Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

they have to use "In the Court of the Crimson King" somewhere in the anime. if it were up to me, i'd throw it in as the ending theme for the last episodes.

All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

Man in the Mirror arc… Yep, still awesome. I think one reason I love this part so far is that the enemies the protagonists face aren't so much "villains" as simply people who are after the same goal. And neither side will be picky with their methods. You could say that was sort of the case too in DIU (Jousuke's way of finishing off his enemies wasn't exactly pretty) but… I don't know, I feel it's done better here. Maybe because it doesn't feel like the author is constantly improvising − there's a clear direction, and every fight has a purpose. Even the rather simplistic way the characters' backgrounds are exposed (simple flashback with omniscient narrator) kinda works.

On the other hand, the fact there's "no time wasted" also means that we lose the light-hearted and lively aspects that stuff like the Tonio or Yukako chapters brought. Although Bruno's party are certainly a likeable bunch (well, "likeable" in the character sense). It may sound contradictory, but part 4's random and unpolished aspects were also part of its charm, so part 5's more focused storyline works both to its advantage and its detriment…

edited 10th Jan '17 5:03:29 PM by Lyendith

Yes this is a good opinion. Vento Aureo has the best mook squad. It helps that they're up against Bruno's group, so both teams are bands of gangsters notable for their courage and in-group loyalty.

On a related note, you're about to get to my favorite fight in the Part, so have fun with that.

Part V, despite its flaws, did start on the trend of SOME of the villains, at least, actually being sympathetic or admirable. I could be wrong on that, I admit.

SSSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOO...A stand that can see into the future but only a few immediate seconds of the future. Any thoughts?

Trans rights are human rights. TV Tropes is not a place for bigotry, cruelty, or dickishness, no matter who or their position.

Isn't that basically what Epitaph is?

That's not really a independent Stand, just more of a ability with a fancy name like Sheer Heart Attack and Bites Ze Dusto.

Trans rights are human rights. TV Tropes is not a place for bigotry, cruelty, or dickishness, no matter who or their position.

…So a Sharingan, basically? >.>

Bruford? Wamuu?

Is this how it works?

The Grateful Dead! That was intense. Although that "determination" thing is getting a bit ridiculous when the characters clearly should have died ages ago. How the hell is Mista still alive? His aura was evaporating for Christ's sake… Still, it's nice to have a sentient stand (no. 6) who actively cooperates and interacts with a character other than its user − even if most of its lines consists in playing Captain Obvious.

Also I feel like I've seen elsewhere this trope of a smart big bro and a dumb lil' bro, with the big one considering the lil' bro useless and disposable (the obscure B.Ichi used that). Except here the big bro seems to give genuine advice and to have genuine respect for the younger one. It was kinda refreshing.

grateful dead is legit top 5 best jojo battles material

it's super intense and suspenseful, and the camaraderie between pesci and prosciutto is really compelling and memorable

i was on the edge of my seat the whole time

Yep, that was thrilling as hell.

…Now comes Baby Face… Araki's imagination to create horrifying stands really disturbs me sometimes. >.>

I finally finished Part 4 Anime. And now I'm sad.

Read the manga then

Warrior to the very end! My tumblr, dood!

So, Baby Face… not quite as exciting as the previous fight, but that was to be expected. So Giorno acquired a skill that was the one thing Crazy Diamond lacked: the ability to heal himself. I guess it makes sense that he can create living tissue for himself if he could create entire living beings. But this fight gives a very bleak twist to his ability to "create life". And I just noticed that his two fights have been against autonomous stands, so far...

Outside of that... I liked Giorno at first, and his reasonning skills are always interesting to watch but... Now that he's surrounded by a team, he comes off as pretty boring. Not unlike part 3 Joutarou, though in a less jerkish way. His mono-expression does little to help.

you ain't seen nothin' yet. wait 'til you get to Notorious B.I.G. the name is all i'm telling you; i'll leave the rest to your imagination.

and you're right, Giorno is level-headed and focused for the most part. he's also not prone to emotional outbursts, and while that's a great asset to have when you're part of a team, it's not the most exciting thing to watch.

edited 13th Jan '17 6:24:44 PM by crimsonstorm15

All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

I thought Green Day was worse honestly, though that's mostly because of Cicciolata being a disgusting creep.

Giorno is a little boring compared to his allies, for sure.

I don't think he's as bad as some people say. People complain he doesn't have an active role in the part or whatever, and because of that I expected him to be there in the background most of the time which I don't think is accurate. He plays more of a support role but he has a few good fights of his own and supports the team rather well during their fights.

So I finished the Stardust Crusaders anime. It was overall enjoyable, but it took me months to slog through because of how formulaic and directionless it often felt. Assorted thoughts:

• I hated Jotaro at first, but he grew on me slowly as he took a bit of a backseat and acted like less of a jerk. The first season had a lot of "Stand user beats the Crusaders around, then Jotaro pulls a solution out of his ass and beats the crap out of them", and the second part dialing that back made it and him much more enjoyable. Stuff like the resolution to the D'Arby fights really did a great job of being entertaining and suspenseful without just being "Jotaro wins the day because he's so goshdang cool you guys". Then the final fight kinda went back to that, so eh.
• I see why some people call it Polnareff's Bizarre Adventure. I'm pretty sure he had more focus episodes than Jotaro, and sure as hell more character development. The Vanilla Ice fight was easily the emotional high point of the series (I can't believe I just wrote that). Could've done with a bit less toilet humor, but when he was treated seriously it was a joy to see. It's a shame that he was kinda just shunted out of the final fight — all of the other survivors had a pivotal role, but he kinda just was a distraction for a bit and then got BTFO.
• Joseph was enjoyable enough, if a lot different from his Battle Tendency incarnation. Kinda sucks that he only really had a couple episodes to shine, and basically no showcase of his unique talents or guile — I think his catchphrase was only used in the Empress fight? I did like how it was somewhat realistic in that he was treated as the de facto leader over Jotaro, because he kinda was, but I'd have made him the butt of less jokes and a bit more competent. Still funny, though.
• The other three really could've used more focus, Kakyoin had barely any direction as a character, Abdol was kinda like a mentor/wise man figure before dying without accomplishing much (twice!), and Iggy was only really a character for two episodes before biting za dusto.
• The enemies and fights had a lot of creativity, and it was pretty enjoyable (seriously, the D'arby fights), but after all I'd heard about weird powers and clever uses for them, most of the fights ended up with punching/stabbing/burning things.
• Dio. I didn't buy him much as an antagonist. For all that he's called a spotlight-stealing squad for the Jo Jo franchise, he felt pretty unimpressive. Like, maybe it's because I started with Phantom Blood and it made a big impression on my view of the series, but it honestly felt that he didn't deserve all the pomp and threat he was billed with. I felt that way in PB, and I feel that way with SC. He was just kind of an asshole who stumbled onto powers by accident and yet he had legions of fanatically loyal henchmen that followed him because what, he was good-looking and could beat them up? Meh.
• Overall, it felt like it had a lot to talk about, but not much to say. Fun to watch, but could've stood to be a hell of a lot shorter, and I don't think I'll be rewatching it. I liked Battle Tendency better, if only because that one went full throttle on the absurd awesomeness and never dialed it back.

Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.

Part 3 honestly has some of the more unimaginative stand battles and powers in the series. Keep in mind that this was when Araki was only starting to get the hang of stands. Staring from part 4 onward they begin getting more creative.

Most people feel the same way. Part 2 isn't among my top three favorite parts or anything but I feel SDC's main problem is that unlike BT, it doesn't have a charismatic protagonist to carry it so its flaws become more obvious.

As for Dio, what you described is more or less the point. He had pretty humble origins but managed to end up being one of the biggest dangers to the world. It's not that stupid or anything, some people are naturally charismatic and can draw people to them easily, Dio is just an over-the-top anime version of that. I don't think you starting with Phantom Blood has anything to do with it since the vast majority of Jojo fans do as well. Most people find him very entertaining and easily buy into his charisma themselves so Dio having fanatical followers isn't something that strikes them as particularly strange, I guess your issue with him is that you didn't.

Though to be honest, I think Kars from part 2 is a worse villain than Dio and probably the worst main villain in the series. Parts 4, 6, and 7 all have great villains who you might like a lot more than Dio. Jojo is actually quite consistent in having great main antagonists, only Kars and part 5's villain are considered underwhelming by most and even then I think part 5 villain doesn't get quite enough credit.

Overall I think SDC is one of the weakest parts in the series, honestly, in part due to the some of the things you mentioned. Its cast outside of Polnareff has no real development and is largely uninteresting thanks to SDC's focus on action above all else, the Villain of the Week format makes it drag on since many of the stand users aren't super interesting themselves, and while it has some good battles and powers it also has some of the least interesting thanks to it being the first part to feature stands.

Part 4 and onwards have more creative battles, way better characters with more interesting backstories and much better written drama and character development. I can safely say I enjoyed parts 4,5,6,7 and 8 way more than the first 3.

YMMV though, while I agree with the consensus opinion of 7 being the best part I don't think most people would put 5 and 6 above 2 :p

edited 13th Jan '17 10:31:41 PM by Draghinazzo

To be honest, I found Dio to be a better character and villain in Part 1 than Part 3, mainly because there's an evolution of his mindset.

He goes from "I'll take everything from Jonathan." to "Getting my ass kicked hurts. I'll pretend to be Jonathan's friend and take half from his father." to "Oh no, Jonathan's on to me. I'll have to kill him to keep from being found out." to "Now I'm a vampire and I have transcended all mortal concerns!" to "Being set on fire hurts. Maybe I should develop my vampire powers some more before fighting Jonathan again." and so on. Every interaction with Jonathan changes Dio's mindset, even if overall he is the big braggart who seems to be an asshole for no reason (though I'd wager his father and resentment towards feeling like a charity case are a major part of his start of darkness).

Compare that to Part 3 where it's just him standing around half naked all the time thinking about how he's going to transcend his fears of the Joestars... only to spend the entire final battle doing everything in his power to not fight Jotaro directly. That and he doesn't call anyone weaklings anymore (aside from Joseph's Hermit Purple).

Dio also gets a bit of a...I wouldn't call it a retcon, but a sort of dimension to his character that was wholly absent from the previous parts in part 6, where he was this philosophical and affable guy who talked about how no stand power is useless and about how to achieve heaven and whatnot. I mean, that was how Pucci remembered him so it's obviously biased in that sense, but the better explanation is that Araki cared a lot more about characterization at the time and felt that portraying Dio as having that side of him would be better and make for a more interesting relationship with Pucci.

I think Diego is probably a better character in the sense that he's more grounded, sympathetic and has understandable goals, while still being fairly ruthless.

edited 13th Jan '17 11:02:48 PM by Draghinazzo

Wamuu made up for Kars' faults and then some (though I did like Kars for his incredibly unique abilities as the ultimate life form) but Dio is probably my favorite villain due to being an absolute joy to watch in both Parts. Kira might change that though as I'm still watching Part 4.

This song needs more love.

Kira is pretty much the anti-Dio actually. I do enjoy Dio's character, but I still find him a bit overrated.

Anyway, I share most of the above complaints about part 3. Now that I think of it, where I currently am I'd say part 5 is pretty much "part 3 done better" in many respects. You have little group of 5-6 protagonists who are headed to a destination with tons of enemies getting in their way during the trip, forcing them to change their transportation... except the protags and their enemies are far more compelling characters (despite my issue with Giorno), the fights are more elaborate, and none of them feel unnecessary. I just hope VA gets a bit more "tourism scenes" at some point. Not as many as part 3 of 4, but just enough for a Breather Episode or two.

edit: Hmm... A Stand that can stop time in part 3, a Stand that can rewind time in part 4, and now a Stand that can skip through time in part 5… There might be a pattern here.

And, huh, it seems Giorno's ability isn't so perfect after all.

edited 14th Jan '17 7:26:38 AM by Lyendith