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Anime to Watch: JJBA: ‘Phantom Blood’

The story that started the madness.

By SamPublished 4 years ago 5 min read
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Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is insane. The characters, the stories, and most importantly, the hairstyles. I’ve never watched such a fun, engrossing anime, and naturally it’s my favorite of all time. A great thing about JoJo is that each season has a different protagonist and story. As time goes on, the descendants of the titular Joestar family fight all sorts of villains and get into, dare I say, bizarre adventures. Basically, everything you need to know is in the title. The first season is a little different in that it encompasses both the first and second arcs of the Joestar story. The first part, Phantom Blood, is only nine episodes long, but I wanted to separate it from the second part, Battle Tendency. They’re both so different and amazing for different reasons, so it’s only right to give them each their own time to shine. We’ll call this one the first in my Jojo review series, since I’ll do a review for each part.

Like the subheading says, this is the story that started the tale of the Joestars. I don’t want to spoil too much. Even by episode two, my jaw was dropping at each cliffhanger. The basic plot revolves around Jonathan Joestar growing up and feuding with his adopted “brother” Dio Brando. The two are polar opposites. Where Jonathan is sweet and caring to everyone around him, Dio is ruthless and will destroy anyone to get what he wants. The duality of the two make the show an absolute ride. They fight each other with weapons, Hamon (a type of life energy that makes their attacks more powerful), zombies, ice powers, you name it. The fighting is creative and the stakes always seem to get higher. While the insane action is one of Jojo’s biggest selling points, it really is the differences between Jonathan and Dio that make the fights as compelling as they are.

Jonathan is so absurdly good, it’s so easy to love him. He tries his best at everything he does, and always prioritizes doing the right thing no matter what. He’s the perfect Joestar to start the series off with. Jonathan sets the tone for what the Joestars stand for. He’ll fight to the death for what’s right, he protects people who need help, and is overall such a great guy. Sometimes people claim Jonathan is boring, which is only partially true, I think. He’s not the most revolutionary or complex character, but his purity is just too much to hate. He’s a great protagonist to oppose Dio.

Dio. Oh, Dio. For people who’ve already seen Jojo, just the name “Dio” evokes a reaction. Part of the reason Phantom Blood is so entertaining is because Dio Brando is one of the most charismatic characters in anime. He’s so deliciously evil and dramatic, you can’t help but watch him. You never know what he’ll do next, so it keeps you glued to the screen. He has a bit of a tragic backstory, so you understand why he does the things he does. While he’s so mean he’s not entirely sympathetic, there are small moments that make me feel a little bad for him. It’s important to have a compelling villain, and the gravitas Dio brings to the table is amazing.

A main characteristic of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is having the lead Jojo have a best buddy by his side, his JoBro if you will. Phantom Blood delivers on some great JoBros. We have Will Zeppeli, Jonathan’s teacher, who is one of the most eccentric characters you may ever see. The fan favorite would have to be Speedwagon, a man from the streets of London who joins Jonathan’s cause once he sees how honorable the Joestar is. Speedwagon is the coolest. He isn’t a fighter like the rest, but he still never hesitates to throw in whatever help he can when the situation calls for it. You’ll fall in love with him right away.

Something that sets Jojo apart is the animation. Obviously, any kind of shonen/seinen anime has a lot of tough, masculine guys fighting each other almost every episode. Jojo takes muscles and dials it to ten thousand. The proportions of the male characters are out of this world. Jonathan’s thighs are like literal stone pillars. It’s so absurd how muscular these characters are, and despite how damn weird it is, you can’t look away. They do all these wacky, over the top poses too, which adds to the uniqueness of the animation style. They also like to use different color palettes in places, and it keeps everything looking fresh and vibrant, especially during the fight scenes.

This is a guy who never skips leg day, or any day for that matter.

Something I’ve noticed about Jojo as well is that both the Japanese and English versions are awesome. For Phantom Blood in particular, the Japanese voice for Dio, Takehito Koyasu, brings a theatricality to Dio. He feels like a grandiose, Shakespearean villain. His voice makes Dio sound hypnotic, so that even when he’s outlining his plans, you still want to listen to what he has to say. What I like about the English dub is how they also went over the top, both with the English accents and the actual lines of dialogue. The show is ridiculous, but it's self aware of just how ridiculous it is.

Also, this would be the worst review ever if I didn’t mention how many memes it launched. That famous “To be continued” with the sepia tone freeze frame? Iconic. Simply iconic. You can all thank Phantom Blood for that.

To be honest, it's very difficult to describe Jojo's Bizarre Adventure because of the unique tone and style. Phantom Blood is a good introduction to a lot of the weirdness that the show has to offer. It's also a quick nine episodes, so you get a lot of the story packed in quickly to keep you invested from the opening minutes. What's more, once you finish, there's the whole rest of the series waiting for you. I highly recommend giving Jojo's Bizarre Adventure a watch.

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