JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Part of the problem with Jotaro in SC is that the author makes the situation conveniently work in his favor, or makes him OP in certain situations to make him seem cool. That doesn't actually make him cool or interesting. It's just convenient writing. For example, when Kakyoin almost beat D'arby The Player, it was because he kept his cool and utilized strategy. He may have lost, but he really should have won (he still looked cool in his effort, though). Araki just wanted to give Jotaro another chance to shine, but really he only won because Joseph helped him cheat. Another example is when Jotaro idenrified the captain of the ship as a Stand user and defeated him just because he guessed on a whim. That's the type of writing that backfires, IMO, because it just feels so forced to get a certain response out of the readers.

Kakyoin was always great as a supporting fighter as opposed to a one-on-one opponent, like when he assisted Polnareff in his fight with The Hanged Man, or when he helped him fight The Lovers inside Joseph's body. I found the humor that he added to the group dynamic very entertaining as well. It was because he wasn't super strong that it was interesting to see him struggle in a fight because it wasn'the obvious if he would win or lose. Comparatively, Jotaro just winning fights because of plot armor wasn't all that entertaining for me.

Though, like I said, Jotaro is much better in Part 4 as a supporting character.

[gunswordfist]

Kakyoin didn't almost win - D'Arby knew every move he was going to take and he lost at like halfway through the course. Jotaro distracting D'Arby and using Joseph's help was much smarter. I do wish Kakyoin could have gotten at least one win in Egypt, like how I preferred it if Jotaro lost to the first D'Arby and Joseph got to shine for once. In fact, the first D'Arby match was far worse when it came to Jotaro camera hogging seeing how Joseph is supposed to be the trickster.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

D'arby The Player said that Kakyoin actually caused him to sweat, and that even reading his mind wouldn't have guarenteed him the win if he couldn't react to his plan fast enough. I think that it's very telling of his skill when his opponent openly praises him for putting up a good fight.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm still working my way through the manga. I'm somewhere in the middle of Part 5 right now, but I do have to wonder how so many people on this board seem to be all up to date with JoJo's as a whole when I know some of them to be easily scared off by other long-running stuff that aren't even nearly as long as this manga (and that's not even counting the rebooted timeline).

Anyways, I do really like the Yu Yu Hakusho-esque vibe (among many other things) of part 4, and despite being a very stand user of the week affair, much like its predecessor, I like how most opponents aren't really villains but just regular people trying to take advantage of their abilities. I also like how (and Araki himself made a great comment about it), this part doesn't attempt to try and outdo its predecessors by being "bigger" than they were. It's actually a smaller and more personally contained story, and despite Josuke being the protagonist, it really feels more like an ensemble piece than any one character getting the spotlight. The villains not being that strong, but instead being clever is also something that I like about this part. Overall it takes SC's formula and steps it up quite a bit. Though, I will say that the climax of this part wasn't nearly as strong as SC's, despite the rest of it being better.

That said, as much of an unpopular opinion as it might be, I still honestly prefer Part 2 to any other part so far. That, to me, still has the best combination of good and interesting fights, pacing, and story. In fact, it's the only part so far that had a particularly strong story element going for it in the first place. It also has the best protagonist out of the first four, IMO.

Don't read this if you haven't read Part IV:

Spoiler

I'm talking about him cheating on his wife. That's not something I could see Part II or III Joseph doing.

[close]

Oh, that. 

Spoiler

Personally, that didn't really bother me too much.  They don't go into much detail about the affair, but it sounded like it was more of a lapse of judgment on Joseph's part and he does seem genuinely regretful about it.

[close]

Spoiler

I didn't notice this earlier, but while that is revealed in Part 4, technically he did it before Part 3 in regard to the series' timeline.

[close]

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

You know, one the one hand I actually really like the characters of Part 5, mostly because they stick closer together as a team, work together on several occasions, and generally seem to have great chemistry with each other with tons of dynamic character interactions. Also, not one single character gets too much or too little attention, and everyone is equally useful, albeit the person who is the most useful varies based upon the situation (unlike Stardust Crusaders where Jotaro and Polnareff clearly held a monopoly on the most successful fights).

On the other hand, much like Stardust Crusaders, the fights and Stand abilities are mostly entertaining, but ultimately kind of forgettable save for a few (so far). Also, it looks like the main villain will only play a significant role at the end much like Stardust Crusaders. So, while I do find that this is arc has its strengths, I feel that it'll ultimately fall short of Battle Tendency and Diamond is Unbreakable in terms of the interesting battles and memorable main villains.

[VLordGTZ]

I'm still working my way through the manga. I'm somewhere in the middle of Part 5 right now, but I do have to wonder how so many people on this board seem to be all up to date with JoJo's as a whole when I know some of them to be easily scared off by other long-running stuff that aren't even nearly as long as this manga (and that's not even counting the rebooted timeline).

I didn't see this earlier.  Manga-wise, I'm not sure if there is anyone who is completely caught up with the JoJo manga on this board besides me, CX, and (possibly) Pharass.  I do believe that Shadow Gentleman is pretty close, though. 

In the case of the anime, I think it has been pretty easy for people to keep up with it simply because it's only being released in 2 cour chunks with almost year break in-between each part (with the exception of parts 1 & 2).  My guess is that it doesn't feel all that intimidating when there is a reasonable amount of off time between each season of episodes.

You know, one the one hand I actually really like the characters of Part 5, mostly because they stick closer together as a team, work together on several occasions, and generally seem to have great chemistry with each other with tons of dynamic character interactions. Also, not one single character gets too much or too little attention, and everyone is equally useful, albeit the person who is the most useful varies based upon the situation (unlike Stardust Crusaders where Jotaro and Polnareff clearly held a monopoly on the most successful fights).

On the other hand, much like Stardust Crusaders, the fights and Stand abilities are mostly entertaining, but ultimately kind of forgettable save for a few (so far). Also, it looks like the main villain will only play a significant role at the end much like Stardust Crusaders. So, while I do find that this is arc has its strengths, I feel that it'll ultimately fall short of Battle Tendency and Diamond is Unbreakable in terms of the interesting battles and memorable main villains.

While Part 5 gets a fair amount of hate by the JoJo fanbase, I thought it was pretty good upon reflection and revisiting certain parts.  While I still have problems with a certain plot point that happens halfway through, I thought it was great in terms of characters and action.  Buccellati, in particular, still remains to be one of my favorite characters in the entire series, which is saying a lot since there are some great characters in Parts 6-8.  While I wouldn't consider Vento Aureo a standout favorite of mine like I would Stone Ocean or Steel Ball Run, I still think it is very good in its own right.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm not far enough to form a solid enough opinion of it yet, but what I've read of Part 5 is far from hate-worthy. I could understand people not caring for it, but outright disliking it seems like a stretch unless it takes a major nosedive in quality later on.

Like I said, I enjoy it for what it is, about as much as Stardust Crusaders, and I like the characters so far, but it just doesn't particularly compel me to keep reading it like Battle Tendency and Diamond is Unbreakable did. Like Stardust Crusaders, it works better in small chunks at a time.

[Dr. Insomniac]

[Daxdiv]

Considering how much this took from the N'Doul fight, I'm actually kinda curious to think what Oingo & Boingo & Hol Horse, both D'arby bros fights, Alessi & even Mariah would have been like in this version.

[Markness]

Where are those shots of the comics from?

[The Shadow Gentleman]

They're from a comic called Diesel, which back in the 90s only had one issue published.

[gunswordfist]

Heh, one issue? They sacked them fast. I was kind of hoping their was more so I could read it all for the lulz.

[Markness]

I guess whoever drew it never thought JJBA would ever come to America. But how did he come about it in the first place?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'd love to see an AT4W episode on this.

[Spark Of Spirit]

That was really, really bad. Even if it wasn't a rip off it would have been abysmal.