Recap

BOINGO HOL HORSE COMBI

Iro’s thoughts

This was just like the Oingo Boingo battle, in that it’s incredibly stupid and chiefly from the villains’ point of view as they scramble to make the predictions of Boingo’s Thoth come true, with most of the tension being in wondering how Araki is going to put a twist on things to foil the bad guys. As I said during the previous OINGO BOINGO BROTHERS ADVENTURE episode, I really appreciate that JoJo can take these weird detours and have completely silly confrontations sprinkled about the serious ones. Not that JoJo isn’t always completely silly, of course, but I’ve always felt one of anime’s strengths as a medium is its ability to swap tones without feeling too jarring, and JoJo does this spectacularly.

We also get our first glimpse of Dio in a while, as he basically trounces Hol Horse with minimal effort in the episode’s prologue to remind us that he’s still the villain here, sitting on his throne like Dracula at the end of Castlevania. It also serves as decent shorthand to reintroduce Hol Horse’s powers, even if those powers consist of a fucking gun. Emperor is a fan favorite Stand, perhaps because it’s so ineffectual and simple when compared with stuff like Star Platinum or The World. Alas, this marks the last time we’ll be seeing Hol Horse, and in general a more serious turn to the show as we get closer to Dio’s castle.