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JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is one of those things that you can't not be aware of if you spend even small amounts of time in a space like SV. And, like many other such things, its something I've been passingly curious about for the last couple of years without ever quite having the motivation to sit down and start watching. More recently, I learned that the manga it was adapted from is considerably older (having first begun publication in 1987), and was actually an important inspiration to just about all other Japanese comics and animation of its genre that came afterward. As the JoJo anime is apparently both a current fandom darling, and (very closely) adapted from a work with some historical significance, I decided I might as well make it the next item on my Let's Watch itinerary.
I've heard very mixed opinions as to whether or not JoJo is good, though. And based on my own initial exposure, well, I think the most concise description of its quality would be "its complicated."
In anticipation of this Let's Watch, I gave the pilot episode an initial watchthrough, and was rather taken with it...only to find out that what I saw wasn't actually the pilot. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is divided into multiple, somewhat-self-contained "series," each with its own title, and I accidentally started with the wrong one. I then watched the actual pilot, the first episode of the initial series: "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood." And this one, unfortunately, made a far less positive impression.
On one hand, I ended up spoiling myself on some things, making this watchthrough a bit less blind than it otherwise would have been. On the other, I at least know that unlike certain other animated series I might name, JoJo actually does get better after what I currently suspect will be a fairly inept first season. I've since been told that season one of the anime suffered from compressing a large volume of manga into just a few hours worth of animation, which makes many of its flaws the fault of the animation studio rather than the original author. Of course, I can only analyze the work that's in front of me (and I'm only planning to review the anime), but at least I'll have an idea of where to assign blame for certain problems.
Before I begin, here is a list of everything I knew about JoJo's Bizarre Adventure before I started watching the actual Phantom Blood pilot, including the stuff I learned from the later episode I watched accidentally:
Other than the above, and the contents of the pilot, I'm going in completely blind.
So. Sometime in the next few hours, I will be posting the first part of my review for Phantom Blood's pilot episode, "Dio the Invader." As with my RWBY thread, I would very much appreciate it if people avoided spoilers. Including spoilers that take the form of memes.
If you enjoy my work and would like to see more of it, please consider supporting me on Patreon.
I've heard very mixed opinions as to whether or not JoJo is good, though. And based on my own initial exposure, well, I think the most concise description of its quality would be "its complicated."
In anticipation of this Let's Watch, I gave the pilot episode an initial watchthrough, and was rather taken with it...only to find out that what I saw wasn't actually the pilot. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is divided into multiple, somewhat-self-contained "series," each with its own title, and I accidentally started with the wrong one. I then watched the actual pilot, the first episode of the initial series: "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood." And this one, unfortunately, made a far less positive impression.
On one hand, I ended up spoiling myself on some things, making this watchthrough a bit less blind than it otherwise would have been. On the other, I at least know that unlike certain other animated series I might name, JoJo actually does get better after what I currently suspect will be a fairly inept first season. I've since been told that season one of the anime suffered from compressing a large volume of manga into just a few hours worth of animation, which makes many of its flaws the fault of the animation studio rather than the original author. Of course, I can only analyze the work that's in front of me (and I'm only planning to review the anime), but at least I'll have an idea of where to assign blame for certain problems.
Before I begin, here is a list of everything I knew about JoJo's Bizarre Adventure before I started watching the actual Phantom Blood pilot, including the stuff I learned from the later episode I watched accidentally:
- This is an intergenerational drama about the Joestar family.
- There are unique or semi-unique superpowers called "stands" that take the form of demonic-looking humanoid projections that only other stand-users can see.
- There's a villain named Dio Brando. I think he's a vampire or something?
- At some point, Dio's head gets attached to the body of a Joestar ancestor. Somehow. For some reason.
- There's a fabulous musclebound trio called the "pillarmen."
- Its really, really weird. As one would expect, given the title.
Other than the above, and the contents of the pilot, I'm going in completely blind.
So. Sometime in the next few hours, I will be posting the first part of my review for Phantom Blood's pilot episode, "Dio the Invader." As with my RWBY thread, I would very much appreciate it if people avoided spoilers. Including spoilers that take the form of memes.
If you enjoy my work and would like to see more of it, please consider supporting me on Patreon.
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