Episode 12

The Pillar Man (柱の男) is the twelfth episode of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. It is also the third episode of Battle Tendency. It covers Chapter 54 through Chapter 57 of the manga.

Summary
Joseph is confronted by one of Stroheim's men, Donovan, but manages to subdue him, learning that Speedwagon is still alive. He sneaks into the Nazi Base after attempting to seduce the 🇺🇳 by dressing as a girl. When that failed, he knocked them out and put on their uniform. Meanwhile, Stroheim manages to awaken the pillar man, naming him Santana, after the winds of Mexico. To test him, Stroheim sends a vampire after Santana, which he absorbs into his body to feed itself. To Stroheim's shock, Santana manages to escape his cell by twisting his body through the air vents and launches himself into the body of one of his men. The possessed Nazi becomes bloated and begins firing bullets from his finger. Stroheim also worries that he is responsible for creating Nazi Germany's most powerful enemy. Just then, Joseph, who had managed to sneak into the base, reveals himself and tears out some of Stroheim's hair. Santana emerges from the body he had taken over and begins firing more bullets from his fingers killing all the soldiers and scientists in the room. Joseph infuses Ripple into Stroheim's hair and throws it into the air, causing them to deflect all the bullets. Joseph removes his coat and confronts Santana.

Manga/Anime Differences

 * The scene where Joseph beats up some Mexicans is removed from the anime.
 * Donovan doesn't reveal his knife's hidden function to unravel.
 * When taking his jacket off in the anime, the Joestar Birthmark can be seen near the back of Joseph's neck; in the manga, it isn't seen since the concept of the birthmark wouldn't appear until Stardust Crusaders.
 * Donovan getting a magnetic compass in his eye (with Joseph calling him pathetic) and the note that says "Hello Adolph!" on the cactus he's tied to is cut.

Commentary
"This is the tacos episode (laughs)! The story itself doesn't really move forward since it's mainly about Santana slaughtering the German army, but a lot of stuff is worth seeing.

Notably, Joseph disguising as a woman in an oh so crazy scene. He's walking with an up and down motion, a little like a character from an old video game. You also find out fabulous Stroheim's famed shouts in episode 11 (laughs). He's voiced by Atsushi Imaruoka who gave everything at work, just like the rest of the cast. The recording sessions are as always vivacious "He is in the air duct!"

A good notable animation sequence: the time when the German soldier possessed by Santana gets shot.

Globally, Episode 12 works because of the diversity of the cast's personalities; everything ties together well. For the physical releases, we had to remake several plans so that the experience will be different than that of the TV broadcast."

- Naokatsu Tsuda, Blu-Ray limited edition commentaries

Trivia

 * The intro to the song played during Joseph's Ripple hair attack is similar to the intro of the song, Owner of a Lonely Heart, by Yes.