The Emperor and the Hanged Man, Part 2 (Episode)

Emperor and Hanged Man, Part 2 (と その2) is the eleventh episode of Stardust Crusaders and the thirty-seventh episode of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. It covers Chapter 143 through Chapter 146 of the manga.

Summary
Kakyoin hopes that Avdol's wound is not fatal, wanting to believe he's about to say something or get up. However, Avdol's body shows no reaction. Even though he's reluctant, Polnareff agrees to get away with Kakyoin in a nearby jeep. Kakyoin jumps into a jeep, pulls Polnareff in and drives away, out of Emperor's range. J. Geil decides to go after the heroes. In the jeep, Kakyoin and Polnareff discuss how they can defeat Hanged Man and whether a world in the mirror really exists. In the middle of the conversation Kakyoin notices Hanged Man inside the steering wheel and hits the brakes to avoid the Stand. The jeeps roll over, and Polnareff sees Hanged Man jumping from one reflective surface to another. Now that they know how Hanged Man works, they try to hide from all reflective surfaces. A boy approaches them, unaware that Hanged Man has moved into his eye. Polnareff apologetically kicks sand into his eyes, forcing Hanged Man to move into the only reflective view available: Polnareff's eye. Since he can now predict Hanged Man's trajectory, Polnareff easily cuts the Stand before it manages to enter his eye. They hear J. Geil screaming at a distance and find a man whom they assume to be J. Geil, but Kakyoin notes that this man has a normal right hand. Polnareff is suddenly hit by a knife thrown by the real J. Geil, who tricked the heroes with a decoy.

J. Geil draws a crowd around them by claiming that Polnareff and Kakyoin want to give money to everyone. With so many people's eyes to travel between, Hanged Man's path becomes too unpredictable for them to hit the Stand. However Kakyoin throws a shining coin into the air, making everyone look at it and leaving only one reflective surface for Hanged Man to travel to. Polnareff kicks sand into the eye Hanged Man is in currently, forcing the Stand to move to the coin, and slashes its path. J. Geil is incapacitated, and Polnareff attacks him personally with Silver Chariot, leaving holes all over his body. The body is thrown into the air and lands on a fence, hanging upside down.

Later, Hol Horse finally catches up to Polnareff and Kakyoin, confident that they are ignoring him out of fear. After Hol Horse insists on fighting them and starts shooting at glass with Emperor to help Hanged Man's attack, Polnareff tells him that J. Geil is already dead. Hol Horse runs away, but is surrounded by Jotaro and Joseph, who have just arrived after burying Avdol. Polnareff goes for the killing blow, but is stopped by Nena, allowing Hol Horse to escape. After Nena violently struggles to keep Polnareff from pursuing Hol Horse to the point of hurting herself Joseph tells Polnareff to just forget the enemy, who doesn't want to fight anymore. The group leave, unaware that a drop of Nena's blood has fallen on Joseph's arm. A talking wart grows from it, and eats a fly when it comes near. As the group continue their journey, Nena reveals another talking wart on her tongue, which makes an ominous noise.

Manga/Anime Differences

 * While explaining why he prefers to be "number two", Hol Horse remembered several moments that were not included in the manga, such as his first encounter with DIO and Enya.

Commentary
"This is the final clash against Hanged Man. J. Geil is such a scumbag that it becomes genius at this point. The contrast is even better when we see that the User is really a weakling physically speaking. Let us salute Kakyoin's cunning plan and his unshakable calm in all situations.

There's some hostility between Polnareff and Kakyoin at the start of the episode. I see it as Kakyoin looking down on Polnareff a little. He's worried that his friend may commit another stupid mistake in a fit of anger. But when it's time to fight side by side, then they make a really effective duo. I like this kind of galvanizing development. It was even written in the storyboard: "a feeling of buddy buddy relationship" (laughs). The natural conclusion of this story is naturally Polnareff finally skewering J.Geil after all these years of chase.

In the third part of the episode, we see Hol Horse again in a comical situation. Truth be told, he's walking comical duo, going from belligerent to desperately fleeing.

It's got nothing to do with the animation but Satsuki Yukino has given a charming voice to Nena's character that fitted her perfectly."

- Naokatsu Tsuda, Blu-Ray limited edition commentaries