English Dub Review: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Golden Wind “Joining the Gang”

(Possible Spoilers Below)

As it turns out, the Stand that’s actively pursuing Giorno in the last episode is revealed to be named “Shadow Sabbath” and is more powerful than Giorno’s “Golden Wind” as well as being faster. Luckily, a ray from the sun manages to stun the Stand, allowing Giorno to escape its grip, Giving Giorno a fighting chance now knowing that Sabbath is weakened by sunlight but powerful in the shades & shadows. When Koichi shows up, at first he accuses Giorno of hurting the janitor, but after saving Koichi’s ass in a clever scene that puts his Stand powers to use, they manage to quickly clear things up. In the process, Koichi discovers that the stabbing weapon Sabbath uses just so happens to be one of the arrows that were previously touched upon in the last Jojo season Diamond is Unbreakable which if a person or animal is stabbed by this mystical arrow, it can either randomly create a Stand User or kill them.

It’s also a nice little call-back as Koichi also reveals that he was one of the people that was wounded by an arrow exactly like this two years before this current storyline. As the two put their differences aside, they learn that Popol’s Sabbath Stand is “self-piloting and long-ranged” but is only limited to simple attacks that help explain it’s relentless nature. So the two proceed lure Sabbath but in a series of unexpected moves from Sabbath’s end, but just when things seem decidedly bleak for Giorno, he manages to put his Stand powers to use in one of the more memorable and imaginative fight scenes in this episode to Giorno’s theme song thundering in the background for the first time and the ass-kicking Sabbath gets is a sight to behold. Of course, because of how different this Stand is, it doesn’t mean that Polpo is dead and most likely has no clue that this fight even took place.

Koichi now knowing that this other “arrow” exists and fearing that it’s most likely fallen into the wrong hands has to report this to Jotaro, but Giorno stops him from making a phone call about it knowing that there’s a crime syndicate of Stand Users within Italy and that calling for backup could easily put both of them in danger, but reassures Koichi that regardless of what him and Jotaro know about his heritage, Giorno is one of the good guys and also makes him keep his personal goal a secret. Koichi thus reassures Jotaro that Giorno isn’t a threat and promises to privately explain to Jotaro about it face to face before departing. The next day, Giorno is welcomed by the grotesquely obese Polpo into the “Passione Syndicate”, but is officially assigned to Bruno’s branch. Of course, Giorno isn’t just going to let Polpo get away with killing that poor janitor by So he secretly uses his Golden Wind Stand powers to do something clever & hilariously fucked-up to Polpo involving a Banana, but let’s just say Giorno uses Polpo’s gluttony against him in the worst way imaginable… the episode ends when Giorno gives Bruno proof of surviving Polpo’s test and takes Giorno to meet his Team while telling him that all the members are Stand Users themselves.

Our Take

Another amazing episode. Shadow Sabbath’s portrayal was a legit threat, and the battle was done great. Plus it was also nice to see various call-backs to previous events from the Jojo past seasons especially with Koichi’s knowledge and experience regarding the “Arrow”. And to avoid spoilers, The despicable and disgusting death of Polpo was hilarious and satisfying to see, and shows you that despite having inherited the heroic nature of the Joestars, when you commit injustice in front of him, Giorno can be just as ruthless as his father Dio.

This is supposedly the last time we ever see him, but at least he and Jotaro’s purpose in the story helped fans of Part 3 and 4 ease themselves into part 5 while acknowledging the awareness of Giorno’s existence. To better explain how Giorno is tied with the Joestar family bloodline, It’s established that in the world of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, vampires exist. And if you don’t remember the events of Jojo Part 1 Phantom Blood and part 3 Stardust Crusaders, It was properly explained after Dio out of desperation attached his severed head to the corpse of his adopted brother Jonathan Joestar during the end of Jojo part 1, (the vampires in the Jojo universe can do that) Dio was presumed dead, but in reality was imprisoned underwater for 100 years, and after being freed from imprisonment during the ’80s, Dio slowly recovered before enacting an elaborate revenge scheme against the remaining Joestar descendants during the events Stardust Crusaders, But between that time Dio was recovering and starting his revenge plan, It’s heavily implied and now reconned that Dio may have indulged into his own selfish, murderous and lustful desires while recovering during the ’80s which further explains how Giorno is both Dio and Jonathan’s son and yet somehow not a Vampire.

Now that this “Bizarre” backstory of how Giorno is a Joestar is out of the way, I can’t wait to see the rest of Bruno’s “Passione” crew and what they can bring to the table in the next episode.