JoJo's Bizarre Adventure S04E12 Review: A Summer Disregard, A Broken Bottle Top

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Vento Aureo, Episode 12: The Second Order From The Boss

This is a bit of a hard episode to do a review for, and I'm not exactly sure why, if I'm being honest. Again, it's an episode that I end up splitting into two parts, which I guess is actually sort of praise for the episode itself? It means that it gives me a lot to talk about.

Anyway, after a bit of Araki-style trivia moment by telling us Pompeii's backstory, we get some neat little dynamics between Giorno, Fugo and Abbacchio. It's clear that from the way these past few episodes are progressing that it's going to be Fugo's turn in the spotlight this time around, which is pretty fair -- both Stardust Crusaders and Diamond is Unbreakable do also start its first half by highlighting its secondary cast. I do love the fact that Abbacchio is still being kind of a prick towards Giorno. Sure, they fought those enemies on the boat together, but Abbacchio also notes that he still doesn't quite trust Giorno fully, and that he's still a greenhorn.

And in a hilarious call-back to a line said by Kakyoin in Stardust Crusaders about mirror stands, it turns out that he was utterly wrong and that there is a Stand that involves a world in a mirror, which is Illuso's Stand, Man in the Mirror. Again, just like the fight against Formaggio, this arc involves what's essentially a repeat of a Stand power we've seen before, but done in a far more creative way. Man in the Mirror and Hanged Man, on paper, are basically the same concept. Mirror powers. But the two of them are executed so differently, and it's pretty dang creative, actually.

As the Giorno trio walk down Pompeii's deserted ruins, Fugo ends up being the only person able to see Illuso's figure lurking in the mirror's reflection (giving us some Death 13 vibes, too), walking ominously towards them... when suddenly Giorno and Abbacchio apparently disintegrates. Except it's the other way around, and it's Fugo that gets pulled into a mirrored version of reality. Fugo quickly figures this out, which Illuso attributes to Fugo being a prodigy as far as intelligence is concerned. And, again, tying into the Death 13 vibes, Fugo ends up not being able to summon his Stand inside the mirror world, despite Fugo hyping up his Stand as something that will for-sure kill any who witness it.

Turns out that Purple Haze manifests in the real world, and that Illuso can control what parts of a person enter the mirror world, noting that his Stand ain't worth shit in a fight, but has some really powerful abilities. Purple Haze is animated utterly beautifully, by the way, the way the scene of its first appearance is shot, the way it just shivers in place, its limbs and head just trembling eerily, and the general visual just looking like an utter madman with the foam in the mouth... hell, even the normally brusque Abbacchio ends up being scared shitless, telling Giorno to cut the bullshit and just walk slowly away from Purple Haze.

And this is where the episode decides to shove in Fugo's backstory, which actually is a neat way to tie it into Illuso's line about having 'read up on' Fugo, hinting that apparently Fugo beat the shit out of his high school professor with a 4-kilogram encyclopedia volume. Turns out that Fugo was born into a rich family and is a super-smart kid... but has fits of anger and impulses of violence, which comes to a head when he is met with an... overly friendly professor. And the way that scene is portrayed is utterly creepy, because the professor honestly just seems like an overly friendly teacher up until that one line, which isn't even delivered with the usual SINISTER FILTER that anime tends to like to do. So, yeah, turns out that professor douchebag is a pedophile and deserved a 4-kilogram encyclopedia to the skull.


Of course, just like the rest of Bucciarati's gang, this sequence of justifiable violence would lead to Fugo being disowned by society (well, his parents and schoolmates, at least), but Fugo ends up smart enough to basically bullshit his way out of being caught shoplifting by quoting law quotes. One meeting with Polpo's Stand arrow later, and Fugo's given a Stand....

Except said Stand, is, of course, Purple Haze. And in the present day, while Giorno and Abbacchio are arguing, interestingly Purple Haze ends up acting like a wild animal without Fugo's instructions, something that I don't think any Stand has ever done. We've seen Stands with their own personality (Echoes, Surface) and sentient, independent Stands (Anubis, Cheap Trick), but Purple Haze is interestingly implied to be like a man-child, something that is utterly confused without Fugo to instruct.

And it's portrayed well by the utterly unnerving (if admittedly a little hilarious) sequence of him drooling on his own leg, trying to clean it up, only to get his cuffs dirty... except Purple Haze's ability is that it has a particularly deadly, flesh-dissolving virus stored in the little bubbles on his knuckles, which is the nastiest set of knuckle-dusters ever. We get to see this in action when Purple Haze unleashes his virus and kills a crow, which proceeds to violently blow up. Abbacchio notes that the range is around 5 meters, and it will indiscriminately attack anything in its path. So like the Hulk, but instead of five tonnes of muscle it kills you with a flesh-eating virus.

Kudos, by the way, for the animation team for making the decomposition of the poor crows look utterly hideous. I've basically been harping about how pretty Part V's art direction is all season long so this might sound a bit repetitive, but it is very pretty.

The episode ends with the continuation of the Abbacchio/Giorno debate, with Abbacchio putting the mission first and noting that Fugo is still alive, and failing the mission would also be failing him... but Giorno is convinced that Fugo is still alive and fighting, noting that Purple Haze has punched the nearby mirror. The "To Be Continued" cliffhanger stops on Illuso about to murder Fugo.

It's... it's a neat episode, showing off one of my all-time favourite Stands, but it does feel like it doesn't really do much other than set up Man in the Mirror and Purple Haze. A solid episode, with some really great animation for Purple Haze.

The JoJo Playlist:

• Purple Haze is named after the iconic Jimi Hendrix song, Purple Haze. It will do more than just blow your mind in JoJo-land.  
• Man in the Mirror, of course, is a reference to the iconic Michael Jackson song, Man in the Mirror. Which, despite its utterly villainous role in JoJo, is actually about starting with the man in the mirror and asking him to change his ways.