JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Egypt Arc

Episode 5

This week's conclusion to the battle with Anubis is only half the horror show it promised to be, but honestly that's a good thing. Now that we know the secret of the sword, Anubis has been reduced to a straight combat stand, so the most that can be done with him as an antagonist short of seeing him possess one of our heroes themselves is to just put him in the center of a good old-fashioned slugfest. This episode covers all those bases (poor Polnareff) and then takes the confrontation from grave to goofy in classic Jojo's fashion. Anubis isn't really so scary once you get to know him. He's just another cackling stooge eager to please Dio by bringing him the heads of the Joestars, destined to be brought down by his own hubris through the monosyllabic hidden genius of Jotaro. It's a simple affair, but satisfying all the same.

The animation budget remains at its just-higher-than-average standard for this fight, and this time it's completely necessary for conveying the speed and energy of a high-stakes Fists Vs. Sword battle to the death. When Jotaro goes solo against a combatant, sometimes it can drain too much energy from the series' regular madness. Fortunately, the Anubis fight remains interesting thanks to Anubis' campy personality and his own personal fighting gimmick. As a swordsman—no, as a sword—Anubis can easily defeat any fighting technique he's seen once before. This weird talent basically requires a constant shift of strategies between the two dueling stands. We can't see a trick performed more than once, so even though it's a basic one-on-one match between Jotaro and The Bad Guy (with Polnareff and Silver Chariot being puppeted around in Anubis' corner,) it's different with every changing minute, padded only slightly by Anubis' love of self-congratulatory monologue.

It should come as no surprise to anyone who's been watching the little squirt's movements since he first appeared, but the wild card in this battle between titans is ultimately the little fool, Iggy. This dog is a great addition to the Stardust Crusader team not only for comedy purposes, but because he almost never has to use his stand to turn the tide of a battle. Araki made a bold choice in putting Iggy at the center of so many Egyptian Gods' defeats, assuming that his readers would have a sense of humor about these climactic battles while still remaining just as invested in the characters and genuinely worried about the outcome of it all. Anubis' loss is absolutely humiliating, a world apart from where he started as the scariest stand we'd yet seen, but there's no disappointment in the fallout. Not even allowed to "die" with dignity, poor Anubis is forced to retire in a puddle of tears, all because a Boston Terrier decided to eat a lollipop, and it's just as wonderful as it sounds in execution. Jotaro still earned his victory in the battle of wits against Anubis, but in the end, it truly takes a dumb dog to defeat a dumb dog.

Next time is Bastet, a rare feminine opponent in this musclebound epic. So, who better to go up against a sultry kitten than the Crusaders' own Foxy Grandpa? I hope Joseph can handle everything headed his way in the upcoming catfight.

Rating: B+

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.