JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
Episode 11 – The Emperor And The Hanged Man Part 2
Well last week’s episode was quite a shocker wasn’t it? If you missed out on it, allow me to help you catch up: Avdol is dead…Hol Horse killed him. Awesome! now that you’re up to date we can move on with the impressions article. No, I understand that the death of Avdol was actually pretty important to the plotline, excuse me for breezing over it like that but I’m a firm believer in laughter being the best medicine and since I couldn’t make his death funny I thought to just rip the Band-Aid off as quickly as possible.
Last episode was quite different for the series with there being actual consequences for the characters being idiots and it seems as though this episode hasn’t detoured from that. Episode 11 continues on exactly from where episode 10 left off (click here to read my impressions article) and it is probably just as hard-hitting.
Polnareff and Kakyoin can’t even take a minute to mourn the death of their dear friend before the enemy once again begins to advance towards them. Polnareff – being so close to getting revenge for his sister’s death – doesn’t want to turn and run yet so he stands tall against the enemy…Kakyoin on the other hand thinks it be better if they flee. Once again, Kakyoin has thought the situation through and devised the best way to handle it. If only Polnareff was in the same mind set.
Polnareff fronts on Hol Horse and his invisible partner Mr. Centerfold but is quickly shut down when the duo begin to attack. Doing his best to keep his friend alive, Kakyoin blasts both Polnareff and his attackers with an “Emerald Splash”, damaging Polnareff but also forcing the other two to back off. Jumping into a nearby truck, Kakyoin speeds off but not before grabbing Polnareff who’s now quite damaged. Hol Horse states that they’re too far away for him to shoot down but Mr. Centerfold has other plans in mind and chases after them using his odd but soon to be unveiled powers.
Driving out into the desert, the two now discuss what is to be done next. What was great about this scene was the subtle attention to detail. Polnareff, while talking, simply grabs the rear-view mirror and tosses it out the window. No attention was drawn to this but it was obvious as to why he had done it. This is what I want from an anime; not everything has to be narrated by the characters.
Now the young men talk about what exactly Centerfold’s power could truly be. Polnareff thinks that his “Stand” exists in some “mirror world” but Kakyoin is quick to shut him down by saying “there’s no such thing”. Thank God Polnareff calls him out by saying something along the lines of “there’s such things as ‘Stands’ why wouldn’t there be a mirror world”, which is pretty much exactly what I was thinking. They both continue to talk and Kakyoin gives Polnareff a nice elbow to the face, stating that he must accept that instead of a handshake which indicates there’s no beef between them anymore.
Seems like the smart thing to do…it’s not like you could be attacked at any moment and need all of your face bones in tact just in case someone tries to attack you again. Stupid Kakyoin. Before a second elbow to the face can be dealt, the two notice something in the reflection of the chrome steering wheel: Holy shit! “Hanged Man” is in the back of the truck! They get slashed and the car is run off the road, tipping over and landing on it’s top. Totaled, the two crawl out full of glass and metal hoping to the only God they know that “Hanged Man” isn’t right behind them read to strike again…too bad fellas…he is.
After a scuffle with the invisible enemy, the men run as far away as possible from anything reflective hoping to escape from the “Stand” and gain as much composure as possible. That plan would have worked had their not been some snot-nosed little kid around to put the two back in a place of danger thanks to the reflection in his eyes. Centerfold slashed at Polnareff once again but this time the Frenchman wasn’t shaken at all, in fact, he was confident that he had “Hanged Man” all figured out.
He spouts some cheesy one liner about getting revenge and then kicks sand in the young boy’s eye which, to nobody’s surprise, forces the kid to close his eyes and also gives him a little negative experience with foreigners. Too bad these are the types of mental scars that stick with you for life huh, kid? A light shines off of the child’s eye and into Polnareff’s but not before “Silver Chariot” gets a chance to deal some revenge blows.
Polnareff then goes onto explain that “Hanged Man” doesn’t exist in a mirrored world like he though it did, instead “Hanged Man” is a light source that jumps from reflective surface to reflective surface but can be harmed while in transit from one surface to the next. Somehow Polnareff figured this out and used it to his advantage by trapping the odd “Stand” within his own eye. Now he just has to make sure to never go near a mirror again. That will be hard…especially with a hairdo like his.
Hearing a scream in the distance after slashing at “Hanged Man”, the two decide to run towards it hoping that there they will find Centerfold, the man behind the “Stand”. Running into what looked to be some sort of open-air ruins, the two men discover a man bleeding from his chest just around the area where “Silver Chariot” slashed “Hanged Man”. It must be Centerfold!
Without checking to see if this particular man does indeed possess two right hands, Polnareff goes to attack. Luckily Kakyoin has a brain in his skull because he quickly stops the Frenchman from laying a hand on the mysterious man. Now looking down at the man’s hands, Polnareff realizes this is NOT Centerfold. They’ve been tricked…but not for long. I guess Centerfold is a showoff because almost instantly after the two men realize they have the wrong guy, Centerfold reveals himself. Instead of running away while his pursuers were distracted, Centerfold chose to sit there and watch, waiting for the perfect time to reveal his amazing plan of cutting another person to make them look like him…brilliant, Centerfold.
The man with the two right hands then reveals his secondary plan: He yells out to paupers surrounding the area and draws attention to the fact that these two foreigners plan to give them money. Almost immediately Kakyoin and Polnareff are surrounded, all eyes are on them which means Centerfold has plenty of reflective surfaces to play around with. The men seem trapped, that is…until Kakyoin reveals HIS plan.
Flicking a shiny, golden coin up until the air, Kakyoin averts the gazes of all the men and women who have formed a crowd around them. With no where else for “Hanged Man” to go, the “Stand” dashes for the coin but is met with the cold steel of “Silver Chariot’s” blade. SLICE! “Hanged Man” is dealt a fatal blow…and that means Centerfold was also dealt that blow. He tries to make a run for it but is met by a locked gate…and an angry Polnareff who shreds up his body something fierce! Slicing Centerfold’s body and flinging him into the air, Polnareff has gotten his revenge once and for all.
This scene, as you can imagine, was extremely face-paced and extremely well animated. The two then say their final goodbyes to the man with the two right hands and make their way back to town where Jotaro and Joseph have already buried Avdul. I understand the symbolism behind giving the poor guy a proper funeral but they could have at least waited for the other team members before laying him to rest. It doesn’t matter anyway because Hol Horse shows up just in time to bring more rain on this already ruined parade but he doesn’t have his mate Centerfold to back him up so he makes a dash to safety.
Thanks to the young girl he made fall for him in the last episode, he was able to make it away from the crew without a scratch…I wish I could say the same for old Joseph who gets a bit of the girl’s blood on his arm as she tackles him to allow Horse to escape. The episode finishes with a cliffhanger showing the blood on Josephs arm transform into what looks to be a small flesh bud-like growth. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens next.
Check out the “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders” anime on Crunchyroll and check out more episode impressions HERE.
