A True Warrior (Episode)

A True Warrior (真の格闘者) is the twenty-second episode of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. It is also the thirteenth episode of Battle Tendency. It covers Chapter 98 to Chapter 102 of the manga.

Summary
Before the match begins, it is revealed that during each lap, there will be a different weapon for whoever can grab it from a pillar first. JoJo manages to get a headstart by obstructing Wamuu's wheels with rubble, allowing him to get ahold of a sledgehammer. However, anticipating the maneuver, Wamuu grabs hold of the pillar itself, forcing JoJo to abandon his chariot, though JoJo manages to use the hammer to avoid getting trampled by Wamuu's horses. Wamuu launches an attack on JoJo by hiding in his horse, but JoJo manages to use his cunning to turn his sandstorm attack against him with the Ripple. In order to regain his focus, Wamuu gouges out his own eyes and grows a horn that can sense the wind in its place.

As the second lap offers a pair of crossbows, JoJo ends up picking one that is too big for him to use whilst Wamuu uses the wind to guide his shots with the smaller crossbow, managing to hit JoJo's sides with a reflected shot. As he is thrown to the ground, he uses the momentum of the fall to cock his crossbow without the others noticing. JoJo appears cornered, but manages to hit Wamuu with a Ripple-charged shot from his crossbow by distracting his senses with pebbles. Wamuu makes a desperate last attack by firing his severed arms at JoJo to cut off his breathing before gathering up wind for his final attack.

Manga/Anime Differences

 * In the manga, Joseph stalled Wamuu by collapsing the ground under one of his wheels. In the anime, he simply places rocks in front of it.
 * The anime removed the scene where one of the zombies demonstrates the crossbows by firing one.
 * The impact from Wamuu's pillar caused Joseph's chariot to lose a wheel in the manga. In the anime, it simply bent the chariot.
 * In the manga, Joseph's chariot was already destroyed by the time he grabbed his crossbow. Joseph was already on the horse when Wamuu headshot it, forcing him to jump onto the other one. In the anime, Joseph's chariot was still intact, and it was only when Wamuu shot the horse's head did Joseph jump from the chariot onto the other horse.

Commentary
"Shin Miwasa was in charge of the storyboard. Having been a director on Initial D, he's knowledgeable in 3DCG work. So he also had to take care of modeling the arena; double trouble (laughs).

The steel spheres are really superb. They fly so fast you can barely see them (laughs). I love the conversation between Kars and Lisa Lisa. They are both spectators of the fight between Joseph and Wamuu and give commentary as twists come. They are on an emotional rollercoaster (laughs). It's particularly enjoyable to see Kars lose his composure.

On the whole, this episode is really exciting. There are lots of classy action scenes here and there. Wamuu is an honorable and particularly interesting character. Since the beginning of the series, I was apprehensive of the moment we'd have to adapt this chariot race. But in the end, we managed to go through it without ordeal."

- Naokatsu Tsuda, Blu-Ray limited edition commentaries