Reviews

Dec 5, 2021
Mixed Feelings
Now that I completed most parts and anticipate Stone Ocean coming tomorrow, I feel occasioned to review some parts, starting with this, somewhat covering both seasons.

I've read many times that Jojo is love-or-hate. That's not the case, because if it were true everyone would rate it either extremely low or high, and it would probably have a much lower overall rating on any of its parts. But it does have some elements that might alienate many people, and also has writing issues that might annoy many others.

~~~ I notice this especially in part 3. ~~~

[1. First on story...]
Part 3 is an adventure in a "monster of the week" format, where the heroes go from point x to point y and fight some new stand user, until they reach Egypt to fight the vampire Dio.

(+) The positives of the story are quite some varied if occasionally crude comedy, frequent scenery changes and quite some originality and variety concerning the heroes' adventures and misadventures in each new location and country they visited.

Part 3 is also highly self-aware of its nature as fiction, and frequently turns scenes that would be totally nonsense or even poor writing as part of its kooky charm.

(-) Its downsides are tied to the story getting too convenient and too inconsistent. From new abilities appearing out of nowhere (I'm looking at you Jotaro, and you Polnareff and Kakyoin), to characters being used, dropped, and reappearing, and being dropped again. Back and forth.

Also, scenes and incidents (e.g. several stand battles) that could be summarized (or even excluded) in half an episode are opened up and extended for one or two, making the series unnecessarily "stretched out" and at times, exhausting (especially in its second season).

[2. Then on characters...]
The interactions of the heroes' crew with the environment and with each other is the strongest character-related aspect, and they are often key to this part's comedy. Now as for the villains, most are one-dimensional, and only serve the purpose of presenting a new obstacle. Their powers range in originality and coolness.

Several have immense power, but using it unwisely they get defeated too easily. Others have extremely limited or weak powers, but wield them at the right time and place, even if they end up losing. I believe the last users tend to be the most memorable and fascinating.

[3. Last but not least, on audiovisuals...]
Not much to say on character designs, given how their build is divisive to fans. As for me, I want to note I liked how Araki designed women at first, but then found them too similarly drawn. Animation quality seems relatively consistent, but animation is not too remarkable. It's mostly direction that draws the most out of the scenes. I liked many backgrounds, especially when they involved landscapes, like a city on the banks of the Nile or an Arabian desert.

I think audio is the biggest asset of this part's production, be it voice acting, choice of sound effects and delivery and timing of lines. The mostly hard rock music didn't leave me with too much of an impression, but often pumped me up for the action and insanity to follow.

~~~ Hope you enjoyed my review! ~~~
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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