Anime Hajime Impressions: Benkyou – JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders Season 2 – 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 Odyssey 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.

---

After grand acts of strength, trickery, and sheer dumb luck, Jotaro “JoJo” Kujo, Joseph Joestar, Muhammad Avdol, Noriaki Kakyoin, Jean Pierre Polnareff, and Iggy have made it to their final destination and ultimate confrontation – Dio’s headquarters.

Bruised and battered, the members of Team Joestar resolve themselves to go into the belly of the beast. With all the pain, suffering, and death they have witnessed, nothing will stop them now. 

---

Japanese Title: ダービー・ザ・プレイヤー　その１
Romaji Title: Dābī za Pureiyā Sono 1
English Title: D'Arby the Player, Part 1

Episode Summary

Upon opening the door to Dio’s headquarters, Team Joestar encounters Terence T. D’Arby, the younger brother of Daniel J. D’Arby, and his Stand Atum.

Remembering his run-in with the older brother, JoJo wastes no time in attacking. However, D’Arby’s Stand grabs JoJo, Joseph, and Kakyoin and drags them into an illusionary world. There they see D’Arby also collects the souls of those who lost to him in competition.

Hoping to add to his collection, D’Arby challenges the three to a variety of video games. Up first is Kakyoin with a racing game.

Both Kakyoin and D’Arby use their Stands to pull off complicated moves. Then, the players come up to a narrow tunnel, and D’Arby takes a slight lead.

Principal Characters

---

Japanese Title: ダービー・ザ・プレイヤー　その2
Romaji Title: Dābī za Pureiyā Sono 2
English Title: D'Arby the Player, Part 2

Episode Summary

A mixture of Kakyoin’s skill and Stand gets him through the tunnel and in a position to win the race. With the finish line in sight, Kakyoin tries to secure victory. He pushes D’Arby’s car off the edge of the track, but he couldn’t have picked a worse spot to do this.

D’Arby uses his momentum to jump ahead and win the race. Consequently, Kakyoin loses his soul.

Enraged, JoJo jumps in to face D’Arby and chooses a baseball game. There is just one problem, JoJo has never played a video game in his life.

At first, JoJo struggles to get a single hit. Luckily, he figures out the controls by his third swing and racks up several easy runs before D’Arby forces a field change.

With JoJo now pitching, D’Arby doesn’t seem capable of giving up a toss. It is like he can read JoJo’s mind. Sure enough, D’Arby’s Stand can see into someone’s soul and determine what they are honestly thinking. Realizing this might be the case, JoJo decides to change tactics.

JoJo calls his next pitch.

Principal Characters

---

Japanese Title: 亜空の瘴気　ヴァニラ・アイス　その１
Romaji Title: Akū no Shōki Vanira Aisu Sono 1
English Title: The Miasma of the Void, Vanilla Ice, Part 1

Episode Summary

JoJo declares he will toss out a straight. D’Arby uses his Stand to confirm this, and JoJo’s soul is not lying. However, when the pitch comes, it changes course mid-flight.

D’Arby can’t understand what happened, and JoJo continues to throw balls that go against what his soul is truthfully saying. Eventually, D’Arby strikes out, and the players change sides. But by this point, D’Arby is so confused he cannot focus on the match. As JoJo continues to score runs, D’Arby becomes more and more despondent.

Although he would never say it out loud, D’Arby mentally concedes the game. This is enough to break his Stand’s hold on Kakyoin’s soul. While at his lowest, D’Arby finally sees the trick JoJo employed.

It was Joseph, using his Hermit Purple, who had been playing the game, NOT JoJo.

Having secured Kakyoin’s safety, JoJo unleashes Star Platinum’s full power on a cowering D’Arby. The trio then escapes the illusionary world and goes to meet up with Avdol, Polnareff, and Iggy.

At the same time, Avdol, Polnareff, and Iggy have been wondering what they should do. With the other three having been gone for too long, they decide to head into the mansion to look for them.

Meanwhile, in Dio’s inner sanctum, the assassin Vanilla Ice meets with his master. Dio demands Vanilla Ice sacrifice himself so that the vampire can secure a better hold on Jonathan Joestar’s body. Vanilla Ice doesn’t hesitate, and he uses his Stand to cut off his own head. Satisfied, Dio revives his servant and commands him to destroy Team Joestar.

Elsewhere in the mansion, Avdol, Polnareff, and Iggy explore cautiously. With every step they take, they risk triggering a trap. As Polnareff and Iggy pull ahead, Avdol comes across a cryptic message. The meaning of its words slowly dawns on Avdol, and he looks up in horror; Polnareff and Iggy are about to walk into their doom.

Avdol rushes forward and shoves Polnareff and Iggy to the side just as Vanilla Ice springs his ambush. Although Avdol saves his friends, it comes at the ultimate cost.

Polnareff and Iggy have trouble making sense of what just happened. As reality sets in, Polnareff doesn’t want to accept the awful truth. This time, Muhammad Avdol is gone.

Principal Characters

---

Japanese Title: 亜空の瘴気　ヴァニラ・アイス　その2
Romaji Title: Akū no Shōki Vanira Aisu Sono 2
English Title: The Miasma of the Void, Vanilla Ice, Part 2

Episode Summary

A grief-stricken Polnareff unleashes a flurry of attacks on Vanilla Ice. However, the assassin can turn invisible, so it is hard to pin him down.

Polnareff and Iggy try to escape, but Vanilla Ice and his Stand, Cream (which, incidentally, Vanilla Ice Cream is stupid, even for this show), destroy everything in their path. Cream’s power creates a void that disintegrates all in its wake; as such, the Stand soon covers the mansion in holes and groove marks.

Eventually, Vanilla Ice catches Polnareff by surprise and cuts off the Frenchman’s toes. With their movement severely limited, Polnareff and Iggy have few options.

Vanilla Ice arrives at where he knows his two targets should be. Then, Dio himself comes to inquire about the situation. Vanilla Ice starts explaining but then sees through the ruse. Iggy had used The Fool to create a puppet Dio in the hopes of getting the jump on Vanilla Ice.

Infuriated that a mere dog would dare impersonate his master, Vanilla Ice savagely beats Iggy with his bare hands.

As Iggy lies on the ground helpless, Polnareff struggles to get to his feet. Knowing he has to deal with the Frenchman, Vanilla Ice turns invisible again. This time, though, Polnareff uses the sand left by The Fool to locate his opponent.

The two Stand Users chip away at each other, but Polnareff’s earlier injuries become too much.

Subdued, Polnareff watches as Vanilla Ice’s Stand’s void begins consuming the rest of the room. Knowing there isn’t anything he can do, Polnareff sits and awaits his fate.

Principal Characters

---

Japanese Title: 亜空の瘴気　ヴァニラ・アイス　その3
Romaji Title: Akū no Shōki Vanira Aisu Sono 3
English Title: The Miasma of the Void, Vanilla Ice, Part 3

Episode Summary

Thanks to Polnareff, Vanilla Ice is severely injured. However, he doesn’t mind since he managed to kill the Frenchman. When the assassin turns to finish Iggy, the dog is not there.

Vanilla Ice franticly looks around and finds that Iggy had used The Fool to not only get out of the way but also rescue Polnareff.

Polnareff thanks Iggy for the assist, but he sees what it had cost the little dog. With the last of his strength, Iggy took the brunt of Cream’s hit. After giving too much, Iggy dies in Polnareff’s arms.

Having lost two of his dear friends, Polnareff unleashes a devastating attack on Vanilla Ice. Due to its ferocity, Vanilla Ice cannot dodge, and Polnareff snaps the fiend’s neck. However, since Dio had revived his servent, Vanilla Ice had become a vampire.

The problem is, Vanilla Ice had not been aware of this fact. Therefore, Polnareff suspects his opponent doesn’t know the limitations such a body has. When Vanilla Ice goes in for the kill, Polnareff cuts down the room’s curtains, and sunlight floods in. As a result, Vanilla Ice’s body turns to dust.

Before he moves on, Polnareff looks out the window and, with a heavy heart, says goodbye to Avdol and Iggy.

Meanwhile, back in Japan, Suzy Q has just arrived. Although she goes about her business as if she isn’t aware of her daughter Holly’s condition, nothing could be further from the truth. In her mind, the only thing Suzy Q can do is have faith in her husband and grandson.

Elsewhere in the mansion, Dio’s final and most incompetent assassin, Loser (no, seriously), lies in wait for JoJo, Joseph, and Kakyoin. Unfortunately for the underling, the trio instantly sees through Loser’s deception and forces him to tell them where they need to go.

Now alone, Polnareff is bandaging up his injuries when he hears a voice behind him. He turns around and standing there is the person responsible for everything that has happened – Dio.

Principal Characters

---

Thoughts and Impressions

At the start of season two, I didn’t think I would like Iggy. Although the dog wasn’t my favorite character, his death was still incredibly sad. And that combined with Avdol’s demise, which seemed like a cheap blow since he had already come back from the dead, this was a rough batch of episodes.

Regardless, we are now looking at the end of Stardust Crusaders. It is beginning to dawn on me; even though the last series had no problem doing this, we might lose several more members of Team Joestar.

Anyway, if the rest of the show has been any indication, these upcoming final episodes will be one hell of a ride.

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 sites so that you never miss a post or update. Also, please share this post across the internet to help add to the discussion.

Additionally, if you wish to add your voice to Anime Hajime, why not consider writing for us? If you would like to contribute, check out our Write For Anime Hajime page. We welcome your style.

For Anime Hajime, I’m Odyssey, and I’ll see you next week for the conclusion of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Stardust Crusaders Season 2 with episodes 21 to 24.

---

---