English Dub Review: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Golden Wind: “Babyhead”

(Possible Spoilers Below)

Hitman team member Melone finds a sample of Bruno’s blood on the train. Using his Stand Baby-Head and the genetic information of a random woman on the train with the attitude of a rude Diva, Melone’s encounter with this Diva leads to the creation of a remote-controlled Baby Stand creature in which the implications of this concept come across as disturbing in multiple ways…

Meanwhile, the rest of Bruno’s team is forced to stay in a parking lot to steal a car, while Melone’s Babyhead Stand tracks them down on via motorcycle using Bruno’s DNA. The result of what Melone’s machinations lead to the creation of a Stand/Human monstrosity which also has the ability to chop up and reconstruct humans into small cubes, while telepathically communicating with Melone through the primary version of Melone’s Stand that takes the form of a laptop that sends text messages to Melone and also controls Babyhead from great distances.

As this Stand creature captures Bruno and Trish inside their Travel-Turtle Coco Large, he turns his attention to stopping Giorno from telling the others, by removing parts of Giorno’s face and body in square cubes which leave him Crippled and suffocating. At first, Giorno is utterly overwhelmed by Babyhead but then realizes from witnessing its cube power that Giorno can use his Stand powers in more imaginative ways than ever. Managing to retake the turtle, the episode ends on a cliffhanger, when Giorno manages to have a bit of an advantage against the Babyhead stand in the most brutal and bloody way imaginable…

Our Take

Melone and his Stand are creepy beyond measure, and seeing the functionality of his Babyhead Stand in motion only made his methods all the more unsettling as it has some disturbing undertones of implied rape from a Stand. Thankfully, this doesn’t go too far into gratuitous detail, as the best kind of horror is the blanks we fill within our imaginations.

While the proceedings excelled in terms of tension, suspense and horror in places, it did manage to balance it out with comedic moments such as a scene when Guido punches a truck driver in a comedic attempt, not to get their cover blown when Bruno’s Gang stows away inside a random Semi Truck. Also, I am really excited about Trish because the last episode slowly foreshadowed that she’ll develop Stand Powers. And the idea of a Female Stand User who’s a protagonist is something we haven’t had in a while since Diamond is Unbreakable.

Overall, as a villain of the week, Melone and his Babyhead Stand excelled in being creepy as hell villains, and while the two potentially put Giorno through the wringer, it also became a blessing in disguise for Giorno’s Stand in terms of character progression as Babyhead surprisingly works as an antithesis to Giorno’s Stand Powers, but we know this isn’t the end as this is the start of another two-parter.