JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Jotaro Kujo Key Master Setup

In the final episode of A.P.P.P.’s 1993-94 JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure six-episode OVA, DIO stops time, lifts Jotaro from the ground, and sends a storm of knives toward him. Jotaro collapses into the street and stops his own heartbeat, waiting for DIO to believe he is dead. The scene follows immediately after Polnareff and Jotaro’s Stand, Star Platinum, launch a surprise attack on DIO, setting the final confrontation in motion. Polnareff’s intervention gives Jotaro the opening he has been waiting for: Star Platinum lands Jotaro’s first direct blow to DIO’s head, sending him crashing into the street—and this is the cut.

What survives is almost the entire production setup, including the finished two-cel setup and hand-painted gouache background, the douga from which the cel was traced, two hand-drawn layouts and a copy layout, the studio timing sheet, and the original cut bag. The original cut bag identifies Junichi Hayama as responsible for the genga for this cut. Hayama served as Character Designer for the entire 13-episode OVA and as Chief Animation Director for its final five episodes, including this finale. The bag also records the cut at two seconds.

Most animation material reaches the market one sheet at a time. Here, the drawings, background, and studio paperwork have stayed together from layout through finished frame—a complete record of how two seconds of this pivotal episode was made.