DISCLAIMER: I won’t be criticizing Jojos here, just saying why people love it so much. This thread is already chock full of criticisms, and whether I think those are correct or not is aside the point, I just want to answer your question.
Jojos has been around FOR FIVE DECADES, first try to wrap that around your head, I still can’t tbh. Other currently publishing manga/anime which have been around as long as Jojos has tend to become stale after a while like Sazae-San, Golgo 13, and Dragon Ball. Jojos has CONSTANTLY been evolving. You have only experienced what is essentially the childhood stage of Jojos as a franchise, so there’s a lot left for you to uncover.
In storytelling, fight mechanics, thematic exploration and my god the art, they’ve been improving and evolving so much over the years. This applies to the anime as well, with the anime even adding in evolution in sound quality(part 5 sound design is hands down among the best I’ve ever heard in anime). If you don’t like part 1 or even 2 or even 3 or even 4, there’s honestly no way to assure you also won’t like the rest. Part 1 is a simple albeit goofy as hell showdown between a young gentleman and his vampire stepbrother, and part 6 onwards we reach a level where fights are pretty consistently bending fundamental laws of reality, but Araki makes it work.
Then there’s the swagger. Jojos style is so damn amazing that Araki has had multiple collabs with Gucci and even done a Louvre exhibit. The artsyle is undeniably distinct, both from start to finish. Early Jojos is this crazy manliness reminiscent of Fist of the Northstar and such, but later Jojos becomes jaw dropping visuals which in threw out traditional constructs of character design a long time ago. If you stop being weirded out, you’d recognize how damn BEAUTIFUL the part 5 anime and later parts of the manga are.
Then there’s the cultural icon factor, which I’d imagine you’ve already been exposed to at this point, all that changes is it becomes 10x more fun once you’re in on the jokes and references.
Finally, thematic depth. The first 3 parts honestly don’t have much of this aside from some surface level exploration of fate. Part 4 is where this formula is ripped apart in more ways than one. Suddenly instead of battling over the world, we’re just chilling in some town exploring themes of suburban life. No I am not kidding, yes it becomes thrilling. Part 5 is about Italian mafia life and goes back into the fate themes in the first 3 parts, but explores them MASTERFULLY. Seriously, head to toe it’s thematically brilliant. Part 6 debates what values are even the ones which bring us happiness, and part 7 explores fatherhood and moral ambiguity among other things. I can’t say for part 8 because I’m only a bit it, but I’ve heard good things lol. I know it might seem crazy now, but Jojos is legitimately one of the deepest anime/manga franchises around.
All I can say is keep going. You’ve seen pretty much most of the *more boring parts(I still love these parts in hidsight and also loved part 2 in first viewing, but popular consensus says they’re the less good parts) and are starting to get to what makes most Jojos crackheads fall in love with the franchise. For me, it was a fight in the middle of part 4. That ends in I believe episode 24 of part 4, so I’d say chug on until then if you want to start knowing what all the fuss is about. |