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Intoduction
JoJo,JoJo,JoJo,JoJo. You have probably heard about this show or have seen a meme from this show without knowing it (like "Even Speedwagon is afraid", or "It was me Dio"). I heard about this show from Gigguk, The Quater Guy, and ThatAnimeSnob and they got me interested. After marathoning the series for a couple nights, I realized why this show was awesome and hopefully my review will tell you too.
Story
If there was one defining characteristic of JoJo it would be the GAR, manly men doing manly things. What do these men do? They fight, pose, and act dramatically. The show is aware of what it wants to be and executes that brilliantly. Also, alot of the characters are named after old western musicians and groups so there is that(except for Stroheim who is named after an actor and that is the only one as far as I know).
Now on to the premise, JoJo tells the story of generations of the Joestar family fighting against the forces of evil. As a side note, this is the perfect way to do long running Shonen. With this formula the author can can tell different types of stories without the story, character, and setting ever growing stale. This anime adapts the first 2 parts of the Jojo manga Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency. Which will be described bellow.
Phantom Blood (episodes 1-9): The story that started it all and the cause of mostly everything happens later in the other parts. The main character, Johnathan Joestar (the alliteration is where the nickname Jojo comes from), is forced to deal with Dio Brando, his adopted brother, who quickly becomes his archenemy. Along the way a Stone Mask within the Joestar's possession is found with the weird ability to sprout spike whenever blood is put on it (we will get back to this later). The hatred of the two characters grows, culminating in Dio poisoning Johnathan's father and as Johnathan finds the cure (along the way meeting Robert Edward O. Speedwagon who also has a major role over the other parts) Dio realizes the Stone Mask has the ability to transform anyone who wears it with blood on it becomes a vampire. This climaxes when Dio puts on the mask (becoming a vampire), kills Johnathan's father, destroys the Joestar house, and nearly dies. Following the incident, Johnathan meets Will A. Zeppeli who teaches him the ancient art of Hamon, the ability to connect ones energy to the sun by controlled breathing and both of them along with Speedwagon goes after Dio and his newly created zombie army. This entire part has an epic feel to it and I mean literal ancient poem epicness (like Beowulf). Two men who have their destines intertwined and fight locking the protagonist's ancestors to fight against similar evils. I mean how does not that not sound like something the ancient storytellers would come up with. The only flaw with this story that it is rushed, sometimes even narrating over events that happen.
Battle Tendency (episodes 10-26): This takes place 50 years after Phantom Blood and picks up with Johnathan's ancestor, Joseph, who stills has the ability to use Hamon. After a discovery by The Speedwagon Foundation (an organization created because Speedwagon struck oil and got rich) a former ally of Johnathan attacks Joseph and after that Joseph goes to save Speedwagon from the Nazis (since it the 1940s and World War II had started). The Nazis found an ancient humanoid who they intend to use to win the war, but it goes rouge and Joseph kills it. The head Nazi commander, Rudol von Stroheim, tells of three more of the ancient humanoids (called the Pillar Men) and Joseph goes after them. He meets Will's ancestor, Caesar, and they both go after the Pillar Men, but they awaken. The Pillar Men are looking for the Red Stone of Aja, a perfect gemstone which when combined with the stone mask can turn the pillar men into ultimate lifeforms. On top of that, two of the Pillar Men place rings in Joseph's body that will poison him if he does not beat them and take the respective antidotes. Joseph and Caesar vow to kill the Pillar Men and avenge their fallen comrades. With the help of their new teacher, Lisa Lisa, they will train to further master Hamon and take out the pillar men. This ramps up everything in Phantom Blood; even more fights, more poses, and more GAR. On top of that it expands on the mythology present in the Phantom Blood. Like Phantom Blood however it does narrate over the story which is even worse now since their were parts I wanted to see (like cyborg Stroheim fighting the leader of the Pillar Men, Kars).
Characters
Phantom Blood: Johnathan is the archetypal hero. He has kind heart, helps those in need, and is a true gentleman. He is the perfect hero for these episodes, fitting the epic theme. As a side note, Johnathan was interesting since he was of the only foreign main characters created during the time the manga was running in the late 80s (Johnathan was British) and also died at the end. Dio is also the archetypal villain a jerk and a bully who grows more cruel as he gets older. He is a great foil for Johnathan and does get a small bit of character development in the end when he grows to respect Johnathan after he beats him and tries to take over Johnathan's body (he was just a severed head at the time). The thing that makes these characters stand out is how GAR they are as stated before.
As for side characters we have Speedwagon is weird (not the character himself, but his place in the story). He doesn't really do anything except for helping Johnathan in the beginning, but I really like him. I guess he is a useless character done right just a guy who supports Johnathan after seeing how good he was. Will is interesting being a good mentor figure and helping Johnathan. Johnathan also has a love interest, Erina Pendleton, who I would criticize for being a simple love interest, but it actually has a contextual reason for being that way (that reason is because it was the 1800s and women had no rights during the time period), but she does have a bit of impudence and a temper. The final side character I will mention is Bruford, a knight Dio revived as a zombie, who also grew to respect Johnathan after he beat him and gave Johnathan his sword which played a major role in the fight with Dio. The rest are not important, except for Johnathan's father George who was the main catalyst for this plot (for bringing Dio into the Joestar family and dying, giving Johnathan his main motivation).
Battle Tendency: Joseph stands in contrast to Johnathan by being his opposite. He is playful and aggressive. His fighting style also contrasts with Johnathan; whereas Johnathan used Hamon to power up his physical attacks, Joseph uses Hamon in more of a subtle way, utilizing tons of objects and tricks to outsmart his opponents. He still has the good heat, but isn't afraid to violently attack his enemies. He also has this weird ability to predict what his opponents will say and shock them with it. He also invented the ultimate technique, running away when the opportunity present it. The antagonists are not as good as Dio, but still good villains in their own right. Wamuu is an honorable warrior and extends his honor to his enemies (going so far as to give Joseph time to train and beat him and respecting Joseph and Caesar). Esidisi is sly and cunning, using these traits to help Kars. Kars is ruthless and intelligent, doing whatever it takes to complete his goals. He also has a weird respect for nature, except when he becomes the ultimate lifeform and hurts a squirrel (jerk).
As for side characters, Caesar is a good companion for Joseph and they play off of each other very well. For example, they contrast when Caesar tries to carry on his ancestry, despite putting himself at risk and, Joseph who doesn't give a damn, stops his recklessness. Lisa Lisa is also a good mentor, keeping a strict and calm composure in her teaching, except when Caesar dies when she loses it. Stroheim is a weird case like Speedwagon because he is the one of the few Nazis in fiction I like legitimately (and I am Jewish). He has all the characteristics of the Nazis (except the hatred of Jews), but he doesn't take them to fascist extremes. He is nationalistic, but more in a "fuck yeah America" way and actually tries to help Joseph and his allies defeat the Pillar Men. His motivation comes from pride in his country, not from hatred of anyone. Just a good guy with a horrible group of people. Speedwagon is also there, but not for long and Erina played the brief role of the strict grandmother expanding on her inner impudence and a kid named Smokey who Joseph saves. There is also another love interest, Suzie Q, who is more of a ditz, but also still caring and nice.
Art
The art is luscious and beautiful. While some fans (from what I heard) complained about how it lacked the detail of Hirohiko Araki's, the author, artwork I personally liked it. It amplifies the GAR of this show and married it to flamboyancy which sounds like it would clash, but works extremely well together. There is also cool visual tricks like the Japanese word for menacing appearing in dark letters whenever danger approached or everyone's color changing for dramatic effect. On top of that great cgi is used for the openings. The ending animation is good, but not outstanding although the second ending does continue where the first left off animation wise(the first ended with blood reaching the stone mask and the second ending starts with stone mask breaking).
Sound
JoJo's soundtrack is incredibly varied ranging from dramatic pieces with symphonies (I think), to dubstep, synthpop, and rock. The music fits the tone of the story and like the art amplifies it. Some of my favorites include Awaken my Masters and both Theme songs (since there are 2). The first theme is Sono Chi no Sadame which fits the serious, but over the top tone of Phantom Bloodand bloody stream which fits the playful, but in the end serious (along with over the top) tone of battle Tendency. As for the ending its Roundabout. Yes that Roundabout by Yes. Araki as I recall actually requested for this song to be the ending. It fits with JoJo's tie to classic rock music and is one of the only anime to use western music as an ending theme.
Conclusion
Jojo is a breath of fresh air and a great show. With its GAR, beautiful animation, and great music I enjoyed 99% of this show (the other 1% not enjoyed is the narration over some of the story). I definitely recommend JoJo's Bizarre Adventure to all lovers of action and GAR. If you liked this show I would recommend Tengen Toppan Gurren Lagann for its GAR and over the top action.
