JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

[Dr. Insomniac]

Yeah, the Diamond is Unbreakable anime is definitely a step up, especially how they combined arcs like Superfly and Enigma for better pacing. Don't like how they cut out some neat stuff from the manga though, like Kira using trigonometry to fight or when Josuke talked about how his grandma got hit by the same car twice in a day and survived.

[gunswordfist]

Josuke showed a lot of personality this episode, which he has been lacking in the series!

Still way more than Jotaro.

Nope.

[gunswordfist]

That was one of the funniest episodes so far. Josuke and Rohan are quite the pair, and this alien business was quite unexpected.

I think the OP was stranger than the episode, though.

EDIT: Forgot to mention, the series is now officially over 100 episodes long.

"I'm an Alien" and "Highway Star" are probably my favorite stretch of episodes in this part. I wish Josuke always shined this much. Or at least more often.

And that's part 4.

I'd have to say it's the best part I've seen so far. Really enjoyed the cast of characters, and hope they show up again at some point, and the stand powers and encounters topped those of part 3. The tighter pacing of 39 episodes also kept it engaging throughout.

My final analysis:

4 > 2 > 3 > 1

I'd say 3>1>4>2

[The Shadow Gentleman]

Now we wait for the gay mafia, turtles, and schizophrenia.

[gunswordfist]

I am going to miss this show for however long it is gone.
I really like Part 4 but I like Part 3's villain-of-the-week format much more. It was much more consistent with Silver Chariot and Dark Blue Moon being the only boring episodes. Part 4's Enigma Boy, Cinderella and especially The Surface. The Surface is the worst thing in the entire anime so far. Such a boring episode.
I love how Part 4 capitalized on Part 3's weaknesses and/or did things it did not do like not make 99% of Stand Users enemies, put more non-Stand Users in the action, not make Jotaro do everything and make it kind of like a slice-of-life series. I wish they went with the slice-of-life though and it sucked that Josuke spent too much time not making much of a presence. If I didn't know better, I'd pretty much think that Okuyasu or Koichi was the star of the series. I love when Josuke hangs out with Okuyasu but Josuke pretty much just shouts, says some comment and gives some reaction while Oku completely steals the scene.
Either way, DiU still had high notes that Part 3 can't really touch, especially with the use of some incredible pacing and buildup. It doesn't surpass Part 3 because of Josuke and some dull stretches though.

[Spark Of Spirit]

My problems with Part 3 were mainly how the 2 part format for almost every encounter made them all unfold the same way- Part 1: The main group meets a strange situation, things get crazy, hero is in trouble, To Be Continued. Part 2: Small recap, hero sort of turns it around, the episode drags on, villain finally loses, Joseph has a joke at his expense, end of episode. There's a long stretch where just about every encounter goes this way. DiU made up for it by varying the pacing between single parters, two parters, three parters, the folding multiple encounters into one day trick, the slice of life elements, and the mystery of the setting, which always kept me guessing as to what was happening.

As for my favorites? Well I liked just about everything. But the best stuff to me were the Nijimura Brothers, Red Hot Chili Pepper, Let's Go Eat Italian, Yoshikage Kira/Sheer Heart Attack/Heart Father, I am An Alien, Highway Star, July 13th (Thurs), and the final episodes. They easily stack up there with the best from the previous parts. I liked all the characters, even the villains, which has not always been the case in previous parts. I really liked the setting which focused on a smaller area compared to previous parts and yet had more defining character and landmarks than would have been allowed in those parts. Basically, there is a lot of character in part 4.

What didn't I like? We could have used more Josuke. Because of the bigger cast he didn't have too much time to shine compared to the JoJos of previous parts. But I liked him the best. He had Joseph's mischievous side, Jonathan's honor and spirit, and Jotaro's toughness, and showed it whenever he had the chance. His stand power is also one of the best. That said, the way he beat Kira (and he is the reason Kira lost, make no bones about it) was one of his best moments. Also while I liked all the standalones, it would have been nice if some of them came back (Janken Boy, for instance) to pay off their earlier appearance.

I know some are complaining about Josuke's flashback not being followed up on, but I don't consider that an issue. Instead of creating a time paradox by making Josuke the one to save himself, it keeps the mystery of Morioh instead which keeps you wondering just who it was that could have inspired him so much. Other non-faults include the slice of life feel which made it different from the previous parts (and future parts I'm assuming) and the lack of world ending threats (this part felt more of an epilogue to the first three parts) which worked as it was technically focused on wrapping up the loose ends of Dio's scheme.

Finally, Josuke stealing Joseph's wallet at the end was hilarious.

I hear mixed things about part 5, but we'll see. That's probably not coming until 2018 at the earliest.

[VLordGTZ]

I know some are complaining about Josuke's flashback not being followed up on, but I don't consider that an issue. Instead of creating a time paradox by making Josuke the one to save himself, it keeps the mystery of Morioh instead which keeps you wondering just who it was that could have inspired him so much. Other non-faults include the slice of life feel which made it different from the previous parts (and future parts I'm assuming) and the lack of world ending threats (this part felt more of an epilogue to the first three parts) which worked as it was technically focused on wrapping up the loose ends of Dio's scheme.

It's also not unusual for Araki to build up ideas/events that he never ends up using.  We'll be seeing a bit more of that habit in Parts 5 and 6.

I hear mixed things about part 5, but we'll see. That's probably not coming until 2018 at the earliest.

Yeah, while Vento Aureo is the second most popular part in Japan, it's easily the most divisive part of the series among western audiences due to a number of various reasons.  I'll admit that I even initially found it to be my least favorite part of the series, but I've gained more respect for it over time and after re-reading sections (it also has one of my favorite JoJo characters).   
In terms of how I rank the parts of JoJo:
7 > 6 >  8 > 4 >3 = 2 > 5 >1

In any case Monster Hunter Stories was slated for a 48 episode anime, so I'm expecting that we'll see a Part 5 anime in either Fall 2017 or Winter 2018.

[gunswordfist]

48 episodes? Oh good, I misremember you saying 70+ for some reason.

[Foggle]

Monster Hunter Stories was slated for a 48 episode anime

Interesting, as I don't even think all the games combined have 48 minutes of story.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Josuke showed a lot of personality this episode, which he has been lacking in the series!

Still way more than Jotaro.

Nope.

Yup. Jotaro is a dick-bag with no personality in SC. Deal with it.

[gunswordfist]

I'm still thinking about how great DiU's last episode was. Might be my second favorite single season finale episode ever.

[gunswordfist]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C4W2Y7C0jM

[Dr. Insomniac]

It's weird. They look like actual people instead of garish Araki designs.

[gunswordfist]

True. I think the Yukako's passable though.

[VLordGTZ]

It looks like progress is being made on the Part 3 dub.

I wonder if this means that JoJo's won't be leaving Toonami after Battle Tendency is over.  In any case, it's good to see that Viz is moving forward with dubbing SC.  Hopefully, we'll get an update on Viz's home video release for Part 1 soon as well.