GW Episode 21

The Mystery of King Crimson (キング・クリムゾンの謎) is the twenty first episode of Golden Wind and the one hundred thirty fourth episode of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. The episode covers from Chapter 519 to Chapter 523 of the original manga.

Bucciarati has decided to openly revolt against the Boss after he learns the Boss is trying to kill her daughter. However, his attack turns into a disaster as the Boss reveals King Crimson, an invincible Stand which can erase time and predict Bucciarati's every move.

Summary
The plot goes back to a few minutes earlier. While Bucciarati accompanies Trish to the belfry of the San Giorgio Maggiore church, Giorno nervously watches the position of his brooch and awaits the result of Bucciarati's operations. Sensing the brooch falling and guessing that it is moving to the crypt, he deduces that the Boss is on the move. Meanwhile, Fugo asks Giorno for a water bottle and then warns him that he must stay on the boat while Mista and Narancia begin to fight over a couple of sweets. Suddenly, the sweets disappear only for Narancia to realize he's already chewing on them while Fugo inexplicably finds himself drinking at the water bottle without remembering how he got it. Realizing that events have happened without anyone knowing how, Giorno understands that something is wrong. He tries to approach the church, only for Abbacchio to yell at him but immediately after Abbacchio also finds himself on the island. Giorno's phone rings and he answers, telling Bucciarati the whereabouts of the brooch but before Giorno can warn him, Bucciarati attacks and gets punched through the guts for his trouble.

Nonetheless, Bucciarati recovers from the shock of being punched through. Sealing his wound with a zipper to block King Crimson, he then elbows it away and turns to attack but King Crimson erases time again. It is revealed that in the erased time, the Boss and King Crimson witness the world collapse into a dark void and forecast Bucciarati's future actions. Evading Sticky Fingers' punch, King Crimson positions itself behind Bucciarati and lands a devastating karate chop. The former capo collapses to the ground and the Boss finally approaches the unconscious Trish, ready to end her life. Suddenly, the brooch sucks the Boss inside of it and Bucciarati understands that Giorno has used Gold Experience to clone the turtle Coco Jumbo and its Stand Mr.President. Realizing the invincible power of King Crimson but also seeing its limits and given courage by Giorno's action, Bucciarati wills his nearly dead body to move and opens a zipper to let the brooch fall into a pipe then shuts the zipper. Taking Trish in his arm, he then tries to crawl up the staircase to create as much distance between him and the Boss. Nonetheless, King Crimson has predicted the attack and moved accordingly to escape the duplicated Mr.President and now blocks Bucciarati's path.

King Crimson rises to attack but Bucciarati attempts a sneak attack, having detached his arm to strike the Boss from behind. Again, King Crimson erases time, seeing the fist fruitlessly land on a column and split it with a zipper. However, when time resumes, Bucciarati reveals that he thought further than King Crimson's ability. He quickly reattaches himself to the arm and uses the zipper on the column to evade King Crimson's attack, climbing up the ceiling and zipping into the beam, just in time to meet Giorno.

Giorno heals Bucciarati's wounds and peers into the crypt through the zipper. However, he suddenly notices that Bucciarati is dead as his lifeless corpse lets the zippers disappear despite Giorno's healing. Unbeknownst to Giorno, King Crimson is lurking near the hole and prepares to crawl out to finish off Giorno. Suddenly, Bucciarati's spirit warns Giorno to get the team and escape. Confused, Giorno then sees Bucciarati rising for real and reiterate his warning. Just as King Crimson is about to attack, Giorno heeds his companion's warning and uses Gold Experience to briefly transform his laptop into a flying fish, sending it crashing into a pillar to catch the team's attention. With too many witnesses present, the Boss prefers to retreat and praises Bucciarati's ability and luck.

Out of the church, the team seeks explanations for what has happened, to which Bucciarati reveals that he's officially betrayed the Boss. Giorno then suggests Bucciarati explain himself instead of going off alone, angering Abbacchio again for overstepping his bounds. Suddenly feeling unwell, Bucciarati collapses but more worryingly, Giorno sees that his hand has been impaled on a sharp spike without Bucciarati reacting. Anyway, Bucciarati clarifies that he's rebelled against the Boss's attempt to kill Trish and announces that anyone willing to come with him to descend the steps of the island shores. However, the entire team is frightened by the implications and shake in hesitance. Fugo is the first to really back away, arguing that they cannot survive with the gang on their heels.

But Abbacchio suddenly descends the steps, mentioning that Bucciarati is the only one he is at peace with. Moreover, Mista descends the steps too as he gives full confidence to Bucciarati's ability to defeat the Boss. For his part, Narancia is still paralyzed with fear and asks Bucciarati to order him to step on the boat. Bucciarati answers that this path has to be decided by himself and thus tells him to stay back.

The rebels depart while Fugo rants about the folly of his former teammates, but Narancia suddenly sees Trish's bleeding wrists. Understanding the pain of being betrayed, Narancia jumps into the water and swims to the boat, screaming at Bucciarati to let him aboard. Bucciarati, Giorno, Abbacchio, and Mista are happy to welcome him back, leaving Fugo alone. As he sees his companions leave, Fugo begins to regret his choice.

Nonetheless, Giorno is worried about Bucciarati's state. Meanwhile, the operative Squalo receives an order from the Boss to kill the rebels before they leave Venice.

Commentary
"Everything starts moving at once in episodes twenty and twenty-one, so it drove home how far we were in the recording. Saying farewell to Fugo was especially painful. The music, image, and voice performances created a truly moving story, and seeing Narancia's tears reminded me of his many moments with Fugo. I cried watching the episode."

- Sayaka Senbongi, Blu-Ray limited edition commentaries

"Fugo's decision to leave was a fair one, in my opinion. There are people who are called heroes, such as Giorno and the others, but Fugo turns out to be an ordinary person, so I really understood how he felt. To me, my “boss” is Yugo Kanno. When I think of it that way, there is no way I could betray my boss!"

- Daisuke Hasegawa, Blu-Ray limited edition commentaries

"1. Into King Crimson's World

In the manga, the collapse into King Crimson's world is drawn meticulously over three pages. Producer Nagai feels that the despairing music, the Stand activation sound effect, and animation did the oppressive feeling of the manga justice. "I watched it over and over after the scene was finished in post."

2. Editing King Crimson's World

It may feel like Bucciarati and Sticky Fingers's sequence contains more in-between frames, but it is actually the same as any other shot. Nagai says, "The cinematographers worked some real magic on King Crimson's world. I cannot thank them enough for what they do."

3. Colorful Emotions and Varied Expressions

Nagai points out that this episode features more varied expressions than any of the other episodes. The first half is all Bucciarati - with well-paced expressions and lines, despair turns to hope and determination. In the second half, the animation directors and chief animation directors worked hard to spotlight the team's distress, conflict, and sorrow.

4. Bucciarati's Smile

One shot in particular that Nagai cherishes is Bucciarati's smile after Narancia announces that he is joining him. "Shunichi Ishimoto did the layout edits himself. I got chills seeing the finished shot. He said that he struggled with it, but what an expression... I still have the file saved in my collection.""

- Urara Nagai, Blu-Ray limited edition commentaries