Ultimate Warriors from Ancient Times (Episode)

Ultimate Warriors from Ancient Times (太古から来た究極戦士) is the fourteenth episode of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. It is also the fifth episode of Battle Tendency. It covers Chapter 61 through half of Chapter 66, of the manga.

Summary
Joseph arrives in Rome and awaits for the one Stroheim told him to meet in a restaurant. He becomes irritated by a player at another table who turns out to be Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli, grandson of Will Zeppeli and the one that was to meet Joseph. Meanwhile, Speedwagon is revealed to be alive and the stone remains of Santana were transferred to the foundation headquarters. They discover that despite its immobile state, the remains are still very much alive, but they can use UV Lights to subdue it. They also discover the masks to the other Pillar Men, with Santana's appearing to be in the lowest tier.

Speedwagon meets up with Joseph and Caesar at a fountain where he introduces the two. The two don't get along well, as Caesar holds a grudge against Joseph's grandfather for letting Will Zeppeli die. He also comments on Joseph's lack of skill and assumes his victory over Santana was merely luck. Joseph becomes enraged by Caesar's comments and tries to attack him, only to be stopped by a lady Caesar had kissed and was controlling using the Ripple. The lady throws Joseph into the fountain, and Caesar follows with his secret ripple technique, Bubble Launcher. Caesar unleashes a massive torrent of Ripple infused bubbles that knocks Joseph away and surrounds him in a giant bubble. Joseph is unable to escape the bubble and slowly loses consciousness. Fortunately, Caesar attempts to kiss the woman again, only for a Ripple infused pigeon to come flying out of her mouth and into Caesar's. The fight ends, and the group heads to the hotel.

In the hotel, Joseph and Caesar have a game of cards, after which a German Nazi car arrives. The driver of the car is a young man that goes by the name of Mark, who came to deliver them to where the German found the other Pillar Men. Along the way, Caesar reveals that the Nazis had been interested in the ripple and using it to to figure out a way to defeat the Pillar Men.

Under the Coliseum, the Nazis investigate a hole appearing in one of the Pillar Men statues. The superior hopes that after cutting the pillar out, they will seal it up, so they never again see the light of day. Suddenly, a spike impales one of the Germans, and the Germans try to set up more UV lamps, but the horn uses the blood of the soldiers to block out the lights. The statue awakens and is known as Wamuu. He then sticks the hands of the soldiers and the officer together, then sucks the German officer's life force dry, then all of the soldiers at the same time, leaving them husks. Wamuu then awakens his masters, Esidisi and Kars.

They arrive at the cave where the Pillar Men are, only to find out they had already awakened and killed the Nazi's within. Mark attempts to run away, but Wamuu walks into him, and thus half his body is absorbed. Kars explains his plan to find the Red Stone of Aja, that was once possessed by the Roman Emperor, to unlock the power of the Stone Mask. Caesar is forced to use the Ripple to end his friend's life instantly and challenges the Pillar Men on his own.

Manga/Anime Differences

 * A scene of the Speedwagon Foundation members reading the words on the wall in the projector image to see when the four Pillar Men will awaken (2852 in the Mexican calendar, calculated to the year 1938) is cut.
 * The Chance card game is seen before the awakening of the Pillar Men.
 * Caesar smoking (along with Joseph telling him not to smoke in a small room due to the smell) before Joseph deals him cards is cut.

Commentary
"This is the episode where Caesar appears. The meeting already looked promising in the storyboard, but it went better than expected in then end. Takuya Satô is perfect as Caesar. The scene when Joseph is cheating at cards against Caesar was initially cut, but we had to really show the relationship between these two.

Toshiyuki Kato really directed the episode well. I do think about Mark's death, but the squid ink spaghetti scene was also spot on, with Joseph's black tongue or the details when Caesar throws Joseph's attack back at his glass.

Note how Caesar honors his grandfather the Baron Zeppeli: they have the same top hat and the way they jump then sit in midair before falling into the chair (laughs).

For the soundtrack, Taku Iwasaki wanted to find a suitable transition between the last scene and the ending, and I must say it really works."

- Naokatsu Tsuda, Blu-Ray limited edition commentaries

Trivia

 * The scene in which Caesar redirects the spaghetti Joseph shot at him bears great resemblance to the infamous crossbow scene from The Fist of the North Star, which greatly inspired JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.