It's not hard to see why it's such a polarizing arc, though - it has some of the highest highs, and the lowest lows. The main issue that people take with Vento Aureo is the characters. On the receiving end of most of these complaints are this part's JoJo - or in this case, GioGio - Giorno Giovanna, and the primary antagonist, Diavolo. With these two, I will agree. Giorno is considered a bland character, a plot device that exists primarily to heal people and finish off fights, and the main character in name only (Bruno Bucccelati took the lead far more often). Diavolo, on the other hand, is barely even shown. In the attempt to make Diavolo into a mysterious character to build him up, any efforts to actually characterize him come too little, too late. In the same vein, people complain that Giorno's teammates were equally boring - the only character who escapes this criticism is Bruno Buccelati.
However, every member of Passione - the gang of Bruno Buccelati and Giorno Giovanna - is very good in concept, each with their own unique character quirk and reason for joining Passione. So why are they so maligned? Well, because this is what happens when you take a Monster of the Week story with 17 battles, and try to flesh out a whopping EIGHT MAIN CHARACTERS in it. To put that in perspective, both of the previous Monster of the Week parts featured LESS main characters, and MORE battles. Quite simply, they tried to fit too much into too small a space. Most characters get a measly two battles to star in, if even that - Abbacchio and Fugo got a mere 1 each. This also leads to some characters being removed from the plot, or unceremoniously killed off for no particular reason, which was a particularly bad choice.
What people often ignore, however, is that where the main cast may have failed, Vento Aureo has the best cast of supporting villains in ANY part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. The villains can be broken down into three categories - the treasure hunters, La Squadra da Ezecucione, and Diavolo's assassins. While the treasure hunters are forgettable (and relatively minor), La Squadra are the real winners here, featuring the most ruthless enemies in all of JJBA, spurred on by revenge against Diavolo. Diavolo's assassins, on the other hand, whilst not justified in their actions, make up for it by being UNSPEAKABLY DISTURBING.
The key strength they all have in common, though, is that they are utterly merciless and incredibly intimidating, and this is also a strength of Vento Aureo as a whole. Where the previous Diamond is Unbreakable mostly dealt with everyday events combined with stands, leading to many "friendly" opponents, Vento Aureo is the exact opposite. The battles here are utterly brutal - highlights include a stand that can dissolve flesh right off the bone, and a stand that can turn your blood into metal - literally slitting your throat from the inside out. Sweet Jesus, the body horror in Vento Aureo is immense.
Part 5 is responsible for the best stands of any JoJo part (I mean, come on - they turn a ZIPPER into one of the greatest weapons imaginable), so it's not surprising that the battles are just as good. Not only do the battles feature a tangible threat of death, with most enemies being overpowered enough that Passione never feel at an advantage, but they also run INCREDIBLY LONG. There are numerous battles in Vento Aureo - monster of the week battles, that is - that last around the same length as Dio's World, the final battle of Stardust Crusaders. In particular, there are a lot of stand-using teams this time around, which lead to some of the most ambitious battles the series has ever seen. It's easy to say Vento Aureo is far better than its detractors would have you believe based on the battles alone.
It feels weird to say this about a manga that's 17 volumes long, but I think what Vento Aureo really needed was to be longer. If it had been as long as, say, Part 7, then it would have had the time to make us attached to all the characters, give Diavolo proper buildup and characterisation, tie it in more to the overarching story of JJBA (as it is, it is only tangentially connected to the rest of the series), build more on the origin stories of the arrows, and perhaps even give us an ending that was less underwhelming. But as it stands, Vento Aureo simply bit off more than it could chew.
(And no, the novels aren't canon. So Fugo is still pretty terrible.)
Final Words: Too ambitious for its own good, but still pretty impressive.
Story/Plot: 6/10.
Characters: 5/10.
Art: 9/10.
Overall: 7/10.
For fans of: Medaka Box, Yu Yu Hakusho
