Episode 15

“

These guys have already faced the Ripple―two thousand years ago! (こいつらと波紋は！二千年前に出逢っている！)

”

—Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli, BD/DVD Volume 5

A Hero's Proof (ヒーローの資格, Hīrō no Shikaku) is the 15th episode of season one of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The Animation. It is also the sixth episode of Battle Tendency. It covers the second half of Chapter 66 through Chapter 70 of the manga.

The three Pillar Men Kars, Esidisi and Wamuu have awakened. Caesar and Joseph challenge the Pillar Men's champion Wamuu and quickly discover the gulf in their respective strength.

Summary

Caesar's bubbles surround Wamuu

Caesar battles Wamuu for killing Mark, using his Bubble Launcher technique to surround the Pillar Man in Ripple infused bubbles. Once Wamuu realizes he is facing a Ripple user, he uses his mysterious headgear to unleash a gust of wind that bursts all of the bubbles. However, his attack is not yet over, as the movement created hundreds of small tornadoes that shred Caesar's skin, leaving him incapacitated and temporarily blinded in one eye. His boasts that he need not see to fight the Pillar Men amuses them, as Ripple users of two millennia past said the same things to them before they killed them. Kars and Esidisi head to the surface, allowing Wamuu to finish Caesar off as the only Ripple user left. However, Joseph makes himself known, proclaiming that he has developed his own special Ripple technique using a pair of clackers that he channels the Ripple through.

Wamuu allows Joseph to fight, slicing through his wrist to the artery to make the battle last only a minute. His first attack, the Ripple Clacker Volley, appears to miss its mark, embedding a steel ball into a pillar behind Wamuu. This is all part of a ploy to engage his other technique, Clacker Boomerang, where he has thrown another Ripple empowered pair of clackers behind Wamuu, catching onto the original clacker, and landing a blow on Wamuu. Angered, Wamuu allows Joseph to continue to strike him with the clackers while he prepares his counter, the Divine Sandstorm. Wamuu claims his attack has been hindered by his eyesight and a pillar blocking Joseph, but Joseph is left barely alive. Playing dead, Joseph tries to run away, seemingly stranding Caesar and Speedwagon, but it is all a ploy to lure Wamuu away before he can kill the others.

Wamuu and Esidisi implants rings around Joseph's aorta and windpipe

Joseph takes Wamuu on a minecart ride through the ruins, intending to use a stick of dynamite to destroy him and knock the cart off the tracks, but Wamuu anticipates these events and sends them flying, intending to kill Joseph for his insolence. However, Joseph proclaims that he could possibly be even stronger in a month's time for a rematch, intriguing Wamuu, who decides to let Joseph live to get stronger with the Ripple in only a month, implanting a "Wedding Ring" in Joseph's body around his aorta that will release a deadly poison in 33 days' time, unless Joseph can get the antidote held in his lip piercing by killing him in battle. Any attempt to forcefully remove the ring will also release the poison. Esidisi, who has come to see what has been holding Wamuu up, also decides to enter in on the wager (after consuming the stick of dynamite before it explodes), implanting another poison-filled ring around Joseph's windpipe, with the antidote in his own nose piercing. Kars, however, passes on the game, and the Pillar Men leave in search of the Red Stone of Aja. Joseph passes out from the strain of the battle. Caesar, who has been watching the whole time, realizes Joseph's resolve and promises to also get stronger with him.

Appearances

Characters

Joseph Joestar

Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli

Robert E. O. Speedwagon

Mark

(Corpse only)

Wamuu

Esidisi

Kars

Santana

(Mentioned)

Mentioned only

Credits

Staff

Script (脚本)

Shogo Yasukawa

ヤスカワ ショウゴ

Storyboard (絵コンテ)

Taizo Yoshida

吉田 泰三

Episode Director (演出)

Masaya Sasaki

佐々木 真哉

Animation Director (作画監督)

Takaaki Sekizaki

関崎 高明

Animation Director Cooperation (作画監督協力)

Fumiaki Kouta

光田 史亮

Key Animation (原画)

Masahiko Maruyama
Rumi Miyata
Kei Sakai
Takeshi Okada
Manabu Kurihara
Satoru Yamashita
Tamotsu Ikeda
Ryou Kodama
Hiroshi Matsumoto

丸山 匡彦
宮田 瑠美
酒井Kei
岡田 武士
栗原 学
山下 悟
池田 有
児玉 亮
松本 弘

White Line

Cha Myoung Jun

Cha Myoung Jun

---

Gachi Production
Sung San Production

GACHI prodction
星山企画

2nd Key Animation (第二原画)

Aya Nishimura
Shunichi Ishimoto
Megumi Itoi

西村 彩
石本 峻一
糸井 恵

White Line

Kang Sul A
Kwan Hyun Ae
Sim Myung Ju

Kang Sul A
Kwan Hyun Ae
Sim Myung Ju

---

Gachi Production
Jumondo
MSJ Musashino Production

GACHI prodction
寿門堂
MSJ武蔵野制作所

In-between Animation (動画)

Core
Jumondo
White Line
MSJ Musashino Production

コア
寿門堂
WHITE LINE
MSJ武蔵野制作所

david production

Sae Akama

赤間 紗枝

Design Cooperation (デザイン協力)

Takaaki Sekizaki
Gorou Murata

関崎 高明
村田 護郎

3DCGI

Akiko Morinaka

森中 亮子

David Production

Kayo Kudou
Yasufumi Soejima

工藤 かよ
ソエジマ ヤスフミ

3D Modeling (3Dモデリング)

David Production

Yasufumi Soejima

ソエジマ ヤスフミ

Digital Works (デジタルワークス)

David Production

Takahiro Kamei
Kayo Kudou
P. Taweeporn

亀井 隆広
工藤 かよ
Puavaranukroh Taweeporn

Manga/Anime Differences

• Joseph's mention of how his Ripple was repelled by Santana's skin is omitted.
• Joseph's explanation of the advantage of his Clacker Volley technique is moved to when he plays around with his clackers instead of after throwing a first set of clackers at a pillar.
• Joseph's internal monologue when Wamuu prepares to launch his attack is omitted.
• Wamuu's discovery of Joseph's plans to hit the brakes of the cart and throw a dynamite stick at him are exposed in reverse order compared to the manga.
• Caesar catches up to Joseph in time to witness his persuasion attempt on Wamuu in the anime, compared to the manga where Caesar only sees the end of the conversation.

In other languages

Language	Title	Translation
Japanese	ヒーローの資格	A Hero's Proof
Chinese	英雄的資格	A Hero's Proof
Chinese (Hong Kong)	主角的資格	A Protagonist's Proof
English	A Hero's Proof
Spanish	Prueba de heroísmo	Proof of heroism
Portuguese	Os Atributos de um Herói (Crunchyroll) Requisitos de Herói (Netflix)	The Attributes of a Hero Hero Requirements
French	L’aptitude des héros	The aptitude of heroes
German	Die Prüfung eines Helden	The Trial of a Hero
Hebrew	מבחנו של גיבור	A Hero's Trial
Arabic	دليل البطولة	Hero's Proof
Italian	La prova di un eroe	Proof of a hero
Czech	Důkaz hrdiny	Proof of a hero
Danish	En helts værd	A hero's worth
Polish	Dowód bohaterstwa	Proof of heroism

Commentary

Commentary

“

The back-and-forth between Joseph and Wamuu was really something (laughs). The Pillar Men were gathering such a great cast I was worried. Did the characters really fit with the actors? However at the end, Akio Ootsuka (Wamuu), Keiji Fujiwara (Esidisi) and Kazuhiko Inoue (Kars) got into it and had fun completing our particular requirements. Sometimes they proposed their own vision of the tone to have with one line. They constantly were in a good mood.

The climax of the episode is without doubt Wamuu's Divine Sandstorm. I think the visual effects are stunning. We entrusted the scene to Fumiaki Kouta who was in charge of the box fight between Jonathan and Dio in the first episode.

I work well with Taizo Yoshida, who was in charge of the episode's storyboard. We didn't have to make many corrections during production. He's talented and consistent, which is a great help.

”

—Naokatsu Tsuda, Blu-ray limited edition commentaries

Gallery

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