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

We’re back to the conclusion of Jojo’s third 2-Parter

Overview (Spoilers Below)

As Jotaro continues to put up with Dan of Steel’s Bullshit for the sake of saving his Grandfather, Kakyoin and Polnareff’s Stands have shrunken & arrived inside Joseph’s brain via-earlobe where Dan’s “Lovers” Stand along with the flesh bud is located, but Kakyoin later purchases a TV so they can move to a quiet place away from people. When the two make it to Joseph’s brainstem, Polnareff makes the first move to take out the invading Stand. However, it’s not without consequence as the “Lovers” Stand has the ability to use Joseph’s brain cells to disguise itself as Kakyoin’s Hierophant Green and puts the two in an overwhelming disadvantage by making several copies of itself which leaves both Kakyoin & Polnareff confused on which is the real Stand they’re supposed to stop.

In-between Kakyoin & Polnareff’s battle against Dan’s Stand, a good chunk of the episode is spent on several scenes with Jotaro being subjected to various indignities such as shining Dan’s shoes, scratching his back, taking a rough beating from him, and to reach an even bigger low as a villain, Dan forces Jotaro to steal from a jewelry shop. Grant George really sells in his dub performance as Dan and excels at making every scene with him both unsettling & revolting, but there’s excellent build-up in these scenes because much to Dan’s shock, Jotaro never loses his cool because we the audience know at this point that Jotaro wouldn’t just bend to the will of douche-monkey like Dan and goes as far as to bind his time by writing in a small notebook every terrible thing Dan has subjected him to so he can make him pay later.

In Joseph’s brain, Kakyoin manages to use Hierophant Green to find and attack the real “Lovers” Stand and force it out of Joseph’s body, giving Joseph the chance to finally destroy the flesh bud in his brain with a Hamon attack. Realizing he’s lost, Dan tries to divert Jotaro’s attention so his “Lovers” Stand can enter him instead, but is caught by Star Platinum thanks to its quick reflexes and sharp eyesight. In an act of cowardice & desperation, Dan attempts to have his “Lovers” Stand enter in a young girl’s ear, but is stopped by Hierophant Green’s tentacle, which Kakyoin attached before it escaped immobilizing Dan in the process. The episode ends with one of the greatest ass-kicking moments in Anime history as Jotaro finally gets his revenge for all the undignified crap Dan put him through by unleashing one hell of a cathartic beatdown on the shitbag and before leaving, removes the specific notebook page of everything Dan forced Jotaro to do, while uttering the most unexpected catchphrase that only Jotaro can make epic.

Our Take

While the last episode built up the suspense and tension of Dan putting Joseph in mortal danger, this episode excels as a satisfying conclusion for this two-part arc. For how Dan’s Stand was defeated, it was a clever way for them to take the “Fantastic Voyage” method without having anyone to be shrinking but it does expand on the rules alittle with the reveal that certain Stands are capable of changing their size in terms of scale with enough concentration.

I must admit that it was painful to watch Jotaro being abused, But Jotaro paying back everything Dan owed him was just a satisfying way to end the episode. According to fans of the Manga, this specific beatdown was so Iconic, only 3 pages were devoted to just Jotaro giving Dan his well-deserved ass kicking but with that obstacle over, It’s now back to Team Joestar’s continued journey to Egypt.