Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders S2 – 16

Look at all the friends he’s made!

When episode 17 of Jojo airs, I’m going to be on an airplane. So yeah, I won’t be able to blog about it until the week after. Just letting you guys know in advance. I’m cursing my timing though, because Jojo is finally getting good again!

I wanted badly to forget the month of bad episodes I had been subjected to. Like a war victim, I didn’t think I would forget this torture so quickly. But give me a death match via glorified Mario Kart and suddenly I’m the biggest Jojo fan in the world. My convenient amnesia allowed me to really get into this episode – just like old times. I knew right from the beginning this would be good, with the jump camera cuts to create a sense of unease as L’il D’Arby dispassionately monologued about his dead brother. I could feel it in my bones that L’il D’Arby was a monster, just from his body language and the disconcerting jump cuts to different “camera” angles. And boy, was he a monster.

Alright, alright…who peed in the pool this time?!

 There’s really no reason for L’il D’Arby (that’s what I’m calling him and I’m stickin to it) to bring his opponents to an island. He could have created an empty room for them to play in – but he goes for the flashy image of an island with a flamingo-pink sky. The whole combination of island + dolls + video games makes for a really zany, ridiculous and fun fight idea. That’s the heart of what I love Jojo for and this battle does all of those things perfectly. Again, there’s no real reason for L’il D’Arby to ramble on as he does about his doll collection of random people, but it adds so much atmosphere. It’s one thing to be told you’ll lose your soul – it’s another thing to actually see what happens to your soul if he beats you. It also shows us what a total nutjob L’il D’Arby is.

After all the conniving and trickery, the boys finally sit down to some F-MEGA. If I haven’t already implied this, I find it hilarious that two men with builds like a linebacker wearing all their padding having to settle their feud with a video game. These hands are clearly made for punching up other dudes and not for delicate motor controls involving the exact timing of pressing A. Hell, I’m not even sure how they hold the controllers without the backs of their shirts ripping clean off. Anyways, they manage to sit down and…use their Stands to play. I’m convinced it has nothing to do with their increased agility, but 100% to do with that fact this gives them one free hand to gesture dramatically with. A battle without posing isn’t a battle at all!

GOTTA GO FAST

As much as these guys look like the complete opposite of gamers, their showdown is pretty intense. Both are experts, so it all comes down to the tiniest of things to give them an advantage in the race. Kakyoin just got out of the hospital and now he’s fighting again, so I really hope he wins. Unfortunately, we see Jotaro playing L’il D’Arby next week so I’m not feeling too hopeful about those prospects. Dammit, will Kakyoin ever get his chance to shine? I was so impressed by his mad Mario Kart (sorry, F Mega) skills and now you’re telling me there’s like a 99% probability of him biting it? Considering the fact his Stand used to be able to possess people, I wonder when he became so weak.

But hey, I’m getting ahead of myself. Maybe he wins and then it’s a “best out of 3” sort of thing. Whatever the case, I can’t be too choosy when poorly rendered CG car racing is this riveting. Great episode, great villain, great Joseph behaving like a rambunctious teenager to throw off L’il D’Arby. I guess I’ll find out what happens to Kakyoin…NEXT next week. Ugh.

About Overcooled

A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.