Due to that, this and my other JoJo reviews will follow an unique JoJo rating system, since in my opinion it cannot be easily compared to other manga, done in a beginner-friendly way so as to illustrate whether or not it is worth it to get invested in the series, and how it compares to other parts of it.
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If Phantom Blood took notes from Fist of the North Star when it comes to the artstyle, Battle Tendency takes notes from it for the story. Despite being barely longer than Phantom Blood, it packs a lot more plot and enjoyable moments.
Picking up 50 years after the events of Phantom Blood, we follow our second Joestar protagonist, Joseph Joestar, as he has to learn the Ripple to combat an ancient superhuman threats awakened by nazis.
Yes you heard that right, similar to PB, BT is also essentially a B-movie in manga form, but this time it's on the higher end of them.
Once again, we follow Ripple/Hamon users as they breathe their way to victory, one puff at a time. However this time the Ripple is utilized to its fullest extent. If you wondered "why don't they just do __" during Phantom Blood, rest assured that this time they most likely will. It's extremely to fun to see the crazy stuff Joseph and Caesar come up with to win, and speaking of crazy things...
Battle Tendency is crazy.
It's just not crazy, it's insane.
The Ripple is utilized in insanely ingenious ways to ensure victory, and the Pillar Men, the villains of this part, are giant, muscular half-naked men with varying powers, including heating up their body so much that throwing their blood at things makes them melt.
And let's not forget Nazis and a Nazi Cyborg are in it as well.
Art is a slight step up from Phantom Blood, easier to understand but due to the previously mentioned insanity of it, the weird artstyle actually complements the series rather well this time around.
Both Joseph Joestar and Caesar Zeppeli are awesome protagonists with amazing chemistry. Joseph always has a trick up his sleeve to adapt to the situation (or run from it), while Caesar is stubborn and tries his best to train and win.
The villains are also extremely charismatic and beloved by the fandom, and they completely deserve that. While not as memorable as Dio, they are essentially Fist of the North Star bosses, with supernatural abilities complementing their martial arts, and the final villain has a breathtakingly amazing fight.
Overall it's a HUGE step up from Phantom Blood in everything, definite recommendation if you want a solid battle manga, and it truly rewards the reader for trudging through Part 1. The finale is one of the most memorable despite it only being 7 volumes long, which deserves a lot of praise.
