The Nijimura Brothers, Part 1 (Episode)

The Nijimura Brothers, Part 1 (虹村兄弟 その1) is the third episode of Diamond is Unbreakable and the seventy-seventh episode of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. It covers chapters Chapter 273 through Chapter 276 of the manga.

Summary
After assimilating with the rock, Angelo threatens Josuke and Jotaro with the existence of a man in a school uniform and how he gave Angelo his Stand. He recalls his encounter the year before, where the man pierced him with an Arrow, yet he didn't die. The man said he "passed the test" of the Arrow and had gained a power a man named DIO called a "Stand". While Jotaro and Josuke were listening to the story, Aqua Necklace, while still in the rubber glove, grabs hold of a passing child and threatens to smash their head if he is not freed. Josuke reacts quickly and "fixes" Angelo even further- fusing him with the rock permanently, all while saving the child. A few days later, Koichi and Josuke stumble upon an abandoned house on their way back from school. Having seemingly seen a mysterious silhouette at one of the windows, Koichi decides to stick his head through the front gate to take a closer look. Suddenly, a student emerges from the house and slams the gate on his neck.

Jotaro arrives at Josuke's house and is welcomed by Tomoko, who thinks he is Joseph. Jotaro explains that he is not Joseph but his grandson. He asks Tomoko where Josuke is and she tells him that he is not back from school yet. Back in the car, Jotaro looks at a picture of Enya with a Bow and Arrow. The Speedwagon Foundation had told him that Enya used the Bow and Arrow to create many Stands, including DIO's, The World. Jotaro realizes from the number of Stands in such a small town that someone in Morioh must have the Bow and Arrow. The student reveals himself as Okuyasu Nijimura before his brother shoots Koichi with an Arrow in the neck; hoping to awaken his Stand. However, the arrow fatally pierces Koichi's flesh, causing him to quickly fall unconscious. Okuyasu stops Josuke from healing Koichi and fights him with his Stand, The Hand, which can erase space between objects. Despite this intimidating power, Josuke defeats Okuyasu by using The Hand's power against Okuyasu by standing in front of some flowerpots behind him, which eventually were attracted to Okuyasu due to the repeated usage of The Hand's ability. Meanwhile, Jotaro comes across the revelation that Enya had the Bow and Arrow originally; which gave DIO his Stand. Jotaro vows to destroy the Arrow so there will never again be another Stand like The World.

Josuke then enters the Nijimura's house after Okuyasu's brother drags Koichi inside to retrieve the Arrow lodged in Koichi's neck and the two were set to confront each other.

Commentary
"Okuyasu’s first appearance steals the show (laughs). Truth be told, we were a bit apprehensive at first; would Okuyasu prove to be popular even when animated? In the end, it was quite unnecessary to worry. He’s a “dumbass” character, but in a good way, the type of character that always has fans within the audience. Even when working on the storyboard, I'll think to myself, “Okuyasu is a dumbass…” (laughs). The first half of the episode focuses on slow paced dialogue, but as soon as he comes to the forefront, Okuyasu immediately brightens the atmosphere, don’t you think? Of course, it’s all thanks to Wataru Takagi, his voice actor!

His Stand, The Hand, is very cool. It’s one of my favorites, personally speaking. Imagine how useful he could be for rescue missions, helping disaster victims. On the other hand, his space cutting power gave us a lot of trouble when it came to showing it on screen. Thanks to the compositing, adapting this ability was not time-consuming, but I hope that the overall result is sufficiently harmonious to the eye and that the fans won’t be troubled by these effects.

By the way, know that the many accessories and symbols Okuyasu wears are always drawn by hand. They’re easy to forget so we have to keep our eyes open when performing last time checks and scan the images long enough to be sure that everything is present."

- Naokatsu Tsuda, Blu-Ray limited edition commentaries

Trivia

 * This is the first episode since the introduction of Stands in Part 3 not to feature a character's Stand info card during the break.
 * In addition, this is also the first episode to instead feature "Morioh Tourism" info cards.