Anime Hajime Impressions: Benkyou – JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders Season 1 – Episodes 16 to 20

Original Run: April 5, 2014 - June 20, 2015
Number of Episodes: 48
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.

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Team Joestar suffered a horrible loss while in India. Their comrade, Muhammad Avdol, was killed by one of Dio’s assassins, J. Geil. Already reeling from the death of his friend, Polnareff now faces the man who murdered his sister.

Through the combined efforts of Polnareff and Kakyoin, they defeat J. Geil.

The group continues its journey through to Pakistan. There, they come across fog-covered down, whose citizens appear to the walking dead. In the village, they run into Enya the Hag, Dio’s advisor and mother of J. Geil. Looking to avenge her son, Enya attacks with her Stand, Justice.

However, JoJo’s Star Platinum overcomes Enya, and the team successfully captures her.

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Japanese Title: 恋人 その１
Romaji Title: Rabāzu Sono 1
English Title: The Lovers, Part 1

Episode Summary

The team, with Enya as their hostage, stops at a kebab stand in Karachi, Pakistan. The shop owner, Steely Dan, reveals himself to be one of Dio’s assassins and kills Enya to prevent her from talking.

Steely Dan then latches his Stand, the Lovers, into Joseph’s brain. As a result of this, any damage Steely Dan takes, Joesph receives in double. And most worryingly, the Lovers will eventually kill Joseph if not removed in time.

With his grandfather’s life at risk, JoJo is forced to do Steely Dan’s biding all around town. Meanwhile, Kakyoin and Polnareff shrink their Stands to enter Joseph’s body. They hope they can locate the Lovers before it is too late.

Principle Characters

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Japanese Title: 恋人 その2
Romaji Title: Rabāzu Sono 2
English Title: The Lovers, Part 2

Episode Summary

Steely Dan continues to taunt JoJo. At the same time, a fight is going on in Joseph’s body. Kakyoin and Polnareff locate the Lovers and try attacking it. However, they quickly learn that the Stand can duplicate itself, thus finding the real thing much harder.

Kakyoin uses his Hierophant Green finally discovers the real Lovers and ejects it out of Joseph’s body.

Knowing his Stand has been defeated, Steely Dan tries to hold JoJo’s attention to allow the Lovers to enter his body now. Unfortunately for Steely Dan, the Lovers is immediately caught by JoJo’s Star Platinum.

Finally free from Steely Dan’s hold, JoJo takes his time exacting his revenge on the assassin.

Principal Characters

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Japanese Title: 太陽
Romaji Title: San
English Title: The Sun

Episode Summary

Team Joestar makes it to the Arabian Desert. Given the rough terrain, they elected to ride camels through the sands.

As expected, the desert is scorching. The problem is, the heat only seems to be rising. Soon, the group realizes, to their horror, that the Sun is bright as noon despite being 8 o’clock at night. Without knowing it, they had walked into a trap set by the Sun Stand.

The heat becomes unbearable, and the team finds a small hole to give them some shade. But, unfortunately, the Stand ruins their water supply, and it is only a matter of time before JoJo and his companions succumb.

Kakyoin then notices something odd about their surroundings. There is a boulder across the way from its mirror image. JoJo throws a rock at the fake boulder, an unseen glass shatters. This releases the Sun’s hold, and the cool night air is restored.

From the spot where the glass broke, the team finds the Sun’s Stand User unconscious, having been struck by the thrown rock.

Principal Characters

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Japanese Title: 死神13　その１
Romaji Title: Desu Sātīn Sono 1
English Title: Death 13, Part 1

Episode Summary

The episode begins with Kakyoin waking up in a dream world. Although the place looks like a fun amusement park, there is something ominous about it. With him in the dream is a dog Kakyoin has never seen before. Then, without warning, the dog is brutally killed by a Stand calling itself Death 13.

As Death 13 descends on Kakyoin, he is awoken in the real world by Polnareff. Like most dreams, Kakyoin has trouble remembering what happened. However, when he steps outside, he sees a dead dog that looks eerily similar to the one in the dream.

Not sure what to make of it, Kakyoin joins the rest of the team as Joseph secures them a small plane. But before they can take off, the group reluctantly agrees to take a baby named Mannish Boy to a hospital across the desert.

Once in the air, both Kakyoin and Polnareff nod off for a quick nap. Almost instantly, the two wake up in the same amusement park. And like last time, Death 13 attacks. To Kakyoin and Polnareff’s shock, neither of them can use their Stands, thus rendering them helpless.

Back in the plane, Joseph unknowingly wakes Polnareff up just before Death 13 can kill him. This leaves Kakyoin all alone in the dream.

Death 13’s attack causes Kakyoin’s real-world body to thrash about so violently he brings the plane down in a crash.

Kakyoin wakes because of the incident, but he can’t recall the nightmare he was having. He then notices a message his dream self carved into his arm – BABY STAND.

Principal Characters

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Japanese Title: 死神13 その2
Romaji Title: Desu Sātīn Sono 2
English Title: Death 13, Part 2

Episode Summary

With the warning he gave himself, Kakyoin is wary of Mannish Boy, believing him to be a Stand User. His suspicions are validated when Kakyoin sees the baby expertly kill a scorpion that had crawled in his basket.

To Kakyoin’s dismay, though, no one else saw this, and he has trouble convincing them. Frustrated, Kakyoin unleashes his Hierophant Green at Mannish Boy, but Polnareff knocks his friend out before the attack can land.

Worried about Kakyoin’s mental state, the rest of the team falls asleep, and Mannish Boy finally gets the chance he was waiting for.

JoJo, Joseph, and Polnareff awake in the dream world, and Polnareff suddenly remembers the last time he was there. Realizing Kakyoin had been telling the truth, the team can’t use their Stands when Death 13 arrives.

Just as Death 13 is about to kill the group, Kakyoin appears, fully capable of wielding Hierophant Green. In a stroke of luck, Polnareff had knocked Kakyoin out while his Stand was active. Therefore, he could use it in the dream world.

Having been taken by surprise, Death 13 is easily defeated.

Everyone wakes up the following day with no recollection of what had happened, except for Kakyoin, whose active Stand allowed him to keep his memories. The group delivers Mannish Boy to the hospital as promised and charter a boat across the Red Sea.

With Egypt in their sights, Joseph tells the group they need to make a quick detour to meet someone important.

Principal Characters

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Thoughts and Impressions

So, this was the Kakyoin batch, wasn’t it?

Thinking back to last season, it is amazing the complete turnaround. Before, when Joseph was the titular JoJo, every fight came down to our main hero. Here in Stardust Crusaders, though, everyone has the chance to shine.

And so we are clear, I think that is a massive positive.

Now with Egypt and the confrontation with Dio in our sights, I cannot wait to see what comes next.

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.

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For Anime Hajime, I’m LofZOdyssey, and I’ll see you next week for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders Season 1 Episodes 21 to 24.

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