JoJo's Bizarre Adventure S02E21-22 Review: Wish Upon A Star

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, Episodes 21-22: Judgment

Okay, this particular arc is... it's not my favourite sequence of events due to some rather questionable "misdirection", if you're feeling charitable. I prefer the term "retcon".

So, anyway, the big thing? Avdol is back. Apparently, he didn't die after being stabbed in the back and shot in the head simultaneously -- and granted, the anime, being made years after the manga has moved on from Stardust Crusaders, had the fortune to create the Hanged Man episode with knowledge that they had to make the shot believable that Avdol was knocked down before the bullet from Emperor "merely grazed his skull". It's far less noticeable of a retcon here, but the way this episode danced around the fact that Avdol is alive and apparently everyone else knew all along is absolutely silly. Yes, I can buy that Joseph is the type of person to dick around just to fool our main POV character in this episode, Polnareff. Yes, the explanations given sort of make sense -- they wanted Avdol to recover from his head wound, and they didn't want Dio's agents to (somehow) catch wind of Avdol's survival. But it just really reeks of handwaving and the fact that Joseph, Jotaro and Kakyoin just play along with the deception honestly feels more like it's for the audience's benefit more than anything. Especially with the protracted scene in the first part of the episode of the group meeting "Avdol's dad" where apparently it's Avdol in disguise, feeding chickens, pretending to be distraught and arguing with Joseph... because... something? I dunno. It's silly, and as much as I do like Avdol and I'm glad he's back, it's one of the more questionable plot developments in Stardust Crusaders.


Still, removed from the rather haphazard way that Avdol's death was nullified and the character was brought back, the "Judgment" two-parter is actually full of some really neat and badass moments. Again, if only Avdol's return was actually explained in a way that actually isn't ridiculous.

Anyway, Polnareff, after being... deceived? Trolled? Whatever the hell Joseph and Avdol were playing at ended causing Polnareff to feel absolutely guilty for playing a part in Avdol's death, causing him to wander off and angst, only to find an Aladdin-style lamp and unleash the villain of the week, the Stand Judgment. With his voice provided by Arimoto Kinryu (One Piece's Whitebeard), Cameo and Judgment prove to be quite a fun, hammy enemy, with the iconic "HAAAAAIL 2 U!" line. Masquerading as a genie and claiming to have the powers to grant Polnareff's wishes (and also being pretty damn durable to Silver Chariot's attacks), Cameo's Judgement seemingly brings back Polnareff's deepest, darkest wishes, but creates them out of dirt -- which, in this case, is Polnareff's wish to bring the two dead people in his life, his sister Sherry and Avdol himself.

It is kind of dumb that Polnareff would actually entertain Cameo's egging for wishes, but it does lead to some really great moments. Polnareff's increasing hope as he sees Sherry alive, and the joyful buildup, and the sudden switch to horror when Sheery and Avdol are revealed to be mud dolls that pretty graphically chomp and bite down on Polnareff is pretty creepy.

And then, of course, Avdol returns, killing his fake clone and unleashing Magician's Red. We do get some of Avdol's most gloriously hammy lines, including the twisting of Cameo's "Hail 2 U" catchphrase into "Hell to you". And, of course, the iconic YES I AM! line by the confident, swaggering Avdol, who goes through this entire episode utterly confident, trash-talking Cameo, tsk-tsk-ing his way through every other dialogue... it's absolutely badass, and it's pretty awesome to see Avdol return in such a confident, badass manner. Equally badass is Polnareff having the sense of mind to mature and break through his obsession with his past to stab the zombie Sherry in the chest on his own -- a scene that is extended compared to the manga, which is pretty good.

And we have the way that Cameo is defeated, which is Avdol and Polnareff finding out that the user is hiding underground, and they... piss into the breathing bamboo. That was equal parts cringe-y and hilarious.

And then, of course, we get the revelation that apparently Joseph planned all of this -- hiding Avdol's existence, planning to meet up on the island, even having Avdol masquerade as his own dad -- to mess with Polnareff? Yeah, that's bullshit. And that's really a shame, because taken on its own this episode is pretty damn well done. Hell, even the art direction is particularly good, with the scenes of Polnareff and Cameo's conversation getting steadily darker, which is pretty damn atmospheric, and the scenes of Polnareff being assaulted by the dirt zombies being pretty damn horrifying. Hell, Cameo still remains one of my favourite early-Crusaders villains for being equal parts hammy and threatening. Shame that it's all attached to such a poorly-handled "plot twist".


The JoJo Playlist:

• Cameo is named after the 70's R&B band, Cameo. Some of their more famous songs include Candy, Word Up and Back and Forth. I'm not sure what "Hail 2U" is supposed to be a reference to, though, and all google searches only turn up this episode. 
• Avdol's chickens are named Prince, Michael and Lionel; likely named after Prince, Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie.