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JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Part 2
Author: Hirohiko Araki
Arc Episode Length: 24 (of 48)
Characters
Jotaro Kujo: As Joseph Joestar’s half-Japanese grandson, it falls to him and his friends to defeat a reawakened DIO. His Stand, Star Platinum, has immense speed and strength as well as the ability to stop time for a set period of time.
Joseph Joestar: Now an old man, Joseph journeys to Japan and later to Egypt to battle DIO and lay the body of his grandfather Jonathan to rest. His stand, Hermit Purple, allows him to extend vines from his hand and use cameras to reveal faraway foes.
Mohammed Avdol: Joseph’s friend and a fortuneteller that aids Jotaro in his quest. His stand, Magician’s Red, allows him to manipulate fire in various ways.
Noriaki Kakyoin: An early rival turned friend, Kakyoin joins Jotaro in part to get revenge against DIO for taking control of him. His stand, Hierophant Green, is a long-ranged stand that can be used for reconnaissance and has an attack that allows it to shoot emeralds.
Jeanne Pierre Polnareff: A Frenchman who joins Jotaro in order to find the stand user that killed his sister. Polnareff’s stand, Silver Chariot, wields a French rapier and has extreme speed when attacking.
Iggy: A small dog appearing to be a Boston Terrier, Iggy joins the team in Egypt. His stand, The Fool, has the ability to manipulate the sand around him.
DIO: A revived Dio Brando that attached his head to Jonathan Joestar’s body. His stand, The World, is considered by his followers to be the strongest stand in existence as it can stop time for a set period of time.
Plot
Arriving in Egypt, the Stardust Crusaders (made up of Jotaro, Joseph, Avdol, Kakyoin, and Polnareff) are greeted by a new ally in the stand-wielding dog Iggy. After defeating another stand user, the team begins the final stretch of their journey.
With an uncooperative Iggy in tow, the team eventually makes it to Cairo despite the attacks of a myriad of DIO’s followers. In Cairo, Iggy is able to locate DIO’s hideout and loses a paw in the process by defeating another stand user.
Inside DIO’s castle, the team is split up into two groups; one consisting of Jotaro, Joseph, and Kakyoin and another made up of Avdol, Polnareff, and Iggy.
Jotaro’s group is able to defeat the stand user they are confronted by. Polnareff’s group, though, is confronted by one of DIO’s strongest allies in Vanilla Ice. Using his stand, Cream, Vanilla Ice easily kills Avdol. It is only because of his vampiric nature that Polnareff and Iggy
are able to win, though Iggy gives his life in the process despite having just gained a mutual respect with his teammates.
Kakyoin, Polnareff, Joseph, and Jotaro eventually confront DIO and engage him in battle. His power overwhelms the group and he easily kills Kakyoin. However, Kakyoin is able to use the last of his powers to inform the team that DIO’s powers deal with stopping time.
A grueling battle ends with DIO getting sent flying by Jotaro and Star Platinum. This victory is short lived, though, as DIO is sent straight to Joseph. Draining him of his blood and gaining the blood of the Joestar line, DIO is finally able to use his powers in Jonathan’s body to their fullest.
In a one-on-one fight against Jotaro, DIO is able to push his limits concerning his time stop. However, Jotaro awakens his own time stopping abilities and is able to overpower DIO once and for all. Later on, the surviving stardust crusaders part ways with the memories of their comrades still in their hearts.
The Praise
The second part of Stardust Crusaders elevated this arc as a whole for me based on one reason alone: stakes. During the first half of the series I felt as though the chess-like stand battles were an interesting yet riskless addition to the series. More and more ridiculous powers were being introduced yet at no point did I feel like anyone was in real danger. That changed here, with battles carrying a weight reminiscent of those from days of old. Iggy versus Pet shop was a terrifying and brutal battle between two animals, Vanilla Ice was an enemy that just oozed despair, and man that fight against DIO set the standard for all JoJo fights in my opinion. In fact, let’s talk about that DIO fight. We got a brief return of Hamon, out of nowhere flying and aura’s, the positivies and negatives of vampires, and a look back at what
made DIO such an effective villain in earlier seasons. From stabbing people with knives and forks and dumping dead animals in food, DIO’s unrestrained evil was a refreshing way to finish of an arc filled with one-off villains, goofy stands, and unassuming enemies. I cannot stress enough how much DIO’s reappearance and shift from looming to immediate threat lifted Stardust Crusaders.
DIO did way more than just provide a good villain, though: He made yet another satisfying stopping point in the Joestar bloodline. The return of DIO brought Stardust Crusaders full circle within the context of Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency and somehow was able to top the nostalgic feeling that I felt at the end of Battle Tendency. Although later parts, as I will write, are still tangentially related to the legacy of DIO, Stardust Crusaders is perhaps the last truly connected part to the legacy of the original part. This sense of connectedness is special amongst the series as well as in anime as a whole and is one of the reasons I suggest at least making it through the first three parts of joJo’s Bizarre Adventure as a whole.
The Critique
Stardust Crusaders’ second part did a lot of things better than its first part yet it still kept one of the bigger issues around: pacing, and by pacing I mean the inclusion of a few enemies that feel like filler. Stardust Crusaders part 2 does mitigate this a bit by including more “threatening” enemies like Pet Shop, Vanilla Ice, and the first D’Arby there were still an almost unacceptable amounts of enemies that really had no consequence like Mariah, Anubis, and Oingo and Boingo. Due to these bumps in the road, so to speak, it felt like a drag at times to get to the climactic battle against DIO and the adventure did take away from the final challenge.
The Verdict
Stardust Crusaders’ second part redeemed the part as a whole in my eyes. Finally seeing Jotaro struggle before ascending to the status of the strongest was growth I was craving throughout the whole of Stardust Crusaders, the return of DIO evoked a nostalgic and threatened feeling that made prior parts special, and more fights existed that felt like they had real stakes than those that did not. While Stardust Crusader’s first part still serves as a barrier to entry when it comes to getting to the meat of the part, the climax served to not only bring Stardust Crusaders up, but served to elevate the series as a whole. Making it past the first half is a must, because the second half made me believe in the power of Stands and realize that the journey was worth it
Rating:
Second Half- 9 gold nuggets out of 10
Stardust Crusaders - 9 gold nuggets out of 10