English Dub Review: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders “Judgement, Part 2”

“You ain’t never had a friend like me!”

Overview (Spoilers Below)

Corresponding with Polnareff’s third wish after being duped by a fake Genie that preyed on his grief, The Judgement Stand takes his time torturing Polnareff while declaring premature victory as he proceeds to create a clay zombie creature of Avdol that not only guilt-trips the shit out of Polnareff for the Hol Horse incident, but joins the fake Sherry in some brutal, wince-worthy scenes that would be on the same level of gore you’d expect from classic zombie films, and the Judgement stand even puts Silver Chariot Stand in a headlock while counting on the large wilderness of the Island to not be found by the rest of Team Joestar.

Just when Polnareff is ready to accept his fate, He’s suddenly saved by someone even I didn’t expect… the real fucking Avdol who makes one hell of a dramatic entrance! It turns out in a series of retconned flashbacks, Avdol managed to survive his encounter with Hol Horse as the presumed fatal bullet had only grazed his forehead and used his Magician’s Red’s fire powers to cauterize Centerfold’s stab-wound on his back and later took a plane from India to the Island after recovering. The Stand battle between Magician’s Red and Judgement is one of the most exciting and well-paced battles. Not just because of Avdol’s grandiose return, but it’s balanced with Polnareff finding personal closure towards his inner-demons, while the Magician’s Red Stand proceeds to whoop Judgement’s fake-genie ass, forcing him to retreat.

After the fight, Avdol suggests to Polnareff that Judgement’s user is close by and later notice of a piece of bamboo sticking out from the ground. Not being idiots, they later find Judgement’s user hidden below, and pull a series of crude pranks that force him to the surface, where Avdol properly deals with him while mocking his catchphrase. After reuniting with Team Joestar, Polnareff is shocked to discover in a comedic reveal, that they kinda knew Avdol was alive the entire time, but purposely kept Polnareff out of the loop so Avdol can recover from his injuries since knowledge of him still being alive would’ve put Avdol’s life at risk. But the episode ends when Avdol also reveals that he not only disguised himself as his father but used that disguised to purchase an exploration submarine in Joseph’s behalf to finish their journey to Egypt.

Our Take

Damn, Polnareff got trolled hard! But he sort-of had it coming. His quest for vengeance in early episodes made him blind-sighted at times, but they also trolled that Judgement Stand user just as good. It was also great that it cleared up some confusion that Judgement’s Stand user is named Cameo and not the Stand itself.

Part of me feels like this 2-part story would’ve been more interesting if Judgement turned out to be Avdol’s Dad’s stand, who was acting out of vengeance for his son’s presumed death. I think that idea alone would’ve added more dramatic tension & weight, but Avdol’s return and the Stand battle between the two, more than made up for it.

I’m curious where this could lead to next as they’re about to be stuck in a giant tin-can underwater with no means to escape. What could possibly go wrong?