Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders S2 17-18

Hit the ball! Do a sports! Win the thing!

I’m actually pretty pleased that my trip was timed so that I’d miss 2 episodes that are part of the same arc in Jojo. This is a series that really does most of the talking for itself, so I don’t need to be here commenting on every little thing. But it’s fun so that’s why I’m still here!

This D’Arby fight has been a ball. I don’t know what I liked more – Joseph becoming a full-on narrator while annoying L’il D’Arby or the YES! YES! YES! portrayal of looking at Jotaro’s soul. Looking at the depths of someone’s soul should always produce a resounding response in a language the person doesn’t even speak. All in all, it was an exciting game in a totally different way from Kakyoin’s, even though both were based on the exact same premise (that being video games).

Aren’t you a little old to be playing with dolls?

Kakyoin puts up a good fight, but he’s lost from the beginning since his opponent already knows his entire strategy. It’s ironic that the only way to win against the honest L’il D’Arby was to cheat. What set him apart from his brother ended up being his downfall in the end. It felt really good to see all his bragging backfire on him so drastically. If he had stopped relying on his Stand and just played the game – he could have won against a beginner like Jotaro (and Joseph). To be fair, I would be pretty confused if my magical ability to READ SOULS konked out on me. That’s a really reliable power to have in almost every single situation except for this one. And that’s all it takes to lose.

The tables turn on L’il D’Arby so fast that I started to get antsy about what Jotaro’s trick was too. I also got tricked into thinking his hat was the source of how he was cheating, because it was the only hint I could catch. That makes it all the more impressive that Joseph managed to read Joseph’s mind and figure out a way to help his grandson win the game. Considering how much Joseph didn’t seem to like Jotaro at the start, it’s cute to see them bonding…even if it is bonding over punching a dude into oblivion. At least playing video games together is a normal passtime! (Joseph sure seemed scandalized that Jotaro hadn’t played a video game before).

JOTARO YOU GODDAMNED CASUAL! DO YOU EVEN DARK SOULS?!

After some well-time ora ora ora-ing, we move on the next arc. I’m glad they didn’t stretch things out just so we could maintain the arbitrary “one villain per episode” rule. In fact, Billie Jean makes an appearance at the same moment he dies so that’s another villain down and out! Yay! This all means we’re getting insanely close to seeing Dio in action. I think Vanilla Ice is the last boss before Dio, and it really shows in how horrifying he is. Not only does he look like a herculean beast, he’s willing to rip off his own head just to please his master’s casual whim. He could have totally just kidnapped a random kid and that would have been fine. Any option other than decapitation is usually a good one! That just shows us how serious (and seriously scary) Vanilla Ice is. He will use extreme measures to get what he wants – and what Dio wants.

Vanilla Ice is already scary, but his Stand is even worse. Most of the Stands so far look comical with their bright colours and weird, alien-like body structures. Vanilla Ice’s Stand is genuine nightmare fuel. I just really don’t like the idea of a thing eating itself completely. Just looking into that void of a mouth is creepy. Vanilla Ice and his Stand have hardly had any screentime but they’ve already made such a huge impact on me. I’m really looking forward to see how this fight turns out as Polnareff steals the spotlight from Jotaro once again.

Oh, and looks like Avdol died. Again. Wonder how long it will last this time?

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.