Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders S2 Episode 22: Dio’s World, Part II

“I probably won’t ever have someone who sees me for who I am. Because I don’t have a single friend who can see my Hierophant Green. It’s impossible for those who can’t see him to understand me.”

This journey to defeat Dio…even though it was only for a few weeks, they became friends I could truly connect with.

Did I call it? Did I not fucking call it? You can’t just show a character making an important speech about friends, fade him to white, and not expect him to die. I knew it was coming but it still hurt me. I kind of wished we got a little of his backstory earlier in the series, but still, I really liked Kakyoin. He always felt different from the other children because he always had Hierophant Green, but he was the only one that could see him. No one else would, and he felt that no one would ever truly understand him and so he separated himself away from everyone. And I’m actually really happy they touched on that. Because aside from the others, it sounds like Kakyoin and Polnareff had their Stands at young ages. Polnareff we found out through Alessi. But just being a child with a strange “spirit” that no one else can see. Yeah, that must be very hard for a child, and making friends would be difficult. We’ve seen stories like this in anime, whether it’s the ability to see ghosts or spirits, or just having a strange power. Having that ability can be alienating to children. And of course that is something that is difficult to talk about, so Kakyoin shut himself away from everyone else. But in the end, he was able to find other people just like him, and finally made very good and loyal friends. And to thank those friends, he used his last strength and destroyed the large clock as a dying message to Joseph, as he had figured out The World’s secret.

It can stop time. And only temporarily. According to Dio, it can last for only 5 seconds. When his body was weaker, it could only stop time for as long as a blink of the eye. Now that his body has been accepting him, it’s getting better. Thankfully, Jospeh was able to figure this out and Kakyoin’s dying message did not go to waste.

So now it’s Joseph having a hard time. He’s using Hermit Purple to swing around the city of Cairo like Spiderman, and Dio is flying right behind him in Super Saiyan mode. To protect himself, he wrapped some of Hermit Purple around him and used his Hamon to protect him, kind of like an electrical barbed wire wrapped around his body. So Dio can’t touch him. It’s actually very smart, but he still can’t take Dio lightly. Unfortunately, Joseph’s Stand is the weakest Stand out of the group. (Or should I say trio? They’re not much of a group anymore. *sniff*) Compared to Star Platinum and Silver Chariot, Joseph is as good as dead. Hermit Purple is not very strong, it’s not very defensive either. It doesn’t shoot projectiles. It’s just…a thorny vine, that can send some shocks and has pretty good range. Also, that Spirit Photo thing he can do is pretty ridiculous too, and can only be handy in some cases. He still has his Hamon though. Dio kicks Joseph off a roof and lands below and Dio uses his ability again. Jotaro meets up with Joseph, but Joseph yells at him to leave because he doesn’t want to get him ensnared in The World’s ability. Just then, Dio stops time, throws a knife at Joseph’s neck, and he passes out. I say passes out because unless the show says he’s dead to your face, then he’s not dead yet. Also COUGHSPOILERSCOUGH.

I love Jotaro, but man he really amazes me. It’s kinda scary how he doesn’t lose his cool. I know that’s what he’s known for, but seeing his Grandpa getting stabbed in the neck with a knife, bleeding, and looking like he’s dead, hearing the news of Kakyoin’s death, while also shouldering the fact that Avdol and Iggy are also dead, and all he can talk about are his 200,000 YEN PANTS?! Almost $2,000 for pants?! Like yeah I know his father is a jazz musician and his family is rich as hell (look at his house!), but honestly. Anyway, you can tell he’s pissed. He’s beyond pissed. He’s finally face to face with the man killing his mother, who’s killed his friends, and placed a curse on his family. Even knowing that The World is faster and stronger than Star Platinum, it doesn’t faze him. And the showdown that we have all been waiting for will finally happen next week! We only have two episodes left so these are probably going to be the most intense episodes we’ve seen. Let’s hope it ends well.