Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – 03 – 05

Jojo really is not kind to its females. Every time a hint is even dropped to a girl kicking ass here, it comes with this weird plot-twist that undermines any fighting potential of them. In this arc, it’s the rule that says that your stand will kill you if youaren’t strong enough. And so, Joseph’s daughter has turned into a damsel in despair.

This show has a cute little habit that especially became apparent in this third arc: the way in which it points out the obvious. Like for example, a character does something that’s very simple and clear to understand, and then a bystander yells out in overwhelming astonishment literally what just happened for the audience. It gives this touch of cheese to the fights that in these three episodes were very enjoyable to watch.

So yes, enjoyable, but at the same time I also have to be critical: when it comes to the emotional punches delivered in the opening episodes, the third arc of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure so far is the least impressive. It packs less emotional power. As for why… my guess is that this comes down to a few different reasons.

This third arc tells the stories less with its gut, and more with its brains. It reminds me of the overly logical shounen series with ridiculously complicated powers that don’t really amount to anything. It’s not as bad here though, but the first two arcs showed characters who were just thrown into a situation they didn’t understand and were forced to figure out what happened though sheer manliness. Here, characters are already in complete control of their powers and the battles therefore end up revolving around people throwing trump cards around until one of them runs out. That’s also interesting, but different. This doesn’t show the raw emotional power of the first two arcs’ openings, so it will have to deliver in some other way down the line.

14 thoughts on “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure – 03 – 05

  1. I hate to bear bad news over one of the better shows of the season, but I somehow doubt you’ll have much to talk about over the next couple weeks. But I do believe this series will improve And yeah, regarding the treatment of women, that’s eighties shounen manga stuff for ya.

  2. The protagonist of the sixth arc is female. It will be a long while though before the arc is animated.

  3. Yeah. I finally caught up to the anime and went a little further in the manga. It’s going to stick to this format for most of the minion fights and such. Eventually, though, it seems to go back into throwing Jojo into unprecedented situations for him to figure his way out of.
    That said, I’m not sure what it’ll do from here. It seems this Jojo just has this calm attitude, which makes his reactions to major events less amusing. Jonathan would get emotionally distraught and Joseph would make bad excuses or jokes or whatever. Jotaro… just stays calm and contained. It’s a charm point of his character, but it also takes the amusement out of one of the things I loved in Jojo most.

  4. @Juno: I share your view on jotaro. However Polnareff should make up for any disappointment the characters bring here.
    Later on there is an female enemy that they fight against just to say.

  5. The last two episodes of Jojo were a glorious return to form in my opinion. I never saw the OVAs so I’m experiencing this arc for the 1st time, and although not my most favorite of the storylines, I’m still having heaps of fun with it. I much prefer it like this going in knowing the full backstory of Joestars family history with Dio then getting thrown in and informed thru flashbacks and dialogue.

    I especially like the new animation, a welcomed improvement in my eyes. Not that Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency were bad, far from it, but I’m enjoying the more dynamic and fluid animation over last season’s rigidity.

    Jojo is not a show to be nitpicked, as its overt silliness will make it fall apart under scrutiny, yet it’s aware of that and revels in the gusto of its bombasticness and it is loved because of it.

    1. im definitely noticing a higher budget in animation. i love it but at the same time the rigidity of last season’s animation had a charm to it. it reminded me of the g.i.joe cartoon of the 80s. in general the show has a throwback charm to it.

      anyways im loving this show, its awesome if you’re a little boy watching it and awesome if you’re an adult watching it but for slightly different reasons. you take it seriously if you’re a kid but the show winks at you if you’re an adult watching, as in “hey you, dont take this seriously, its silly nonsense”. i think a good analogy is the old adam west batman show, for those very same reasons on why it works on 2 levels. and maybe its also nostalgia for those 1980s kid cartoons, like the aforementioned g.i.joe cartoon.

      1. True, but as much as this season’s animation is fluid and modern in its mechanics it still for me carries that old school charm thru style and story alone.

  6. Stardust Crusaders is considered to be the best overall Jojo arc for a reason: everything is leading up to a mindblowing confrontation with Dio, and its quite something lemme tell ya. ^_^

    That being said, this arc does have its fair share of emotional development, so stay tuned peeps. 😀

  7. Stardust is different in that it’s more ridiculous, and interesting, but it’s different from phantom blood. Even the manga is very episodic minion-based until the end.

    Things do pick up, but your complaint about explanations was really my biggest gripe with the first season except it wasn’t as interesting. Stardust sticks to the same thing, but instead has ridiculous powers and stands to back everything up.

    Keep with it, things stay kind of stale for awhile but pick up and get more interesting, but if you’re looking for a more emotional punch then you’re going to be disappointed. The show just stays “bizarre”, and the later arcs get even more interesting IMO. I’m surprised though, I actually didn’t enjoy the first 2 anime arcs as much, but am enjoying stardust (I have read the manga as well).

    For shounen emotional kicks, you’re going to have to rely on hunterxhunter which has been really good.

  8. correct me if i’m wrong but isn’t this arc a remake? i think i saw a much older version of the same anime.

    1. It is. There was an OVA released in 1993-1994 that covered the Stardust Crusade arc and was the 1st animated iteration of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. But a lot of people, including me, were introduced to this work thru the new anime series and are seeing this arc for the 1st time.

  9. I wanted to like Stardust Crusaders but like the manga it just can’t keep my interest. Jotaro is unappealing to me as a main character. The final nail in the coffin is the show’s treatment of female characters – most of the time, they’re mentally weak background victims. It seem the author is trying to make the men seem more badass by reducing the female characters roles to this. It’s not working. Next ep will include some uncomfortable stuff about perving on an underage girl (who wasn’t even named in the original story)

    1. I think the issue is also with the time when this was written – we’re talking the ’80s, when female heroes in shounen were basically unthinkable. Considering that the same author ended up writing an arc with a female Jojo (Part 6) later, I’d say that publishing policy had its role in this.

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