Gang Initiation (Episode)

Joining the Gang (ギャング入門) is the fourth episode of Golden Wind and the one hundred seventeenth episode of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. The episode covers from Chapter 451 to Chapter 455 of the original manga.

Summary
Black Sabbath impales the old janitor in front of Giorno Giovanna with an Arrow and kills him as the janitor had no potential to be a Stand User. After tossing the corpse aside, Black Sabbath detects Giorno and attacks; although Giorno evades the strike and jumps up the staircase handrails, Black Sabbath grabs Giorno's shadow and drags Gold Experience out of it, ready to use the arrow again. Giorno is cornered and must command Gold Experience to seriously fight back against the capo's Stand. However, when it pummels Black Sabbath, it disappears again. When it emerges from the shadow and sneakily grabs Gold Experience, Giorno understands Black Sabbath's ability is tied to the dark. By chance, Black Sabbath lets Giorno fall into the courtyard when it gets exposed to sunlight. Giorno experiments with the shadows and understands that Black Sabbath is confined to them. However, the setting sun means that soon Giorno won't have anywhere safe to run to. Koichi barges out of the dormitory but attracts Black Sabbath who attacks him with the Arrow. Giorno nonetheless saves him by turning the handrails into flowers and forcing Black Sabbath to flee. During this reprieve, Giorno explains to Koichi that despite everything, he is righteous at heart. Somewhat calmed, Koichi explains the use of the Arrow and that Black Sabbath must be an automatic Stand following preset instructions. Black Sabbath eventually outmaneuvers the two by using birds to move between shadows and grabs Giorno from the shadow of a nearby tree. But Echoes then shatters tiles and Gold Experience overcharges the roots of the tree with life, making it wither and exposing Black Sabbath to the light. Now considerably weakened, Black Sabbath is pummeled into disappearing for good. Afterward, Koichi rushes to call Jotaro Kujo for help against the Arrow, but Giorno stops him. As Polpo is probably unaware of the battle, Giorno sees an opportunity to continue infiltrating the gang. Revealing his dream to Koichi, Giorno convinces him of his righteousness and to keep his secret. Later, Koichi says he will make his report to Jotaro and leave for good. The next day, Giorno returns to Polpo with the lit lighter. Before officially allowing him inside the gang, Polpo takes the time to lecture Giorno on the honor code of gangsters, which is founded on trust and respect that every gangster will fight to the death for. Meanwhile, Giorno turns one of the guns in the cells into a banana and hides it in the fridge. Out of the prison, Giorno then goes to meet with Bruno Bucciarati and confirms his admission within the gang. While Bucciarati and Giorno walk the street, Polpo eventually eats the banana which turns back into a gun, making the capo shoot himself as a gruesome revenge for the janitor. The Arrow is incidentally destroyed.

Giorno then asks where they are going, to which Bucciarati replies that he'll now meet his team of Stand Users.

Trivia

 * The song that plays when Black Sabbath grabs Giorno's leg is actually the theme of Ghiaccio.
 * Wrathful_Gio.png Whether purposefully or because of a coloring error, Giorno's eyes flare up red instead of the usual turquoise at the precise moment Polpo claims that murder is forgivable even by God when it comes to honor. This may be inspired by similar coloration in the manga, although the panel is shown after Polpo talks more.
 * Polpo gun concept.jpg anime shows that Polpo kills himself with a Smith & Wesson M29 revolver.
 * In the original Japanese dialogue, Giorno refers to Koichi as “Koichi Hirose” instead of “Hirose Koichi”. In previous seasons non-Japanese characters still referred to Japanese characters on a last name-first name basis. Although this changes during the episode.