JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind Episode 30 Review: Green Tea and Sanctuary Part 1

Bucciarati has been outed as a ZILF! The strength of his resolve keeps him going! In this episode of Golden Wind, we see how Cioccolata and Secco’s abilities complement each other so well that it’s terrifying. A Stand that activates when the victim moves to a lower spot, and a Stand that can make anything sink…

Japanese title: グリーン・ディとオアシス　その①

Plot

Bucciarati decides that it would be best to just try to escape from the village and get to Rome. However, they are attacked by Secco, who can freely manipulate the ground around him into liquid. Despite Green Day’s mould activating when the carrier moves to a lower location, Bucciarati jumps! He uses Sticky Fingers to attack the unsuspecting Secco, but there is something not quite right. Green Tea’s mould should affect all living creatures, yet there isn’t even a speck of mould on the descending Bucciarati… Later in the escape car, Giorno also comes to realize that Bucciarati is essentially a moving corpse.

As the group are about to reach Rome, a helicopter is spewing out a huge amount of mould. If they don’t stop Cioccolata, Green Day’s effects will reach the Colosseum! Bucciarati decides to take on Secco, leaving Giorno and Mista to go after Cioccolata, who is now trapped thanks to Gold Experience!

Highlights

– Secco’s unemotional face as Cioccolata petted him was quite amusing, especially when the camera zooms right into his face.

– Although I liked Hiro Shimono’s performance as Secco in the previous JoJo games, I think casting KENN as Secco was the best choice. KENN is very talented at playing characters that may not express themselves fluently using words. For Secco, who at first talks only in grunts and then in a slow, awkward style, this casting was a great choice.

– The scene inside the turtle was interesting. Trish seems angry at Bucciarati’s attitude, but Narancia has probably hit the nail right on the head. Trish sees Bucciarati as somebody important, be it as a father figure or something else. It’s understandable that she hasn’t realized this herself, and it’s an important part of her development as a person.

– I liked the SFX used for Oasis. Although I always imagined Oasis to turn things into thick mud, the anime decided to used sound effects that makes it sound like water. It made the scene where the stairs were falling into the ground seem more terrifying, as the stairs were plunging into the ground at a fast speed.

– The moment when Bucciarati decides to run and jump off the wall is one of my favorite and most memorable moments. However, the anime and manga are just a tiny bit different. In the anime, the BGM completely stops as Bucciarati says ‘If we can actually drive out of this village, that’s fine. As long as we can all head for Rome.’ and he then turns around. In the manga, he is completely silent as Secco heads towards him, and only talks AFTER he has jumped. Personally, the silent Bucciarati from the manga sticks in my memory more. He says everything just with his expression. It’s such a cool moment.

However, that doesn’t mean I don’t like the anime version. Building up the tension with the music, only to have it stop as Bucciarati delivers this line was also extremely cool in its own way.

I definitely think both the manga and anime versions of this scene are extremely well-executed and a defining moment for Bucciarati.

Trivia

– In the manga panel where Giorno has his arm around Mista as he imbues the bullets with life energy, his hand is eeever so slightly lower… The anime made sure that Giorno’s fingers were not inside Mista’s pants. Color me disappointed.

– This is not so much trivia as a complaint, but the beer cans that fell down the stairs were surely unopened cans. Yet for some reason the noise they were making were the sound of empty cans.

– Green Day and Oasis are now on the Stand pillar in the ending credits.

– I decided not to mention this last week, but the more I think about it the more I’m sure. Cioccolata’s background is likely partly inspired by the Shipman case (please look it up yourself, but you will see many similarities). As somebody who grew up in the UK in the 1990s, there is absolutely no way that last week’s episode would not make me think of this case. Considering the time that Golden Wind was published and the fact this case surely made Japanese news, there is a good chance that it was one of the many inspirations for this character. Perhaps this is why I hate Cioccolata so much that it makes me feel ill.

‘As long as we can all head for Rome’

Secco’s Stand is named Oasis, which is a band from my home town! As it’s a Stand, does that mean non-users can see it? Does Secco look naked to regular people? These are the questions I need answers to.

The true highlight of this episode was Giorno realizing Bucciarati’s condition, as well as the fact that Bucciarati has already accepted his death. The scene was mostly well-done (Bucciarati’s expressions were exceptional), however the continuity errors were a bit of a let-down. Not only in this scene, but in a few others too, the positions of the characters would not quite match up in the different shots.

In general, the episode was a good watch, but if you’ve read the manga you know what’s coming soon. Oh boy, next week is going to be epic.

Ciao for now!