Stranger. Danger.
What They Say:
Let’s Go To The Manga Artist’s House, Part 1
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Kishibe Rohan—manga-ka artist in Morioh and self-insert for Jojo author himself, Hirohiko Araki. So of course you’re guaranteed a good time for Rohan’s introductory episode.
With Hazamada and Koichi being big fans of Rohan’s work, the two head over to the author’s house—conveniently located at the outskirts of Morioh. While Hazamada hasn’t had a major appearance since his episode as a villain, his sudden re-introduction as a friend of Koichi works well if only because the two are so different from each other. Koichi’s noble boy-next-door vibe bounces perfectly well off Hazamada’s crudeness that’s different from Okuyasu or Josuke’s demeanor if only because he’s just as short as Koichi.
Once the two are invited in by the initially creepy, but well-meaning Rohan, the episode begins delving into some horror tropes, as has become the norm for Diamond is Unbreakable. Rohan and his house as a whole feel warm and inviting enough, being expressed with very light pastel colors to bring home a non-threatening first impression. But of course, things aren’t always what they seem as Rohan’s eccentricities become more and more out-there, resulting in different kneejerk reactions from Hazamada and Koichi. The back and forth the two have about leaving early versus staying longer is akin to stranger-danger “very special episodes” from the ‘80s, and the vibe continues throughout as Rohan’s reveal as a Stand User demonstrates.
Being a talented author in his own right, we learn of the unspoken fears and strife of a manga-ka, insisting on cranking out one hit after another at the risk of experiencing an inexplicable sense of unaccomplishment otherwise. It is with this heavy (and rather pompous) burden that Rohan makes use of his Stand—Heaven’s Door—turning Hazamada and Koichi’s bodies into literal pages Rohan can read through and alter at will. This sense of perversion as well as its immediate ability to erase such memories from its victim’s mind continues to bring home the stranger-danger vibe of the episode, which definitely wouldn’t have been originally thought of in this day and age but works with the occasionally aged theming and influence that the series now relishes in. My only gripe with these scenes being that very little animation is used when seeing Hazamada and Koichi’s newly book-ified selves—slow pans being used over actually animating the weight and flowy-ness you’d expect from having your skin peeling back into layers and layers of pages—an uncharacteristic move for the anime.
Creep-factor aside, we are given some reassurance come the episode’s end with bros Josuke and Okuyasu—their appearance alone letting us know that help is on the way sooner than later.
In Summary:
Even with some lacking animation during key scenes, Let’s Go To The Manga Artist’s House, Part 1 was still a worthy introductory episode to fan-favorite Rohan. He emits a sense of creepy, impending doom different from other villains thus far and closes out the episode in a purposefully jarring manner that leaves viewers wondering just how our heroes will get out of this latest fix.
Grade: A
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
