JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable

Episode 12

It's been a while since we've seen our good friend Joseph Joestar. When Diamond is Unbreakable started, I assumed he'd only be mentioned in passing since the season seemed more focused around the new characters and setting. Even Jotaro took a back seat after the first couple of episodes. Nonetheless, the old man is alive, but not quite kicking in his old age. He looks pretty similar to how he was in Stardust Crusaders, though he's hunched over and talks much slower and softer.

Though we still have the threat of Red Hot Chili Pepper and his Stand user rearing their ugly heads into the picture, this episode centers around what's probably the most tender story beat in the season yet, as Josuke anticipates meeting his biological father for the first time. Josuke's confident that the two of them will be as good as strangers upon meeting, but there's that extra something still bugging him and eating him up inside. This kind of familial relationship is foreign to my life, but there are many people throughout the world who I'm sure have wrestled with almost identical feelings.

Our anticipation is drawn out further as Jotaro decides to split the group up between the shore and the arriving boat that Chili Pepper is making a bee-line for. Jotaro and Okuyasu will take care of whatever happens on the boat, while Josuke and Koichi try to track Chili Pepper's Stand user down on the shore. It turns out having been a good plan, since Chili Pepper's user, Akira Otoishi, makes himself present immediate.

Otoishi is a long-haired rocker dude. He introduces himself as 19 years-old (I was going to call shenanigans since his design didn't scream “teenager”, but then again this is JoJo's) and that his dream is to become an “ultra super guitarist”. Otoishi's goal is to swiftly kill Josuke and Koichi, and then use a motorized model airplane to transport Chili Pepper to Joseph's boat. What entails is a pretty standard fight among Josuke and Otoichi's Stands, with the usual fists and trickery abound. The two seem like decent adversaries for each other, since there's a decent amount of one-upping going back and forth as they use their environment to gain the edge.

The fight culminates with Crazy Diamond repairing a car tire that got busted in the fight around Chili Pepper, trapping him inside. Rubber doesn't conduct electricity (which is Chili Pepper's power), which is every shonen action show's favorite piece of science, so you know it has to make its way in from time to time. This fact doesn't stop Chili Pepper from just punching his way out, but as Josuke comments, “Great. You would have been much better off if you didn't have the power to break through that tire.” The release of air pressure sends the tire and Chili pepper into the ocean, a much worse place for an electricity monster to be.

The fight seems over when Chili Pepper's body disperses in the water and Otoishi is down, but there's one last attack when they sneak away and Otoishi manages to swim to the boat and impersonate one of the members of the Speedwagon foundation. There's a humorous scene where he and another crew man are trying convince a panicked Okuyasu into believing the other is the impostor. Chili Pepper is about to kill Joseph before Okuyasu makes a lucky guess and punches Otoishi first.

All's well that ends well. The crew make it to shore, Otoishi and Red Hot Chili Pepper are defeated, and Josuke gets to meet his dad for the very first time. The last scene is especially touching and adorable, as Josuke blushes and holds Joseph's hand to lead him into town. Moments before, Joseph's cane broke, but Josuke chooses not to fix it with Crazy Diamond, preferring instead to take this opportunity to connect with his family however embarrassing the gesture might be to him.

This two-parter reminded me of the version of JoJo's Adventure I like most. The kind that has some sort of over-arching goals that leave us wanting more and asking what's next. So much of Diamond is Unbreakable has been a series of isolated adventures and it felt good to have something a little bigger to focus on. While I think the conflict seen in this episode was a little by-the-numbers for this series, I appreciate the more touching side of it. I assume we'll be returning to the isolated stories soon enough, but for now we've got a lot of new family stuff to sort through. Plus, the bow and arrow is still out there, so we've got that to look forward to.

Rating: B+

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Sam Leach writes and records about One Piece for The One Piece Podcast and you can find him on Twitter @LuckyChainsaw