JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Egypt Arc

Episode 15

It's week two of the battle with Pet Shop, and Iggy's had just about enough of this birdbrain! If you never thought a small-dog-sized falcon could be terrifying before, this Alien-inspired episode will definitely change your mind. Iggy's now one paw short of where he started on this adventure, and he starts cursing his fate and all the meddlers who got in his way for leading him to this godforsaken hole at the bottom of the ocean. That's right, the only way to escape a killer bird of prey is underwater, right?

Wrong. Truth is stranger than fiction, and falcons of several species have been known to plunge into rivers and lakes after fleeing prey, not to mention all the eagles and ospreys that live off a regular diet of fish and aren't afraid to get a little wet during the hunt. Pet Shop refuses to let any of his marks survive and plunges into the water after Iggy to crush him once and for all, burrowing into the ground after The Fool when he starts digging to escape his watery grave.

Of course, it's not the defeat of Pet Shop, but everything that comes afterward that makes this episode so special. Iggy takes down Horus literally by the skin of his teeth, only to find there's no one waiting around to rescue him when he drifts to the surface of a filthy canal. With no strength to swim back to shore, Iggy begins to wonder if maybe he made a mistake. He reflects on his life lived by a code of "survival of the fittest," and how it enabled him to become a king among dogs, with all the bones and bitches he could ever want, until that damn Avdol came along to "save" him from a dogcatcher he didn't need saving from. It was nice traveling with the Stardust Crusaders for as long as they were giving him chewing gum and a place to sleep, but maybe it made him too soft. It's really all their fault he was going to die alone like this...right?

Of course, Iggy gets rescued, and not by anyone on Team Jojo, but by the little boy he "regretted" saving from Pet Shop in the past. After a nice patching-up from the Speedwagon Foundation, Iggy begrudgingly admits that his "regrets" were really the best things in his life, and maybe he should try this friendship and teamwork thing out a little more. This moment combined with the triumphant return of Kakyoin to the group made it the most emotionally fulfilling Part III episode yet. That doesn't sound like much since Jojo's is not at all an emotional or dramatic sort of show, but that just makes the rare occasions for manly tears all the more resonant. The whole team's back together again, and now that they've all got their heads on straight and have finally made it inside Dio's hideout, they're sticking together!

Okay, longtime fans of the franchise know that last part is iffy, and will definitely result in more manly tears in the future, but before things get too serious again, we have another devil's game with a D'arby brother. I hope none of our heroes make a bet they'll regret!

Rating: A-

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Egypt Arc is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Hope has been an anime fan since childhood, and likes to chat about cartoons, pop culture, and visual novel dev on Twitter.