Reviews

First chapters of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, pt.3 are disappointing: the concept behind renown stands may seem childish, first battles result in ‘classic’ enemy-becomes-friend scenarios and protagonist Jotaro Kujo reminds too strongly of his predecessor. But hold out for thirty chapters and you will start to realize how brilliant the creation of Hirohiko Araki is. Stands will become just another form of superhuman abilities, shounen tropes fades quickly and and Jotaro will transform into unique, awesome character. In fact, most of characters of Stardust Crusaders are awesome because of Hirohiko Araki one-of-a-kind approach to the story. He never tries to *teach* which opens up an opportunity to portray villains as human beings and not the devices to make heroes bond together, train willpower or contemplate the values of life. Same *not teach* technique strips the story of unnecessary templated episodes about friends, hard work and other bullshit. Everything is simple and honest: protagonists are compatritriots united by duty (much more plausible cause than most shounen have) against an ambitious spiteful man. Each of characters has quirks and traits that makes them fun and distinct.

But the main revelation of pt.3 are stands. Stands are cartoonish creatures standing behind host. Sounds stupid, yes? Don’t worry, in middle of journey you will forget about that detail and most stands will be perceived simply as superhuman powers, like in western comics. Each fight will begin with a mystery: what is our enemy stand? And will revolve around strategic approach of how to deal with adversaries, utilizing our strengths and exploiting their weakness. In fact, that is why Hirohiko Araki made stands of protagonist so trite and unsophisticated: so no encounter will have an easy solution. No encounter will be dull either. Hirohiko has done a extraordinary job: the journey to Egypt is filled with dozens of stands most of which being intricate and unorthodox. It creates this engulfing story train where you can’t wait to see who will be the next enemy and what are his powers. So if you one of those people who likes to be passenger of said trains - JoJo pt.3 is definitely for you.

Unfortunately, I’m not exactly one of these people. Ninety nine percent of of pt.3 are battles. There are literally only two or three chapters that are not the part of some fight. Protagonists can’t make a step without encountering another stand user which is kinda ridiculous. There are literally no story twist, side stories or any other plot deviations. It’s all just fights, one after another, non-stop. It makes Stardust Crusaders look very discreet and unnatural. It also makes me very sad because, ironically, the slices of life in execution Hirohiko are *extremely* good. The tiny bits of peace at the start of each new battle arc are so entertaining that I just couldn’t help but ask myself: “Why, why did he have to end them so soon?”.

All in all, Stardust Crusaders transforms JoJo into what it is even today: smart stylish collection of epic strategic battles. Yet pt.3 is too blatant about it - more sophisticated plot definitely wouldn’t have hurt.

P.S. Bulkiness, gore and strong language are fun too.

7/10