What is the beast called Jojo's Bizarre Adventure you ask? If you're looking at this with no prior experience with the series you should go watch Jojo's Bizarre Adventure (2012) which is an adaptation of the first two parts you need to watch! Jojo's is a legendary manga series that spans many genres of manga including Shounen, Seinen, Slice of Life and so on and so forth. It's definitely worth a read. Today we're going to be talking about the anime adaptation of the most iconic part in the series to date, Stardust Crusaders.
Story: Now the story for Stardust is fairly simple but it works and is enjoyable, tough delinquent Jotaro Kujo has locked himself in prison to protect his mother from what he deems an evil spirit. Holly, his mother, along with Joseph Joestar and Muhammad Avdol come to bail him out. This is where he discovers he has an ability linked to him called a "stand" which are spirits that have many different abilities that you'll see later in the adventure. When Jotaro arrives home, his mother Holly falls down ill because of the stand she begins to develop and the gang discovers that the only way to save Holly is to defeat DIO who has developed a super powerful stand of his own. (who you should know from the previous series) This is when Jotaro Kujo, Joseph Joestar, Muhammad Avdol and Kakyoin Noriaki decide that they have to set off to Egypt to find and finally kill DIO once and for all. The story is serviceable but what really makes Crusaders special is the off the wall fights that take place, ESPECIALLY in the second season. Look out for the D'arby brothers, Vanilla Ice and DIO's specifically.
Art: The art of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is very unique, unlike anything I've ever seen before and honestly that's the only reason it's so high. Vibrant colors and amazing character designs make every scene a delight to watch. NOW onto the cons, the animation is awful. It's seriously almost like a slideshow at times, the bright colors and palette swaps are what makes it special. Some panels look VERY ugly which is to be expected of most anime at this point.
Sound: The OST for SDC is probably one of the strongest points. The intros, Stand Proud and Sono Chi No Kioku having amazing animations and are just great songs in general. They'll be stuck in your head for a long time even if they aren't as good as Sono Chi No Sadame. The sound design is very good too, the sound effects that come with Star Platinum's punches are all satisfying. ***SPOILERS*** When DIO's stand, the World, activates it's time stop there's another amazing sound effect that sounds like, for lack of a better explanation, wubs from a dubstep song.
Character: Now onto the strongest part of Jojo's as a whole, the characters. The entire cast of Stardust Crusaders are colorful and entertaining characters. Jotaro Kujo and Jean Pierre Polnareff are two of my favorites. The stern bancho wearing thug Jotaro is a perfect match with his mentor and grandfather Joseph. Jean Pierre Polnareff serves as both comic relief and a pillar to the crew as a whole as he's one of the strongest fighters present. The returning and older Joseph, Kakyoin and Iggy are also fan favorites. These guys make the experience twenty times better and you'll miss them by time this part/arc ends.
Enjoyment: While fan reception of this part is mixed, you're bound to enjoy the intense action, funny/memorable characters and unique art. Give the first two parts a try and if you enjoyed them, move right on to part 3. Stardust Crusaders gets a 9 out of 10 from me (Even though I personally give it a 10.)
