Stardust Crusaders - Episode 1
In the year 1987, Joseph's Japanese grandson Jotaro Kujo discovers that he is "possessed" by an evil spirit. Joseph and the fortune-teller Muhammad Avdol visit him in Tokyo and reveal to him the existence of the power called "Stand". Meanwhile, an ancient evil has returned from Phantom Blood
Summary
Several years after the events of Part 2, a group of treasure hunters retrieve a coffin from the ocean off the coast of Africa with the name DIO written on it. Sometime later, the boat is discovered by the Speedwagon Foundation void of its passengers, with the coffin too being empty.
In the year 1987, 17-year-old delinquent, Jotaro Kujo, grandson of Battle Tendency's main protagonist, Joseph Joestar, is sent to prison after beating up three armed men and a trained boxer. Despite Holy's insistence, he refuses to leave, claiming that he is possessed by an evil spirit. To demonstrate, he takes a prison guard's gun and shoots himself in the head, but the bullet is stopped by a mysterious floating arm that only he and his mother can see. Holy mentions that his grandfather also possessed similar powers.
Joseph arrives in Japan with a mysterious partner and is greeted by Holy. The three head to the prison, where Joseph confronts Jotaro and asks him to leave the jail cell. Jotaro refuses at first due to his "evil spirit" and takes the pinky off Joseph's prosthetic hand to prove its danger. Joseph reveals his partner to be an Egyptian fortune teller by the name of Muhammad Avdol, who also reveals a spirit of his own. Avdol's spirit manifests itself as a humanoid with a bird-like head and the ability to produce flames, which he calls Magician's Red. The spirit launches a projectile of flames that pin Jotaro against the back wall of the jail cell. Having no other choice, Jotaro releases his spirit and overpowers Magician's Red, grabbing it around the throat which causes visible marks on Avdol's own neck. Joseph exclaims that the clarity of Jotaro's spirit's appearance shows that it is of great power. In response, Avdol proclaims that he would have no choice but to hospitalise Jotaro, and proceeds to use a particular move dubbed "Red Bind". This wraps Jotaro is hot, coil-like flames which aim to suffocate him. This leads to another statement from Joseph, explaining how suffocation – edging to unconsciousness – causes a person's 'spirit' to dampen and fade. However, Jotaro smartly kicks a table towards the cell's toilet, causing an eruption of water which puts out Magician's Red's fire. Jotaro is free, and leaves his cell to finish off Avdol, but not before the latter halts the fight after pointing out that he had accomplished his goal of removing Jotaro from said cell.
The group leaves the prison and, at a local cafe, Joseph demonstrates using his Stand, Hermit Purple, by creating an image of DIO by smashing a camera. He tells the group that the sudden appearance of their strange manifestations had erupted from the recent resurrection of the Joestar arch-nemesis, Dio Brando, who is now referred to simply as DIO. Joseph also reveals that this link is likely due to the fact that DIO had managed to take over Jonathan Joestar's body, causing a "curse" to fall on the Jonathan's living descendants.
Somewhere else, DIO lies in the shadows, sensing that the group had been watching him with Joseph's Stand. As one of DIO's victims is dead on the stairs, DIO testifies that this may be fate, and that he must erase such an unfortunate destiny for himself. He then walks into the darkness, proclaiming that he has already made his move to stop the Joestars from reaching him.
Appearances
Credits
芦谷 耕平
Yuji Tsuchiya
Yoshinobu Ando
Yuzuru Jogashima
Etsushi Mori
Masahiko Komino
Hiroshi Tanabe
Ryousuke Senbo
Masato Hagiwara
Kimitaka Ito
Megumi Honda
Kohei Ashiya
Akie Muratsukasa
Shunji Suzuki
Toshiharu Sugie
Ryozo Sugiyama
Takenori Tsukuma
Hideyuki Sugiura
Megumi Itoi
Manabu Imura
Yuriko Ishii
Shinpei Koikawa
Hiroshi Tatezaki
Masashi Nomura
土屋 友次 (Key)
安藤 義信
城ヶ 島譲
森 悦史
小美野 雅彦
田邉 博
泉保 良輔
萩原 正人
伊藤 公祟
本多 恵美
芦谷 耕平
村司 晃英
鈴木 俊二
杉江 敏治
杉山 了蔵
津熊 健徳
杉浦 英之
糸井 恵
井村 学
石井 百合子
鯉川 慎平
館崎 大
野村 雅史
西村 彩
Megumi Tonegawa
Kaori Saito
Yuu Kaneshiro
Keiko Watanabe
Takayuki Nakao
刀根 川恵
斉藤 香織
金城 優
渡辺 恵子
中尾 高之
Sinaion
Snowdrop
Studio Toy Box
Studio GAO
SINAION
(株式会社スノードロップ)
スタジオToy Box
スタジオGAO
david production
Takahiro Okawa
大川 貴大
Hiroyuki Moriguchi
Shota Sugimoto
Yusaku Nagahama
Yurie Hama
Rie Takahashi
Chie Nakagami
森口 弘之
杉本 将太
長濱 佑作
浜 友里恵
高橋 梨恵
中神 智絵
Triple A
FAI Studio
Eslite Animation
Rocket Vision
Office DCI
Triple A
FAI
誠品動画
ロケットビジョン
office DCI
渡辺 藍希
檜垣 賢一
P. Taweeporn
Puavaranukroh Taweeporn
Music
Manga/Anime Differences
- Rather than appearing at the end, the discovery of DIO's coffin appears at the beginning of the episode.
- A scene is added, showing Holy talking to officers in the police station before they escort her to Jotaro's cell.
- In the anime, Jotaro is seen reading Baoh in his cell instead of Shonen Jump. This is much like when Joseph reads it in the first episode of the adaptation of Part 2.
- In the anime, when Jotaro is pinned against the wall by Magician's Red's Red Bind, he kicks a table that hits a toilet and frees himself. In the manga, Jotaro kicks the toilet itself.
In other languages
| Language | Title | Translation |
|---|---|---|
 Japanese |
悪霊にとりつかれた男 | A Man Possessed by an Evil Spirit |
 English |
The Man Possessed by an Evil Spirit | |
 Spanish |
El hombre poseído por un espíritu maligno | The Man Possessed by an Evil Spirit |
 Portuguese |
O Homem Possuído por um Espírito Maligno | The Man Possessed by an Evil Spirit |
 French |
Le possédé | The Possessed |
 German |
Der von einem bösen Geist Besessene | The One Possessed by an Evil Spirit |
 Hebrew |
הגבר הרדוף על ידי רוח רעה | The Man Possessed by an Evil Spirit |
 Arabic |
الرجل الممسوس بالروح الشريرة | The Man Possessed by the Evil Spirit |
 Italian |
L'uomo posseduto da uno spirito maligno | The Man Possessed by an Evil Spirit |
Commentary
To be precise, one must know that an anime uses three different frames for lips synchronization. For this episode, we went up to four frames. This is extra work for the key animator, for an ultimately discrete result. We then went back to normal for the remainder of the series, except the close-ups chosen by the director.
With this series, we sought to reach a Western aesthetic by observing animation processes used in foreign series and movies. In fact, to apply too many "anime-esque" tropes would have worked against JoJo. It was already the case in the first series, but some motions were still not realistic enough. The goal of this season was thus to improve this aspect as much as possible.
Regarding the animation, we had to manage 12,000 drawings like madmen. That was crazy. (laughs) But the benefit (if there was any?) was mainly towards Magician's Red's flames. In the end, everyone survived (laughs), and I am very satisfied with the first episode. It is a major work and a long series, and we had to jump into the fray and have a good start. Mission accomplished.Gallery
Opening panorama
DIO's coffin salvaged from the ocean
Treasure hunters attempt to open the coffin
Panorama of Jotaro Kujo lying in his cell bed
Jotaro tests his "evil spirit"
Star Platinum catches the bullet
Holy Kujo hugs Joseph Joestar
Holy tickles her father in public
Joseph visits his grandson's cell
Avdol enters to force Jotaro out
Star Platinum fully manifests
Avdol activates his Stand ability
Jotaro puts out Magician's Red's flames
Joseph explains the death of Jonathan Joestar at the hands of DIO
Joseph reveals DIO's portrait
DIO in his mansion
Trivia
- The books that Jotaro read in his cells are inspired by real life books and real-life people.
- The Book of the Dead (死者の書, Shisha no sho) by Ginobu Orikuchi (折口疑夫, Orikuchi Ginobu). It is inspired by The Book of the Dead by Shinobu Orikuchi.
- ESP: esper's counterattack (ESP エスパーの逆襲, Esupu esupā no gyakushū), authored by W. Shatner (W・シャトナ, W shatonā) and translated by Joji Takei (武井乗児, Takei Jouji). The author and translator are inspired by William Shatner and George Takei who played in the TV series Star Trek. The title of the book itself is inspired by the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan's Japanese title: "スタートレックII カーンの逆襲".
- Mysteries and Magic (神秘と魔術, Shinpi to majutsu) by James Houdini (ジェイムズ・フーディニ, Jeimuzu Fūdini) and translated by Atsuko Amarata (粗股宏子, Amarata Atsuko). James Houdini is inspired by Harry Houdini.
- Occult Science (オカルト科学, Okaruto kagaku) by Issac Houston (アイザック・ヒューストン, Aizakku Hyūsuton) translated by Junsan Nirasawa (韮沢潤三, Nirasawa Jyunsan). The author and translator are inspired by inspired by Isaac Newton and Junichiro Nagisawa.
