Young Caesar (Episode)

Caesar: A Lonely Youth (シーザー孤独の青春) is the twentieth episode of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. It is also the eleventh episode of Battle Tendency. It covers Chapter 89 to Chapter 93 of the manga.

Summary
Lisa Lisa tells JoJo of Caesar's childhood. When he was young, Caesar adulated his father, Mario, before Mario inexplicably left his children and the money he left them was taken by unscrupulous relatives. Believing that Mario abandoned his children, Caesar repudiated the traditional family pride of all Italian men and took to crime with the exception of murder at a young age. However, when Caesar turned sixteen, he saw his father again and stalked him to murder him. Caesar came across the wall containing the Pillar Men, which was booby-trapped by Kars. Suddenly, Mario saved Caesar from the trap, getting absorbed into the wall, but lived long enough to tell Caesar to find Lisa Lisa and learn the Ripple. Afterward, Caesar understood everything Mario did and redoubled his pride for his lineage.

Back to the present, Joseph is impressed by Caesar and changes his mind, deciding to head for the hotel with Lisa Lisa. As Caesar arrives at the hotel, he is attacked by an invisible Wamuu who is using streams of moist air to both protect him from the sunlight and reflect the light around him. Messina arrives to assist, but Wamuu then swiftly takes him down and drags him into the hotel, coming back for Caesar. However, Caesar has made progress and his Savon Cutter are more resistant than ever. He throws bubbles at Wamuu and forces him to flee inside the hotel, then follows him to the main hall. An intense exchange of wind blasts and soap bubbles ensues, in which Caesar takes the advantage. Moreover, using a series of refractive bubble lenses, Caesar manages to redirect the sunlight inside the hotel to pin down Wamuu. However, when Caesar is short of delivering the final blow, Wamuu takes advantage of the split-second the sun is blotted by Caesar's attack to deliver a critical counter-attack.

Too injured to continue the fight, Caesar recalls how his father and grandfather gave their lives to turn death into a fighting chance to survive and uses the last of his strength to steal the piercing containing the antidote for the ring around JoJo's heart. He then uses his Final Ripple to create a blood bubble to deliver the piercing and his bandana to JoJo before being crushed by the collapsing ceiling. Wamuu, finding Caesar's fight and loyalty to be admirable, allows the bubble to remain. JoJo and Lisa Lisa are attracted to the hotel after Messina does not return, and unknowingly see the light of Caesar's Final Ripple. They discover the state of the hotel, finding the bubble with the antidote and Caesar's scarf, and soon realize that Caesar has died, and weep over the loss of their friend and ally.

Commentary
"Here's an episode where a lot of things are narrated, but not necessarily with words. Toshiyuki Kato was in charge of the storyboard and the direction. I wanted him to do a good job but he ended up surpassing every expectation; the image of a homerun is what I felt in front of his exemplary work. I have nothing to say about it, it is a genuine lesson on direction. As for animation, Manabu Akita and Masahiko Komino formed a golden duo and the result is excellent. Again, I have nothing else to say.

For the music, Taku Iwasaki directly came to the studio for the final editing to ensure that the soundtracks perfectly fitted the images.

People aren't sensitive to the same scenes. For some, the real emotional sequence comes when Caesar hits Wamuu in vain with his last strength, others are more sensitive to Lisa Lisa's tears or Joseph's cry. I think it's a generational thing. (laughs).

Anyway, every member of the team's fits together brilliantly, it's one of our best episodes."

- Naokatsu Tsuda, Blu-Ray limited edition commentaries

Trivia

 * This episode was widely considered by fans and staff alike to be one of the most moving episodes of the TV anime.
 * Tomokazu Sugita (v.c: Joseph) and Takuya Sato (v.c: Caesar) shared a brief character exchange over Twitter after the episode aired.