JoJo’s Part 5 Episode 22

JoJo’s Part 5 Episode 22

The “G” in Guts

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 5: Golden Wind is back from last week’s break, and with the return of the series comes a new OP and ED. And, unfortunately, I have to admit that I liked the previous OP and ED more than these new ones.

The new OP song just isn’t as good as Fighting Gold by CODA, and the art isn’t as stylized, which makes it feel less unique. As for the ED, the art isn’t really all that different from the previous ED, but the song is slightly worse. Maybe the ED song will grow on me, but I don’t think it will overtake the original.

This week our JoBros decide to stop at a restaurant in Venice before attempting to escape from the city. By now the Boss’ special protection squad has likely been notified of Buccellati’s betrayal, and will likely ambush him and his team on the sea when they make their escape.

However, little do Buccellati and his team know that they’re already being observed by two members of the Boss’ special team while they “fill their guts” with lunch. As far as I can tell, that one line by Buccellati is where the title of this episode comes from, and it’s a pretty bad title if you ask me.

What does the phrase “filling their guts” really have to do with the episode at hand? I get that they’re having lunch in the episode, but that’s such a strange way to phrase it that you’d think it would hold some significance. But, no.

And, as for the “G” in guts, I can only assume it stands for gangster (or gangstar if you’re Giorno Giovanna). I’ll give the title for this episode a 3/10. They tried to be clever with it, but it turned out to be a worse title than when they just name the episodes after the enemy stand of the week.

The Next Clue

After determining that it would be safer to stay in Venice for a short while rather than being intercepted by the Boss’ men on the open sea, the JoBros get down to business discussing their next step. Now that the Boss’ stand ability has been revealed, Buccellati believes him to be invincible.

However, just because he’s invincible doesn’t mean he can’t be defeated. His invincibility only comes into play when he’s “in control” of a situation. This means that if he’s taken by surprise, he could theoretically be killed before he even realizes he’s come under attack.

In one of my previous episode reviews I mentioned how Mista’s stand is the perfect one for defeating the Boss simply because once the Boss is shot, it’s too late for his “invincible” stand to take effect. But, if Buccellati’s team is to surprise the Boss, they first need to learn his identity.

This is where Trish comes into play. I think at this point it’s safe to say that Trish is a member of Buccellati’s team because she has nowhere else to go. And, luckily, she isn’t merely dead weight. Not only does she have a yet unseen stand, but she’s also remembered a clue which might lead to the Boss’ identity.

When Trish was younger, her mother once told her that she had met her father in Sardinia, which is an island off the west coast of Italy. This is the only information they have to go on, but apparently the JoBros find it to be much more conclusive than I do.

Personally, I’d question what this information really has to do with the Boss’ identity at all. Just because you know he was in Sardinia 15 years ago doesn’t necessarily mean that’s where he’s originally from. The fact that even back then, before becoming the Boss of Passione, he was hiding his identity, just seems to reinforce this.

But, no matter. Sardinia is going to be the next stop on the JoBros’ journey across Italy after they escape from Venice.

Squalo’s Clash

And, just as Buccellati’s team is about to go back to enjoying their lunch after discussing the new clue about the Boss’ identity, an enemy stand attacks! This time it’s a shark-like stand called Clash which is remotely controlled by its user, Squalo.

Squalo is a member of the Boss’ special protection team, along with his partner, Tiziano. However, despite being part of a two-man team, Squalo attacks on his own first because he’s confident that his Clash will be enough to take down at least one of Buccellati’s men.

I should also point out that this is slightly different from when antagonists in JoJo’s simply throw themselves at our heroes one-by-one, when they would have a much better chance working together. Yes, Squalo attacks on his own first, but Tiziano is there with him as backup if things go south.

Squalo's stand, Clash, in Narancia Ghirga's tears from the anime series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 5: Golden Wind
Clash in Narancia’s tears

So, how does Clash work? As I mentioned, it’s a shark-like stand, which means it’s tied to the water, or at least it’s tied to any exposed liquid. It originally appears in Narancia’s soup, but then also jumps to other liquids such as glasses of water and wine, Narancia’s tears, and even his blood.

My guess for how this stand is going to be defeated is that it’s going to be trapped inside a bottle. Theoretically, if it’s inside a water bottle and then the cap is put on, it can’t jump to another liquid because the container it’s in is sealed.

But, when it attacks Narancia, we see it bit off his tongue, stopping him from warning his teammates about the impending threat. And, at the same time it bit off his tongue, Clash also planted the next enemy stand in Narancia’s mouth.

Tiziano’s Talking Head

While Clash’s name doesn’t really have all that much to do with the stand itself, Tiziano’s stand, Talking Head, is the perfect name/ability combination. Talking Head attaches itself to the tongue of its victim and is then able to control what they say, and do to an extent.

So, not only was Narancia’s tongue bitten off by Clash, but once Giorno repaired it, he still wasn’t able to effectively warn his companions about the enemy stand that attacked him. Whenever he would try to warn everyone, Talking Head would make him say the opposite of what he wanted.

Eventually Narancia starts to recognize what’s happening, and so tries to use body language to explain what’s going on to his friends, but that’s when we learn that Talking Head can control his body too. However, it seems that its true power lies in its ability to make him say whatever it wants.

Squalo and Tiziano from the anime series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 5: Golden Wind
Squalo and Tiziano

If Talking Head could really control all of Narancia’s body at will, then it would be a much more powerful stand than it seems to be at present. For now, Narancia can still cover his mouth with his hands, and even control most of his actions.

Further, since Talking Head seems to need to be implanted into its victim’s mouth, that’s just another reason why it’s not all that powerful. It’s a bit too situational, and considering it doesn’t appear to have any offensive capabilities, I’m not sure how viable it really is.

That said, because it was Narancia who was attacked by this stand, and because Mista is the one trying to figure out what’s wrong with him, it’s no wonder that it worked as well as it did. If Buccellati or Giorno were involved, we can be sure that this issue would be solved fairly quickly due to their superior problem solving skills.

Conclusion

So, how do you think Buccellati’s team is going to defeat Squalo and Tiziano? I’ve already explained how I think Squalo’s Clash is going to be taken down, but I’m not entirely sure about Tiziano and Talking Head. Maybe Buccellati will use Sticky Fingers to zip off Narancia’s tongue so the stand can be defeated.

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My review of the next episode is available here.

One Reply to “JoJo’s Part 5 Episode 22”

  1. The reason Clash and Talking Head is paired is because their respective bands were at the height of their popularity together.

    The boss’ elite guards don’t have to be super lethal, just protect the boss (unlike the assassination squadron). Talking Head can sow misinformation and turn someone in a team into a complete liability, though a smart/prepared team can realize what’s going on and work accordingly.

    I will admit that the OP doesn’t have as much oomph as FIGHTING GOOOOOOOOLD.

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