English Dub Review: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable “Cats Love Yoshikage Kira”

I always knew cats were evil.

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

While taking extra steps to blend into his new surroundings as part of the Kawajiri family, Yoshikage Kira hears from Shinobu that cat has snuck into the basement through the window. However, when he goes to investigate, he finds Shinobu accidentally killed it, but also that there was an odd hole in its neck that might have been caused by the Arrow. Still, no use thinking about it now, so he buries it in the yard. But oddly enough, a strange plant has grown in its place and is acting like a cat, soon revealed to be the cat that died. It attacks Shinobu out of vengeance, forcing Kira to retaliate with Deadly Queen…only the cat-plant’s attacks suck up air, which is what Kira’s bombs need to explode. It even hurts Shinobu, causing Kira to question his lack of feelings for her. And after nearly being beaten, Kira spares it.

The perspective then shifts to Shinobu’s son, Hayato, who’s been observing his “father” and his drastic change in behavior, including eating food he usually hates and getting along oddly well with Shinobu. Hayato’s also been using surveillance equipment to notice that Kira has been talking to himself and trying to copy his new identities handwriting. Recently, Hayato also observed him moving something their attic, so goes to investigate and finds the cat-plant. It nearly kills him, with Kira also suspecting Hayato knows too much, but he escapes and leaves indicators that it was just the plant rummaging around. Though this confirms to Hayato that this new person is not his father.

OUR TAKE

The countdown to the end of the season begins, with only nine episodes left. And it’s a villain-focus episode, which I often have a fondness for! It’s also a welcome distraction from the other distractions from the main plot…which I guess makes this a main plot episode? Anyway, a full episode without the show’s main protagonists that also solely focuses on the villains is quite the rarity in this series, so I’m all for it. Up until now, Kira has been nothing short of an unrepentant monster who killed women for his own sick pleasure without a hint of remorse. And now those actions have led him into a twisted mish-mash of Witness Protection and prime-time sitcom, but while he’s hiding from time-stopping marine biologists and gravity-increasing midgets, he’s still not safe from his new son or even household plants! Coming to CBS this Fall! Oh who am I kidding, this is an NBC show at best.

This episode really does a complicated dance across the spectrum of feelings people might have about Kira, as he starts to deal with the inevitable karma of his actions through Hayato’s mounting suspicions but oddly settling in and taking a liking to his “new” wife. Also weird is the kinship he very quickly forms with the cat that becomes a plant, which actually makes sense because of how much the two have in common: They’re both individuals who (at the very least) inconvenience others with their lack of boundaries, had to “die” for their actions, and were forced to become someone or something completely new in order to survive. They also have similar powers that rely on the air. Bit of weird but interesting life he’s carved out for himself. Almost makes me feel bad that he’s a heartless killer who needs to face justice. Almost.

And let’s not forget us getting more of another thing Jojo’s does great at: joltingly horrific body horror! For one, we’ve got Shinobu’s big toenail being ripped off by the plant’s air powers, which was already sickening to watch, but then there’s also the air bubble going into Kira’s arm. And after some time in a foreign hospital, seeing a bubble in my IV and being gripped in terror for an hour, I can tell you that is not fun to watch happen to a cartoon character. Unless I actually died there and this is just me dreaming of what my life turned out to be. Which is kind of sad. Either way, this episode is great and I am really sad we are back to pointless filler fights for the next few weeks.