JoJo’s Part 5 Episode 12

The Second Mission from the Boss

In this week’s episode of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 5: Golden Wind, Giorno Giovanna, Leone Abbacchio, and Pannacotta Fugo head out to Pompeii as part of their second mission from the boss. These three are searching for a key to an unknown vehicle which is hidden somewhere near the dog mosaic.

Meanwhile, the rest of Bruno Buccellati’s squad, Narancia Ghirga, Guido Mista, and himself, are staying back at the safehouse to protect the boss’s daughter, Trish Una, until the other three return.

I would say that in a future episode we’re going to see the three who stayed behind have to fight off a stand user who comes searching for them, but then again I don’t think JoJo’s has ever had multiple plot lines happening side by side. However this may just be due to the fact that the JoBros typically don’t split up.

Anyway, this episode introduces the next antagonist of the series and begins Fugo’s introductory arc in which both his background and stand are revealed. After Fugo, the only of the main characters left is Trish, and as I mentioned last week, I’m not sure she has a stand yet.

Man in the Mirror

I don’t think his name has actually been given in the anime yet, but the new antagonist who appears is Illuso, a member of the hitman team which is trying to kidnap Trish. His stand is Man in the Mirror, and it works like some other stands we’ve seen in previous parts of the series.

Hanged Man in the primary reflection-based stand I can think of at the moment, but I’m almost positive we’ve seen another previous stand with a very similar ability to Man in the Mirror. By this, I mean the ability to pull unsuspecting opponents into a mirror-realm.

Once pulled inside the mirror, the victim is at the mercy of Illuso and Man in the Mirror, because the only living things inside the mirror-realm are those which Illuso expressly allows. This means that when Fugo is pulled into the mirror-realm, Giorno and Abbacchio are unable to save him.

What’s a bit strange to me is that stands also count as living things separate from their users in this scenario. A stand is the physical embodiment of a person’s fighting will, so you’d think that separating the two like this shouldn’t be possible, but apparently that’s not the case.

So, after being pulled into the mirror, Fugo is unable to use his own stand, which I’ll get to later on in this post, to directly attack Illuso.

But, while this may seem like a pretty good stand ability to have, it’s extremely situational, even more so than Formaggio’s Little Feet. Once the victim is pulled into the mirror-realm, Man in the Mirror has essentially fulfilled it’s purpose and is then your standard, mid-tier, punching ghost stand.

Now, that may not seem so bad, because at least Illuso has a stand to fight with while his opponent doesn’t, but we also need to take into consideration the setup for him to use his stand. If he were fighting inside a mansion with many mirrors, his stand would be great, but “out in the wild” it’s a different story.

The fact that he had to bring a mirror of his own out to the ruins of Pompeii and then set it up in a completely suspicious spot shows just how impractical his stand is for many situations. That said, perhaps random mirrors in the middle of nowhere are actually the best way to use his stand because they attract attention and lure in unsuspecting victims.

Either way, unless Man in the Mirror can use any reflective surface, like Hanged Man, and not just mirrors, I don’t think he was the right hitman for this particular job.

Pannacotta Fugo

Before I get into my thoughts on Fugo’s stand, let’s just take a moment to go over his backstory. Fugo had a very similar life to Narancia, and perhaps that’s part of the reason why he acts as an older brother to him. They both grew up in wealthy families and were later disowned by them.

However, that’s where their similarities end. While Narancia seemingly wanted to be a street thug, Fugo was actually very successful in school and managed to get into a university at the age of thirteen. Unfortunately for him, it was during his time at university that Fugo’s life spiraled downward.

He had always had intense fits of rage, but up to this point in his life he was able to keep himself under control. But, the unwanted advances of one of his university professors pushed Fugo over the edge and he ended up severely beating the man with an encyclopedia.

After this, he was disowned by his family, dropped out of university, and used his intellect to make a living for himself on the streets through theft and trickery. Unlike Narancia, who dropped out after elementary school, Fugo is highly intelligent, and this may be another reason for him looking after Narancia.

Eventually, Fugo was recruited by Buccellati and became a member of Passione after undergoing Polpo’s initiation ceremony and becoming a stand user. The name of his stand is Purple Haze.

Purple Haze

Fugo’s stand, Purple Haze, is more of a physical embodiment of his rage than of his fighting spirit. Aside from simply being able to punch things as most stands can, Purple Haze has capsules on its fists which break open and release a deadly virus into the air when it attacks.

Due to the nature of this stand ability, Purple Haze doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe considering all who are within its range will succumb to the virus. The virus is said to infect anything that comes in contact with it within 30 seconds, and death follows shortly after.

Because of the fact that his stand is so deadly and can potentially kill his friends if he’s not careful, Fugo only uses his stand if he’s in immediate danger, because otherwise it’s too risky.

It’s also important to note that the deceased also remain infectious for a small period of time before the virus dies off due to exposure to sunlight. However, while this stand is extremely deadly, its range is also extremely limited, meaning it must be close to its victims in order for the virus to be transmitted.

So, when does this stand seem to excel, and when does it not? If the bit about sunlight killing of the virus is true, then this stand would be much more powerful either at night or in a location which is permanently in the shadows. In such a place, the virus could continue to spread without dying off.

However, it’s likely that it’s not actually the sunlight that kills the virus, but either light in general, or simply being exposed to open air. This would mean that even indoors where sunlight isn’t present, the virus would still die off rather quickly.

It’s also important to notice that Purple Haze only has three of these virus capsules on each fist, which may mean it only has six shots at infecting its opponent in any given battle. If it uses up these capsules too quickly in a fight, it will be left defenseless.

Because of this limited number of uses and the fact that it’s a close-range AoE (Area of Effect) stand, I think the true best way to use it would be for self-defense. I assume that Fugo is immune to his own stand’s virus considering he’s likely always within its effective range, so preventing enemies from getting close enough to injure him would seem to be the best use of this ability.

If Purple Haze had a consistent way to attack enemies at range, then I would say that it could also be used offensively, but since that doesn’t seem to be the case, I’m sticking with this stand being better at defense. That said, I’m sure Fugo knows ways to attack enemies at range with this ability, I just don’t know how consistent they would be.

Either way, Fugo doesn’t have direct access to Purple Haze within the mirror-realm and so he’ll have to use that 150+ IQ of his to figure out a way to use his stand to defeat his opponent from beyond the mirror. Of all the fights in Part 5 so far, this one looks like it will be the most interesting by far.

Conclusion

What are your thoughts on this week’s episode of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 5: Golden Wind? Do you think Man in the Mirror would be a good stand to have? And, how do you think Fugo will be able to overcome his current ordeal? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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My review of the next episode is available here.