JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
Episode 6 – Dark Blue Moon
Back again huh? You just couldn’t keep away could you? This is the curse that is cast upon every audience member of the “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure” series despite how odd, nonsensical, crazy and downright bizarre it can get. Last week we witnessed the defeat of a cocky Jean Pierre Polnareff who, if you’ve been watching/reading, has now joined the “Stardust Crusaders” team as they continue their journey to find and destroy DIO. This week kicks off the sea-bound leg of JoJo’s bizarre adventure. Follow me for another week of anime impressions, a week where I try my hardest not to make too many “Love Boat” jokes while semi-accurately explaining the new episode to all of you reading right now.
All Aboard The S.S Friendship!
“Dark Blue Moon” actually starts off with a few minutes of recap. Despite the fact that we’re only six episodes in it seems that “David Production” believes we needed to be reminded of exactly why these men are adventuring across different lands. Recap breaks and flashback are normal for long-winded anime/manga series’ but with only six episodes under the season’s belt I can’t exactly see why we needed one. Taking a commercial flight to Egypt didn’t work out for the crew and now they’re on a mostly empty fishing boat in the middle of the ocean with what looks to be nothing but open sea around them…this is going to turn out great!
The men couldn’t even sit down for a meal without being attacked by some “man-slab” with a misplaced vendetta, what makes you think it’s all going to be “smooth sailing”. Absolutely no pun intended. Old man Joseph requested they be transported on a ship with minimum people aboard and the Captain seemed to oblige which is nice for a change but that doesn’t mean anything in the world of “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure”. It means nothing at all!
The Stowaway.
Gosh darn it! A bloody kid snuck aboard the ship before it left the dock! Who was keeping watch?! Jotaro and Kakyoin, both lying on banana chairs on the deck, couldn’t get one little bit of rest before some trouble started somewhere on the ship. It looks as though a young child has decided to tag along on the journey from Hong Kong to wherever it is these guys will end up, we know it’ll definitely NOT be where they want! Too bad for the kid, nothing ever goes right around a Joestar…especially not TWO Joestars. You’re in for some trouble, I’ll say that much.
After getting into a bit of a scuffle with a deckhand, the stowaway decides to leap into the ocean assuming he can swim to his destination. He obviously cannot. A shark begins circling the young boy but, for some unknown reason, he doesn’t notice the behemoth jetting towards him. BOOM! The shark is tossed out of the water and absolutely decimated by the flurry punching of Jotaro’s “Star Platinum”. Sometimes the juvenile delinquent can be pretty nice. he dived into the water to save the boy but after grabbing his shirt to drag him back to the ship he soon realizes that this isn’t a little boy…it’s a little girl! Jotaro removes her cap to reveal a beautiful head of long, black hair.
I hadn’t seen such a brilliant sight since the last time I looked into a mirror, I shed a single tear. It seems as though I’m the only one around that appreciates good hair. “Heirophant Green” – the Stand with some of the longest reach to have been introduced into the series as of yet – finally does something worthwhile and picks Jotaro (and the kid) up out of the water only to put the little girl in more trouble as the Captain of the ship…Dragon…surfaces from his quarters to the surprise of a stowaway.
Captain Dragon And The No Smoking Policy.
This leg of the episode starts with the Captain somewhat roughhousing the young girl, all the while explaining that he doesn’t like stowaways and all that regular seaman-type stuff. Dirty minds, you all have dirty minds. Jotaro catches the Captain’s attention by lighting up a cigarette, something that we soon figure out the Caption doesn’t entirely like. After extinguishing the cigarette by rubbing it on Jotaro’s hat and jacket, the Captain begins lecturing the young man saying something along the lines of “where you just going to ash it into this big, beautiful ocean!?”. Jotaro then drops a knowledge bomb on the crew and the seamen by tricking the Captain into revealing that he’s a Stand user.
I’d actually rather you watch the episode to see the intelligent way in which this scene was written because it really was one of the coolest parts of the episode. I liked it because it was so simple yet ultimately so damn clever and even though this series does a lot of stupid things it also does a lot of great little things like this. Pissed because the team now know he’s working for DIO, the Captain grabs the stowaway and leaps into the water with her in the hopes that he’ll bait the men into jumping in with him. His Stand, “Deep Blue Moon”, is an aquatic one that obviously does better in the water than it does on land so you can see why he’d want to fight submerged. “Star Platinum”, being the fastest of the Stands when the story calls for it, beats the living hell out of the Captain and his Stand before they can even make contact with the water, saving the girl in the process. That’s TWICE he’s saved the girl, let’s not try for a third time. Ok?
“Deep Blue Moon” is a tricky Stand to fight, especially when it’s THIS tricky. Jotaro, trying his hardest to pull the girl up over the railings and onto the boat, realizes that he cannot move due to some sort of “special effect” that “Deep Blue Moon” possesses. Barnacles begin growing over “Star Platinum’s” arms and the Stand is partially immobilized. Using as much strength as possible, Jotaro flings the little girl up above his head for Kakyoin to grab but, in the process, falls deep into the ocean and is confronted by a very much alive Captain. “Welcome to the bottom of the ocean”.
The Strife Aquatic With Jotaro Kujo.
This fight is pretty much the bulk of the episode but, unfortunately, a lot of the actual fight isn’t spent actually fighting…in a typical “Shonen-esque” way, the battle is mostly made up of the bad guy explain how he’s going to beat the good guy while executing that plan at a snail’s pace. Seasoned anime fans will be well aware of what I’m talking about and they’ll definitely be used to the pacing of certain anime fights. I’m looking at you, Dragon Ball Z. Jotaro spends most of the brawl on the losing side but eventually makes one hell of a comeback with a brand-new technique that nobody, including himself, has ever seen before!
He’s a champion of justice and the hero we need! The great thing about these types of “JJBA” scenes is that the graphics get a nice bump in quality so you’re met with beautiful visuals. “Stardust Crusaders” isn’t at all lacking when it comes to visual style, out of the two series’ so far I’d have to say that this one is the best looking. The Captain continues talking crap while Jotaro sits there nice and calm, just waiting for the right time to strike…oh, by the way; in this part of the episode “Deep Blue Moon” has made a huge underwater whirlpool and has also almost entirely paralyzed Jotaro and “Star Platinum”…just though that bit was important to know before I tell you the next bit.
The other three Stand users who are currently on the boat where it’s super safe decide to try and help Jotaro but as soon as their Stands touch the water they are sliced up by little scales that are circling with the whirlpool. The guys on the boat decide that they’re not going to try again and just kind of leave the rest up to Jotaro because, you know, he can handle himself. Eventually Jotaro decides to get serious and centers all his power into “Star Platinum’s” fingers, shooting/extending them through the face of “Deep Blue Moon”. Cutting the Stand as well as it’s user, Jotaro wins the underwater battle and makes his way back to the surface…if only that was the end.
Titanic 3: Jack’s Revenge.
As a final “screw you” to the “Stardust Crusaders” team, the Captain had rigged a whole bunch of explosives onto the ship that were set to explode if he dies…I guess. They never quite explained why his death coincided with the explosion of the ship, it wasn’t like he had some sort of detonator or anything of that kind, he just died and then the ship exploded so I’m going to just say it was magic and leave it at that.
The crew, who weren’t in on this whole “ship exploding” plan, fled alongside the team using some emergency rafts that DIDN’T get blown up in the huge explosion even though it clearly showed a good ninety percent of the ship being set ablaze. Escaping out to sea with their lives, the crew finally find themselves some time to just relax…until a huge boat comes out of nowhere and is headed straight for them! Still though, it’s much more relaxing than fighting a water demon.
Check out the “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders” anime on Crunchyroll and check out more episode impressions HERE.
