DU Episode 15

Let's Go to the Manga Artist's House, Part 2 (漫画家のうちへ遊びに行こう その2) is the fifteenth episode of Diamond is Unbreakable and the eighty-ninth episode of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. It covers part of Chapter 321 through Chapter 324 of the manga.

Summary
Under Heaven's Door's influence, Koichi goes back to Rohan's house, visiting Rohan in his studio. Koichi then sees Rohan finishing drawing a page at astonishing speed, as Rohan was made enthusiastic by reading Koichi's files. Wanting to use every bit of Koichi's memories, the mangaka then rips off yet another page out of Koichi, making him remember that Rohan is a Stand user. As Rohan plans to keep taking pages from Koichi to inspire his manga, the two hear a doorbell ring. It is Josuke and Okuyasu and Koichi slips away to ask for their help. Unfortunately, the safety lock written inside Koichi makes him unable to warn them and the duo seemingly leaves. However, after Koichi goes back up to Rohan's studio, Okuyasu barges in from a window, as the duo saw that something was wrong after seeing Koichi's untreated cut on his hand. Rohan manages to transform Okuyasu into a book because of his superior speed, then calls out Josuke, aware he is hiding behind the door. The mangaka then converses with the disabled Koichi and Okuyasu about what Josuke could possibly do next, forcing Josuke to act quickly by threatening to make Okuyasu immolate himself. Left with no choice, Josuke goes in the room while closing his eyes. He runs toward Rohan, trying his best to keep his eyes shut, but Rohan uses Koichi's knowledge and taunts Josuke about his hair to make him open his eyes. It backfires as Josuke is literally blinded by rage and doesn't even notice the manuscript as Rohan is violently punched into a bookshelf, releasing Okuyasu and Koichi. Rohan asks why is Josuke so enraged, prompting Koichi to reminisce Josuke's story. When he was four years old, Josuke fell ill, on their way to the hospital, he and his mother became stuck in the middle of a blizzard, but a mysterious 🇺🇳 helped restart the car, saving Josuke and inspiring him to copy his hairstyle and take extreme offense to anyone who insults it. Rohan, inspired by this story, demonstrates his commitment to his work by attempting to write it down for later use, but Josuke interrupts him and resumes his beating until he retired. Pink Dark Boy is announced to be put on a one-month hiatus for "personal reasons".

Commentary
"Here’s an episode that generally makes people dizzy. Its rather rhythmic progression requires a very strict directing, but thanks to the eagerness of the whole team, the quality of the animation falls nicely into place, and every scene gives off the vigor that is expected of it. You can practically feel Yasufumi Soejima’s handprint all over the storyboard for this episode; I would even say that it's thanks to his overflowing style that Rohan’s eccentric personality translates so well to the screen and that the episode is so fascinating.

The shots concerning Rohan’s manga, Pink Dark Boy, were handled by Reki Taki, who was one of Hirohiko Araki’s former assistants. This also includes the page announcing the publication hiatus. There’s nothing to say, his quality is remarkable.

Finally, a subject that has much been written about, even at the time of the manga, about the boy who saves Josuke in the flashback. The famous role model. Since he appears in this episode, I’ve decided to ask Mr. Araki what this was about before launching the production. Who is he? But it looks like the truth is forever sealed… For this scene, we settled for a style imitating old voiceless movies. I feel the end result really pleased the audience, which is the important part."

- Naokatsu Tsuda, Blu-Ray limited edition commentaries

Trivia

 * This is the first episode since Episode 11 that has had a new opening premiere while maintaining the previous ending.
 * In addition, this is the first episode to feature the chase opening.
 * The Part 3 Joestar Group's scene uses the artstyle from the previous Anime season.