A Man Possessed by an Evil Spirit

Long after the events of the previous part, treasure hunters haul a coffin from the sea off the African coast, its lid bearing the name DIO. Some time later, the Speedwagon Foundation finds the vessel abandoned and the coffin empty. In 1987, a seventeen-year-old troublemaker named Jotaro Kujo, grandson of Joseph Joestar, lands in prison after thrashing a group of armed men and a trained boxer. He stubbornly refuses to walk out, claiming an evil spirit has taken hold of him. To prove it, he snatches a guard's pistol and fires it into his own head, only for a floating arm visible solely to him and his mother, Holy, to catch the bullet. Holy remarks that his grandfather once possessed a similar gift.

Joseph flies into Japan with a mysterious companion and is met by Holy. At the prison he presses Jotaro to leave, but the youth resists and even snaps the pinky off Joseph's prosthetic hand. Joseph then introduces his partner, the Egyptian fortune teller Muhammad Avdol, who manifests a spirit of his own: a bird-headed being that can conjure flame. When Avdol's spirit hurls a fireball and pins Jotaro to the cell's rear wall, Jotaro summons his own manifestation and briefly clashes with it, until Avdol calls a halt, noting he has already achieved his aim of getting Jotaro out of the cell.

At a nearby cafe, Joseph demonstrates his own power, using Hermit Purple to draw an image of DIO out of a smashed camera. He explains that these sudden manifestations sprang from the recent revival of the family's ancient foe, and that DIO now inhabits Jonathan's stolen body. Elsewhere, DIO watches from the darkness, fully aware that the group has been observing him, and departs remarking that although this may be fate, he has already made arrangements to deal with the Joestars.

Treasure hunters recover DIO's coffin from the ocean, later found empty. Jotaro Kujo is imprisoned and refuses release, demonstrating his power by surviving a self-inflicted gunshot stopped by Star Platinum. Joseph arrives with Muhammad Avdol, whose flame-wielding Magician's Red forces Jotaro from his cell and reveals the nature of Stands. Joseph uses Hermit Purple to produce an image of DIO, explaining that DIO has seized Jonathan's body. DIO, watching from afar, resolves to move against the Joestars.

Airing on April 5, 2014, the episode was written by Yasuko Kobayashi and directed by Naokatsu Tsuda, adapting chapter 114 through the first half of chapter 117. It carries no opening or ending theme. This premiere debuts Star Platinum, Magician's Red, and Hermit Purple, and it introduces the Stand info cards that appear after commercial breaks throughout the season. The production notably reordered the coffin discovery to open the episode rather than close it.