I've heard that the second Part of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, known as Battle Tendency, improves on Part 1, Phantom Blood, in some regards. That's true to a certain extent, but while it's good overall, it has some flaws that prevent me from enjoying it as much as Part 1.
The season takes place 50 years after the end of Part 1 and is about Jonathan Joestar's grandson Joseph and his fight against the Pillar Men, ancient vampires who created the Stone Mask that led to Dio's rise to evil.
The battles are even more over-the-top than before. In his first major fight, Joseph unloads a Tommy gun onto his opponent, and detonates several grenades... and his opponent still lives. Unfortunately, some fights get a bit too over-the-top, such as Joseph and Kars having an entire fight while falling hundreds of meters, and occasionally are resolved in a contrived manner(e.g. the final battle).
The soundtrack is better than Part 1, and has some nice songs that fit the mood perfectly, such as the Pillar Men's theme and a song that plays after a certain character's death.
Unfortunately, characters are the weakest aspect of this Part.
Joseph makes a good Contrasting Sequel Main Character to Jonathan, and has a decent character arc in which he learns to care about people other than himself, but he can be somewhat obnoxious at times. I personally like him a bit more as an old man in Part 3.
Caesar has good chemistry with Joseph despite initially being somewhat unlikeable, but is a bit underutilized.
Smokey has a good friendship with Jojo, but hardly does anything.
Speedwagon and Erina are fairly well-done overall, although it's more than a little unrealistic that the Speedwagon Foundation gives the heroes almost unlimited resources.
Lisa Lisa is a good example of a Faux Action Girl- the narrative talks up her skills, but she only wins fights against Mooks. She has an interesting backstory, but a few plot threads about her, such as her relationships with Straizo and Joseph, aren't followed up on enough. I've heard this is due to Executive Meddling, but it's still disappointing.
Kars is probably the least interesting of the main antagonists I've seen so far, with a relatively simplistic motive and a backstory that is revealed toward the end. It doesn't help that his comrades Wamuu and Esidisi are better rounded.
All in all, this Part has much of what made Part 1 enjoyable, but enough flaws that I don't enjoy it as much.
Manga A good Part with noticeable flaws
This review has mild spoilers
I've heard that the second Part of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, known as Battle Tendency, improves on Part 1, Phantom Blood, in some regards. That's true to a certain extent, but while it's good overall, it has some flaws that prevent me from enjoying it as much as Part 1.
The season takes place 50 years after the end of Part 1 and is about Jonathan Joestar's grandson Joseph and his fight against the Pillar Men, ancient vampires who created the Stone Mask that led to Dio's rise to evil.
The battles are even more over-the-top than before. In his first major fight, Joseph unloads a Tommy gun onto his opponent, and detonates several grenades... and his opponent still lives. Unfortunately, some fights get a bit too over-the-top, such as Joseph and Kars having an entire fight while falling hundreds of meters, and occasionally are resolved in a contrived manner(e.g. the final battle).
The soundtrack is better than Part 1, and has some nice songs that fit the mood perfectly, such as the Pillar Men's theme and a song that plays after a certain character's death.
Unfortunately, characters are the weakest aspect of this Part.
All in all, this Part has much of what made Part 1 enjoyable, but enough flaws that I don't enjoy it as much.