I’ll be frank: I’m not too fond of this episode. There are a lot of things about this episode that I don’t like. Granted, this episode isn’t a total failure; most of my complaints about it are personal. Still, there are a lot of problems with it.
But whether I like it or not, this is Jojune, so I must review it. So here we go.
The episode opens with a brief recap, reintroducing us to Melone. In said recap, he collects a bit of blood left by Bucciarati at the fight from before.
We then cut to the train, where everyone is concerned about the sudden stop. In particular, one young woman is irritated by the delay. That’s when Melone makes his appearance and starts asking some odd questions. Birthday. Blood type. Astrological sign. The usual questions one asks. Then, comparing them to the DNA from Bucciarati’s blood and a few other personal questions, Melone activates his Stand, 「Baby Face」. Gross things happen that I’d rather not talk about, so I’ll get to that in the review.
Meanwhile, Team Bucciarati hitches a ride on a trucker’s eighteen-wheeler headed for Venice. The arrangement seems to work out until 「Sex Pistols」 decides to steal the driver’s hamburger. The unfortunate driver never realized Coco Jumbo was a stowaway in his truck. Things spiral quickly out of hand when Mista intervenes in the driver’s investigation of the turtle, leaving the gang to find alternate travel plans.
Going back to Melone and 「Baby Face」, 「Baby Face」 creates a creature from the woman and blood sample. We then have an honestly comical moment where Melone tries to teach the bouncing baby Stand what the mission is. But, in a twist even Melone didn’t see coming, 「Baby Face」 kills the woman and takes off after Team Bucciarati with his motorcycle.
Once again, returning to Giorno and the others, the gang rests at a local pit stop to figure out their next move. Giorno suggests stealing one car while dismembering the others so no one suspects anything or tracks the one vehicle down. Once everyone agrees, Giorno tells Bucciarati and Trish, who are inside the turtle, about the plan. However, he doesn’t see either of them inside. What he doesn’t realize is that 「Baby Face」 managed to capture both of them. Earlier, 「Baby Face」 disguised itself as a cabinet and then dismembered both. Immediately suspecting something’s amiss, Giorno removes the key activating the turtle’s Stand, revealing 「Baby Face」. A battle ensues between the two, with Baby Face taking Giorno’s larynx, eye, and a piece of his foot.
Seemingly down and out, 「Baby Face」 attempts to flee the scene. But Giorno quickly recovers, using the buttons on his jacket to replace the missing pieces of his body. The tables quickly turn as Giorno attacks. The episode ends with a brutal moment that makes it apparent the battle between Giorno and 「Baby Face」 is over.
In all fairness, it is pretty one-sided by that point, but we’ll get to that in a minute. But first, let’s talk about Melone.
Of all the members of La Squadra, Melone is my least favorite, and for obvious reasons. He’s a creep! He has an unusual obsession with women and, to some degree, childbirth. Much of that plays into his Stand, 「Baby Face」, but as the backstory in Episode 10 shows, it goes to some unhealthy places. And sure, there have been some creepy anime perverts, but Melone is one of those who needs to be on the sex offenders list. That’s considering what Baby Face does.
Maybe it’s just me, but 「Baby Face」 is a Stand that uses sexual assault at some point with its ability. It’s a very uncomfortable and disturbing thought, but there’s no mistaking when 「Baby Face」 confronts the woman on the train about what happened to her. I don’t like 「Baby Face」, I don’t like Melone, and I especially don’t like the battle with Giorno either.
As I said earlier in the synopsis, this battle is very one-sided. By the end of the episode, you can tell Giorno will win, even though the battle doesn’t officially end until the next episode. Also, Giorno’s way of navigating Baby Face’s ability is the dumbest part of this battle. He essentially learns to scale back 「Gold Experience」 so that it can be used in smaller bits.
What kind of bull is this?!
Giorno doesn’t know everything about 「Gold Experience」 or how it operates. But this is such a simple trick. How does he not know this? Once again, cutting back to his lack of personality, at this point gives us no reason to believe he couldn’t figure this out sooner.
Yeah, this fight was crap. The episode, though, while I wouldn’t say I like it, isn’t all that bad.
This episode has some funny moments that make it bearable. There’s the incident with 「Sex Pistols」 and the truck driver, the scene where Melone tries to teach the newborn 「Baby Face」 spawn, and then there’s one where Bucciarati makes a toilet out of a closet–which gives a whole new meaning to the term water closet. And for what it’s worth, I like the basic concept of 「Baby Face」. Melone describes it best as “the pinnacle of long-range Stands,” which is pretty accurate. 「Baby Face」 is a Stand that operates almost autonomously. I also like the idea of a Stand that creates this homunculus that carries out the user’s orders. It’s a neat idea but without the gross, rapey aspect of it.
So yeah, I don’t like this episode and never have. But it does come down to some funny moments that make it okay. It’s clearly not my cup of tea, but take that with a grain of salt. And make sure Abbacchio doesn’t prepare it cause it will.
Tomorrow, things heat up with another personal favorite Stand battle. Or do they cool down?
We’ll find out tomorrow, so arrivederci for now, and enjoy the rest of your duwang!
-Hanime on Anime
Hanime on Anime 