The fifth part in the long-running JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure franchise is out now, once again with animation duties courtesy of David Productions. Taking place in 2001 Italy, Giorno Giovanna catches the attention of Jotaro Kujo and the Speedwagon Foundation due to the fact that Giorno is the birth son of old enemy Dio Brando. Worried that Giorno has picked up some of his father’s evil tendencies, Jotaro has Koichi Hirose travel to Italy to investigate Giorno as a potential new threat to the world. Following Giorno having an incident with Koichi, Giorno meets Bruno Bucciarati; a member of the powerful gang in Italy known as Passione and a leader of one it’s smaller independent gangs. Accusing Giorno of killing one of his gang mates, Bruno and Giorno clash in what will ultimately begin the shape of both mens’ destinies. 

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind is a 2018 shounen anime series, it is produced by David Productions and licensed by Viz Media. It is currently available on streaming platforms in English subs.

Editor’s Note: This review will contain near complete to complete spoilers for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind.

Set in 2001 Naples, Italy, Giorno Giovanna is found out to be the son of Dio Brando, the former (now dead) family enemy of the Joestars. Believing Giorno could be a threat to the world Jotaro; whom defeated Dio sends Koichi to investigate Giorno on behalf of the Speedwagon Foundation. When Giorno is ultimately cleared of any potential evil he enters a conflict with Bruno Bucciarati who believes him to be responsible for the death of his comrade Leaky Eye. Once again Giorno is cleared and he notes that himself and Bruno are of similar spirit and soul when he sees Bruno react emotionally upon seeing a young drug addict during their battle. Giorno informs Bruno of his dream to infiltrate Passione from within and take it over in order to stop its massive drug trade, to which Bruno agrees.

THE GOOD: Arc 1 of Golden Wind has the Bruno gang facing off against the rival Nero Risotto gang who have learned that the boss of Passione has a young daughter named Trish Una. Their goal is to use Trish to either gather intel on the boss’s identity or use Trish as bait to scare the boss out of his hiding from within the shadows. Risotto and his gang are after the boss for revenge of the deaths of two of their prominent members which was a decision made by the boss. The two groups travel all across Italy to find Trish, with the Bruno gang ultimately killing all of the members outside of Nero. Nero is able to deduce that the Bruno gang is currently in charge of protecting Trish to deliver to the boss and have her in their custody. Bruno and the others successfully hand Trish over to their designated place of retrieval, however when Bruno and Trish prepare to meet the boss Trish is suddenly taken with her arm literally cut from Bruno’s grasp. Learning of the boss’s plan to kill Trish in an effort to further conceal his identity from future interlopers his disgust at the boss’s actions forces him to intervene in an attempt to save Trish. Giorno having earlier given Bruno a means of communication in their own secret mission to thwart the boss tries to keep Bruno safe. This ultimately fails as Bruno is killed trying to protect Trish from the boss. He is able to successfully revive Bruno (albeit temporarily), and the group recovers Trish from the boss who orders his elite guards to take the Bruno gang dead or alive after all (except Fugo) agree to betray him.

Arc II of Golden Wind has the Bruno gang mostly surviving the retaliation of the boss and his powerful elite guard full of Stand users while simultaneously attempting to learn of his true identity. At this point in the story it is learned that the boss is a man with two split personalities; one named Doppio (the second in command) and another named Diavolo (the real boss). With most of the elite guards killed Doppio plans to kill Bruno himself, however Nero, the only surviving member of his gang encounters Doppio and is quickly able to deduce his true identity as someone close to the boss. The two have a bloody battle to the death, Doppio is able to win when he uses the boss’s King Crimson stand to foresee the Bruno gang nearby in the area and allowing Narancia’s Aerosmith to detect Nero’s presence and kill him. The Bruno gang continue to gather intel on Diavolo’s identity, upon discovering Nero’s body Abbacchio decides to split from the gang for further information. Abbacchio is killed by Doppio, but not before he’s able to give the Bruno gang a clue on Diavolo’s appearance. Bruno gets a message from a man claiming to know how to defeat Diavolo asking for the group to meet him in the Roman Colosseum for trust. Bruno agrees and the group sets off to meet Jean Polnareff. On the way they meet two stand users that nearly kill them. Giorno and Bruno are both able to kill the stand users as everyone continues forward. However, Diavolo has beaten them to the Colosseum and attacks Polnareff. Before his “death” he pierces himself with the Stand granting arrow unleashing his evolved sentient Stand Silver Chariot Requiem and the souls of everyone present switch bodies.  

As the Bruno gang get more accustomed to their new bodies they search for Chariot Requiem who has the Stand granting arrow. Earlier Bruno’s body (possessed by Doppio) was shot with multiple bullets from Mista’s Sex Pistols and laid dying on the ground. We learned that since being revived by Giorno earlier in the series Bruno’s body was slowly deteriorating and he didn’t have long to live regardless of Giorno’s previous efforts. Bruno’s body had reached a point of deterioration where he could barely hear and lost most of his ability to move and see. Thinking Bruno was too hurt to move, Giorno and the others moved onward with Polnareff (whom had his soul switched with the turtle which helped hide the Bruno gang throughout their adventure) to catch Chariot Requiem whose sole goal is to protect the Stand granting arrow. Chariot Requiem also has a powerful ability in which he can unleash an immensely powerful attack that harms anyone within range of his shadow that attempts to get the arrow.  Feeling lost, Giorno and the others are unsure of what to do, however they see Diavolo in the distance making way for the arrow. As the others are prepared to fight, Diavolo unleashed Sticky Fingaz revealing that Bruno’s soul is in his body and he gets the arrow from Requiem. Moved by Bruno’s appearance the group continue after Requiem who regained the arrow from Bruno, however Narancia (who was in Giorno’s body) is killed by Diavolo. Due to Narancia’s death Giorno and his souls return to each other’s respective bodies. Coming to the realization that Diavolo is using his stand King Crimson to possess one of the Bruno gang members the others attempt to draw him out. Diavolo reveals that he was possessing Mista (in Trish’s body), but his actual target was Trish (in Mista’s body). Everyone vies for the arrow, but Bruno sacrifices himself by killing Chariot Requiem to catch Diavolo off guard and give the others an edge after he injured Trish. With no body to return to Bucciarati’s soul ascends to Heaven and he thanks Giorno for everything. Their souls returned to their respective bodies, Diavolo goes after the arrow, however Giorno beats him to it and pieces himself with it, unleashing Golden Experience Requiem. Golden Experience Requiem (now sentient) mocks Diavolo for thinking he had won after foreseeing a future where he kills Giorno, however Requiem’s stand ability traps Diavolo in a never-ending, yet forever changing time loop in which he dies in various situations. Giorno slightly terrified of his own Stand’s ability laments the loss of his comrades with the others as he’s crowned Godfather of Passione. 

THE BAD: Some of the plot holes in are a little cumbersome such as Bruno and Giorno never entirely revealing their plan to usurp the boss to the other members of the gang. These are little details that, while noticeable are easy to ignore. 

OVERALL THOUGHTS: With several years to protect their craft the JoJo team at David Productions has created what’s easily their greatest anime project today. Their level of commitment to detail and faithfulness to the source is rivaled only by that of larger studios such as Mad House and Bones. Even barring in mind the general quality of the JoJo anime series, Golden Wind will undoubtedly become a top favorite from the multiple adaptations thus far. Otaku Dome gives JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind a 100 out of 100.