×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable
Episode 36

by Sam Leach,

How would you rate episode 36 of
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable ?
Community score: 4.8

They've gimmicked the opening. This is not a drill, they've gimmicked the opening! One of my favorite moments from Stardust Crusaders was near the end when Dio finally entered the picture as the final boss and revealed the time-stopping powers of The World. It was crazy memorable when the next episode's opening got paused mid-song by Dio's Stand, and he took the chance to strut around in the world of the opening animation. Stuff like that will forever go down as a ripe example of what makes the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime so cool and inventive. It never occurred to me that we might get a Kira-version of this for Diamond is Unbreakable, but I'm happy we did. The hook this time is that much of the animation plays in reverse, with lots of pausing and tape-rewinding sound effects to drive home the time reset theme. 'Great Days' is already my favorite Part Four opening, and seeing it twisted around (especially given how grandiose and upbeat the song is) makes Kira's sense of control that much uglier and scarier.

The big question that I was left with last week was whether or not the victims of Bites the Dust were permanently killed or not. The answer is "kind of" as Hayato witnesses Rohan Kishibe's death repeat itself, independent of his own interaction with him. The initial interaction caused the time reset, and now Rohan's tragic explodey demise is a part of the fabric of fate. Most of the episode centers around Hayato's attempts to use this fate to his advantage so that he can kill Kira himself, implying that if he were to succeed before anybody could die within a given reset, there may be a chance to save them. This becomes extremely important once Josuke and the rest of the gang show up and start asking questions, so if we inevitably end up saving them, Rohan would probably be a part of the deal as well.

This Bites the Dust multi-parter has been so Hayato-centric that he's definitely the protagonist of the story for the time being. When Josuke and the others show up, it's almost a shock to the system. I feel like that happens occasionally, where Josuke will take a step back in favor of another character for a couple episodes, and once he returns to the story, it's a surprise to be reminded that he's supposed to be the main character. I look forward to seeing whatever happens in these final Kira episodes to put Josuke back in the spotlight, because his healing/reset powers seem to have a lot in common with Bites the Dust philosophically, even if it's on a smaller scale. The fact that these two powers are meant to be parallels to each other is pretty obvious at this point.

The stakes are so high right now. JoJo has always been a show that wrings drama out of little things for the sake of absurdity, but this is one of the shining moments where the series decides not to be a joke and just tell a life-or-death story about heroes trying to overcome extreme odds. I'm on the edge of my seat, dying to know what happens next. Kira seems to have thought of everything, and even when he hasn't, like in Hayato's plot to trick him into getting shot by the cat-plant's air bullets, luck somehow manages to be on his side, as if the heavens themselves are smiling on him. I actually can't think of a way for the good guys to come out on top. I know they have to at some point, but I'm excited beyond belief to see it happen, if only so I can stop asking "How are they going to get out of this?"

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a show that's mastered being both passive entertainment and the kind of show that glues your eyes to the screen. The fact that we spent so much time in this series just goofing around makes the times that we can't that much more impactful.

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


discuss this in the forum (417 posts) |
bookmark/share with: short url

back to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable
Episode Review homepage / archives