JoJo's has always been about growth. Whether its the growth of the characters or Araki growing more mature as an artist and storyteller, the human capacity to achieve and create has always been a central theme of his work. In part 5, we Araki him take the best of his previous parts, and create something wholly fresh and original.
To address the most common criticisms, namely that Giorno isnt a very interesting main character, and Diavolo isnt a very good villain. I can't really argue with the claim that Giorno is less interesting. He's not as cool as Jotaro, not as likable as Josuke, and not as funny as Joseph. In many ways hes a throwback to the more "mary sue" characteristics of Jonathan Joestar, being defined by his extreme proficiency in everything. The villain however, I have to argue is pretty damn cool. Diavolo is distinct from the villains of all previous parts. Unlike other parts where the villains only show up later in, Diavolo is a mythical figure constantly in the background, being the axis on which the story turns. He's an absolute bastard, and his outright insanity is fittingly brutal for a series centred on what is basically gang warfare.
Without spoiling anything, the series could be broken into 2 big arcs. The first half resembles part 3, with our plucky squad of Italian gangsters going on a journey that is continually interrupted by assassins, and the last half resembling part 4, with the gang searching for their boss. Its simple, but it allows the story to centre on combat. And oh boy the combat. These are the best stand battles in JoJo so far. Each villain gets powers that are creatively applied to be brutally violent, and Araki was clearly was having a great time drawing all the gory results.
The art is also a highpoint. Seeing Araki go from someone who could barely draw anatomy in part 1 to someone who throws around beautiful two page spreads is so rewarding to see. The composition is creative, the illustrations are beautiful, and sometimes you'll wonder how he could top it, only to realize he did it on the next page.
This manga is excellent. I'm glad that the anime has caused people to go back and reconsider this part, which seemingly has been a black sheep for a while. If you read this, you wont be dissappointed.
