Dark Blue Moon (Episode)

Dark Blue Moon is the sixth episode of Stardust Crusaders and the thirty-second episode of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. It covers the second half of Chapter 127 through part of Chapter 130 of the manga.

Summary
Back at the Joestar estate, doctors sent by the Speedwagon Foundation with the latest medical technologies still struggle to treat Holy's condition. The Joestar group was currently on their way from Hong Kong to Singapore by ship when a child stowaway was discovered in the ship's storage by 🇺🇳 of the ship's crew. The child managed to escape from said member and jumped into the ocean. The group tries to tell the child to come back to the ship as the ocean is shark-infested. Just before the child was about to be attacked by a shark, Star Platinum managed to save the child by punching the shark several times and incapacitating it. Jotaro rescues the child only to discover that the child was a girl. Joseph notices the shark resurfacing and sees it bisected by an unknown aquatic creature. Kakyoin proceeded to rescue Jotaro and the girl from long range with Hierophant Green.

Polnareff assumed that the creature is a Stand and the group started to speculate if the girl was a Stand user and if she purposely led Jotaro into the ocean. They immediately confirm that she does not work for DIO. The captain of the ship, Captain Tennille was going to have his crew take her down to the brig but before doing so, puts out Jotaro's cigarette and places it in his pocket. Jotaro accuses the captain of being an impostor and a Stand user. He manages to trick the captain into confirming that he is a Stand user. Jotaro explains that he did not actually know he was one and originally planned to use the trick with all of the crew on board. The impostor confirms that he is not and immediately reveals his stand, Dark Blue Moon, to take the girl hostage. Jotaro managed to reverse the situation by using Star Platinum to quickly incapacitate the impostor and his Stand and rescue the girl.

Jotaro, however, couldn't pull her up as Star Platinum's arm was covered in barnacles. He passes the girl to Hierophant Green as he falls into the water. The impostor explains the extent of Dark Blue Moon's abilities and proceeds to create a whirlpool filled with its sharp scales to attack the disabled Jotaro whose Stand's body was covered almost entirely in barnacles. Jotaro goes limp and manages to focus his energy into Star Platinum's fingers. His fingers manage to extend to a long range, cut through Dark Blue Moon's head and effectively defeat the impostor.

Joseph was about to throw a life raft to Jotaro when parts of the ship suddenly started to explode. Joseph came to the conclusion that the impostor placed bombs on the ships. The group and the rest of the ship's crew manage to save themselves by using the emergency boats. While they were at sea, the girl discovers a gigantic freighter.

Commentary
"The key word here is water (laughs)! The team has felt the continuity... "After all this fire, we have to follow with water?" Indeed, animating natural elements is never an easy task.

The storyboard and direction were given to Hirofumi Ogura, who had produced a fine work. The sky is blue, the sea is blue, a blue panorama which leaves a strong impression. That's the crux of the matter.

The young runaway girl also makes her first appearance and she's been given a name for the first time. She's been dubbed "Anne" by Araki himself. She's never sexualized and is soaked from head to toes, but she remains a brat above all.

The fake captain is a colorful character, and that's why we like him. We initially hesitated about what color his clothes should be. But the obvious choice revealed itself: the sky is blue, the sea is blue, the captain is blue. Simplicity itself.

I like Jotaro's famous line "Looks like we've found a dumbass", it is delivered at the right moment and integrating it in the episode was made naturally.

Portraying an underwater scene correctly is really hard. Thankfully, Kenta Mimuro, the animation director, was accustomed with the task, with action in general, and all kinds of mechanisms. He and the animation team really applied themselves to perfect this battle, which is really classy in the end."

- Naokatsu Tsuda, Blu-Ray limited edition commentaries

Trivia

 * Despite being nameless in the manga, the anime credits give the runaway girl the name, "Anne," a name chosen by Araki.
 * In the US licensed adaptation of the anime, the impostor Captain Tennille is renamed "Captain Dragon". This name change actually still ties into the Captain & Tennille reference as the captain's real name is Daryl Dragon.