JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
Episode 8 – Devil
Hello again, friends! Welcome back! We’re eight weeks into the new “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders” anime which means we’re now at episode eight, an episode that changes the pace of the series quite drastically but we’ll get into that soon enough. If you missed episode 7, “Strength”, you can head to the impressions article for it by clicking here. “Strength” ended the oceanic portion of the “Stardust Crusaders” crew’s journey and it also introduced us to one scary ape, luckily Jotaro was around to take it out otherwise they would have never made it to Singapore where episode eight takes place.
The team have made it to Singapore with minimal injury and all they want to do right now is take it easy before they set off on the next leg of their trip, but DIO won’t be having any of that, he wants them killed. Now. Unfortunately Polnareff is the punching bag in this week’s episode but, as brutal as it is, it does make for one entertaining half-hour of anime.
Foreign Land.
As mentioned; the team finally makes it to dry land, luckily for them this sanctuary away from the ocean just so happens to be Singapore, one of the most beautiful cities in the known world. Almost instantly one of them is picked up for littering which is quite the crime over there. Don’t worry though, it’s just Polnareff’s bag. It may look like trash but it’s actually his belongings which says a great deal about the man. Polnareff hasn’t been on the team for very long (two episodes to be exact) but he’s already proven to me that he’s a key member by providing a level of goofy humour none of the other “Stardust Crusaders” characters have mastered so I’m real appreciative of Polnareff, though…I may be the only one.
Heading to the nearest hotel, the team try to make themselves comfortable before having to head off once again. Even if it’s for a single night. Polnareff finally gets a little respect and is given his own room while the others have to share. Good on him! Now he’s got enough privacy to have a few drinks, take a bubble bath and pamper himself the way a good Frenchman should! Nothing is going to stand in the way of him having a good night! Not even a scary doll hell bent on murdering him.
The Haunting Of Room 912.
Polnareff makes it to his room and has a bit of a look around before realizing that there’s someone else in there with him. Noticing something is a little “off”, Polnareff opens up the mini fridge to reveal a fully grown human male curled up inside. The man, who calls himself “Devo” (subtitled as “Soul Sacrifice”), baits Polnareff into attacking him and is almost instantly killed when he’s stabbed three times in the face and falls from the hotel balcony. This scene, once again showing off the animation capabilities of David Production, really made an impact on me; it was gritty and rough but flowed amazingly.
Polnareff peers over the edge to make sure Devo (Soul Sacrifice) truly did die but there’s no body to be seen on the ground below. Given absolutely no time to think the situation over, Polnareff is attacked and his ankle is sliced open. Looking around the room, he notices nothing strange and just writes it off as an “aftermath” of Devo’s confrontation. Polnareff actually does something smart now, he rings the rest of the team to explains to them that he was attacked and the attacker may still be lurking around. They all agree to meet but this may be one rendezvous Polnareff won’t be making it to. Now it’s time to search for his keys that, even though were clearly thrown onto the bedside table next to the creep doll, are now nowhere to be found so he checks around the room eventually ending up under the bed where the keys were hiding. This is where the episode gets good.
The enemy makes a move and ties Polnareff to the bottom of the heavy-looking bed, the colour of the scene changes and the audience now knows we’re about to see a brutal fight. Polnareff is blinded when the enemy sprays shampoo in his eyes but that’s not the worst part. The miniature assailant then begins sawing the legs off of the bed and crushes Polnareff underneath, thank the gods that he’s a hulking mass of French muscle! The gods didn’t quite look out for the bellboy though…he enters the room and is killed almost straight away. This is where the episode shifts from being a typical Shonen anime to a gory horror movie.
It’s All Just Child’s Play.
This is where the true fight begins. Polnareff, now face to face with his enemy spends the rest of the episode struggling to stay alive as he defends himself against a barrage of unconventional weapons all the while being tied to the bottom of a bed, bound and blinded this may be it for Polnareff. Devo does absolutely everything he can to send Polnareff into a state of unwavering fear. Devo knows about Polnareff, he knows about “Silver Chariot”, he’s done his research and at this point in time he has the upper hand. “Silver Chariot” cannot attack what Polnareff cannot see so he’s essentially just stabbing at anything and everything in the hopes that he may accidentally skewer Devo but the odds are against him.
Devo basically toys with Polnareff for the majority of the fight, slowly getting more and more cocky with “Silver Chariot” occasionally landing a hit, though not good enough of one to do any real damage. This episode outdid itself when it came to the animation quality. Not only was it simply good but the film techniques used within it were brilliant, half the time it didn’t even feel like you were watching an episode, it was anime movie caliber when it really wanted to be. “Silver Chariot”, while stabbing furiously at anything it can, just misses Devo and breaks the mirror scattering glass around the room. Devo decides “enough is enough” and begins emptying every liquid he can onto Polnareff and the bed, this is the end.
Devo shorts out the hairdryer he found in the hotel bathroom so that it’s sparking uncontrollably (it’s also spewing out fire at this point in time), his plan is to electrocute Polnareff and it looks like it may just work. Devo drops the hairdryer but Polnareff is a lot smarter than we all give him credit for and, using the scattered glass around the room, pinpoints exactly where the Devo is and skewers both him and the hairdryer. “Silver Chariot” then proceeds to torture Devo as he attempts to flee the scene, killing him in the process. Never underestimate a Frenchman.
The TV Will Help Us!
Before I move on to the finally of the episode I just want to say that the “Stardust Crusaders” team as a unit is terrible! They were meant to meet five minutes after Polnareff made the call and even though he mentioned that he was attacked, after forty five none of them thought of going to his room to check out whether or not he was alright. Eventually, when he does turn up all bloodied and bruised, all they can say to him is “Jeez you took a while!”. That’s not a good team! Anyway, Polnareff is taken to the local jail to be questioned and Devo’s real body is found in a hotel bathroom mangled and almost unrecognizable. Lucky old man Joestar has connections, he quickly calls up the “Speedwagon Foundation” to get Polnareff out of police custody.
Apparently there’s nothing that foundation can’t do! Joseph and Avdul, doing their best to prepare for what will come next, use Joseph’s Stand to consult the universe. This time they use the TV instead of a camera but the TV brings some terrible new; there’s a mole in the group and his name…Kakyoin. The episode ends with a menacing image of the young boy’s face and leaves us in suspense for next week. Is Kakyoin the mole? Is Joseph going to replace the hotel room TV? Is Polnareff ever going to be treated kindly? We’ll have to wait until episode nine to find out!
Check out the “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders” anime on Crunchyroll and check out more episode impressions HERE.
