Episode 22

A True Warrior (真の格闘者) is the twenty-second episode of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. It is also the thirteenth episode of Battle Tendency. It covers Chapter 98 to Chapter 102 of the Battle Tendency manga.

Joseph Joestar is about to begin a chariot race to the death against Wamuu. Joseph's Ripple and wits are thus pitted against Wamuu's wind powers and his genius as a warrior.

Summary
The details of the chariot race are explained to Joseph. Although he and Wamuu are driving chariots, the race remains a battle to the death. During each lap, weapons will be placed on a specific column on the tracks for the drivers to catch and wield against their opponents, the first of which is a warhammer. Already Joseph plans to take it. The moon disappears behind a cloud and its reappearance will signal the start of the race. However, JoJo then steps down his chariot to clear the start of pebbles and the moon reappears: the race begins.

Joseph manages to get into position at the last moment and starts his chariot but Wamuu's chariot is obstructed with rubbles: as usual, JoJo has performed an underhanded trick and sabotaged the tracks while everyone was focusing on the moon. However, while Joseph takes the hammer, Wamuu grabs hold of the pillar itself and throws it into Joseph's chariot, forcing JoJo to fall down. Wamuu threatens to crush Joseph or attack him should he evade from the sides, but JoJo manages to use the hammer as a pole to avoid getting trampled by Wamuu's horses and jumps on the horse.

But, Wamuu has already hidden inside a horse and grabs his foot only for the boot to come but then uses his "Holy Sandstorm". But, JoJo then quickly ties Wamuu's arms with Ripple-infused reins to slow the rotation of the arms. Ultimately, he lands on his chariot relatively unscathed while Wamuu's arms are heavily damaged and is shocked to have had his ultimate technique beaten. Nonetheless, Wamuu is a warrior-born: gouging his eyes out as a psychic lock to regain his spirits, the Pillar Man reveals his horn to read the wind instead.

As the second lap offers a pair of crossbows, JoJo ends up picking one that is too big for him to use. Wamuu uses the wind to guide his shots with the smaller crossbow, managing to hit one of JoJo's horses. Joseph makes the mistake of trying to keep the central fire between him and Wamuu, allowing the warrior to guess his position and hit his sides with a deflected shot. As Joseph is thrown to the ground, the momentum of the fall luckily allows him to cock his crossbow without the others noticing. JoJo takes the shot but seemingly utterly fails and appears cornered. However, as Wamuu is standing where JoJo was when he was hit, Joseph has used the same rebound trajectory to hit the Pillar Man from behind, although the much more powerful crossbow and the Ripple make it so the ball pierces Wamuu's chest.

Wamuu falls and is heavily disadvantaged, but as a last ditch effort, throws his severed arms at Joseph. They end up driving him into the walls of the central pillar and choking him, and the exhausted Joseph cannot move or produce the Ripple. For his part, Wamuu unleashes his Final Mode: the Atmospheric Rift.

Commentary
"Shin Miwasa was in charge of the storyboard. Having been a director on Initial D, he's knowledgeable in 3DCG work. So he also had to take care of modeling the arena; double trouble (laughs).

The steel spheres are really superb. They fly so fast you can barely see them (laughs). I love the conversation between Kars and Lisa Lisa. They are both spectators of the fight between Joseph and Wamuu and give commentary as twists come. They are on an emotional rollercoaster (laughs). It's particularly enjoyable to see Kars lose his composure.

On the whole, this episode is really exciting. There are lots of classy action scenes here and there. Wamuu is an honorable and particularly interesting character. Since the beginning of the series, I was apprehensive of the moment we'd have to adapt this chariot race. But in the end, we managed to go through it without ordeal."

- Naokatsu Tsuda, Blu-Ray limited edition commentaries