JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind – 33

「そいつの名はディアボロ」 (Soitsu no Na wa Diavolo)
“His Name Is Diavolo”

Get ready to brush the sweat off your brows because now you can finally tell everyone who Diavolo is and show everyone you know pictures of Diavolo cause he’s here! At long last, we have a full view of Diavolo as he truly is, and the anime is truly a marvel for making sure that he looks intimidating for a burly man with a fancy mesh outfit, long pink hair adorned with a green watermelon seed pattern, and Yves Saint Laurent Rouge Volupte Shine Lipstick in Fuchsia Denim #19. In the process, we also see what Polnareff has been up to since Dio’s death and what exactly Bruno can do now that he’s lost almost all his capabilities.

A round of applause for David Productions for what they did with Diavolo. I remember that, between his appearance in the manga and how he was created in the recent video games, Diavolo’s design left much to be desired. King Crimson had some wonderful build-up as an insanely broken Stand that completely wipes the floor with anyone and anything in its path with its time-jump ability. But when Doppio takes off his shirt to unveil the full body of the mafia boss Diavolo, its such an awesome way of revealing who the true boss really is that it seemed like less of a “whoa” moment and more of a “huh” moment where you’re wondering how Diavolo can be intimidating now when he’s such a fashion nightmare. Fast-forward to this Friday, or King Crimson over to Friday, and his revelation hold far more weight to it in anime form. It was genuinely exciting to see how freaky Diavolo looks with pale green eyes and a bulked-up build that make him look far scarier and imposing as a true threat to Polnareff and Team Buccialati. They still leave in the mystery and uncertainty behind his appearance and identity that made the build-up in the manga as rewarding as it is here, but it’s all the more satisfying to see that Diavolo looks as freaky as the parts of him that burst out of Doppio when he’s aggravated. It also helps that Konishi Katsuyuki has a deep and rough enough voice to give Diavolo a harsher edge to him while getting gloriously hammy with King Crimson.

And now, a tribute to one of our funniest Stardust Crusaders; Jean-Pierre Polnareff. After sticking his neck out to defeat Dio and indulge him in the humorous prank of activating The World to carry him down the stairs to make him feel like he’ll never get to the top of the staircase, Polnareff was still trucking. Even through two different artwork evolutions, he’s not looking too shabby after fighting Dio. During the Stand arrow trade that Enya had happily taken advantage of, Polnareff had gone out of his way to investigate just how rampant their use had been to have caused chaos in the streets of Italy. Unfortunately for Polnareff, his encounter with the man who had spread around these powers, Diavolo, ended with him losing most of his limbs. It never sat right that they’d bring back characters from past JoJo parts to torment them and it’s been a re-occurring theme for returning characters to get the short end of the stick. Koichi from Part IV would end up jobbing for Giorno to make his powers look cooler, Joseph gaining a marginally weak Stand in Part III was followed up with Part IV’s revelation that he was unfaithful to Suzi Q. Speedwagon had died a bachelor instead of being surrounded by a family that loves and cherishes him as much as we all did. And now, Polnareff is made quick work of twice by Diavolo. He could catch onto attacking Diavolo by making the most of the lag that King Crimson has, but I can’t help but feel bad for Polnareff with how much misfortune the man must go through, which directly interferes with his lifelong dream of creating Polnareffland. Instead, he is stuck down by King Crimson and uses the Stand arrow as a last ditch effort to fight back using the chaotic Stand that is now Silver Chariot Requiem.