veemonjosh
Stone free, do what I please
Opening theme: “Great Days” by Karen Aoki and Daisuke Hasegawa
Ending theme: “I Want You” by Savage Garden
Characters
Josuke Higashikata
Voiced by: Billy Kametz
Stand: Shining Diamond (JP: Crazy Diamond)
Ability: Strength, Speed, Precision, and Restoration
Stats: Destructive Power - A / Speed - A / Range - D / Durability - B / Precision - B / Developmental Potential - C
Namesake: “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” (Pink Floyd song)
Josuke is a high school student in the small Japanese town of Morioh, a kind teenager towards those he cares about and a badass toward those who get him angry (especially when insulting his hair). The son of Joseph Joestar from an affair, Josuke was tracked down by Jotaro to inform him of being included in Joseph’s will, but is now caught up in the family business of dealing with bizarre threats. More recently, he is now on the hunt for a serial killer lurking in Morioh who murdered his friend Shigechi. Josuke’s Stand, Crazy Diamond, fits his personality to a T, being a destructive force similar to Star Platinum, but also capable of compassion by healing as well. However, it cannot heal Josuke, cannot revive the dead or heal illness. Also, if Josuke tries to “fix” something while upset, it may come out looking a bit weird.
Koichi Hirose
Voiced by: Zach Aguilar
Stand: Reverb (JP: Echoes)
Ability: Sound Generation, Sound Effect, and 3 Freeze
Stats: Destructive Power - E (ACT 1) C (ACT 2) B (ACT 3)/ Speed - E (ACT 1) D (ACT 2) B (ACT 3)/ Range - B (ACTs 1 & 2) C (ACT 3)/ Durability - B / Precision - C / Developmental Potential - A
Namesake: The Hirose River (a river in Sendai, Hirohiko Araki’s hometown and the real life basis for Morioh) / “Echoes” (song by Pink Floyd)
A classmate of Josuke, Koichi is friendly and courageous, polite towards others, and possesses a gentle heart. This allows him to see the good side of people, even his girlfriend Yukako, who thought kidnapping and holding him hostage was a romantic gesture. Unique among Stands, his Stand, Reverb, can alternate between three different “Acts”, each progressively more powerful than the last. ACT 1 can generate physical words that can be used to create sounds (examples include creating a simulated dial sound to use a payphone or influencing someone to believe Koichi). ACT 2 takes this one step further by creating physical sound effects that create an effect similar to the sound produced when touched (such as the word “hot” creating a hot surface). The strongest, ACT 3, his the ability “3 Freeze”, which greatly increases the weight of whatever it punches.
Okuyasu Nijimura
Voiced by: Jalen K. Cassell
Stand: The Hand
Ability: Elimination
Stats: Destructive Power - B / Speed - B / Range - D / Durability - C / Precision - C / Developmental Potential - C
Namesake: The Band (band)
Okuyasu Nijimura met Josuke under rocky circumstances involving his brother Keicho, but they’ve become fast friends. He’s not too smart, but has a strong heart. His Stand, The Hand, is an extremely dangerous one capable of erasing space with its hand and closing the gap between, with its user having no knowledge where the erased material goes. While this Stand seems overpowered, it’s balanced out by the fact that Okuyasu is an idiot.
Rohan Kishibe
Voiced by: Vic Mignogna
Stand: Heaven’s Door
Abilities: Book Transmutation, Memory Removal, Written-In Commands
Stats: Destructive Power - D / Speed - B / Range - B / Durability - B / Precision - C / Developmental Potential - A
Namesakes: “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” (Bob Dylan song)
Rohan Kishibe is a manga artist, passionate and dedicated to his craft, with his wish being to have as many people as possible experience his work. As a teenager, he became the author of the popular Shonen Jump series, “Pink Dark Boy”, which Koichi is a fan of. For those who do manage to meet the man himself, they’ll find he is generally unpleasant to be around, being rather arrogant and impolite towards others. He actively seeks new experiences and information, in an effort to gain inspiration for his manga. His Stand, “Heaven’s Door”, helps him do this by turning a person into a living book of sorts, with their skin peeling away like pages to reveal written information detailing their life, including their darkest secrets. Rohan can also write information on the inside to make someone do what he wants, or to erase their memory of an event.
Jotaro Kujo
Voiced by: Matthew Mercer
Stand: Star Platinum The World
Abilities: Strength, Speed, Precision, and Time Stop
Stats: Destructive Power - A / Speed - A / Range - C / Durability - A / Precision - A / Developmental Potential - A
Namesakes: The Star and The World (tarot cards)
The previous JoJo, Jotaro Kujo was a high school student when his grandfather Joseph took him on a global trek from Japan to Egypt in order to take down the vampire DIO, who had been a plague on his family’s bloodline for over a century. On the journey, he came to learn and master his Stand, Star Platinum, eventually gaining the same time-stopping abilities as DIO’s own Stand, The World, which he used to put an end to the demon once and for all. Now, a decade later, Jotaro is a marine biologist, and was helping his grandfather put together his will, when the discovery of his illegitimate son Josuke brought Jotaro to the small town of Morioh. Currently, he is helping to deal with an elusive killer with an extremely dangerous Stand. Jotaro’s Stand, Star Platinum, has amazing strength, speed, and precision, which on its own makes it one of the most powerful Stands around. On top of this, with its added ability The World, which Jotaro learned during his fight with DIO, he can stop time for a second.
Hayato Kawajiri
Voiced by: Laura Stahl
The son of Kosaku Kawajiri, the man who Kira killed and stole the identity of. He’s a quiet boy who has a strained relationship with his parents. Upon discovering the Stray Cat plant and overhearing Kira muttering to himself, Hayato has realized the man now living with his father’s face isn’t really his father, and is setting out to prove it.
Terunosuke Miyamoto
Voiced by: Alan Lee
Terunosuke Miyamoto was a man obsessed with fear who gained his Stand thanks to Yoshihiro. His Stand, Misterioso, could transform anything into a piece of paper, usually by exposing a person’s personal tic of showing fear, keeping a person or object in a state of stasis until being transformed back to normal. He was outsmarted by Yuya Fugami, and thanks to a pummeling by Josuke, Terunosuke was fused to the papers he utilized, which turned him into a book. He now resides in the Morioh Library as a landmark.
Cheap Trap (JP: Cheap Trick)
User: Masazo Kinoto (Former) / Rohan Kishibe (Current)
Voiced by: Stefan Martello
Ability: Paper Seal
Stats: Destructive Power - E / Speed - E / Range - E / Durability - A / Precision - E / Developmental Potential - E
A parasitic Stand, Cheap Trap attaches itself to the back of anyone who sees it, killing the previous host in the process, and becomes obsessed with getting its new host killed by having them, in turn, expose their back to another person. While attached to a host, it also whispers in their ear taunts and suggestions, in an attempt to drive them toward insanity. Its initial user was an architect named Masazo Kinoto, who was hired by Rohan to assess the damage done by the recent fire in his house. Masazo attempted to hide his back from Rohan, but Rohan’s curiosity got the best of him and he forced the architect to expose his back, which killed Masazo and transferred Cheap Trap to Rohan’s back.
Yoshikage Kira
Voiced by: D.C. Douglas
Stand: Deadly Queen (JP: Killer Queen)
Ability: Bomb Transmutation
Stats: Destructive Power - A / Speed - B / Range - D / Durability - B / Precision - B / Developmental Potential - A
Namesakes: “Killer Queen” (song by Queen) / “Sheer Heart Attack” (song/album by Queen)
Yoshikage Kira was an office worker who lead the most ordinary life possible, something he intentionally strived for in order to maintain a quiet peaceful lifestyle. This facade he had created masked his true nature, a serial killer with a sexual fixation on women’s hands, and he will go to any lengths to hide it and eliminate those who discover it. He maintained this cover for decades, until a run-in with (and subsequent murdering of) Shigechi brought him to the attention of Morioh’s Stand community. After they uncovered his name, he managed to change his appearance and successfully took on the identity of another man, Kosaku Kawajiri, as well as his family. His Stand, Deadly Queen, has the power to turn any surface into a bomb which detonates when someone touches it, vaporizing the victim to the atomic level with an explosion completely silent to those around them.
Yoshihiro Kira
Voiced by: Steve Kramer
Stand: Heart Father (JP: Atom Heart Father)
Ability: Supernatural Photography
Stats: Destructive Power - E / Speed - E / Range - Null / Durability - A / Precision - E / Developmental Potential - E
Namesake: “Atom Heart Mother” (song/album by Pink Floyd)
Yoshihiro is the father of Yoshikage, an elderly man who passed away several years ago. However, his spirit never departed, with his love for his son and concern that Yoshikage’s murderous tendencies would eventually catching up to him keeping him bound to the land of the living. To this end, he possesses one of the Stand-granting Arrows, which gave both him and his son abilities. Yoshihiro’s Stand, Heart Father, takes the form of a polaroid camera; Yoshihiro exists in whatever the latest image taken by the photo is, sealing off the area within the photo and allowing him to manipulate objects shown in the photo. If anyone attempts to destroy one of these images, it will kill anyone shown within the photo. However, Jotaro managed to trap Yoshihiro within a photo of himself, essentially negating his Stand. But Yoshihiro still managed to escape with the Arrow, determined to make a slew of new Stand users to distract Josuke and his friends from tracking down Yoshikage.
Tama
Stand: Stray Cat
Abilities: Reincarnation, Plant/Cat Constitution, Aerokinesis
Stats: Destructive Power - B / Speed - E / Range - Null (within line of sight) / Durability - A / Precision - E / Developmental Potential - C
Namesake: Stray Cats (rockabilly band)
Tama was originally a blue British Shorthair cat who lived his life as a stray. One day, he was stabbed in the neck by the Arrow, and shortly after found his way to the basement of the Kawajiri residence. However, after a run-in with Shinobu, he was accidentally killed and buried in the backyard. The next day, strangely, a flower sprouted on his grave, which turned out to be Tama reincarnated as a Stand, Stray Cat. Now being a Stand (though visible to non-Stand users), his ability is the power to create pressurized air bubbles that are fast and deadly, but completely invisible. He initially reacted with murderous intent towards Shinobu, recognizing her as the person who killed him, and attacked Kira when he attempted to protect her. But he eventually took a liking to Kira, who put him in the attic and brings him cat food.
Episode 34 (108)
“July 15th (Thurs), Part 4”
Chapters adapted: 410-411. 415-418
Previously on JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure:
Having found a folded-up piece of paper dropped by the enemy Stand user Terunosuke Miyamoto, Josuke opened it and was promptly greeted by Terunosuke and his gun. Josuke was able to protect himself with Shining Diamond, but still didn't bite his lower lip, the fearful tic needed for Misterioso to imprison him. Terunosuke took the time to show how Misterioso could seal anything in a slip of paper as a storage method, but because Misterioso was a weak Stand, it couldn't damage or kill anything/anyone unless the paper trapping it/them is torn. He then threw a slip of paper with Koichi's name on it in the path of an oncoming car, which Josuke attempted to catch. In the process, Josuke finally bit his lip and was captured by Misterioso. Before being imprisoned, however, Josuke angrily stated that he knew the paper really didn't have Koichi in it, because it would devalue the latter's status as a hostage. Josuke then vowed to kill Terunosuke before Misterioso finished sealing him up. Victorious, Terunosuke pointed out Yuya's tic of placing his hand on his chin when afraid, before releasing a taxi to drive off to the Morioh Grand Hotel and capture Jotaro.
Yuya pursued Terunosuke with Highway Go Go, grabbing onto the taxi until it suddenly stopped. Yuya was able to sniff out and avoid several traps placed by Enigma's paper, but was unable to stop Josuke and Koichi from being pulled into an indestructible paper shredder. Hopeless, Yuya touched his chin in fear, and was taken prisoner by Enigma. However, when all hope for Josuke and Koichi seemed to have faded, Yuya revealed that this was his intention, and took advantage of his flattened state by successfully freeing Josuke and Koichi. The two then incapacitated and confront a terrified Terunosuke while Yuya took the time to free himself. In an ironic twist, Josuke took the time to point out Terunosuke's tic of closing one eye when scared and closing both eyes when extremely scared, before using Shining Diamond and the refuse from the paper shredder to turn him into a book. Relieved, Josuke headed off to the library to deposit the book, titled Misterioso; the strange nature of the book made it another attraction among Morioh's residents.
Meanwhile, Rohan continued his meeting with Masazo, a meeting which turned sour when Masazo was trapped in such a way that his back was exposed to Rohan. Rohan failed to notice anything out of the ordinary in regards to Masazo's back, but the architect, who harbored a fear of people looking at it, quickly fell into despair. When Rohan tried to reassure Masazo, his renegade Stand Cheap Trap killed him and latched onto Rohan as a replacement host. Rohan repeatedly tried to flee from Cheap Trap, only for the Stand to persistently hold onto him, urging him to burn up his photo album. Rohan, realizing that this Stand is in league with Yoshihiro, deduced that at least one of the photos in the album could potentially disguise the incognito Kira, and attempted to use Heaven's Door to figure out how to defeat Cheap Trap before it's too late. However, Rohan was forced to abandon this plan: because he had become Cheap Trap's user, he cannot attack the Stand without harming himself. His only option is to show someone else his back, which would give Cheap Trap a new host. Knowing how this technique ended up killing Masazo, Rohan seeks to find a way to inform Koichi about Cheap Trap.
Yuya pursued Terunosuke with Highway Go Go, grabbing onto the taxi until it suddenly stopped. Yuya was able to sniff out and avoid several traps placed by Enigma's paper, but was unable to stop Josuke and Koichi from being pulled into an indestructible paper shredder. Hopeless, Yuya touched his chin in fear, and was taken prisoner by Enigma. However, when all hope for Josuke and Koichi seemed to have faded, Yuya revealed that this was his intention, and took advantage of his flattened state by successfully freeing Josuke and Koichi. The two then incapacitated and confront a terrified Terunosuke while Yuya took the time to free himself. In an ironic twist, Josuke took the time to point out Terunosuke's tic of closing one eye when scared and closing both eyes when extremely scared, before using Shining Diamond and the refuse from the paper shredder to turn him into a book. Relieved, Josuke headed off to the library to deposit the book, titled Misterioso; the strange nature of the book made it another attraction among Morioh's residents.
Meanwhile, Rohan continued his meeting with Masazo, a meeting which turned sour when Masazo was trapped in such a way that his back was exposed to Rohan. Rohan failed to notice anything out of the ordinary in regards to Masazo's back, but the architect, who harbored a fear of people looking at it, quickly fell into despair. When Rohan tried to reassure Masazo, his renegade Stand Cheap Trap killed him and latched onto Rohan as a replacement host. Rohan repeatedly tried to flee from Cheap Trap, only for the Stand to persistently hold onto him, urging him to burn up his photo album. Rohan, realizing that this Stand is in league with Yoshihiro, deduced that at least one of the photos in the album could potentially disguise the incognito Kira, and attempted to use Heaven's Door to figure out how to defeat Cheap Trap before it's too late. However, Rohan was forced to abandon this plan: because he had become Cheap Trap's user, he cannot attack the Stand without harming himself. His only option is to show someone else his back, which would give Cheap Trap a new host. Knowing how this technique ended up killing Masazo, Rohan seeks to find a way to inform Koichi about Cheap Trap.
Now:
Rohan and Koichi attempt to find a way to remove Cheap Trap and defeat it. Meanwhile, Kira finally gives into his killer urges...
JOJO'S JUKEBOX
This week’s Jukebox song is “Gonna Raise Hell” by Cheap Trick.
Notes:
- The chapters which this episode covers can be found in volumes 44 and 45 of the Japanese manga release.
- The first BD/DVD set for Diamond is Unbreakable (covering episodes 1-20) is releasing July 2nd from Viz Media. Parts 1-3 are currently available.
- Viz will be releasing the Part 4 manga, with the first volume (covering Japanese volumes 29 and 30) releasing on May 7th. The manga for Parts 1-3 are currently available in both hardcover and on Viz’s Shonen Jump app.
- Please, no spoilers about upcoming events and future arcs. If you’d like to discuss Part 5, Golden Wind, there’s a discussion thread on the Anime board.
