JoJo's Bizarre Adventure S01E22 Review: Gladiatorial Chariot Hammer Combat

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Season 1, Episode 22: A True Warrior

A pretty thrilling battle between Joseph and Wamuu. I'm slightly disappointed that they didn't keep the entire battle in a single episode, but I guess Wamuu does deserve two episodes? But while Kars has ostensibly been the 'big bad' of Battle Tendency, Wamuu has gotten equal, if not more, screentime than Kars. And the rivalry between the two has been built up so much over the season. Between Caesar's death, the mutual respect that Wamuu and Caesar have for each other, and the whole antidote-piercing thing, it's certainly been a while coming.

And the fight doesn't disappoint. Once more, we don't quite get any deus ex machina power-ups that plague some of the later fights in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and it's just Joseph's wits against Wamuu's brutal strength. Of course, Joseph is a dishonourable bastard that cheats a lot, but Joseph's cheating comes from cheap shots that never really causes his enemies dishonour, so to speak. Or at least the writers make it well-done enough and believable enough for us to root for Joseph even if he sticks rocks under Wamuu's chariot. 

The music is also absolutely on-point in this episode, with the alternating trippy tribal music that the Pillar Men have contrasting wonderfully with the more heroic, jumpy theme that is associated with Joseph. Add that to the high-paced action as Joseph and Wamuu do battle atop chariots, swinging around gigantic sledgehammers and with Wamuu clotheslining a gigantic pillar to use it as a club... it's fast-paced, with any delays being brief narrations by the narrator to explain the possible moves. It never gets too distracting, though I really would've cut down on Kars and Lisa Lisa's little peanuts' gallery sessions.

I really loved the scene of Wamuu, in shock after Joseph's hamon-rope trick, with his vacant stare into the sky, breathing heavily with his ripped-up arms dangling from his body... and then he stabs out his own eyes so that he won't be distracted, and will see via air currents with his horn. Pretty awesome stuff. The rather insane crossbow-ball billiard thing is stretching the credibility of the fight a little, but of course there's the sudden cliffhanger of Wamuu still being alive and ready to launch his arms to choke Joseph, waiting for the next episode for the conclusion to the battle.