After all the bizarre adventures I've been on, it's surprising it all came from this. Phantom Blood is an flawed but entertaining action series with... admittedly basic shounen elements compared to the rest of the series.

Jonathan is a strong boy who is nice and knows magic karate. Dio is a strong boy turned vampire that is evil incarnate. There are other characters, but this us the basic gist. Despite the role Phantom Blood has taken as the worst part, this does have some elements that are pretty good.

First, this manga is excessively creative. Hamon is honestly a pretty cool power, even if a bit vague in identity, and Dio is constantly testing out his vampiric abilities in cool ways. It even feels less 'deus ex machina' than some other Jojo parts.

Second, Jonathan and Dio have a personal relationship before their big clash. Many series don't do this, but having the battle be personal makes a series that much better in my opinion.

Third, it's pretty short. Aside from a few battles, this series doesn't overstay its welcome. At 5 volumes, you could probably finish this in a day.

Now there are some problems. Jonathan is not a particularly interesting character. His motivation is to stop Dio, and that's about it. I wish I knew more about Jonathan as a person. Dio is fun in the same way the Emperor from Star Wars is, and has a bit more depth than said character, but this series has better villains. Despite the memes, Speedwagon isn't that cool. You could tweak the story and nothing could change if he was gone (In part 1, that is). Erina is Jonathan's girlfriend, and that's it. Zeppeli is goofy and whimsical, and we learn a bit about him, but he's a basic teacher character. These characters are somewhat enjoyable, but not compelling

The art is also creative, and really detailed, but it has its problems. Don't get me wrong, there are some great panels, but there is also some clear lack of consistency in both quality and design, especially with anatomy. Detail doesn't make up for many of these problems. It gets better as it goes on, and by part 2, the art is pretty good, but here, it's rather... bizarre.

The ending makes the story for me, and Jonathan's speech about his and Dio's relationship is probably the best part of Phantom Blood, and one of the best parts of Jojo in general to me.

This is probably my second least favorite part of Jojo, but it's still enjoyable. Is the anime better? Yes. More consistent art, Dio's origin, and better emotional scenes make it a great adaptation. But there's something so captivating about reading this and knowing this is the solo start of a critically acclaimed author. I'd recommend Phantom Blood, despite the rating.