JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders - Battle in Egypt

BigDumbOhFace Jun 20, 2015

10

If you're watching this season without watching at least the previous one then what the hell is wrong with you.  I was aggressively waiting after Part 1 finished because I hoped that they'd just go straight until it finished.  When it first came out, I watched it ASAP.  However I was too exciting in the meantime and just read the manga instead.  Promise no spoilers. Story Previously, Jotaro Kujoh along with his friends finally made it to the last leg of their trip from Japan and finally made it to Egypt.  There, they must travel all the way to Cairo, find the greatest anime villain ever, Dio, and defeat him once and for all to save Jotaro's mother and perhaps the entire world.  Honestly, if you pick up the show at this point you really wouldn't be missing much.  They go over the main plot numerous times for those weirdos that just felt like tuning in at the middle.  There's a great blend of action but definitely hits of comedy here and there to lighten up the mood.  When there is a bit of comedy it's sometimes used to show how badass Jotaro is. Animation There is pretty much no difference between this and the previous two seasons.  There is the same female fan service character models.  There is the homoerotic poses.  There is the total change in color palette whenever something intense is happening.  One interpretation of a character design I loved is The World's color and how awesome it was.  One great aspect I loved is how they varied the opening once DIO was introduced.  They incorporated his Stand perfectly into the opening and it was just so awesome I was marking out.  The reason why is that it's not a full 10 from me is the heavy amounts of censoring.  There many are amazing scenes, although gory, but felt ruined because there's a giant black spot right in the middle of the screen.  Even Jotaro smoking required half his face to be censored. Sound There is not much spectacular here.  Everything is practically the same.  The voice acting is superb and comical whenever Joseph speaks his English.  The only difference would be the opening.  At first, I didn't like it too much because it felt like it had no direction and felt like it was all over the place.  After listening to it a bit and trying to figure it out I concluded that it was a way to telling how dire and intense the story has become since the group is so close to accomplishing their goal.  Afterwards, I just started jamming out.  One thing I loved was how they went about DIO's catchphrase and just had it on loop and fast forward along with Jotaro's Star Platinum going ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA.  Also there was touching music near the end when particularly heavy tearjerking moments came by.  It was a great touch showing two sides of the story. Characters Right off the bat we are introduced to a reluctant new hero named Iggy, who is actually a dog with Stand powers.  He was always a pretty unlikeable for me but definitely did a 360 at the end.  Each character definitely has their own charms that's definitely showcased  throughout this part of the entire series.  Joseph has his playfulness, Avdol has his righteousness, Polnareff has his chivalry, Kakyoin has his honor, and Jotaro in all his badass glory.  There's also DIO, who is by far my most favorite anime villain.  Everybody fits so well and plays off each other very well. Overall You should honestly only be watching this series because you've watched the previous one and just want to know what's DIO's Stand and how they defeat him.  It continues exactly where it left off in terms of quality.  The ending was pretty heart warming and concluded very well.

TheAngryBears Dec 11, 2015

8

If you came here for a review of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders as a series overall, well you might be surprised like I was that the first and second season of Stardust is considered 2 separate entities. Thankfully, my review covers Stardust as a whole, so if you have time to kill, check it out. The rest of this review will be devoted to discussing this second season specifically. Also part 1 of this review is here: http://www.anime-planet.com/users/TheAngryBears/reviews/21907 So, season 2 specifically then: Wow. Just wow. Overall the enemy Stands are more creative, the cast does more creative methods to not only use their own Stands, but also defeat other Stands, and Jojo: Stardust finally starts delivering on the "Bizarre" and "Adventure" parts of its title. Combat scenes are very satisfying, every Stand is bringing its A-game, its visually very fun and the music choices and sound design are fantastic. This is what I wanted Stardust to be, going into it. This second season will forever sit with me that sometimes I have to give a series a chance to surprise me, because Battle in Egypt was what made me go from respecting a well made but mediocre series to riding in the front seat of the Jojo hype train. Hell it even does a good job of making the series villain Dio an actual, authentic threat. Which is surprising because prior to this season his screentime is minimal. Its not perfect, but nothing is perfect. I wish the "comical" dog sidekick character Iggy was changed to be more interesting, or removed outright. I know he was in the original Manga but I'm sorry: Iggy isn't a good character. Hes a misanthropic dog who farts on Polnareff and chews coffee flavored gum. Thats it. At least the spoiler-free version of it. But even with the spoiler scenes in context he feels very pointless. But that nitpick doesn't affect the overall package of Battle of Egypt, or its overwhelmingly over the top, wicked-kick ass fireworks rock-and-roll levels of fucking awesomely satisfying conclusion. This is the cherry of a bland sundae, and its a great cherry. I'm glad I sat through Stardust, all 48 episodes of it, just to witness this ending. You owe it to yourself to check it out. But if you skip a few of those season 1 episodes, I won't blame you.

ChaosAlike Mar 27, 2016

10

Well, I was definitely NOT expecting this to be ten times better than Stardust. I was thinking, since I already did a review of Stardust Crusaders, I should do something a little bit different.  In-Depth Character Analyisis Time! For the record, I will not be talking about Jotaro, Kakyoin, Joseph, Avdol or Polnareff. Their main plots and traits have already been established in full. I will be talking about the Nine Egyptian Gods as well as Iggy and DIO, in order by episode number. Spoilers, by the way. Episodes 25 - 33 Starting off with our first new character, Iggy was kind of an uninteresting character compared to some of my other favorite characters, but he took a full 360 degree turn in some of the later episodes. His stand, The Fool was an interesting one, but again, not as good as something like Silver Chariot or Magician's Red. Next up is N'Doul, who currently is one of my favorite Jojo characters EVER. He is blind, which makes his stand all the more awesome. His stand is made of water and is designed to help him hear his enemies from farther away. The fight with N'Doul was definitely one of the best in my opinion, what with him being tricked by Avdol and then being defeated by The Fool and Star Platinum, with his death being all the more upsetting after Jotaro said he could've joined their team, had he not been working for DIO. Following the N'Doul fight, the crusaders arrive in Cairo, unfortunately having Kakyoin and Avdol being sent to the hospital after the previous fight. While heading to the hospital, Joseph and Polnareff encounter the Oingo Boingo brothers, which was also a really good fight. Boingo's stand, Thoth is personally one of my favorites, with all the crazy artwork and the humor of the whole story. Light-hearted,  yes, and it spawned some of my favorite moments from the whole series (my favorite being Polnareff's comment about Jotaro taking a shit behind a rock) I only watched Part One of Anubis and a half of part two, but a stand that manipulates it's user is definitely a mysterious one. Chaka did not have much established, but I wish he did because like N'Doul or Mariah, he had a lot of potential for an interesting storyline. Bastet's Mariah also has to be one of my favorite parts of Battle in Egypt. Joseph and Avdol get stuck fighting Mariah and her magnetism stand, Bastet. It also was a hilarious turn of events seeing Avdol and Joseph being stuck together due to her stand's power. It was overall very amusing, and Mariah, while not having much established about her, still is one of my favorite Jojo villains. Set's Alessi, Polnareff and Jotaro turn into children and chibi Silver Chariot is just so darn cute. I also didn't watch this one, but I'm getting around to it. For some reason, I didn't even want to watch this one at first until my sister told me what episode it was. Episodes 34 - 41 D'Arby The Gambler, also one of my favorite episodes. The ending with Terence D'Arby being too scared by Jotaro to make the call while playing poker was badass on Jojo's part. Although, the one thing I can complain about is the censoring. Why does Jotaro need to be censored while smoking? Other characters don't have the censor while smoking, so why now? Stay consistent, guys.  Next up for bid is definitely my favorite Battle in Egypt episode, Hol Horse and Boingo! With Boingo's brother, Oingo, now in the hospital due to his face blowing up, one of my favorite Jojo villains takes on the big brother role to try to kill those dang Joestars. Thoth's predictions this time around were some of my favorites, like Hol Horse drop kicking some woman in the neck and the two becoming rich or him sticking his fingers up Polnareff's nose in order to distract him from being caught with Hol Horse. The ending was also censored, since our poor idiot cowboy's watch was slow, and ended up being shot in the face with his own bullets, which was a gory scene. As he is taken off to the hospital, Boingo promises his big brother he wants to use his powers for good, not evil. It's an actual heartwarming moment when Boingo throws off the box he hides under during the episodes, only to be attacked by Iggy at the very end. 10/10 episode, guys. The ending was spectacularly fun and lovable as well. The Guardian of Hell, Pet Shop was a sad episode after all the comic relief episodes before this one. In short, Iggy's leg gets ripped off during battle, which I cried over. Pet Shop was definitely a menacing villain for being a bird and all. Still a great and dramatic fight, more or less. D'Arby The Player, another filler episode. The Crusaders run into Terence D'Arby's younger brother, Daniel. Now that Kakyoin is back, (Oh yeah, he's back by the way.) Daniel challenges them to a battle of wits in the form of video games 'F-Mega' and 'Oh, That's a Baseball!'. Since Jotaro has never played a video game in his life, he gets help from Kakyoin, the video game master and Joseph, the cheat. They bet their souls and won, just like they did in the fight with Terence D'Arby. Poor guys. Just like Oingo and Boingo, they can never seem to catch a break. Episodes 42 - 48 The Miasma of The Void, Vanilla Ice was definitely the scariest on this list. In short, Avdol and Iggy both die trying to save Polnareff while fighting Vanilla Ice. A definite tear-jerker for sure. I cried hard during this episode, considering Avdol was one of my favorites from day 1. Last up is Dio's World. Kakyoin dies, still keeping his honor and loyalty for Jojo, which left me melted in a sad puddle after watching this. The fight with DIO was jaw droppingly awesome, considering DIO can stop time with his stand, The World. I loved the 'ROADAROLLA DA' from DIO (where the hell did that come from?) and the ORAORAORA and MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA from Star Platinum and The World. The ending also melted my heart with Polnareff and the two Jojos heading their separate ways. It was so heartwarming and touching after all they had been through together, remembering their friends for a lifetime. Battle in Egypt definitely had some interesting plots and characters, and some of my favorite episodes as well. If you didn't watch Stardust, they explain the plot of the last 20 episodes pretty clearly before this part. Give it a watch, it's worth your time.