AKA: JoJo no Kimyō na Bōken, ジョジョの奇妙な冒険

Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Supernatural

Studio: Toei Animation

Episodes: 9

Seasons: 1

There are very few anime that leave me speechless, VERY FEW. Jo Jo’s Bizarre Adventure, by far, has made me stare into my invisible camera following me around and documenting my life, more than any other show I have watched. I questioned myself several times while watching and uttered the words, “WTF am I watching right now?” But did I enjoy every minute? Absolutely.

The only word to really describe this series so far is; Chaos. There’s so much going on but it all rolls together really well. It’s a wonderful story being told and it only deepens each season, and I’m only on season TWO. You wonder, “Hmm, how can this possibly be topped next season-” and then BOOM you’re hit with the next season or part and you didn’t even expect none of it to happen but it did.

You have to understand; there are so many shows out there that I understand sometimes it is hard to not be predictable. Jo Jo is not predictable in any way. At least for me. The plot twists, the deaths, the strategies, etc. The way the show just operates is amazing. I personally love the onomatopoeias added into the action scenes and the way the males are portrayed breaking down those masculine notions.

Jo Jo’s Bizarre Adventure is a journey. The story revolves around two men; Jonathan Joestar and Dio Brando. To say these two have beef would be an understatement. The whole series is basically Dio being the petty villain he is and Joestar’s fighting for their lives against him. It’s decades of bad blood being hashed out but each season is a different Joestar relative, which shows how tenacious he is.

This was the only image I could find with the studio name 😅

Production for this series is from A.P.P.P (Another Push Pin Planning) which also produced Golden Boy, Fist of the Blue Star, and more. To be honest, I’m not familiar with most of the titles but I’m sensing that they do like using noticeable art styles and emotions when it comes to their characters.

Since this season is broken up into two parts, I’m going to review them separately.

The first part is Phantom Blood, in which we are introduced to the main characters, Jonathan and Dio. It is only a whopping six episodes long but it felt like thirty. Dio turns out to be his adopted brother but Dio loathes Jonathan and wants to ruin his life.

Dio is EVIL yall, I mean truly EVIL. Anyone who harms animals is evil in my book, that’s all I’ll say on that without spoiling. He also kissed Jonathan’s crush, so EVIL I TELL YOU. However, I love an evil villain so I can’t help but like that demon. But he is just so petty! To really be doing all of this just because you’re poor and want a better life? I mean I know times are tough but goodness. And then to basically create a generational beef because of it? Man can hold a grudge.

We start off with Dio with his dying father, vowing to get all the riches he deserves from the Joestar family. Now that’s the beginning of a true villain; has a poor background and instead of wanting to work hard and make something of himself, he just wants to steal from someone else. He finally meets Jonathan and he stays on him like white on rice. I mean poor boy can’t catch a break. He doesn’t even know what’s going on but he’s still trying to welcome Dio into the family but Dio was like:

Dio just starts messing with him, trying to break him down then, chaos ensues and all of a sudden we have a whole Worldstar fight breaking out. Things take a weirder turn when this Stone Mask gets involved. George Joestar, Jonathan’s father, had it displayed in his home because why not? The mask basically works once it gets some good ol’ blood on it. You know who has blood? Just about every living thing. Since blood is just ever so abundant, Dio happens to get some and pops that bad boy on his face. As logic would have it, he turns into a vampire.

You read that correctly, Dio turns into a vampire after wearing a stone mask. Now as if human Dio wasn’t menacing enough, supernatural Dio is a whole other topic. Naturally, Jonathan is in no way shape or form ready to throw hands against a vampire. As luck would have it, he runs into Baron Zeppeli who becomes his mentor and teaches him Hamon.

What is Hamon? Good question. It is a technique using sunlight energy with controlled breathing. We get some training between them and then he starts having to battle some of Dio’s minions.

Crazily enough, this all takes place in only 9 episodes and then it’s the second part with a whole different Joestar. But the action doesn’t stop. The story flows together well and the characters we get introduced to serve their purpose.

Characters

JJBA has some of the most unique and creative character designs I’ve ever seen. They remind me of Street Fighter in terms of proportions and charisma. There hasn’t been a dull character so far that I’ve seen. The styling make put some people off but I love it. And as I said it’s refreshing to see masculinity being projected in such a way. Jonathan can wear a crop top and still beat you within an inch of your life, we have no choice but to stan!

Part one gave us a few characters. My favorites were Zepelli, Jonathan, Dio, and Straizo (Man was FINE). Another cool thing you might notice is during each season or new generation, you’ll oftentimes see characters that resemble past ones. For example, there’s a character that looks very similar to one in season two, but I won’t spoil!

Some of their names are also references to actual people. Robert E. O. Speedwagon’s name is influenced by REO Speedwagon, an American rock band. There’s also a lot of references to American movies and characters as well. You can tell a lot of thought and creativity went into creating this fictional world.

Pros

Lots of action
Unique character designs
Phenomenal Opening and Ending
Lots of pop culture references
Amazing storytelling

Cons

Art style may not be for everyone

Conclusion

So it’s probably no surprise but I’m definitely giving this a perfect score of

🍙🍙🍙🍙🍙

It’s all I could ask for; there’s fighting, there’s great story telling, I love the characters, I love/hate the main antagonist, I’m in love with the music used. I have no complaints. The humor is my type of stuff, I love the exaggerated and dramatic scenes, it’s just a series that I know I am going to enjoy. Since there is another part to season one, I will review that separately. I figured since it’s dealing with a different storyline and time period altogether, I didn’t want to confuse anyone.

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