This OVA covers the first half of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders. It differs from the source material in two main ways: minor plot details are changed to make it flow better within seven 30-minute episodes, and anything comedic is completely omitted. Your opinion will depend on what you think of these changes. I very much enjoyed this series for them. The changes give a main villain to the story arc, instead of the protagonists only fighting unrelated bad guys of the week. The serious tone well suits the stoic, observant character of protagonist Jotaro Kujo— he comes across as mature and pragmatic at first impression rather than off-puttingly rude. The seriousness also reins in the over-the-top behavior of other characters that otherwise would threaten to overshadow his quiet presence. Even the opening gets right to the point: depicting the gruesome death of Jotaro's ancestor Jonathan Joestar lets the viewer know what the protagonists are up against.
The art is striking and detailed, with subdued but beautiful colors, and seems to draw some influence from Western comics. There is a questionable-quality frame here and there but not enough to detract from my enjoyment. The music is old-school synth stuff that fits the visual style and tone of the series well.
If you're a big fan of old-school anime and/or JoJo, I recommend this one. As with many older OVA, make sure you watch the subtitled version since the English dub is not good.
