Line #8 YMMV/JoJosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood


1	!! ''YMMV/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' \| '''''Phantom Blood''''' \| ''[[YMMV/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency Battle Tendency]]'' \| ''[[YMMV/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'' \| ''[[YMMV/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable Diamond is Unbreakable]]'' \| ''[[YMMV/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]'' \| ''[[YMMV/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Stone Ocean]]'' \| ''[[YMMV/JoJosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun Steel Ball Run]]'' \| ''[[YMMV/JoJosBizarreAdventureJoJolion JoJolion]]'' \| ''[[YMMV/JoJosBizarreAdventureTheJOJOLands The JOJOLands]]''
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3	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
4	** It's common to view this Part more as [[VillainProtagonist Dio's story]] of how he began his path to evil rather than Jonathan's hero's journey, especially in the context of the manga as a whole with Dio's presence heavily affecting many future arcs while Jonathan was only important for this Part. This view is supported by [[WordOfGod Araki]] where, in the volume afterword of this part, he explains that the story he really wanted to tell was of Dio.
5	*** On Dio's relationship with his mother is one. On one hand, while he does show anger towards his father for what he did to him and his mother, he would later [[KickTheDog have a mother post-vampirism allowed to eat her own child]] and would later treat women as literal food or pawns. On the other hand, as shown in ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]'' and ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Stone Ocean]]'', he'd allow himself to have kids with women he spared. With this is mind, it seems he [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes genuinely care for his mother]], [[DrunkOnTheDarkSide but his initial vampiric state made him deny his scruples to indulge in monstrous acts]] [[WhatHaveIDone only to calm down enough to realize his mistakes after his 100 year sleep and work to not repeat the same lapse of judgement by letting his children's mothers live]]. Alternatively, [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse after Speedwagon exposes his evils being natural and not from parental abuse, he abandons the notions to indulge in the evils he suppressed and admit that his mother was more of a secondary factor]] [[PragmaticVillainy and only had children for pragmatic purposes like continuing his plans]] [[ItAmusedMe or amusement]].
6	** Tarkus the fallen knight doesn't have the honorable qualities that his partner, [[NobleDemon Bruford]] has, and shows disrespect towards him after he dies. Did Dio's corruption work too well on him, or was he like this even when he was still alive?
7	** Tonpetty doesn't shake Jonathan's hand but rather greets him with a bow. While it could be the cultural differences as Tonpetty claims, perhaps he doesn't want to read Jonathan's own fate as he did when he shook Zeppeli's hand?
8	* BetterOnDVD: The TV broadcast of the anime featured a lot of awkward facial animations that were fixed up in the Blu-ray and DVD release.
9	* BaseBreakingCharacter: George Joestar. While some fans admire him for being a prime example of TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth and HonorBeforeReason in taking in Dio and forgiving both Dio and Dario despite knowing how evil they are, others decry his preferential treatment of Dio over Jonathan as unfair and even abusive towards the latter. Some fans even claim that said treatment and George's HorribleJudgeOfCharacter regarding the Brandos in general is what ultimately [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom enabled Dio to become the villain he is]].
10	* BileFascination: Many of the fans would like to see the entire 2007 movie to know how bad it is.
11	* BrokenBase:
12	** The accents in the English dub. Some found them to be a creative touch that gave the dub its own unique identity and even if they didn't feel authentic added to the campiness of the series. Others believed that the dub would have been better without or would have worked if the dub had hired actual British voice actors.
13	*** Creator/JohnnyYongBosch voicing Jonathan was polarizing among viewers. Some felt it was a lazy casting choice seeing as how Johnny has already voiced many leads in anime and him as Jonathan felt like a default choice more than anything. He had also received criticism for his accent which was thought to be inconsistent. There's also the fact that many thought Johnny would have been a better fit for Giorno in ''Vento Aureo'' and a deeper voice would have worked for Jonathan such as Creator/TravisWillingham or Creator/MarcDiraison (the latter of whom instead voiced Jonathan's father). Others didn't mind Johnny's performance, with some being relieved to hear him in a leading role in such a long time. They also bring up to the point that despite his muscularity Jonathan is still a young guy. Johnny's performance has also received some praise for the energy that he put into the role.
14	** How well this part holds up compared to the others is often a huge topic of discussion in many communities. Being the first part of the franchise, it's very clear Araki had yet to find a definitive style and most agree that it isn't very indicative of what it would become. For many it is the weakest part in the series, and some have found that ''Battle Tendency'' is a much better starting point. Others, while not claiming it as the best part in the series, see merit in it and praise the anime for giving it a much needed face-lift, giving it better art and making it feel more in line with the later parts.
15	* CatharsisFactor:
16	** Watching sweet-natured and meek Jonathan ''[[CurbStompBattle demolish]]'' Dio into a crying mess with his fists is a ''definitive'' wish-fulfillment moment for many similar little boys who also had to languish under the abuse of bullies.
17	** Given what he does to Jonathan's dog, Dio himself being set on fire (more than once) is this for animal-lovers. Yeah, he survives; but it still ruins his day.
18	* CommonKnowledge: The unnamed woman who was with Dario when he discovered George Joestar's carriage accident is often assumed to be Dio's mother. She is actually just a woman that Dario met at a bar and Dio's mother is TheGhost.
19	* CompleteMonster: After murdering his abusive father, [[Characters/JoJosBizarreAdventureDIO Dio Brando]] is taken in by the kind-hearted George Joestar and starts to covet his wealth, so Dio goes about ruining his adopted brother Jonathan's life, attempting to gouge out an eye, stealing the first kiss from his girlfriend Erina, and burning his beloved dog alive. Dio later poisons George in an attempt to claim his inheritance, and after being thwarted, stabs him fatally as a blood sacrifice to activate the [[ArtifactOfDoom Stone Mask]] and become a vampire. Dio then renounces his humanity and sets up a base in a nearby medieval town, draining its inhabitants of life one-by-one. When a mother agrees to let Dio zombify her on the condition that he doesn't lay a hand on her baby, he watches with amusement as [[ExactWords the zombified woman eats her own child]]. After being defeated by Jonathan and reduced to a disembodied head, Dio stalks and murders Jonathan on his honeymoon cruise, before [[BodySnatcher stealing Jonathan's body]].
20	* CriticalBacklash: Considering how many fans view this part as either dull and unnecessary at best, boring and not worth the time at worst, readers who decide to start with this part find a perfectly servicable if maybe a bit too tropey story about revenge whose biggest crime is being the start of a series that would go on to feature [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable stands that can literally turn someone into a book]] or [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind house entire hotel complexes outside of physical space]].
21	* CrossesTheLineTwice: Dio lives and breathes this trope, especially when he tries to make Jonathan's life a living hell. Kicking Jonathan's dog? Horrifying. Trying to gouge out Jonathan's eye? Brutal. Stealing Erina's first kiss from Jonathan and proudly proclaiming it in a scene that would lead to countless memes? Hilarious.
22	** His infamous ButForMeItWasTuesday moment can count as well. It would be considered unsettling on paper to show how [[LackOfEmpathy callous]] Dio truly is, if not for how silly and out-of-place his euphemism was.
23	* CryForTheDevil: Despite how horrible he is, it's easy to feel a bit bad for Dio in the beginning - he grew up poor and impoverished in the slums, his mother died when he was young, forcing him to grow up with a [[AbusiveParents physically and verbally abusive father]], and he often got into skirmishes with random thugs. Of course, any sympathy you might have for him immediately jumps out the window when he assaults Erina and [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals immolates Jonathan's dog in the furnace]] at the end of the first episode.
24	** Even then, some viewers still felt a twinge of sympathy when Dio was [[DrowningMySorrows drowning his sorrows as his schemes begin to unravel]], during which he furiously laments that he's becoming just like the man he's hated.
25	---> '''Dio''': Look at me, swilling it down! Nothing but a drunken fool just like my bastard father! Damn it!
26	* DracoInLeatherPants: Dio Brando in many different ways, with many of his fans using his abusive childhood at the hands of his father as justification for the horrible things that he had done. This is despite Speedwagon making it abundantly clear that Dio's abusive childhood does not in anyway justify his crimes; Dio is evil to the core, no victim of circumstance here.
27	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
28	** Robert E.O. Speedwagon is one of the most popular characters in the franchise ascending to memetic status; his popularity earned him a major role in ''Battle Tendency'' and ''[[VideoGame/JoJosBizarreAdventureEyesOfHeaven Eyes of Heaven]]'' and his DemotedToExtra status in [[AdaptedOut the 2007 movie adaptation]] was a common criticism among fans.
29	** William A. Zeppeli too, with many considering him the best mentor character in the series.
30	* EvilIsCool: Dio Brando, of course! He's a hammy source of memes, even as a child, and despite his cruel deeds he's exceptionally charismatic, providing an excellent contrast to Jonathan's MessianicArchetype nature. There's a very good reason Dio would come to be the franchise's most recurring villain, and would cement himself as perhaps its most iconic character come [[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders his next appearance.]]
31	* FanNickname: Jonathan is referred to as "[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Joey Jo-Jo]]" after the name given to him by a GagSub attempting to give other parts the [[TranslationTrainWreck DUWANG]] treatment.
32	* FanPreferredCouple: While the canon pairing of Jonathan/Erina is well-liked, in Japan, [[FoeYayShipping Jonathan/Dio]] is a lot more popular due to their conflict being charged with perceived subtext, fueled by Dio's own bisexuality and obsession with Jonathan.
33	* FirstInstallmentWins: Not the Part, but the ending song used for both this Part and the following one, "Roundabout" by Yes, which is easily the most popular and memed of the ending songs. Unlike the licenced music from the later Parts, the opening section of "Roundabout" often plays over the ends of the episode before transitioning to the ending sequence, setting a solemn mood that suits the scenes perfectly. [[spoiler:It even returned as the final ending in the finale of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean'']].
34	* FoeYayShipping: Jonathan x Dio is a surprisingly popular, if controversial, pairing. Obviously, Dio's obsession with Jonathan is easy to read as romantic in nature, especially towards the end when he literally tries to [[GrandTheftMe take over Jonathan's body]]. Jonathan [[spoiler:[[GoOutWithASmile going out with a smile]] while cradling Dio's head in his arms]] doesn't help.
35	* FountainOfMemes:
36	** Dio is responsible for spawning a majority of memes in the entire franchise... or at least this part alone.
37	** Speedwagon is no slouch himself in this part, partly because he's just as much of a LargeHam as Dio.
38	* GrowingTheBeard: ''Phantom Blood'' really picks up when Dio turns into a vampire and Jonathan begins training under Zeppeli to use the Hamon in order to fight Dio's zombie henchmen.
39	* HarsherInHindsight: On the Toonami broadcast, the episode where Jonathan defeated Tarkus aired on December 3, 2016. A few days later on December 7, [[Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer Greg Lake]], the lead singer of the album where Tarkus got his namesake from, passed away.
40	* HilariousInHindsight:
41	** During the climactic showdown between Dio and Jonathan, Dio taunts Jonathan by saying, "Could a monkey fight a man?" In [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Part 3]], he proceeds to hire an orangutan to take out Jotaro and his companions.
42	** This isn't [[VideoGame/MortalKombatX the first time]] Creator/PatrickSeitz and Creator/JohnnyYongBosch have fought in 2015.
43	** When being attacked by a drunkard-turned-vampire, Dio quips "Must my last sight on Earth be this damnable sun?!". [[spoiler: After being eviscerated and drained of his blood in [[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Part 3]], the sun is indeed what finishes him off.]]
44	** In the Latin American Spanish dub, Jonathan's voice actor, Ricardo Bautista, previously voiced the vampire Ayato Sakamaki in the dub of ''VisualNovel/DiabolikLovers'', whose main speciality is to [[ForcedKiss force his love interest, Yui Komori, to kiss him]]. In this series, Jonathan's own love interest, Erina Pendleton, was force-kissed by Dio, through he did it before he became a vampire later on. This is even more hilarious (or worse) if you take into account Jonathan and Erina's voice actors in that dub are a couple in real life.
45	* IronWoobie: Jonathan has his entire life turned upside down after Dio comes into his life. From having his first kiss from his love stolen from him, Dio killing his beloved pet dog, and eventually his father and then the Joestar family manor burning down, life is anything but fair to him. Solidified in the finale where [[spoiler:he dies on the boat intended for his and Erina's honeymoon and in spite of all that has happened, still forgives Dio and admits to having lived a complete life]].
46	* ItsShortSoItSucks: One of the main reasons why many fans consider it to be the series' weakest part is its short length. It's only 44 chapters long in the manga and 9 episodes long in the anime, and many fans feel that not enough is done with the characters in that short time.
47	* ItWasHisSled:
48	** It's quite well-known that [[spoiler:Jonathan dies]] at the end of this part.
49	** Considering how {{memetic\|mutation}} he is during Part 3, it's a given that Dio survives the events of this part.
50	* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Despite all the atrocities Dio commits in Part 1 alone, he is ''still'' somehow less hateable than [[AbusiveParents his asshole drunkard of a father, Dario]], who physically and verbally abuses both his son and wife, even working the latter to death just so he could buy more booze for himself, and is [[NatureVersusNurture possibly]] responsible for Dio being so horrible in the first place. No one misses him when [[SelfMadeOrphan Dio slowly poisons him to death]].
51	* JustHereForGodzilla: Most anime communities will have one person who watched or read this part (thus beginning the series) simply because they were drawn in by all the Dio memes.
52	* LoveToHate: Dio already establishes himself as a nasty piece of work in the first episode alone. Yet at the same time, he's beloved by the fans for that very reason. His status as a FountainOfMemes only helped to skyrocket his popularity.
53	* MemeticMutation: Enough to have [[Memes/JoJosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood its own page]].
54	* {{Moe}}: Yes, despite being a [[RatedMForManly classic 80s fighting manga]]:
55	** Speedwagon, [[MemeticMutation memetically so]], as mentioned above.
56	** Jonathan himself, for being the epitome of a GentleGiant.
57	* MoralEventHorizon: See the dedicated section of [[MoralEventHorizon/JoJosBizarreAdventure this page for examples]].
58	* NoYay: Jonathan and Dio could be considered this, despite Jonathan's [[spoiler:continued forgiveness of Dio and Part 3's scenes of Dio feeling up Jonathan's body]]. They are regardless adoptive siblings with George referring to them both as his children and Jonathan's love for Dio being more brotherly than anything.
59	* OnceOriginalNowCommon: Despite being the first part, ''Phantom Blood'' is often considered the weakest in the entire franchise. While no one finds it to be bad, a lot of the criticism comes from the fact that Araki still had yet to find a style for the series and the story and characters for each part would only get better from there. Though a lot of readers do agree that the artwork for the manga hasn't aged very well.
60	* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: The Platform/PlayStation2 game based off of Part 1 is generally less well received compared to either the ''Stardust Crusaders'' or ''Golden Wind'' games. The game's clunky combat system, where the lack of a lockon feature combined with CameraScrew means having to constantly redirect Jonathan and center the camera just by pressing block while enemies move around far faster and thrash the player, and the Heat move mechanic can't decide if rotating the stick just about fails to fill the entire bar or doesn't even make it budge. The difficulty curve is schizophrenic too with battles either being comically easy or horrid slogs. The game's slavish devotion to being an adaptation of ''Phantom Blood'' ultimately hurts it as not only does it reproduce manga panels with ingame graphics poorly, but half of the game's combat system, the Hamon mechanic, is locked out for the first half of the story for the sake of plot, making Jonathan feel extremely clunky, and making some battles far harder than they need to be (such as the bullies somehow being harder than Dio). While many characters are present, many of them are redundant as many are either alternate versions of Jonathan or Dio, or play identical to another character anyway (Sledgehammer Speedwagon and Spear Jonathan play exactly the same, for one) and its still let down by the lack of a free battle mode letting players really take advantage of the roster. Those, coupled with bland art and sound direction led to the game being panned compared to its predecessors.
61	* RootingForTheEmpire: Some fans were anticipating Dio's victory over Jonathan in this arc, mostly due to his charisma. [[spoiler:Well, he [[HeroKiller kills the hero, so, there you go.]]]]
62	* ShockingMoments:
63	** ''Phantom Blood'' starts off as a seemingly normal Victorian-era period drama with elements of horror. But then, Dio turns himself into a vampire and Jonathan must train to use a special martial art known as Hamon in order to defeat zombies.
64	** The final episode, [[SpoilerTitle if the title didn't clue you in]] [[note]]The episode was titled "[[spoiler:The Final Hamon]]"[[/note]]. With Jonathan having married Erina and set of on a honeymoon cruise with her, you may expect a ''Manga/OnePiece'' style adventure from here on out, since the series is named ''[=JoJo=]'s Bizarre Adventure'', right? ''Dead wrong.'' [[spoiler:[[NotQuiteDead Dio appears on the ship without a body,]] fatally shoots Jonathan in the neck with EyeBeams, sends zombies to kill everyone on the ship, and finally, has his GrandTheftMe plans foiled by Jonathan himself, [[HeroicSacrifice who blows up the ship]] [[TheHeroDies and dies holding Dio's head in his arms]]. Erina can only get away in a coffin with an orphaned baby from the ship, declaring her pregnancy and vow to remember Jonathan's story]]. In conclusion, [[AnyoneCanDie a very quick way]] to establish the main story as a generational saga.
65	* SignatureScene:
66	** Dio stealing Erina's SacredFirstKiss from Jonathan in the first episode, then boasting about it with "You thought your first kiss would be [=JoJo=], but it was I, Dio!". The scene became a ''huge'' {{meme\|ticmutation}}, whose popularity helped draw attention to the anime when it started airing.
67	** In the anime, the end of Episode 6, where Zeppeli steps up to fight Tarkus, knowing that [[spoiler:he is prophesized to die during this battle]], due to [[SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic the way the opening section of "Roundabout" plays over it]] before transitioning to the end credits.
68	* SlowPacedBeginning: The opening of the part (and therefore, the series as a whole) is rather slow and mundane at first. It's generally agreed to pick up once Dio becomes a vampire and the more "bizarre" elements enter the story.
69	* SpiritualSuccessor: Vampires, Victorian Era London, lineage; this was the closest thing to a ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' manga or anime until [[WesternAnimation/Castlevania2017 the Netflix adaptation]]. In addition, the two vampire [[BigBad Big Bads]], Dio and Dracula, share a voice actor, ''Creator/PatrickSeitz''.
70	* {{Starboarding}}: Speedwagon → Jonathan. Speedwagon's extraordinary devotion to Jonathan is obviously very commonly interpreted as HoYay, but Jonathan ends up in an OfficialCouple with Erina, and [[spoiler:gets killed by Dio on the first night of their honeymoon]], so there's no way that a relationship between the two can fit in canon. Because of this, fans commonly interpret Speedwagon as having a one-sided crush on Jonathan, who [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy still supports his relationship with Erina]] despite the heartbreak. This is further supported by ''Manga/BattleTendency'''s epilogue, which states that [[spoiler:Speedwagon died of a heart attack at an old age, while having never married ("he never married/[[ConfirmedBachelor lifelong bachelor]]" was used in England as an euphemism for homosexuality)]], implying that Speedwagon was never able to move on from his feelings for Jonathan.
71	* StoicWoobie: Erina has lost her first kiss, her newlywed husband, her son (indirectly), and her daughter-in-law (though she did find her again eventually) to Dio by the time of ''Battle Tendency'' where she's in her 70s, yet keeps a stoic, but exceptionally kind personality that normally wouldn't be seen from women born in her time.
72	* TooCoolToLive: [[spoiler:William Zeppeli and Jonathan Joestar being the first examples of many in this long-running franchise.]]
73	* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: George may come off as this to some viewers. He knew full-well that Dario Brando was an awful human being, and yet still enabled him and should have known that he couldn't have raised Dio right. Then there was his tendency to condescend Jonathan while praising Dio.
74	* ValuesDissonance:
75	** A reason why George is such a divisive character is because of his strict treatment of Jonathan, which many viewers interpret as abuse. However, George's upbringing of Jonathan would actually be commonplace in his time, especially in a wealthy British family like the Joestars where values of gentlemanly conduct were strictly enforced. Interestingly enough, while George's more lenient attitude toward Dio would seem like a case of ParentalFavoritism toward Dio, it was actually ''Jonathan'' who got the preferential treatment by virtue of being treated as George's actual son.
76	** While Dio is treated well by his adoptive family, he's never considered George's son the same way that Jonathan is, which might come as a shock to modern viewers. Dio himself doesn't seem to mind his status in the family, possibly because he's planning to betray and murder his adoptive father.
77	* VindicatedByHistory: While among long-time fans this part is an example of an old hat, it got a new appreciation among fans who were introduced to the series by the 2012 anime. In fact, there are some anime fans who prefer ''Phantom Blood'' to ''Stardust Crusaders''. It also helps that the anime improved upon the outdated art of the manga.
78	* {{Woolseyism}}:
79	** The dub's script takes some liberties to lend the dialogue a poshness appropriate for the setting. For example, Speedwagon describes Dio as "reeking of brimstone and blood", and Dio references ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' after becoming a vampire.
80	** In the Japanese script, Dio tells Jonathan to use his name with more reverence when Jonathan confronts Dio over stealing Erina's kiss. The dub ramps up Dio's narcissism by phrasing it as a warning against using Dio's name in vain, a reference to the Ten Commandments, as well as highlighting Dio's MeaningfulName (Dio means God in Italian).
81	** The dub changes one of Dio's lines from "A monkey cannot stand against a human!" to "A mere monkey can never defeat a lion!" While the original line calls to mind an evolutionary hierarchy appropriate to Dio transcending humanity, primates certainly ''can'' stand against humans in a fight. Dio instead comparing himself to the KingOfBeasts is perfectly appropriate.

Context YMMV / JoJosBizarreAdventurePhantomBlood