”Some people in this world do very strange things…”
What They Say:
“July 15th (Thurs), Part 1”
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
You know you’re in for a wild ride when the episode naming structure deviates from the norm.
From the get-go, the episode starts off by bouncing back and forth between characters and very specific times throughout the same day: July 15, 1999. We see Kira commuting to work (and getting stalked by his not-son), Rohan sorting through photos of possible people Kira could be disguised as, Josuke’s mom arriving home to an empty house, Koichi walking alone through the city… lots of different snippets of life all happening mere hours from each other. The fact that the moments are short and occasionally end on a cliffhanger are the main intrigue, but really what makes this style of storytelling work is the fact that they’re so disjointed on the surface, only further amping up the anticipation for some kind of inciting incident that brings all the events together under one cohesive narrative.
In the meantime, though, enjoy a homeless man that lives on an abandoned electrical pylon!
The actual “story” this episode revolves around an enemy Stand User that lives on an old pylon, rarely ever setting foot on solid ground for… reasons? From there, the episode falls back into the Jojo norm of over-the-top Stand battles between strange, strange people (and occasionally an alien when the time is right). Though that’s not to say that it makes for a boring watch by any means. Having Mikitaka join the bro-y duo that is Josuke and Okuyasu in a Stand fight is interesting in that he’s an alien, and not a Stand User. As such, the rules of Stands do not always apply to him—mainly the one stating that only Stand Users can see each other’s Stands. In this case, the enemy Stand known as Superfly doesn’t take on the form of a humanoid or creature, but rather, is an event triggered when others approach its territory.
This alone is enough to not only turn the tide of the fight, but give just enough of a twist on the old formula the series has established so far. Plus, any excuse to work Mikitaka back into the story is fine by me.
In Summary:
July 15th (Thurs), Part 1 is the perfect mix that covers both the overarching plot as well as villain-of-the-week story. With Kira’s identity close to being revealed to the rest of the gang, quite the number of wheels have been set in motion, all while maintaining the standard amounts of hyperactive energy expected from the series.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll