“Toshikazu Hazamada (Surface)”
Fridays at 12:30 pm EST on Crunchyroll
Josuke and Koichi’s investigation leads them to a dangerous Stand-user at their own high school.
Iro’s thoughts
We’ve got another standard-ass JoJo episode, with our heroes being attacked by an ENEMY STAND, full of the usual twists and turns. Notable though is that DU took seven episodes for a conflict to pop up at the crew’s high school – and even then the conflict was outside of school premises – which hopefully should assuage some of the fears that JoJo would turn into a generic high school show or something. I’m not sure anyone who knows JoJo actually thought that would happen, but there you go.
As per usual for a villainous character, Hazamada is delightfully scummy and petty, attacking people basically just because he can. Last week’s baddie was also someone using their Stand for personal gain at the cost of others, and this is a common theme throughout Part 4. We haven’t had a directly 100% heroic Jojo since Jonathan, I’d say, but it makes for a great contrast with our heroes, who possess… basic moral fiber. The bad guy isn’t defeated this time because Josuke outwits him, but because he was a dick and Josuke was a nice guy.
Which is not to say there isn’t outwitting this week. My man Koichi saves the day twice with Echoes’ sound ability, tricking Hazamada both times by using his own assumptions against him. Josuke gets a shot in at Surface by throwing a glass shard and then reforming the bottle around his hand, which is going to be a relatively common application of Crazy Diamond’s powers. Boiled down to storytelling basics, this sort of back-and-forth isn’t fundamentally different from Stardust Crusaders, but because everyone’s Stand abilities are weirder it makes everything seem way more interesting.
So, I mean… yep, this is sure some JoJo. I hope you’re enjoying it.
Dorarara-bservations
Show-OffSurface is named after an American R&B group from the 80s.- Echoes is now in the OP, as we knew it would be eventually.
- The manga Josuke finds in Hazamada’s locker is Rohan’s.
- The girl from the OP makes an early cameo this episode. Spoiler: it’s Yukako Yamagishi, and she’ll be in the next couple episodes.
- The dude from last week says that now he’s working as a debt collector, which is probably the most constructive possible use for The Lock.
The Glorio Blog 
Am I the only one who actually preferred Stardust Crusaders (especially the second half) to what came before it? In particular, I found the episodes centered around Iggy, especially those leading up to his death, to be honestly, deeply moving, and for me, at least, they elevated that part of the series above anything else I’ve seen to date. I mention this only because when I read reviews, everyone seems to habitually slag on Stardust Crusaders!
By following a heavily formulaic monster-of-the-week format, Stardust Crusaders lacks some of the bombastic personality of Parts 1 and 2, and because it’s the most famous part it gets hit by most of the backlash. I personally say that SC’s first half is a bit dull, but it picks up once Araki starts experimenting more with Stands, and that creativity drives basically the entire rest of the series.
Agreed I found the first half of SC too formulaic and the stands rather lack luster. The second half though….awsome.