SC Episode 43

The Mist of Emptiness, Vanilla Ice, Part 2 (亜空の瘴気 ヴァニラ·アイス その2) is the forty-third episode of Stardust Crusaders, the nineteenth episode of the Egypt Arc, and the sixty-ninth episode of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. It covers the second half of Chapter 240 through half of Chapter 244 of the manga.

Summary
Vanilla Ice has disintegrated Avdol, forcing him into Cream's mouth, and is now targeting Polnareff and Iggy. An enraged Polnareff sends out Silver Chariot to attack Vanilla Ice, but the latter disappears to avoid most of Silver Chariot's flurry of thrusts. In an effort to hit his foe, Silver Chariot causes enough damage that the other half of the Joestar Group can feel tremors. Mourning his fallen friend, Polnareff narrowly avoids Cream which disintegrates a pillar. Realizing that Cream has turned into an invincible and invisible ball of destruction that's flying after them, Polnareff and Iggy must flee. Spotting the front door, Iggy initially wants to exit the mansion but Polnareff rouses his fighting spirit and both of them go to the second floor instead. Luckily for them, they've just avoided Cream which was posted right at the entrance. Still determined to fight, Polnareff has still no idea how to beat the enemy Stand.

Polnareff and Iggy arrive at the art gallery but see the gaping hole on the floor, meaning Vanilla Ice is there. Although they cover each other's back, Polnareff is ambushed from below and Vanilla Ice takes his left foot. Polnareff is crippled, but Silver Chariot still represents enough danger to force Vanilla Ice into hiding. In his fury, Polnareff causes as much destruction as he can to the room. When Vanilla Ice comes out, he then sees DIO coming from upstairs. Rushing to his side, he tells his master to not bother fighting. In reality, "DIO" is a clone made of sand that tries to attack Vanilla Ice from behind. Unfortunately, Vanilla Ice sees through the trick as the real DIO wouldn't have come to a place where the sun's rays are still visible. After an attack, Vanilla Ice singles out Iggy and proceeds to violently beat him up for making him strike at DIO's image. Polnareff sends Silver Chariot to save Iggy but again Vanilla Ice retreats inside of Cream. Inspired by Iggy, Polnareff nonetheless manages to ambush Vanilla Ice when he comes out of Cream, having scattered sand around the room and following Cream's trail. Vanilla Ice is stabbed in the mouth but to Polnareff's horror, he keeps on living. Cream grabs Silver Chariot's arm and almost breaks it, forcing Polnareff to let go. Cream then destroys Polnareff's thigh and Silver Chariot's rapier, creating a huge disadvantage. Despite Cream's attacks, Polnareff does manage to bring Iggy to his side. Polnareff sees Cream making circles around the room which gradually shrink; he thus realizes that his enemy is trying to sweep the room to eventually reach him. After securing Iggy, Polnareff tries to dig into the floor and then drags himself to safety. However, he is now too weakened to accomplish both escape plans. When Cream narrowly hits him, Polnareff realizes that his death is inevitable and thus instructs the dying Iggy to stay low and then warn the others of Vanilla Ice. As Cream closes in, Polnareff salutes his canine friend one last time.

Commentary
"Mr. Ishimoto was one of the key animators for this episode, hence the distinctive dark lines. Overall, it's a real success.

Iggy and Polnareff are presented at their most chivalrous, in a fight to the death against Vanilla Ice. I believe we can say without exaggeration that he is the most dangerous Stand user we've met until now. He is truly cruel and formidable, has a strong aura and has a knack for making everything tense. It's truly impressive.

We had particularly worked on Cream's appearances, and they ended up especially good. The Stand is very beautiful but also perfectly terrifying, a real fatal beauty. The poor Iggy has suffered a lot. Against an imposing adult who repeatedly kicks at full strength, the result can only be horrible. As an animal lover, I find this scene sickening.

In the scene where Vanilla Ice blindly closes up on Polnareff, some neat concentric circles would have been great. But because of the layout of the room, we had to content ourselves with ovals, a shame. Polnareff then pronounces his last words and we see an earring falling to the ground, as an invitation for the next episode. Mr. Kato was in charge of the storyboard and it's his style to finish like this. Cutting at this moment was a good idea. In the end, it was really an intense episode, we don't have time to be bored. Half an hour passes in an instant."

- Naokatsu Tsuda, Blu-Ray limited edition commentaries