Anime/Manga Pre-Stand JoJo Review

Pre-Stand JoJo (Part 1: Phantom Blood & Part 2: Battle Tendencies) Review​

Okay so, maybe you're wondering why I'm reviewing them both in one overall review. To summarize, Part 1 & 2 combined are the second shortest parts coming to be around 113 chapters long. The shortest, Part 7: Steel Ball Run, is 96 chapters. Admittedly, seeing as to how Part 7 also has the most volumes, it may not be as short as it seems. Either way, based solely off chapter count, Pre-Stand JoJo is only 113 chapters.

Anyway, Part 1 is where it all starts and is about Johnathon Joestar and Dio Brando. More specifically, it's about Dio becoming an evil vampire and Johnathon trying to deal with it with sunlight magic kung fu. Part 2 is about Johnathon's grandson, Joseph Joestar who is trying to defeat beings greater than a vampire. These people are called the Pillar Men as they came from a two thousand year old pillar.

Part 1, honestly, is easily the worst I've seen yet from JoJo. Admittedly, it doesn't help that I've seen a good majority of Pre-Stand JoJo around 3 times (and now 4), so it really took from the overall enjoyment for me. Anyway, Johnathon is a boring character who's basically just a very noble but crude acting person.

Part 2 is considerably better. There's an actual story arc and character development, even if everyone still stays true to who they always were. Joseph, to this day, has been recognized as one of the most likable characters next to Josuke (Part 4) and a fairly iconic character next to Jotaro (Part 3). Past this though, there isn't a whole lot to say.

Ultimately, I'm glad to get past the less iconic parts and move into what really made JoJo revolutionary. The first two parts are creative, but in comparison to the ideas of Stands (psychic ghosts that can do one specific ability that's controlled by the person who initially manifested it and is only visible to other Stand users), they were nothing.

I'm excited to finish Part 3 and see Araki perfect the formula in Part 4.

I think it's pretty common to really get into the series starting with Part 2. At least, that's how it was for me and most of my friends. I went back and read the manga for Part 1 when I got physical copies of it, and it's actually better than I remember it being, but it's easily the worst.

Personally, the peak in quality is either Part 4 or Part 5. Part 7 gets a lot of praise, but it was very confusing to me. Perhaps I'd like it better on a second reading.