The illustrious JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga, despite its success and fame, has a notably self contained fanbase. With the exception of an OVA from the early 1990s, the franchise has not branched out much into other communities. Araki, like George Lucas, cultivates this kind of engagement through his artistry. Despite his enormous talent that can be appreciated at any time, Jojo is a series that typically relies on prior fandom to be fully enraptured with. Araki's vaporous strangeness and lack of typical mangaka flair (the character designs in his manga are never as expressive as contemporaries such as Akira Toriyama, Eiichiro Oda, Kentaro Miura) would be a death sentence for his opus if not for its self referential nature. Odd and frequently repetitive plotting is forgiven by Jojo fans (such as myself) on the grounds of connections to other arcs and characters in the story. This is not to deny Araki's artistry, but rather to say that he has built this story around the momentum of the fans' self motivation.

All of this is to say that the oft derided Phantom Blood, the first part of the series, is quite possibly the only chapter of the story that truly avoids this pitfall. Despite weaker artwork than later parts and a lack of the humor and wit that many JoJo fans treasure, Phantom Blood has truly broad appeal as its core story of the battle between Jonathan and Dio is a powerful one that requires no prior knowledge to be not merely appreciated but felt. This epic and concentrated story can come off as simplistic, yet that supposed simplicity is echoes of a culture built on the stories that Phantom Blood is inspired by. It's mythologizing with historical and cultural basis that takes bravery to write.

Phantom Blood is not charming, but who needs charm? The contrast between the clunky, powerful Part 1 and the suave, creative Part 2 is akin to that of their protagonists. The kind hearted Jonathan Joestar is defined at one point in the series as plucky as opposed to lucky, which could not be more true. Jonathan isn't street smart, and his straightforwardness often leads him into pain, but in the end it also defines his righteousness. Joseph is quick witted and famously tricky, cautious even. These traits are charming and engaging to watch, while Jonathan's are sturdy, even dull in comparison. This is a microcosm for both series in their entirety.

The iconic "intelligent" battle strategy the JoJo franchise is known for is almost nowhere to be seen in Phantom Blood. Aside from a few brief moments, the fight scenes are driven purely by the emotions of the characters, and aren't traditionally memorable. This is certainly an aspect of Phantom Blood feeling less "JoJo" and generally less special than the later parts, as Araki had not yet come into his own yet, but this is not a crippling issue. Phantom Blood is fundamentally old school, with some manga-ish elements but mostly inspired by literature and architecture, without too much crazed input from Araki himself.

Recent discussions about "skipping parts" have aggravated JoJo fans on both sides of the conversation, and Part 1 tends to be a center of these arguments. Its general uniqueness and the lack of many classic "JoJo" qualities turns many people off, and the Part tends to be viewed as one of the weakest. This is reasonable on an individual level but has also created a placebo. The weight of the franchise is carried by Phantom Blood, and the emotional heft of its story echoes throughout the later parts. Art is impressionistic and fluid, as life is, and these echoes aren't always literal, or don't always mean that an outsider will be completely confused by what's going on in a later part. Yet they are no less essential. JoJo's self contained nature is absent from Phantom Blood but was also created by it. The lineage of characters, themes and stories created here is a pool from which Araki draws from to this day. It's a great and powerful work that reflects Araki's heart more than his intellect, yet is built on more of the latter than is usually appreciated. It's a testament to the variety of this franchise that such disparate ideas and genres can both exist separately, powerfully, while also working together as a whole.