The Game Master (Episode)

The Game Master (ゲームの達人) is the eleventh episode of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. It is also the second episode of Battle Tendency. It covers Chapter 49 through half of Chapter 53 of the manga.

Summary
As expected, Straizo recovers from Joseph's attack and uses the same high pressurized blood laser eye attack Dio used. Joseph dodges this attack using a mirror trick prepared in advance and, manages to attack Straizo with the Ripple. Straizo absorbs it using a scarf woven from beetle muscles, but JoJo manages to sneak some grenades onto his person. Despite being blown apart, the vampire pulls himself together. Smokey asks Joseph if he has some plan, but Joseph simply says to run away and does so. Straizo catches up with them in a bridge and takes a woman hostage in order to goad JoJo into facing him. After Joseph becomes provoked, Straizo once again attacks with his laser, but JoJo manages to reflect it back at him using Ripple charged shot glasses. Joseph finishes Straizo off with a punch and sends him flying off the bridge. Before he falls though, Joseph grabs his hand. He tries to get information out of him, but Straizo warns JoJo about a Pillar Man who will soon awaken before self destructing himself with his own Ripple.

Meanwhile, it is revealed Speedwagon is alive and is being held captive in Mexico, where a German military general named Rudol von Stroheim interrogates him about the Pillar Man, which they have excavated from the cave and intend to revive. Holding a group of Mexicans prisoner, Stroheim arranges a blood feeding to the Pillar Man. In the panic, a boy volunteers, and the major orders the other prisoners executed. Meanwhile, JoJo also makes his way to Mexico, unaware that he is being followed by a strange assassin.

Manga/Anime Differences

 * A short scene with Joseph and Erina is cut, skipping back to the end of the previous episode.
 * A short scene with Smokey being asked by a woman about what's happening in the cafe, only to be dismissed as crazy when he describes how Straizo can shoot from his eyes and didn't die when shot at with a tommy gun, is cut.
 * A short scene where Joseph is confronted by a man named Bruto about the cafe's destruction and being called a criminal is cut, skipping ahead to the reporter taking pictures.
 * References to Nazis are edited to the German army, and the shots of Hitler and the explanation and icons of the swastika are cut.
 * A short scene right after Stroheim is accidentally cut when being shaved, causing him to wipe the blood away with chicken and throw it to a dog, is cut.
 * A scene where Joseph checks the inside of the reporter's mouth, only to comment on how many cavities there are, that it'd be lucky if the tooth removed had a few, and that the bleeding should stop soon, is cut.

Commentary
"Straizo has completely lost his mind and in enters Stroheim!

In Battle Tendency, chosing how to position the camera went more naturally. There are also more background layers, and a lot of nervous stuff on screen. The line between ultra-stylized and noramlly colorized scenes is also more noticeable, you go from one scene to the other in one go.

The fight against Straizo is more gory than in the manga, which implies a lot of blackened frames during the TV broadcast. For the Bluray and DVD versions, we could allow all the necessary details. Note the 3D model for the Sathiphorosia scarabs, it goes down well (laugh).

Personally, I like the scene where Straizo explodes into a thousand pieces. I find it well produced, we owe it to the episode's director and storyboard manager: Mitsuhiro Yoneda.

Everyone was saying "We don't need Bruto-chan" and it was true. It is with a heavy heart that we cut his appearance. It was the only scene that wasn't relevant to the main plot, and we had to make place somewhere... Visually speaking, there is a good contrast between New-York in the first half and Mexico in the second one. You really get the feeling of the dry climate."

- Naokatsu Tsuda, Blu-Ray limited edition commentary