Anubis, Part 1 (Episode)

Anubis, Part 1 (「アヌビス神」その①) is the fifty-fourth episode of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime, the twenty-eighth episode of Stardust Crusaders, and the Fourth episode of Egypt Arc. It covers Chapter 193 through most of Chapter 195 of the manga.

Summary
With Kakyoin needing to spend a few more days in hospital to heal his eyes, the others continue across the Nile river on boat to Kom Ombo. Meanwhile, a young man named Chaka discovers a mysterious sword that only he appears to be able to draw out of its sheath. The sword then suddenly moves on its own, killing Chaka's family members before revealing its identity to be that of the Anubis Stand, who declares Chaka as its master and sends him to pursue Jotaro's group.

Chaka soon comes across Polnareff, who had gotten separated from the others while chasing after Iggy, and the two face off against each other, with Polnareff struggling against the sword's ability to pass through anything to reach its target. When Chaka attempts a surprise attack, Polnareff uses a secret technique to deflect a piece of Silver Chariot's sword into Chaka's neck, knocking him unconscious. When Polnareff inspects the sword for himself, he comes close to being swayed by its influence before Jotaro and the others arrive. As Jotaro and Polnareff stop by a barber shop on their way to take the sword to a police station, Anubis possesses the barber, Khan, who prepares to kill Polnareff.

Manga/Anime Differences

 * Scenes featuring Iggy were added.
 * Polnareff summons Silver Chariot earlier in the encounter and brief fighting ensues, mostly of Polnareff dodging Chaka's attacks.
 * A scene explaining the locals is removed from its place in the manga, but is added to the end of the next episode.
 * When Jotaro and Polnareff visit Khan, Jotaro is seen reading a magazine titled "Marine Life", foreshadowing his future job as a marine biologist.

Commentary
"Here's a sword fight that fans have really appreciated. It's thanks to the whole team, with Jiro Fujimoto in charge of the storyboard and direction, and Shunichi Ishimoto, who was responsible for the animation. Several people felt sorry for them because they had landed a sword fight which was bound to be complicated. But the final result was even classier than we had hoped for. I am really grateful to all of them.

Here the story is developing a feeling close to that of a horror story, which we'd ensured to put in the foreground. However, the metamorphosis scene, where a meek Chaka picks up Anubis and transforms, is so sudden I can't stop finding it comical. (laughs)

The beginning of the episode allowed us to have more screentime for Kakyoin. Since he won't recover for a while, it is best to show him while we can.

The scene where Polnareff uses his secret technique and shoots his sword's blade is rendered in 3D. We have fewer occasions of using 3D in the Egypt Arc. It was the first time since Episode 25."

- Naokatsu Tsuda, Blu-Ray limited edition commentaries