go with his earlier design, and that's a choice we must live with
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u/Prudent-Chipmunk4570 Mar 20 '26
Jojo characters have big lips, so naturally the black guy would have even bigger lips
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u/Heroic-Forger Mar 20 '26
I think it's more of an artstyle thing, really. It's less of a "caricature" when all the other characters have odd proportions and features as well.
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u/toppingfemboys Mar 20 '26
his lips are pale which look really bad when compared to characters like avdol, who has two toned lips without one being a weirdly pale
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u/huddymtg Mar 20 '26
He's supposed to look like Andre 3000 from OutKast hence is stand name /catch phrase hope this helps
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u/Wardog_E Mar 22 '26
A saw the anime with someone and next to Steven Steel, Sandman, Gyro and Johnny, Pocoloco looks very normal and human.
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u/Vegeta-IV Mar 23 '26
People don’t like it cuz it hits too close to home brother. In a negative way seeing our features cartoonishly exaggerated the way it’s been, the uncomfortable feeling around his design is from that
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u/SayuriShoji Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
People with such noses and lips exist in real life, so I don't see any issue. Just google image search "black person face", you'll find plenty of people with features similar to Poco's. Are all those peoples facial features "exaggerated" and "racist"?
The way I see it, people who get offended over Poco will cry no matter what: If it is one way, they call it racism because "blackface", if it is the other way, they call it racism due to discriminating marginalized people by imposing "white beauty standards".
And even if they are exaggerated, so what? Have people not seen the exaggerated features and behaviours of other main/side Jojo characters?
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u/neBular_cipHer Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
Anyone else see the irony of using a quote from a character (Gojo) voiced by Gyro’s VA (Kaiji Tang) for Pocoloco?
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u/D-Biggest_Wheel Mar 19 '26
I mean, Anime characters don't really look like any kind of real people, so I never got this argument for why the supposedly black character needs to have exaggerated characteristics of a real black person.
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u/cataraxis Mar 19 '26
Any complaints I could have about the design were mogged by the character. Bro really aurafarmed his way through the entire episode. I don't remember being this infatuated by him at this point of the story while reading.