veemonjosh
Stone free, do what I please
Opening theme: “Great Days” by Karen Aoki and Daisuke Hasegawa (SFX Version)
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.
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 realized the man now living with his father’s face isn’t really his father, and is set out to prove it. However, Kira caught onto his plan and, upon gaining the ability of Bites the Dust, placed Hayato into a time-loop that will continually reset any time either he tries to tell someone about Kira or someone finds out through his actions.
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.
Yoshikage Kira
Voiced by: D.C. Douglas
Stand: Deadly Queen (JP: Killer Queen)
Ability: Bomb Transmutation and Bites the Dust
Stats: Destructive Power - A / Speed - B / Range - D / Durability - B / Precision - B / Developmental Potential - A
Namesakes: “Killer Queen” (song by Queen) / “Another One Bites the Dust” (song 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. After being stabbed by the Arrow a second time, Kira has gained the additional ability of “Bites the Dust”, a time bomb which can reverse time to one hour prior to its detonation. Kira has placed this bomb on Hayato, trapping him in a temporal loop that resets any time he reveals, by choice or not, who Kira is.
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. Now Hayato is attempting to use him as a weapon against Kira.
Episode 38 (112)
“Shining D (Diamond) is Unbreakable, Part 2”
Chapters adapted: 431-435
Previously on JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure:
It was 8:29:09AM, just before Rohan Kishibe was set to die. Kira was still impressed by his own luck and almost hit Hayato for daring to use Stray Cat to kill him. Recognizing the move as useless, Kira then realized that Hayato could only act with this much planning ahead by having rewinded time thrice and killed at least as many enemies. Sure of his win, Kira openly bragged about his victory and how "luck is on the side of him, Yoshikage Kira". However, Hayato let Kira know that he slipped out his name and explained that he's had a backup plan. Indeed, he's made a phone call just to wake someone up early. Kira then realized the magnitude of his mistake when he saw Josuke looking at him with an angry look.
Having heard everything, Josuke and the freshly arrived Okuyau attacked Kira. The murderer was thus forced to cancel Bites the Dust and recall Deadly Queen at his side, which confirmed Josuke's suspicions. Moreover, Rohan had escaped death, meaning Hayato had finally broken Bite the Dust's curse.
Forced to engage in a battle against Josuke and Okuyasu who were still looking to avenge Shigechi, Kira reaffirmed his commitment to a peaceful life but also boasted that he wouldn't lose when backed into a corner and knew all about the group's ability. Shining Diamond and Deadly Queen engaged each other, but Shining Diamond took the advantage. As Deadly Queen tried to touch Josuke, Okuyasu intervened and made Kira turn toward himself with The Hand, only for his side to be blasted apart. Kira had just stored Stray Cat in Deadly Queen's belly and now had an infinite supply of invisible remote bombs.
Meanwhile, Jotaro, Koichi and Rohan failed to notice Josuke's cries. Meanwhile, Josuke realized how deviously powerful Kira's air bomb and got hit. However, Josuke also guessed that they have a minimal range in order for Kira to not get caught in the blast. Rushing to Okuyasu's side in order to heal him, Josuke was saved by Hayato who guessed that Okuyasu's body might have been turned into a bomb, which left Josuke with the tough decision of whether to sacrifice himself to save Okuyasu. However, Hayato also deduced that Kira can only set off one bomb at a time, and so set off the bomb on himself, which allowed Josuke to heal both him and Okuyasu. As Kira launched another air bomb, Josuke, refusing to believe Okuyasu might already be dead, managed to use Shining Diamond on debris in his wounds to dodge the explosion.
Josuke and Hayato soon retreated into an empty house, carrying Okuyasu's body with him as the rain stops. Kira, meanwhile, now no longer believes that Jotaro is the greatest threat to his peaceful life, but that Josuke is.
Having heard everything, Josuke and the freshly arrived Okuyau attacked Kira. The murderer was thus forced to cancel Bites the Dust and recall Deadly Queen at his side, which confirmed Josuke's suspicions. Moreover, Rohan had escaped death, meaning Hayato had finally broken Bite the Dust's curse.
Forced to engage in a battle against Josuke and Okuyasu who were still looking to avenge Shigechi, Kira reaffirmed his commitment to a peaceful life but also boasted that he wouldn't lose when backed into a corner and knew all about the group's ability. Shining Diamond and Deadly Queen engaged each other, but Shining Diamond took the advantage. As Deadly Queen tried to touch Josuke, Okuyasu intervened and made Kira turn toward himself with The Hand, only for his side to be blasted apart. Kira had just stored Stray Cat in Deadly Queen's belly and now had an infinite supply of invisible remote bombs.
Meanwhile, Jotaro, Koichi and Rohan failed to notice Josuke's cries. Meanwhile, Josuke realized how deviously powerful Kira's air bomb and got hit. However, Josuke also guessed that they have a minimal range in order for Kira to not get caught in the blast. Rushing to Okuyasu's side in order to heal him, Josuke was saved by Hayato who guessed that Okuyasu's body might have been turned into a bomb, which left Josuke with the tough decision of whether to sacrifice himself to save Okuyasu. However, Hayato also deduced that Kira can only set off one bomb at a time, and so set off the bomb on himself, which allowed Josuke to heal both him and Okuyasu. As Kira launched another air bomb, Josuke, refusing to believe Okuyasu might already be dead, managed to use Shining Diamond on debris in his wounds to dodge the explosion.
Josuke and Hayato soon retreated into an empty house, carrying Okuyasu's body with him as the rain stops. Kira, meanwhile, now no longer believes that Jotaro is the greatest threat to his peaceful life, but that Josuke is.
Now:
Trapped in close quarters, Josuke vows to avenge Okuyasu and defeat Kira once and for all.
JOJO'S JUKEBOX
For this week’s Jukebox song, we travel back to the rest of the song I used the first half of for episode 1, with “Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts VI-IX)” by Pink Floyd.
Notes:
- The chapters which this episode covers can be found in volume 46 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 is now releasing the Part 4 manga, with the first volume (covering Japanese volumes 29 and 30) now available and the second volume (covering Japanese volumes 31 and 32) releasing on August 6th. The manga for Parts 1-3 are also 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.
