DU Episode 2
Summary
The criminal Angelo arrives at the Higashikata residence dressed as a milkman, aiming to have Aqua Necklace possess Tomoko or her son. At the same time, details of his murder-rape of three young boys are revealed. Tomoko notices something strange about the bottle of milk he gives her and sees that it is ajar. She asks for a new bottle and he curses, choosing to vent his frustration on a bystander and his dog. Angelo instead has his Stand infiltrate the plumbing of the Higashikata residence. While Josuke discusses Angelo and his Stand with Jotaro on the phone, Aqua Necklace enters Tomoko's body. However, Josuke notices it and manages to imprison Aqua Necklace in a bottle by having Crazy Diamond punch through his mother and break the bottle at the same time, then repair the bottle and heal Tomoko.
Aqua Necklace is now trapped and Josuke is waiting for Jotaro to come. However, when Ryohei comes back from his night shift and Angelo recognizes him, the criminal transforms Aqua Necklace into cognac, knowing that Ryohei always had a drink after his night shift. When Josuke is distracted by Jotaro's arrival, Ryohei drinks the fake cognac and is killed by Aqua Necklace. Josuke tries to pummel Aqua Necklace in anger, but it escapes. Then Josuke heals his grandfather but it is too late for Ryohei, as even Crazy Diamond cannot bring back the dead. Josuke vows to avenge his grandfather and become the town's protector in Ryohei's stead.
Three days later, while raining, Angelo ambushes Jotaro, not knowing that he is a Stand user. Star Platinum punches Aqua Necklace but it is unaffected and infiltrates the house. Jotaro runs back inside to warn Josuke, but Aqua Necklace has opened every hot water faucet and merges with the steam. In its gazeous state, Josuke is unable to catch him in a bottle nor Jotaro is able to pin the Stand down. The entire house is soon filled with steam; Jotaro and Josuke are trapped. Josuke then breaks through a wall leading to the only isolated room and repairs it, but Angelo predicted this and turned on the humidifier.
Josuke swallows Aqua Necklace but was prepared for this situation. Having swallowed a shredded latex glove beforehand, Josuke repairs it and traps Aqua Necklace. Josuke and Jotaro pinpoint Angelo's location and corner him near a rock. When Angelo tries to dissuade them from killing him, Josuke instead fuses him to a rock forever, thus avenging his grandfather. The newly christened "Angelo Rock" becomes one of Morioh's biggest attractions, as Jotaro remarks that Josuke is a pretty crazy guy.
Appearances
Manga/Anime Differences
- New flashbacks to Angelo's past crimes, including the killing of three young boys cut from the previous episode, is included.
- Angelo is shown right away that he is the new milkman while the manga only revealed it after Tomoko noticed the opened bottle.
- Josuke is seen playing Oh! That's a Baseball '99, the 1999 version of the game seen in Stardust Crusaders, on a Nintendo 64. In the manga, he owns a Super Famicom and the game isn't displayed.
- Incidentally, he also has his Stand playing on the Jaguars team.
- When Josuke and Jotaro see that Angelo turned on the bathroom's faucet, one glove is missing between two scenes; hinting at Josuke's trick to trap Aqua Necklace.
Commentary
The Stand, Aqua Necklace, has a nature to change, always halfway between water and some sort of flowing vapor, so animating the key frames for it was quite difficult. But it was well worth the effort as the final result nicely represents how dangerous this opponent is. I think our Aqua Necklace exudes a certain terror.
It’s also in episode 2 that Josuke uses his “dorarara” for the first time and since we are at the beginning of the story, we also made him swear to protect the city in the first 15 minutes. That’s how we raise the stakes for Part 4 and set up the essential components. I think these first two episodes are wonderful, their structure making it so they link perfectly. The series director, Toshiyuki Kato, also in charge of directing this episode, managed to tie everything together. Personally, I would have done this: it’s raining, people are dying, then, once Angelo dies, the sky clears up. It's this kind of direction detail that I would have appreciated, though it would have been difficult. It reminded me how directing techniques can vary from person to person.Trivia
- This is the first episode to feature an opening that isn't animated by Kamikaze Douga, instead opting for traditional animation.
