JoJo's Bizarre Adventure S02E45-46 Review: ZA WARUDO

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Stardust Crusaders, Episodes 45-46: DIO's World, Pt. 1-2

So we finally have the long-awaited confrontation between the Crusaders and Dio... and I want to take a brief bit to talk about how Dio is handled in Stardust Crusaders. He's as menacing, hammy and a gloriously entertaining presence as he is in Part 1, and the subsequent four-episode battle that Dio is going to have really shows off just how utterly powerful (and hammy bastard) he is. He also has consistently been this constant, shadowy presence in the background that scares and terrifies everyone... but at the same time, watching the anime, it really struck me just how little Dio actually does beyond lurking in the shadows. It's honestly quite galling! He is present throughout the entire series, but at the same time, he doesn't do much other than have a token ominous line every four or five arcs. At least Kars did things even when he's not fighting, you know?

Dio himself ends up being very generic and just hangs around in the background of his mansion, more a final goal than a character himself. And it's definitely a shame, especially considering the relatively longer length of Stardust Crusaders. Likewise, subsequent JoJo parts would introduce their villains earlier and give them significantly more screentime before the final battle -- well, all but Diavolo, anyway, but we'll talk about him when we get to Part 5. It's a bit of a shame, and it's a bit of a black mark against the otherwise fun Stardust Crusaders. Dio himself is entertaining and a huge menace, but honestly, a good chunk of why he's so entertaining is because he's kind of a returning villain -- otherwise, he's just a pretty entertaining final boss with neat powers. Still, what an entertaining final villain he is. Anyway, that's one of the bigger gripes I have with Stardust Crusaders -- it stacks up on an episode-by-episode basis, but I'm surprised to realize that it's probably one of the weaker (if not the weakest) Part of JJBA when you consider it as a whole.

But hey, at least the tension really ramps up as Polnareff confronts Dio in front of his stairs (the same stairs prominently featured in the second opening, too) and Dio basically just utterly trolls Polnareff, asking if he's going to take steps up or down, and Polnareff himself finding that he keeps taking steps down the stairs, without even realizing what's going on. We've only briefly seen Dio's Stand powers in the past when he seemingly appears behind Hol Horse a couple of episodes back, so it's definitely trying to imply to the audience that Dio's powers seem to involve teleportation of some sort. I went into this anime having read the entirety of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, of course, but I did remember wondering just what overpowered superpowers the author is going to give Dio, and that's the huge question everyone is asking. (And honestly, I fully expected Polnareff to die in this scene as the sacrificial lion to show off the World's power, but I guess that'd be too hueg of a downer after his valiant efforts against Ice).

Jotaro, Joseph and Kakyoin arrive, and Dio... disappears? It allows Polnareff to catch them up to the fates of Avdol and Iggy, and as the group walk into Dio's room, they force Nukesaku to open Dio's coffin... only for Nukesaku to instantly end within the coffin, cut up and massacred, whilst in the process of opening the coffin. The Crusaders straight-up bail, jumping out of Dio's mansion and out into the sun as it sets, which... okay? I guess that's the smart thing to do?

It's just a huge bit of tension as the Crusaders split up -- Polnareff wants to pursue Dio, and Jotaro is left to back him up; whereas Joseph and Kakyoin attempt to retreat, and hopefully get Dio caught between both groups. And Dio does show off the aura of someone being in utter control (and with enough confidence to dick around with Polnareff), while still being careful enough to not take unnecessary risks and allow his enemies to split up. Again, the name of the game is to figure out the secret of Dio's Stand. 

It's a bit of a black comedy moment when Dio just strolls up into the fancy car of Senator Wilson Phillips (whose voice is provided by Cho, voice actor for One Piece's Brook) and basically brutalizes the poor man, using his Stand's powers to keep him teleporting back into the car, ripping the fucker's front teeth off and basically forcing the proud-turned-delirious dude into being his driver. It's a scene that would've definitely fallen flat if not for the utter bemused assholish hamminess on Dio's part, and the constant hammy dialogue from Philips. 

The anime actually cuts the moment when Senator Phillips drives and mows down a bunch of pedestrians -- we see Dio ordering him to drive into the crowd, and the aftermath of the blood-soaked car, but not the actual action. 

And as we get a car chase scene, we get a brief battle between Kakyoin and Dio, with the former sending Hierophant Green to attack from a range, figuring out that Dio's Stand is a close-range Stand due to his need to pursue them. Dio shows off to be pretty damn powerful even without activating his Stand, though, deflecting Kakyoin's Emerald Splash with nothing but his fingers, which is pretty damn badass. We also get some significant motive statement from Kakyoin, about how he's going to make Dio pay for making him so afraid and subservient... which I guess is something, I suppose. Poor Kakyoin has definitely been as under-utilized as Avdol, especially in the second half of the series where he's straight-up offscreen. 

We also get a bunch of flashback to Kakyoin's youth that I think doesn't exist in the manga, or if it did, the anime expands a lot with a scene of little Kakyoin at school, eavesdropping on his mother and his teacher talking about how worrying Kakyoin's lack of being able to make friends is, and that Kakyoin himself finds it hard to make friends with people who can't see his Stand. 

Episode 46 picks up with more Kakyoin badassery, with him wanting to find a way to reveal the secret of Dio's Stand. After Phillips gets thrown to knock down the Crusaders' car,  we get a pretty damn badass action scene, with Kakyoin and Joseph bouncing around Tarzan-like with their Stands, chased by Dio, who can... fly,  surrounded with golden aura? Kay then.We then have Dio realizing that he's trapped within a gigantic web of Hierophant Green's tendrils, and Kakyoin himself is able to launch Emerald Splash bullets from all directions from a distance. It's actually a goddamn smart move by Kakyoin in battling against a close-range stand, and the animation effect with all the textures on Hierophant Green is just amazing to behold. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that this sequence is perhaps the most visually impressive.

And as Kakyoin's boasts seems to make his Stand invisible... suddenly at the moment of triumph he gets hit and sent flying, blood bursting out of his chest. It's sudden, abrupt, and pretty damn horrifying. Also badass, on Dio's part. Again, Kakyoin's easily one of the more disposable B-list especially with the story showing that it's not afraid to kill off the B-cast, so his death is the obvious one... but as Kakyoin lay dying and bloodied as he is smashed into the water tower, and Joseph swears bloody vengeance (the shot is, in a nice touch, a similar one to Joseph's expression after Caesar died in Part 2), Kakyoin just keeps his mind focused on thinking on just how Dio managed to break his web and kill him in an instant. 

And as Joseph and Dio taunt each other and Joseph tries his best to trick Dio into hitting him while he covers himself with Hermit Purple laced with Hamon. In his dying breath, Kakyoin looks at a clock tower and realizes that Dio's Stand is able to stop time (with the Japanese words working in Dio's subsequent catchphrase of "Toki wa tomare/Time stops now") and Kakyoin unleashes his final Emerald Splash, dying as he tries to inform Joseph of the secret behind Dio's Stand. 

And Joseph tries to keep his distance from Dio while ending up figuring out Kakyoin's message, while the anime gives us a brief flashback to the exact moment of Dio stopping time and punching Kakyoin through the chest -- something that was rearranged from the manga (which originally placed this before Kakyoin's death, making Kakyoin figuring out the secret feel kinda blase) to really ratchet up the tension.

Also, the expanding sphere of negative photo colours and the tick-tocks of a clock, as well as the BZZZZT sound in the background... it is just such a delight to watch and listen.

Joseph swears bloody vengeance on Dio, but Dio points out that figuring out the secret of his Stand and actually beating said Stand are two completely different things, and there's only so much that Joseph's attempts to use "Hermit Purple ANDO HAMON!" can work. Again, I definitely felt afraid that Joseph would meet the same fate as Kakyoin, Avdol and Iggy -- it's the finale, after all, and it wouldn't be a bad end for Joseph Joestar fighting the main villain. And as much as Joseph tries to defeat Dio, he gets absolutely beaten, and barely manages to tell Jotaro that Dio's Stand controls time... as Dio goes "ZA WARUDO!" (god, his voice actor is glorious) and stops time and just dicks around with the nearby patrons on the cafe before throwing a knife into Joseph's neck.

Dio notes that he can only stop time for five seconds (which, in anime terms, is more like half a minute... but I guess this is a full case of "Talking is a Free Action"). It's enough, however, for him to kill Joseph. The animation is extremely well-done, and Joseph's absolute fear that his grandson is going to be Dio's next victim is pretty damn well-delivered as Joseph just begs for Jotaro to run away from this horrifying power, as the vines of Hermit Purple just crumbles into dust while Joseph himself dies. 

These two episodes really show off the sheer power and poise that Dio has, a lot of "ZA WARUDO!" and "MUDA MUDA MUDAAA!" on Dio's part... but most importantly, the heroic sacrifices of Kakyoin and Joseph are definitely built up a lot better and gets tied into the horror of Dio's unknown Stand really well. The animation budget for these couple of episodes are definitely pretty great, with some genuinely impressive sights like the World's time-stopping effect, Kakyoin's Hierophant Green and all the acrobatics that they are doing. Again, really great stuff, and this final confrontation is definitely something I'll be rewatching a couple of times in the future. 

The JoJo Playlist:

• The unfortunate Senator that Dio gets to drive for him is named Wilson Phillips, based on the band of the same name, which was a band active in the 90's perhaps most famous for their single Hold On.