Judgement, Part 1 (Episode)

Judgement, Part 1 (その1) is the twenty-first episode of Stardust Crusaders and the forty-seventh episode of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. It covers most of Chapter 174 through most of Chapter 176 of the manga.

Summary
The Joestar Group is now heading to an island by the Red Sea to meet a person only known of Joseph. That man is none other than Avdol's father, who lives as a hermit with his chicken. When the father sees the group without his son, he vehemently refuses to hear any news. Polnareff's grief and guilt over Avdol's death resurfaces, and the Frenchman wanders on the beach as the rest of the group tries to talk to Avdol's father. On the shore of the island, Polnareff discovers an aged lamp which he naturally rubs. Strangely, it causes a genie named Cameo to appear and grants Polnareff three wishes. Polnareff is skeptical and jokingly asks to become rich, but is then totally convinced that Cameo is a real genie when he discovers a chest full of old gold coins. After spending a moment trying to imagine his next wish, Polnareff asks if his wishes can bring people back from the dead and demands that his sister and Avdol are brought back to life. Cameo seemingly obeys and disappears, and Polnareff sees a shadow lurking in the high herbs. After pursuing the unknown person, Polnareff eventually sees her as Sherry. Overwhelmed with joy, Polnareff is shocked when Sherry viciously attacks him to consume his flesh. As Cameo explains, he is actually the Stand Judgement, who can create zombie-like creatures from the earth based on the wisher's desires. Polnareff, terrified, tries to use his final wish to wish Sherry away. However, Cameo tells Polnareff he had already used his third wish: to revive Avdol.

Commentary
"This one comes in a pair with Episode 22, and it was a difficult duo.

I remember the team members discussing among themselves, a little confused by these enormous tongue-shaped plants on the island. It is surely some kind of tropical cactus, but in the end, it was still a mystery to us. (laughs) Suzuki, the series director, was so obsessed with the question that it became funny to witness.

This episode is centered around Polnareff's grief, as he's still haunted by the death of his sister. A rarity for this series, we meticulously represented the flow of time. On Suzuki's suggestion, the background sky goes through three different color tones as dusk and then night comes. I think that it contributes to support Polnareff's state of mind and his increasing sadness.

Kinryu Arimoto's voice fits well with the Stand, Judgement. During the auditions, we had asked him to play the voice of a crook, and he exactly nailed the tone we were looking for, at the same time persuasive, but also completely suspicious.

The scenes before Polnareff's meeting with Sherry are also well done. Everything is focused on his emotions and he is drowned in memories; we also come to hope that his wish has been granted.

Incidentally, Kenta Miyake, Avdol's VA, was beaming. He had just come back to the dubbing studio for the first time in a while, and he seemed jubilant at the idea of playing Avdol again."

- Naokatsu Tsuda, Blu-Ray limited edition commentaries