History YMMV / JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders

* WTHCastingAgency: Many fans have this reaction towards Nobuo Tanaka's take on DIO in the OVA. A lot of fans felt that his voice sounded too old and wasn't deep enough for DIO, especially compared to DIO's future actors. Many felt that Creator/NorioWakamoto, who voiced Hol Horse in the OVA, should have reprised his role as DIO from the CD Drama.

* AmericansHateTingle: Although ''Stardust Crusaders'' is by far the most popular part in Japan, for a long while it was held in lesser regard by many western fans, who criticize it for its repetitive MonsterOfTheWeek structure, with many of the individual Stand users not being very memorable. Jotaro himself is perhaps the character that best exemplifies this; he is by far the most popular and iconic character of the series in Japan, but western fans tend to be much more split in their opinion of him, with many viewing him as [[TheStoic bland]], [[NinetiesAntiHero uninteresting]], or even downright [[{{Jerkass}} unlikeable]] in comparison to most of the other protagonists. For all these reasons, ''Stardust Crusaders'' is frequently considered to have aged less gracefully than many of the other parts, despite (or perhaps because of) it having [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny coined many of the tropes]] commonly seen in {{Shonen}} series today. The fact that it [[WolverinePublicity was the only part marketed everywhere else]] for a long time doesn't help matters. It also has the misfortune of being after ''Battle Tendency'', which is one of the most popular parts in the west but not so much in Japan. The anime adaptation was able to rectify this by a good margin (partially due to the fact both ''Phantom Blood'' and ''Battle Tendency'' were adapted first), but there are still plenty of western fans who see Part 3 as their least favorite part.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny:
** How some fans have come to view the original [=OVAs=] thanks to the David Production anime. As seen in BrokenBase above, a lot of newer fans find the [=OVAs=] to be a weak adaptation of this part among problems with the more serious tone. However a lot of fans of the OVA often defend it by saying that at the time it was the best they could have gotten out of an anime.
** This part as a whole has gotten this reaction over the years. When it was first serialized and introduced to the United States market, it was praised for its introduction of Stands, the sheer insanity of most of the battles, and the epic final fight with DIO. New fans, however, don't get the hype behind this part, since the MonsterOfTheWeek format gets old after a while, and the fact that the other Stand-based parts improved on this one greatly. It's also notoriously slow pacing-wise, making it harder to watch compared to other arcs simply because each encounter is given a lengthy amount of screentime. Oftentimes, people will suggest skipping some fights, as they add nothing of value and simply are {{Padding}}, with Arabia Fats, ZZ, Devo the Cursed, and Mannish Boy in particular being skipped due to being the least impactful fights in the story.
** Although the concept of Stands was novel when this part was new, later parts introduce much more unique, interesting, and, well, bizarre Stand abilities. In comparison, ''Stardust Crusaders''[='=] abilities, such as SuperStrength, SuperSpeed, and PlayingWithFire, can seem boring and generic.

** Even as a technical villain, Boingo still manages to be endearingly dorky with his shyness, loyalty to his brother, and his impressions of people as he's reading his Stand's stories aloud.

** Is Holly really [[ParentalObliviousness oblivious to Jotaro's behavior]], her memories distorted by her NostalgiaFilter, or did Jotaro really UsedToBeASweetKid and Star Platinum somehow affected his personality? If 7-year old Jotaro beating up [[FountainOfYouth Alessi]] is anything to go by, then there's evidence that he had violent tendencies even back then.

** Kakyoin being romantically interested in Jotaro is a major one as the two don't interact much throughout the part. The only reason Kakyoin is even labeled as this part's "[=BroJo=]" is because he is the same age as Jotaro.

** When the Oingo Boingo Brothers are introduced, there is a guy interested in Boingo's manga with a shirt that has the number 911. One of Boingo's manga panels predicts that he will die after a bus crash and slam into a telephone pole. In the background of the panel there is a plane. Keep in mind this chapter was drawn in the 90's, long before the 2001 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. When the anime version aired, any resemblance to 9/11 was removed as the plane is no longer in the manga panel's background and the passerby doesn't wear the "911" shirt.

** Could also be considered a Black Comedy version of HilariousInHindsight, but the day the anime episode when [[spoiler:DIO fatally punches a hole into Kakyoin's stomach]] airs also happens to be National Donut Day in the US.

*** Hell, when [[spoiler:Killer Queen Bites the Dust goes off in ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'', you can see Jotaro's face get split like Thoth showed as well. Becomes FridgeBrilliance when you remember that, given the way Bites the Dust works, Jotaro ''did'' die there and was only rescued due to Josuke forcing Kira to recall Killer Queen before the loop could close; no matter if metaphysical Stand based shenanigans are involved or not, Thoth's predictions are [[CatchPhrase 100% accurate!]]]]

* EvilIsSexy:
** DIO thanks to his upgrade to FashionVictimVillain and being much more muscular and overall powerful than he was in ''Phantom Blood''.
** Hol Horse has girlfriends across the world, and it's not hard to see why: he's a muscular, long-haired, deep-voiced cowboy who carries himself with a swaggering charisma, and he makes it a point to always respect women. The fact that [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain nothing ever goes right for him despite his efforts]] also earns him some sympathy points.
** Steely Dan may be a [[DirtyCoward cowardly]], [[{{Jerkass}} rotten]] piece of work, but he definitely knows how to style himself, complete with an impressively spiky mullet and a vest atop a fancy coat.
** Midler, despite not appearing in person until the end of her arc (and even then we never see her face), has also proven to be rather popular due to her sexy BellyDancer design from ''Heritage for the Future''.
** N'Doul has earned quite a few female fans for being a handsome, sympathetic NobleDemon who, like Vanilla Ice, has lots of HomoeroticSubtext with DIO.
** Mariah earned herself quite a few fanboys due to her shapely figure, revealing wardrobe, and confident demeanor as she fought Joseph and Avdol. Her good looks are even commented on in-universe.
** The D'Arby brothers have also earned a fair share of admirers for different reasons: Daniel for being a muscular, well-groomed, AffablyEvil NobleDemon with the voice of Creator/CamClarke, and Telence for being a confident, bombastic PrettyBoy with the voice of Creator/XanderMobus (and the suave baritone of Creator/JunichiSuwabe in the Japanese version is no slouch either).
** Vanilla Ice is a LongHairedPrettyBoy with a {{stripperiffic}} fashion sense and whose interactions with DIO are filled with HomoeroticSubtext.

* MemeticBadass: Mohammed Avdol is a Memetic Badass?! '''YES, HE IS!''' Even though he's one of the series' most infamous examples of TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter, what little chances to shine he got shew he was a collected badass who defeated Polnareff and Jotaro, the latter easily being the other strongest Crusader, and was pretty much TheDreaded among the enemy Stand Users due to his stand, which even series creator Araki thought was overpowered (keep in mind that this is the same mangaka who created [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventure G.E.R.]]). Even his aforementioned status as a wasted character ''adds'' to his Memetic Badassery, since fans refer to him as [[spoiler:the character [[TooCoolToLive so powerful]] that Araki had to write him out of the series '''twice'''.]]

** Alessi is frequently said to be a pedophile. While he is very creepy and a good chunk of his screentime involves chasing around a naked child Polnareff, there is no indication that he is actually sexually interested in children. He is more like a cowardly bully who enjoys hurting children because they can't fight back.

* CommonKnowledge: It's thought that Avdol [[spoiler:coming BackFromTheDead was due to a fan backlash from Avdol's supposed death, and that he was SavedByTheFans. This is incorrect, as Araki stated in a ''[=JoJonium=]'' interview that he had always planned for Avdol to come back, and only wrote his DisneyDeath to shake up the formula a bit]]. The [[AssPull rather sudden and convoluted explanation]] for the reveal in the manga (which was fixed in the anime) contributes to the confusion.

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Malèna is supposed to be seen as a sympathetic caretaker of Polnareff after Alessi transforms him into a child, as well as giving him his [[ThrowTheDogABone one pleasant experience]] in [[ButtMonkey the bathroom]]. Unfortunately, she isn't by the fact that she picks up Polnareff off the streets with very little provocation, strips down to her undergarments while bathing him, and even says some mildly flirtatious lines. Coupled with the fact that she seems enamored with Polnareff after he turns back into an adult because of him as a child saving her, Malèna appears less like a nanny figure and more like a pedophile.

** In the manga, DIO approaching Jotaro is the single most well-known frame of the entire volumes. It became a very widespread meme that can be applied to a huge variety of situations, helping it spread even further.

*** And Daniel J. D'Arby himself based on some backstory given by his brother, Telence. According to him, Daniel hit on a girlfriend of his [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown resulting in the younger brother beating the elder senseless]]. Was this true and D'Arby is a lech that flirts with younger women, even those involved with his own kin? Or was this an exaggerated lie, and [[EvenEvilHasStandards Daniel, knowing his own brother's twisted tendencies to turn anyone who he gets his hands on into sentient dolls]] [[AndIMustScream that are fully aware of their situation]], decided to have the girl leave before he could do the same? Daniel himself, even as [[CardCarryingVillain a proud cheater and collector of souls]] never really displayed a lecherous side to himself when confronting the Joestar group and Telence himself [[UnreliableNarrator is not exactly the paragon of truth himself]], given how deceitful he is about his full extent of his powers.

** Jotaro beating the shit out of Rubber Soul, a SmugSuper that brutally kills a dog for no reason and [[SmallNameBigEgo constantly brags about his awesomeness]] despite [[AintTooProudToBeg pathetically pleading for mercy]] whenever the tables are turned.

** Jotaro and Polnareff repeatedly punching and skewering the DirtyCoward ChildHater Alessi, literally sending him flying, after he had used his Stand to turn them into children in an [[WouldHurtAChild attempt to kill them.]] Could also count as a TakeThatScrappy

* EstrogenBrigade: Polnareff has a ''very'' strong following among female fans, owing to his {{chivalrous|pervert}} ButtMonkey nature, to the point that he's one of the most common characters that female fans {{cosplay|otaku girl}} as.

** The [[Anime/DragonBallSuper next time]] [[Creator/MatthewMercer Matthew Mercer's]] character fought [[Creator/PatrickSeitz Patrick Seitz's]] character in an anime, [[spoiler: it was the ''latter'' who was able to [[MoveInTheFrozenTime power through]] the ''former's'' [[TImeStandsStill time-stopping]] abilities.]]

* MemeticPsychopath: [[RuleOfThree Kakyoin's]] [[FountainOfMemes (Noticing a pattern here?)]] beef with [[EnfantTerrible Mannish Boy]] as well [[ItMakesSenseInContext as proceeding to make him eat his own feces]] has him be joked about [[WouldHurtAChild wanting to beat up, torture, or slaughter Mannish Boy]] or be an outright ChildHater. The English Dub providing a line [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5OvfujRrqM where he doesn't care if he's a baby and will snap his neck like a twig]] only added fuel to the fire.

*** In relation to the above, whenever the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFjE5A4UAJI Stardust Crusaders]] starts playing as Jotaro kicks someone's ass. This even shows up in ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]] [[spoiler:both times Jotaro and Star Platinum beat down Kira]].

* SoBadItsGood: The OVA's English dub suffers from stiff, cheesy line deliveries and poor casting -- several actors have similar voices which often don't fit their character.[[note]]To be fair, many would point these criticisms at the Japanese cast as well[[/note]] However, in spite of all of its faults, many have felt that the dub comes off as unintentionally hilarious; although a lot of viewers consider DIO's OVA dub to be pretty decent, as well as those of Hol Horse and Daniel J. D'Arby.

** Alessi is a strong contender for the most universally hated character in Part 3, and possibly all of ''[=JoJo=]''. As a creepy ChildHater who [[FountainOfYouth turns his victims into kids]] before [[WouldHurtAChild attempting to murder them with an axe]] and who lacks any redeeming qualities, he is definitely intended to be a HateSink. However, the fight against him is too full of uncomfortable and {{Squick}}y moments (mainly thanks to Polnareff spending most of it as a naked kid) to be enjoyable for most people, so he fails to garner the LoveToHate reaction that such a character is supposed to elicit during the brief time he's there. Thankfully, Alessi is also a PlotIrrelevantVillain who's entirely contained within a single story arc, so those who can't stand him can easily skip over him without missing anything.
* SeinfeldIsUnfunny:

** Nukesaku in the dub, voiced by Arnie Pantoja. At first it was seemingly normal for a minor character to be voiced by a new and upcoming voice actor. The release of the dub of ''LightNovel/{{Konosuba}}'' created this effect for Nukesaku, because in that series, Arnie Pantoja voiced the loser protagonist Kazuma Satou (and [[StarMakingRole stirred up quite the positive reaction thanks to his performance]]), making newcomers that saw Nukesaku think that he was Kazuma's equally [[ButtMonkey suck-ass past life.]]

* EvilIsCool:

** A number of fans speculate that Noriaki Kakyoin from ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'' is autistic. Such readings hinge on his large knowledge of trivia (including his tendency to infodump), his odd eating habit of rolling cherries on his tongue before eating them, his high observance, his often blunt dialogue, his self-isolation as a result of his Stand (allegorically speaking), and two moments which parallel delayed echolalia. Additionally, fans also speculate Kakyoin has depression, as he isolated himself for almost two decades due to being unable to relate to those that didn't have Stands. This interpretation is further bolstered by his image song, "Goodbye Nostalgia", which elaborates on his longtime feelings of sorrow and isolation.

** There's also a number of fans who speculate Kakyoin has depression. This is based on how he self-isolated and was alone for seventeen years because before the events leading him to join the other Crusaders, he never meet another Stand User before so he couldn't relate to others as they couldn't see [[FightingSpirit Hierophant Green]] (literally a part of him) and thus couldn't truly know or understand him.

** A number of fans speculate that Noriaki Kakyoin is autistic. Such readings hinge on his large knowledge of trivia (including his tendancy to infodump), his odd eating habit of rolling cherries on his tongue before eating them, his high observance, his difficulties with socialization (can be blunt), his self-isolation as a result of his Stand (which is interpreted as allegorical for neurodivergence in this context), and two moments which parallel delayed echolalia[[labelnote:(the two moments)]]At the beginning of Stardust Crusaders, Kakyoin repeats word for word what Jotaro said to him when he asked Jotaro why he saved him when asked why he wanted to join the journey to Egypt, despite it not being Kakyoin's fight. Near the end of the Emperor and Hanged Man story arc, Kakyoin repeats (albeit changed a bit to fit Kakyoin saying it) what Polnareff said to him when he corrected Kakyoin on a better line to say when you're about to get your revenge when correcting Polnareff for the same reason.[[/labelnote]].

** There's also a number of fans who speculate Kakyoin has depression. This is based on how he self-isolated and was alone for seventeen years because before the events leading him to join the other Crusaders, he never meet another Stand User before so he couldn't relate to others as they couldn't see [[FightingSpirit Hierophant Green]] (literally a part of him) and thus couldn't truly know or understand him. Another reason he's speculated to have depression is because Kakyoin's image song (Goodbye Nostalgia by Coda) seems to support this theory.

*** And Daniel J. D'Arby himself based on some backstory given by his brother, Telence. According to him, Daniel [[DirtyOldMan hit on a girlfriend of his]] [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown resulting in the younger brother beating the elder senseless]]. Was this true and D'Arby is a lech that flirts with younger women, even those involved with his own kin? Or was this an exaggerated lie, and [[EvenEvilHasStandards Daniel, knowing his own brother's twisted tendencies to turn anyone who he gets his hands on into sentient dolls]] [[AndIMustScream that are fully aware of their situation]], decided to have the girl leave before he could do the same? Daniel himself, even as [[CardCarryingVillain a proud cheater and collector of souls]] never really displayed a lecherous side to himself when confronting the Joestar group and Telence himself [[UnreliableNarrator is not exactly the paragon of truth himself]], given how deceitful he is about his full extent of his powers.

* AdaptationDisplacement: In the early 2000s, the Capcom fighting game ''[[VideoGame/JoJosBizarreAdventureHeritageForTheFuture Heritage for the Future]]'' was the face of the franchise in the United States since it was the first ''[=JoJo=]'' product released in that country. Up until the TV anime in 2013, most people affiliated the franchise with the game rather than the manga.

** A number of fans speculate that Noriaki Kakyoin is autistic. Such readings hinge on his large knowledge of trivia (including his tendancy to infodump), his odd eating habit of rolling cherries on his tongue before eating them to roll cherries on his tongue before eating them, his high observance, his difficulties with socialization (can be blunt), his self-isolation as a result of his Stand (which is interpreted as allegorical for neurodivergence in this context), and two moments which parallel delayed echolalia[[labelnote:(the two moments)]]At the beginning of Stardust Crusaders, Kakyoin repeats word for word what Jotaro said to him when he asked Jotaro why he saved him when asked why he wanted to join the journey to Egypt, despite it not being Kakyoin's fight. Near the end of the Emperor and Hanged Man story arc, Kakyoin repeats (albeit changed a bit to fit Kakyoin saying it) what Polnareff said to him when he corrected Kakyoin on a better line to say when you're about to get your revenge when correcting Polnareff for the same reason.[[/labelnote]].

** A number of fans speculate that Noriaki Kakyoin is autistic. Such readings hinge on his large knowledge of trivia including his tendancy to info dump, tendancy to roll cherries on his tongue before eating them (odd eating habit), his high observance, his difficulties with socialization (can be blunt), his self-isolation as a result of his Stand (which is interpreted as allegorical for neurodivergence in this context), and two moments which parallel delayed echolalia[[labelnote:(the two moments)]]At the beginning of Stardust Crusaders, Kakyoin repeats word for word what Jotaro said to him when he asked Jotaro why he saved him when asked why he wanted to join the journey to Egypt, despite it not being Kakyoin's fight. Near the end of the Emperor and Hanged Man story arc, Kakyoin repeats (albeit changed a bit to fit Kakyoin saying it) what Polnareff said to him when he corrected Kakyoin on a better line to say when you're about to get your revenge when correcting Polnareff for the same reason.[[/labelnote]].
** There's also a number of fans who speculate Kakyoin has depression. This is based on how he self isolated and was alone for seventeen years because before the events leading him to join the other Crusaders, he never meet another Stand User before so he couldn't relate to others as they couldn't see [[FightingSpirit Hierophant Green]] (literally a part of him) and thus couldn't truly know or understand him. Another reason he's speculated to have depression is because Kakyoin's image song from [=JoJo's=] Bizarre Adventure: The anthology songs 2 (Goodbye Nostalgia by Coda), seems to support this theory.

** A number of fans speculate that Noriaki Kakyoin is both autistic and depressed. Such readings hinge on his large knowledge of trivia including his tendancy to info dump, tendancy to roll cherries on his tongue before eating them (odd eating habit), his high observance, his difficulties with socialization (can be blunt), his self-isolation as a result of his Stand (which is interpreted as allegorical for neurodivergence in this context), and two moments which parallel delayed echolalia[[labelnote:(the two moments)]]At the beginning of Stardust Crusaders, Kakyoin repeats word for word what Jotaro said to him when he asked Jotaro why he saved him when asked why he wanted to join the journey to Egypt, despite it not being Kakyoin's fight. Near the end of the Emperor and Hanged Man story arc, Kakyoin repeats (albeit changed a bit to fit Kakyoin saying it) what Polnareff said to him when he corrected Kakyoin on a better line to say when you're about to get your revenge when correcting Polnareff for the same reason.[[/labelnote]].

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: ** A popular theory is that Jotaro Kujo is on the UsefulNotes/AutismSpectrum due to his poor social skills, especially at the start of the story, as well as his official description pointing out that he acts like TheStoic because he mistakenly assumes everyone else can figure out how he's feeling.

* DiagnosedByTheAudience: A number of fans speculate that Noriaki Kakyoin is both autistic and depressed. Such readings hinge on his large knowledge of trivia, his high observance, his difficulties with socialization, his self-isolation as a result of his Stand (which is interpreted as allegorical for neurodivergence in this context), and a couple moments which parallel echolalia.

** Kakyoin is notorious in anime fandoms as a poster boy for the {{Ukefication}} trope. The manga explicitly [[DefiedTrope defies]] this, mentioning early on that despite his [[{{Bishonen}} feminine]] appearance he's very strong-willed and the complete opposite of an {{Uke}}, but it's not uncommon for fanworks to depict him as [[TheIngenue extremely sweet and innocent]] or [[ExtremeDoormat slavishly submissive]] to Jotaro anyway. Unfortunately it's this characterization that became more famous with the YaoiFangirl PeripheryDemographic, not helped by the fact that popular mangaka like Creator/{{CLAMP}} indulged in it (and may have even kicked it off) with their doujin of Kakyoin waking up next to a giant egg and the child born of it resembles him... and Jotaro. Not to mention the child's Stand mixes his "fathers" Stands too. It's even worse if he's paired with DIO, [[LoveMartyr where he falls for him despite everything DIO has been trying to do to kill him and the crusaders]]. Often these stories paint Kakyoin as giving himself to DIO [[MoreThanMindControl willingly]], giving him something that resembles StockholmSyndrome.

** The Captain Tenille impostor's tendency to call Jotaro 'nii-chan' is translated directly into calling him 'Brother'. However, with his own bulk and BadassBaritone provided by Creator/MichaelMcConnohie, it also makes him sound like he's doing a Wrestling/HulkHogan impression.