Anime Hajime Impressions: Benkyou – JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Episodes 21 to 26

Season One: Phantom Blood / Battle Tendency
Original Run: October 6, 2012 - April 6, 2013
Number of Episodes: 26
Based on the Series Created By: Hirohiko Araki

As A Reminder:  Anime Hajime Impressions: Benkyou is not a review series. Anime Hajime’s LofZOdyssey attempts to watch an anime in Japanese with no English subtitles. Therefore, misinterpretations and misunderstandings are possible.

Feel free to leave comments, clarifications, and thoughts in the comments section below.

Episode 16 to 20 Recap

Knowing he has little chance of beating the Pillar Men as he is, Caesar brings JoJo to train under Lisa Lisa. A Hamon master, Lisa Lisa’s training is brutal but effective. In a short amount of time, JoJo gains the power to defeat one of the Pillar Men, Esidisi.

From Esidisi, JoJo, Caesar, and Lisa Lisa learn that the other two Pillar Men, Kars and Wamuu, are hiding in Switzerland. The group goes to hunt them down and runs into a company of German soldiers led by a cyberized Rudol von Stroheim.

JoJo is told that the Pillar Men leader, Kars, is looking for the Super Aja, a stone that will grant Kars unlimited power. Lisa Lisa is in possession of the stone, and it is the only way to truly defeat the Kars.

After a brief encounter with Kars, JoJo and Caesar disagree about what to do next. Angered, Caesar goes off to face the Pillar Men alone. Finding the Pillar Men’s headquarters, Caesar faces Wamuu. The two have a close contest, and Caesar manages to steal the antidote that will save JoJo from the poison in him. Unfoturnetly, Caesar had to pay the ultimate price.

By the time JoJo and Lisa Lisa arrive on the scene, Caesar had already met his demise.

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Episode 21

Japanese Title: 100対2のかけひき
Romaji Title: Hyaku tai Ni no Kakehiki
English Title: A Hundred Against Two

Episode Summary

JoJo and Lisa Lisa follow the Wamuu’s blood trail. On the way, the two run into a vampire guardian, Beck. JoJo gets ready to fight, but Lisa Lisa steps forward and quickly destroys their enemy.

In the headquarters inner chamber, JoJo and Lisa Lisa find the Wamuu, Kars, and about 100 undead soldiers waiting for them. Kars orders the two Hamon users to be killed, but Lisa Lisa warns that their death will trigger a bomb that can destroy the Super Aja.

Lisa Lisa then proposes two one-on-one battles: JoJo versus Wamuu and Lisa Lisa versus Kars. Not wanting to lose the Super Aja, Kars agrees, and a battleground is chosen.

JoJo heads back to retrieve the Super Aja (Lisa Lisa stays behind to serve as collateral). While searching, JoJo comes across a 50-year-old photo of Speedwagon, Erina, Straizo, and an infant.

Upon arriving at the battleground, Lisa Lisa reveals that she is the infant in the photo, she was saved by Erina during Dio’s fateful attack on the ship, and that it was Straizo who taught her how to use Hamon energy. Before he can process any of what he was just told, JoJo’s battle with Wamuu begins. The two are to face off with vampire-horse-drawn carriages.

Principle Characters

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Episode 22

Japanese Title: 真の格闘者
Romaji Title: Shin no Kakutōsha
English Title: A True Warrior

Episode Summary

JoJo and Wamuu begin the chariot race. At the end of each lap, there will be a weapon the combatants can acquire.

Although Wamuu is the clear favorite to win, JoJo surprises everyone by holding his own and severely damaging the Pillar Man.

The battle is intense, and both JoJo and Wamuu take serious hits. However, it is JoJo who begins to take the edge.

On his last leg, though, Wamuu manages to pin JoJo down. With his final bit of energy, Wamuu prepares his Final Mode, Gathering Gale.  

Principal Characters

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Episode 23

Japanese Title: The Warrior of Wind
Romaji Title: Kaze ni Kaeru Senshi
English Title: Youth with Dio

Episode Summary

Wamuu unleashes his final attack, but JoJo successfully uses the Pillar Man’s power against him. At last, beaten, Wamuu acknowledges JoJo as a true warrior who has honored the memory of his fallen comrade, Caeser.

JoJo finally takes the antidote, allowing for Lisa Lisa and Kars’ fight to begin.

Despite promising a one on one battle, Kars tricks Lisa Lisa into taking one of his minions. Fall for the trap, Lisa Lisa is badly wounded. Kars then sends his hoard of vampires to attack a weakened JoJo. Fortunately, he is rescued upon the sudden arrival of Stroheim’s company, Speedwagon, and Smokey Brown.

In the confusion, JoJo makes his way to Kars. However, Kars uses Lisa Lisa as a shield, leaving JoJo defenseless as he tries to protect his teacher.

Watching this happen, Smokey realizes who Lisa Lisa is. Remembering what Erina once told him, Smokey is shocked that JoJo doesn’t know the truth. Lisa Lisa is JoJo’s mother.

Principal Characters

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Episode 24

Japanese Title: JOJOを結ぶ絆
Romaji Title: JoJo o Musubu Kizuna
English Title: The Ties That Bind JoJo

Episode Summary

While trying to protect Lisa Lisa, JoJo is virtually defenseless against Kars. However, JoJo manages to use Kars’ arrogance as a distraction. At the right moment, JoJo unleashes his trap, successfully securing Lisa Lisa and severely wounding Kars.

Stroheim and his company use artificial sunlight to destroy the vampire horde. Watching the battles, Smokey Brown asks Speedwagon why Erina and not Lisa Lisa raised JoJo. Speedwagon tells that Lisa Lisa – once Elizabeth Joestar – had to go on the run after avenging JoJo’s father, George Joestar.

Enjoying the slaughter of the vampires, Stroheim prepares to fire the final blow to destroy Kars. As Stroheim releases a blast of artificial sunlight, Kars reveals his deception. He had put on one of the vampire masks with the Super Aja infused in it, giving the Pillar Man the power he sought.

Principal Characters

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Episode 25

Japanese Title: 超生物の誕生!!
Romaji Title: Chō Seibutsu no Tanjō!!
English Title: The Birth of a Superbeing!!

Episode Summary

Kars has now turned into the ultimate life form. He can create vampires at will, and the Sun no longer has any effect on him.

JoJo grabs the Super Aja and leads Kars away from the others. JoJo flies off in one of the German planes and lures Kars to an active volcano.

Kars launches endless attacks on JoJo’s plane. JoJo tricks Kars into going after a dummy, and the opportunity it creates allows JoJo to ram the Pillar Man with the falling airplane.

As Kars tries to escape, he is foiled by Stroheim, who shows up at the last minute. JoJo makes it out of the plane before it lands into the volcano’s lava.

JoJo and Stroheim watch as Kars burns up in the magma.

Principal Characters

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Episode 26

Japanese Title: 神となった男
Romaji Title: Kami to Natta Otoko
English Title: The Ascendant One

Episode Summary

Rather than burning up in the magma, Kars becomes even more powerful. He lops off JoJo’s arm and laughs at the latter’s pain.

Right as Kars goes in for the kill, JoJo uses the Super Aja to deflect the blow. The resulting blast causes the volcano to erupt. JoJo and Kars are blasted into the air. In the explosion, JoJo’s severed arm grabs Kars, distracting the Pillar Man enough for him to fly into space. There, the extreme cold freezes the ultimate lifeform.

Everyone presumes JoJo to have died as well. While at JoJo’s funeral, JoJo reveals that he is not dead. In fact, he is surprised to learn that no one knew he was alive. It turns out JoJo’s now-fiancée, Suzy Q, simply forgot to tell everyone.

Our story ends as the characters live out the rest of their lives.

The year then jumps to 1987 at New York’s JFK airport. An aged Joseph Joestar is on his way to Tokyo to meet his daughter and grandson, Jotaro Kujo.

At the end of the credits, in 1983, an old chest is pulled from the sea near the Canary Islands. On it is inscribed the name, Dio.

Principal Characters

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Thoughts and Impressions

Well, this was a lot of fun to watch. However, I’m not going to lie; the Japanese was extremely difficult to catch. Fortunately, the action was easy enough to follow, so I never got too lost.

As for the rest of the JoJo series, I will be continuing it someday, but I need a break for now.

I’ll save my full thoughts on the Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency storyline in my Anime Hajime Impressions post. So, please follow to ensure you don’t miss that.

I’ll end this Benkyou session by saying this, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has developed a cult following. After sitting through this season, even though I didn’t understand everything, I can see why.

Thanks for following along with me. If you’ve seen this series and feel I am wrong in my descriptions, please let me know in the comments below. I wouldn’t want to put this show in an inaccurate light.

If you’ve liked what you have read, be sure to follow Anime Hajime on our social media sights so that you never miss a post or update. Also, please share this post across the internet to help add to the discussion.

For Anime Hajime, I’m LofZOdyssey, and I’ll see you next week for Anime Hajime Impressions: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Season 1.

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