JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable

Episode 15

I was surprised to see a new JoJo opening already, but doubly surprised to find that it's the least JoJo-like opening of the series to date. The song is 'chase' by batta, and it feels like it could have come from any other show with its garage rock sound and grimy visuals. I suppose all bets were off ever since Diamond is Unbreakable broke the streak of CGI-rendered JoJo openings with 'Crazy Noisy Bizarre Town', but now there's a distinct feeling of the franchise becoming more of a traditional anime. It's fitting, all things considered.

I don't say any of that disparagingly. As Diamond is Unbreakable trudges on, it's growing on me more and more. As I said when I started these reviews, Stardust Crusaders was the JoJo series that made the most sense to me. The monster-of-the-week structure helped create an emotional home base for all the wild happenings that occur in this aptly named "bizarre adventure." Diamond is Unbreakable keeps that structure going, but it has a much stronger heartbeat coming from its cast. I barely knew about any of these guys when the season started, and now it feels like they've always been around. Those are the kinds of characters that any writer would kill to call their own.

I don't mind the openings becoming more "anime" because, as far as I can tell, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure doesn't need to masquerade as a novelty anymore. It's always going to be weird and stylish, but now there's a strength to the storytelling that I honestly think wasn't there before. Josuke and company are such a great group of friends, and the show is becoming more and more confident in that fact.

Getting on to the specific episode at hand, we continue on with the Rohan Kishibe two-parter. Rohan, the prodigal manga artist, has become obsessed with the story that Koichi's "pages" tell, using his Heaven's Door to manipulate him into meeting back at his house before school. Koichi is in absolute terror mode as he tries to contact Josuke and Okuyasu outside, but his "I can not attack Rohan Kishibe" tag prevents him from asking for help. Instead, he reverts to an "Aw shucks, what are you guys doing here?" demeanor every time he steps outside.

Despite playing along, however, Josuke and Okuyasu remain suspicious and begin to plan their own attack. Long story short, the two break into Rohan's house, and Okuyasu quickly falls victim to Heaven's Door once he gets a view of Rohan's raw manuscript. I don't think it's explicitly described as such, but I like the idea that Heaven's Door only works if the viewer is moved by the quality of the art, which they always are. Josuke gets found out just around the corner, unable to step into the room for fear that he'll see the manuscript and fall into the same trap as well. They end up at a supposed stalemate when Rohan tags Okuyasu with "If Josuke Higashikata makes trouble for Rohan Kishibe, I will commit suicide." Okuyasu spends the rest of the episode with a lighter burning at his own paper-y hand.

Since Josuke can't just walk away, he goes on the offensive with his eyes closed. It seems to work for a split second, but then Rohan uses his well-read knowledge of the trio to come up with the most dastardly plan: he insults Josuke's pompadour! This succeeds in getting Josuke to open his eyes, but Rohan didn't account for a literal blind-with-rage outburst, and Josuke completely wipes the floor with him. What seems like a joke tic for the character finally gets explained by Koichi. Apparently, when Josuke was a kid and sick with Dio-disease, a mysterious young man with the same pompadour saved him and his mother by pushing their car out of a snow bank. Ever since, Josuke wanted to honor the man by adopting his hairstyle and altruistic philosophy.

The mysterious young man we see in this flashback is another Josuke Higashikata as far as we can tell. I don't know if they did that as symbolic shorthand, or if we're going to be seeing some time travel shenanigans later in the series. I'd bet on the latter, since Jotaro and Dio's Stands were given time stopping powers at the end of Stardust Crusaders, so it wouldn't be farfetched to see something similar from Crazy Diamond. Though it is weird to think that Josuke potentially inspired himself.

I'm developing a lot of feelings for Diamond is Unbreakable. I think I'm comfortable saying it's now my favorite JoJo part, with each one being better than the last. This Rohan Kishibe two-parter has been especially fun, since manga authors writing stories about manga authors is apparently a trope I can never get enough of. There's a faith that's been instilled in me at this point in regards to our further adventures in Morioh. Between the new opening, the story of Josuke's childhood, and the all around energy of this sandbox of relationships, I've got a real soft spot growing in my heart for this series.

Rating: A

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