JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken Part 1: Phantom Blood

From the starting point that is JoJo, while this part isn't large (and is divided into a couple books) I still like Phantom Blood, out of both the anime and the manga I actually do prefer the manga more than the anime, while the fights (such as Bruford, Dio at the mansion, Jonathon vs. Jack the Ripper, DIO's Castle fight, etc) I feel were equally as good animated and drawn, the storytelling in the manga is a lot better than the anime, as the anime has issues with the pacing and with the character's age and even sometimes the anime doesn't really go chronologically or leaves out small bits of the story. Overall, for the start of this manga series, I have to say Araki had pulled this off better than I would ever think, out of all of the 5 JoJo Parts animated and the 8 written Phantom blood still has one of my favorites because of how memorable the characters are.

TL;DR: One of my favorite JoJo Parts despite how short it is.

The first volume of my favorite manga and anime series of all time, and it’s definitely not without its growing pains by no means whatsoever. Of all the jojo arcs this one is the most flawed (even Araki has said so), but it had to be the way it is to set the scene for the arguably much better later volumes of the series. It serves as the groundwork of the JJBA adventure series and without this, the others wouldn’t be nearly as good.

Story (7)

The story starts out with a visual of a woman being sacrificed to some deity by the Aztecs during ancient times. The blood that comes off of her gets splattered unto the priest’s mask and it awakens some sort of supernatural power (important later). Afterwards it cuts to thousands of years later and Dario Brando notices a noble’s caravan that had crashed and most of its occupants (save a baby (jojo) and a man) dead. He goes to loot the wreckage (and surprise!, the mask from earlier is there) and finds several things of value, he goes to the presumed dead George Joestar to loot his “body” and is taken aback hby the fact that he is actually alive. George Joestar is mistaken and believes that Dario Brando was trying to save his life, and Dario plays along with this. They then make a promise that george will take care of his son Dio Brando if Dario should die.

Fast forward 12 years later and Dario is in ill health, once he finally croaks dio goes to live with the Joestar family to live out the 12 year promise between their fathers and also to steal the riches of the Joestar family, but while he was evil to begin with, he becomes more and more of an awful human being (and alter vampire) through the series.

Phantom blood takes a while to establish the Shōnen action that the jojo series is so famous for. It feels more like a Victorian drama and a seinen focusing more on family issues than combat but with a Hokuto Shinken feel to it at first, but by the second volume the latent supernatural themes start showing.

Character (8)

Jonathan is basically nicer and less powerful kenshiro. He always plays the hero who helps everyone and fits many Shōnen anime tropes. Despite the fact that he manages to be my favorite jojo (not even sure why, I just really like Jonathan) he’s really the least interesting one. But he serves as a necessary catalyst for the personalities of his descendants. The contrast is fun to witness, especially between him and Jotaro. There’s not really much else to say about him.

Dio is established extremely well as a villain. Araki does an amazing job at making you absolutely despise him. Unlike a lot of Shōnen villains Dio does not fuck around. He is utterly and despicably evil from the get go, trying to make Jonathan spiral into depression so that he loses his mind and is in no state to challenge his claim to the Joestar fortune, and showing no mercy to anyone and making other anime villains look empathetic in comparison. Despite this he is incredibly powerful but his boasting about his power is his downfall. From burning jonathan’s dog to killing his adoptive father to making a woman eat her child, nothing Dio does benefits anyone except Dio and he makes damn sure well you know it, he is pure evil.

The other characters are rather interesting and clearly there were ideas for them that Araki just forgot about (especially Speedwagon), the problem is that it focuses too much on the adventures of Jonathan and Dio to pay much mind at all to the supporting cast, and they’re not fleshed out nearly as much as they could be.


Art (7)

The art is... interesting. Some scenes look absolutely gorgeous while others look really flawed (it improved throughout the books though). Movements during fight scenes look especially awkward. Basidallt, drawings of houses, landscapes, castles, vehicles, basically anything inanimate are all gorgeous, but drawings of people look off and fall into uncanny valley fairly often. The first arc is infamous for having such bad male anatomy that you would think Araki is a girl who draws Yaoi rather than a Shōnen artist, the male characters have a physique that the greatest of body builders couldn’t hope to achieve and are usually bulging out so much in every direction that you wonder if they can even fit through doors. Jonathan also looks like the mascot for big boy burgers (but extremely muscular) throughout the length of the book, take that as you will.

Enjoyment (9)

Despite the fact that this is the weakest jojo arc I actually enjoyed it a lot. The first volume is pretty much all drama but later on in the series it starts focusing more on fighting and the signature “bizarreness” of the series’ namesake comes into play pretty quickly.

Overall (8)

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.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has only recently experienced a big boom over in the English-speaking parts of the world, due to the recent anime adaptation taking off in a big way, and beforehand was merely a cult series with a small but devoted fanbase. However, in Japan, it has been huge for a very long time - it's tremendous influence spans to everything from Hunter X Hunter to Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei, and it still stands as the 9th longest manga of all time, and still going. And through all this (well-deserved) attention and acclaim, it's pretty easy to forget that this, where it all began, really just isn't very good.

The story begins in England, during the 1800s. It opens with a petty thief, Dario Brando, attempting to rob a fallen carriage and the dead nobles inside. However, it turns out that the noble in question survived - and thinks that Dario saved his life. Many years later, after Dario's death, he repays what he thinks he owes Dario by taking in his son, Dio Brando. Dio is incredibly embittered by his life in the slums and his abusive father... and upon meeting Jonathan "JoJo" Joestar, the son of the noble Dario supposedly saved, he begins to take it out on him and attempt to ruin Jonathan's life.

It's obvious that a premise like that couldn't possibly launch 107 volumes (and counting), so to say the least, the plot goes to very, VERY different places as it progresses. The strife between Jonathan and Dio doesn't last that long, relatively speaking, but it does feel pretty long at the time - it takes almost two volumes before the supernatural aspect takes over the plot. Much as I can appreciate that it doesn't baby the viewer by introducing the entire premise as fast as possible (as shonen series are oft to do), the beginning can be a real struggle to get through.

It isn't helped by how generally appalling the art is art first. By the end of this arc, it's passable, but at the very beginning, body proportions are appalling (the 12-year old Dio and Jonathan look like bodybuilders), the anatomy is ridiculous, lines are far too thick and cartoony-looking, and darker pages are very hard to follow due to how unclear and smudged-looking everything becomes. In this day and age Araki Hirohiko is one of the best artists in the business, but looking back on this you'd be hard-pressed to believe it.

While the slow start is definitely the biggest flaw with Phantom Blood, it's far from the only one. The rest of the series is littered with a number of small issues that collectively build up into something very problematic. Perhaps the most obvious is Jonathan Joestar himself. I haven't said much about him thus far in this review, and there's a very simple reason for that - there isn't much to say. The "JoJo" in the title is something of a legacy character, passing onto a new character every arc, and Jonathan is arguably the worst, and definitely the least interesting. He's little more than a generic noble and chivalrous shonen hero, complete with idiotic idealism. To make matters worse, every single fight in the series revolves around him. This is especially irritating, because his comrades, Will Zeppeli and Robert E.O. Speedwagon (I'm not making this up, that's actually his name) are actually interesting characters, and yet fail to be anything more than likeable because of how much Jonathan hogs the spotlight.

And now, I'll stop beating up on Phantom Blood, because for all it's faults there are still plenty of things it does right.

The first, and most obvious, is Dio Motherfucking Brando (expletive sorely needed). Don't get me wrong - he's not a deep character by any means. His utter nefariousness is given little reason, and his Freudian excuse does very little to explain his behaviour. He is completely, atrociously, unspeakably evil, and pretty one-dimensional for it. However, once he gains vampire powers, Dio becomes mind-bogglingly fun to watch. Perhaps the best thing about him is that unlike so many other shonen villains, Dio does not fuck around. Whether he's using his newfound superstrength to chase his Jonathan by digging his feet into the walls, or digging an entire, intact artery out of Jonathan's neck and playing with it just to let him known how easily he could kill him on the spot, Dio is unflinchingly brutal in the most disturbing, almost playful way.

And while Dio is the patron saint of this (for Phantom Blood at least), this is the key strength of Phantom Blood and one of the key strengths of JJBA as a whole - it does not pull a single punch. Looking at other shonen series after reading JJBA, it's remarkable how much the characters use their powers in utterly pedestrian and obvious ways. Let's face it - if you had anything that extraordinary, one of the first things you'd do is find out how many ways you can use it. And this is something Araki seems to truly understand - what with not only the enourmous variety of vampiric techniques that go above and beyond the generic bloodsucking bat-transforming fodder you'd usually see. Much as the setting owes itself to classic vampire horror, the vampires themselves are wholly original (Battle Tendency would later elaborate on why). Similarly, the Hamon technique (often translated as "Ripple") that the protagonists use is a wonderful slice of applied pseudoscience, effectively using breathing techniques to channel the energies of the sun, and playing around with a wonderful variety of ways to channel and conduct it.

Finally, the cherry on top is of course the naming conventions. By this point you'd have to be blind, dense, or just plain unfamiliar with rock music in it's entirety to have not noticed Araki's love for music. Almost every character is named after some sort of band or musician - JoJo himself is a reference to a certain Beatles song, Dio is named for the small man with the big voice himself, and hilariously, there is actually a character named Robert E.O. Speedwagon (as mentioned before). Then there's a pair of Hamon disciples named Dire and Straights, trained under master Ton Petti, a quartet of vampires named Page, Plant, Jones and Bonham... the list goes on. It's a colourful little addition that makes for a nice finishing touch.

So for all that... Phantom Blood is a heavily flawed manga. However, it has numerous redeeming features in of itself, and more importantly, it's the weakest arc by far - not to mention the shortest. Phantom Blood clocks in at a meagre 5 volumes, far less than most arcs. And as it is immediately followed by what is one of if not THE best of the arcs, any patience you're willing to exercise with Phantom Blood will soon be rewarded.

Final Words: Has plenty of issues but it's one hell of a worthy investment.

Story/Plot: 7/10.
Characters: 5/10.
Art: 3/10.

Overall: 5/10.

For fans of: Fist of the North Star, Toriko.

Part 1 of Jojo gets shit on as the worst part, false. Part 1 lives up to what it is supposed to be, which is more than I can say for part 8 or part 5. I actually like part 1 a lot, and I feel like a lot of people think it's bad because the anime adaptation didn't really do it justice. I'm here to set the record straight on why part 1 isn't so bad, here we go!

The story. The story is very very simple, Dio bad, me get revenge, ooga booga. Yes ladies and gentlemen it's really that simple, but I feel like it's because the plot is so simple that this part works, like it isn't overachieving by trying to be something it's not, and in a show like Jojo, I don't always want the plot to be complex, the reason being that the fights are very complex, I love seeing Jojo think his way out of a fight, I want the story to take time to explain how he figures out how to beat his opponents rather than why he wants to beat Dio. Dio is evil and Jonathan is good, and to be honest a simple reason that just works is better than a more complex reason that fails to live up to its own hype. Because the plot is so cut and dry it lets jojo focus on what it does best, which is the intense mindgames and crazy fights.

The art, oh baby. Araki as we know him today is an incredible artist, but back then his style was still developing, and Jojo had yet to fully come into its own though. It does show its age but despite that it still sticks out as something different. I know that Araki is actually a big fan of zombie movies and "The Walking Dead", this is clearly evident in part 1 as Araki does his own take on the horror genre. The artistic mood of part 1 is like a classic victorian gothic horror story with vampires, revenge, and tons of weird japanese bullshit.

Characters.

Speedwagon: The greatest Jojo character of all time, speedwagon alone is enough to secure a 10/10 for part one, but unfortunately that would be unfair, so I can't really rank him

Will Zepelli: This guy is actually a really decent jobro and mentor to jonathan, in the manga his backstory was a little more fleshed out than it was in the anime, and it was cool to see his path to learning hamon, and how he's destined to die if he pursues the mask. Despite this Will jumps headfirst into death like an absolute badass because he knows this conflict is more than just himself, in doing so Jonathan is able to finish the job on Dio, Will knew fear and made it his own, that's courage.

Jonathan: Constantly shat on as the first Jojo, but what's actually bad about him? I can at least tell what Jonathan's personality type is, and his personality remains unique among the Jojo's, as no one else is really like him. He's a gentleman, and there's some real charm to that, if Jonathan wasn't such a good guy then Dio wouldn't have been as good of a villain. You see Dio and Jonathan are truly bound by fate, they have a dichotomy, and because jonathan is so good and dio is so bad that actually makes them both better characters then they were before. Most of the other Jojo's really weren't that interesting, they seemed to be de emphasized as the main character, jotaro, josuke, giorno, jolyne, and gappy all get shown up by their peers, and it's good to have good side characters, but it feels like the jojo's always get the shit end of the stick when it comes to personality. Jonathan is honestly one of the better jojos out there.

Dio. Holy actual shit Dio is so goddamn cool, I love him. He's so deliciously evil in the best way possible, he doesn't really have a super good reason for this, and that's why some people don't like him, but the reason isn't important. You're not thinking about Jojo in the right way, it's all about the style points, don't think about it logically, this isn't where you use logic in Jojo, just love the characters for what they are, if you do then you'll realize that Dio is the embodiment of everything that the Jojo series is. He's smart, weird, beautiful, graceful, flamboyant, crazy, bizarre, gay, powerful, immortal, I mean he's just the best.

Enjoyment: It was cool as shit, I mean this manga was chock full of crazy ass shit that just keeps you engaged constantly. Part 1 is truly a marvel of its time, and to truly appreciate it you have to understand some historical context. Anyone who calls part 1 stereotypical and cliche doesn't know shit about shit, because this was so extraordinarily revolutionary for manga than no one has ever attempted this besides araki. Araki broke just about every rule in the book when he made part 1, and he got a lot of shit for it, but look at it now, all of that paid off in the end. You weren't supposed to have a non japanese protagonist, or non japanese characters, or a non japanese setting, Araki changed all of that, Araki killed Jonathan. Killing your protagonist was the kind of shit that would get your manga cancelled, Araki took big risks, and it paid off. Part 1 is amazing, just amazing.

I haven't watched the Jojo anime adaptation or know much about the series but I do know Phantom Blood is considered one of the weakest parts of the franchise and I can understand why. The main antagonist is... not the most complex guy around and beyond his rivalry with Jojo I didn't understand why he wanted to do anything, there was no motivation for his actions. He was funny though, iconic character in his own way, commits some of the most vile acts I've seen in a manga actually if you like dogs or babies be warned.

The bigger problems come in with Jojo himself, he is worse than the Dio and I often found myself rooting for the villain just because of how boring Jojo is. His love interest is the worst of all, she lacks any personality whatsoever beyond being in love with the hero. Otherwise I enjoyed the character designed and the art in general has a good aesthetic. It's a fun manga in that campy horror sort of way and I'm interested in seeing where the series will go on from here and the series isn't totally predictable, the series isn't afraid of killing characters off unlike many modern shounen and a few of the story events took me by surprise.

tl;dr it's Fist of the North Star meets Bram Stoker's Dracula.

Part 0: Whole Lotta Love
I loved JoJo since the first time I’ve read it years ago and I still love it now, it’s one of the few manga series that personally resonated with me like none other. While I hope to be as fair in this review as possible when it comes to pointing out the highs and lows of Phantom Blood, keep in mind that all this is coming from someone who’s a fan of series despite all the flaws than be found within.

Part 1: Brothers in Arms
Phantom Blood is the first part of the gigantic franchise JoJo has become and I think many consider it to be least distinct one. There’s a very good reason for it. While the later parts delve deep into high concept super powers and weird plots that on the surface shouldn’t make as much sense as they do, Phantom Blood is a far more conventional narrative.

After his carriage crashes off a cliff, George Joestar is knocked unconscious, the driver is impaled on a broken wheel and his wife sacrificed her life trying to protect baby Jonathan. Dario Brando, Dio’s father sees this as an opportunity to get some valuable loot but George comes to consciousness. He mistakingly thinks that Dario was trying to save him and promises him a handsome reward and gratitude. Some years later Dario is on his deathbed and uses kindness of George to send Dio to his house where he would live as an adopted son of Joestar family.

What follows after is an ever-escalating clash between Dio and Joseph. From their design to their personality the two are entirely different. Jonathan is an embodiment of justice and virtue, he’s a man who will do everything in his power to protect others. On the other side Dio is an incredibly evil and calculating bastard who will do everything he can to gain more wealth and power.

This central conflict is why I believe the overall goal of the manga was to tell a story about virtue and honor triumphing over depravity and corruption and Dio represents. In a I feel it’s similar to Hokuto no Ken which beyond being an action packed martial arts manga followed a strong character with a bleeding heart who without fail would save others from overwhelming evil.

Part 2: Strange Highway
So far Phantom Blood sounds fairly mediocre, right? Well it would be if not for Araki’s creativity and passion for crafting exciting stories that can be traced all the way from his debut works. Phantom Blood has a lot to offer when it comes to eccentric characters and imaginative action scenes. While Jonathan is fairly standard for a story like this but his companions include a street thug with overwhelming respect for strong willed and natured people and has a tendency to narrate his own feelings, more so than anyone else at least. Next in line you have Zeppeli, an italian sailor who resigned his life to training in Sendo, finding the stone mask and destroying what is and should never be while looking fabulous in the process. While this will very much depend on the reader I found their dynamic to be amusing throughout, from Speedwagon’s nearly comedic overreactions to Zeppeli’s unusual training methods that include trying to destroy a vampire without spilling a drop of wine.

Hamon or Ripple is another part of what makes Phantom Blood so entertaining. While the concept of versatile superpowers is as old as dirt in shonen the applications for Ripple remain fresh and sometimes surprising throughout the 44 chapters. From standing on water and sending out wine shurikens to making a leaf glider or spraying out your own blood or other liquids through wounds to avoid poisoning or other unwanted effects. While it might seem convenient I think it accomplishes a lot to make the adventure feel exciting in unpredictable ways. On top of that when used it combat it makes for some pretty gruesome attacks as sunlight energy melts whoever tries to oppose a ripple user.

It’s interesting to me how much effort Araki puts into establishing the superpower itself. Instead of going the usual route and saying “well it’s just a special thing some people can do let’s get back to the story” he actually made up its own backstory and the method behind it which feeds into thematic core of the manga. It also serves as an example of another thing I like about Araki, which is his enthusiasm in fleshing out his settings or just plain sharing some information with the viewer that he finds interesting like the occasional tidbits he throws in about 19th century England. This is much less prominent in Part 1 than it is in future manga but I find it charming nonetheless.

Part 3: Damn the Torpedoes
Obviously however, not everything is good. There are some noticeable flaws in Phantom Blood that need to be acknowledge.

One of the most prevalent I think is Araki’s reliance on narration to add nuance to either characters or their surroundings that doesn’t always need to be there. While yes the nuance is there there are many moments where a reader could’ve been informed about them in a way that’s much more subtle. Does Speedwagon really need to comment on how hard Erina was overworking herself to take care of Jonathan when it already would’ve worked without text? There’s an example of something like this in every other chapters and while it’s not especially egregious in my opinion it does sour the taste.

Next comes the Ripple. Yes, while the scenes it was used for are universally entertaining, it occasionally feels like new powers and techniques just sort of come out of nowhere only to get a brief explanation shortly after they’re used as if to justify their existence. Araki has gotten a lot better at introducing powers as it went on and I doubt he’d leave Ripple as is, seeing how The Spin’s execution in Part 7 was much more consistent.

The art is also often cited as one of the weaker aspects of Phantom Blood and it’s understandable. When it comes to inanimate objects Araki’s grasp of fundamentals is strong throughout but when it comes to people I feel like he valued dramatic exaggerations a lot more than accurate anatomy. While I do agree that it’s not always a pleasure to look at the dramatic aspect does come true. It’s hard not to feel the sheer energy, impact and threat emanating from certain attacks when they are drawn as if jumping out of a page or dominate entire panels where the target feels like a bug compared to the magnitude of force that’s about to crash on them. So, while on technical aspect it’s far, far from perfect the art still serves a tangible purpose. Some people might not agree with this but I feel like this sort of flawed art is still a lot more entertaining than something that feels like it was drawn my a machine cause there’s a very human charm to imperfections.

Lastly I’d like to sandbag the series a little and offer my two cents on something that people always bring up when talking about why Part 1 is the worst or the weakest in the series.

“Jonathan is a boring, bland protagonist and a bad character”. This is something I can’t agree with. Yes he’s a simple character without complex goals or struggles but that doesn't make him bad. If you’re willing to pay attention there are many beats in first two volume that work towards building up Jonathan’s personality. From how he came to form a relationship with his dog to his mentality when it comes to fighting which can be traced from his very first fight and is kept consistent throughout with exceptions only serving to prove the rule. At the same time Jonathan’s naivety is often conveyed to be a flaw since a character that’s much less restricted by moral code would have an easier time (see Joseph). It drives him to take risks which ultimately drove the story forward.

Another complaint I saw being thrown around is that he’s a reactionary character which seems to stem from people thinking that there’s never a case where such a character is acceptable. All it means is that Jonathan more often than not reacts to ploys caused by Dio instead of being in control of events and serving as their catalyst. When the main antagonist is nigh on a mysterious force of nature what else is expected of the main character but to react while trying to figure out a way to fight back? This is nothing new in fiction and I find it hard to take this complaint seriously.

Part 4: Pieces of Eight
To sum it up. Phantom Blood is a unique and unforgettable adventure that succeeds despite any flaws thanks to the charm and sheer creativity behind it and while future parts do overshadow it by turning down the flaws and cranking up pros to 11, it wouldn't be fair to judge Part 1 based on what it’s not. It set out a goal and achieved with flying colors. It’s a manga that deserves to be read.

Every great franchise has a beginning, whether humble or loud. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, the notoriously flamboyant and massive manga series falls under the first category. It's first story arc, The Phantom Blood is relatively normal and short compared to its future successors. Thus, it's unfair to compare it to the other Parts. The Phantom Blood is a fighting shounen tragedy with Victorian and Gothic horror elements. It follows an aristocrat's son named Jonathan Joestar in 1800's Britain. When he discovers his adopted brother, Dio Brando, seeks to destroy the Joestar family and manages to do so, Jonathan, also known as Jojo, must go through hell and back to take his vengeance on Dio.

Story: 7/10
The Phantom Blood's story is short but sweet for the most part. It suffers from an overlonged exposition featuring Jonathan and Dio's childhood. It adds some character, but it could be easily abridged, and has been in the latest anime adaptation. The Phantom Blood also partially suffers from being a Hokuto no Ken clone at times. However, there is separation, and the tow can't be called carbon copies. For starters, Phantom Blood's weird mix of action and horror works very well not only at delivering a good style but also heightening the tension behind the actions committed by the characters. Add that to the fantastic and tragic conclusion and you have a brief prelude to an epic series to come.

Art: 7/10
Jojo has one of the most unique and distinct artstyles in manga history, and here is no exception. Rather than the androgynous fatuousness later on in the series, Phantom Blood's art style is very testosterone filled and is a love letter to being a man. Characters are impossibly buff and mangaka Hirohiko Araki doesn't do proportions well at all. The section of Phantom Blood where Jojo and Do are children thoug,h yeah that art is grody. But everything after is pretty damn good, and the use of shading is excellent, even though it lacks the distinctive style Araki develops later on in favor of a Hokuto no Ken lookalike.

Characters: 9/10
It has a fraction of protagonists that future Parts have, but I loved everyone pretty near equally. Jojo's best friend, Robert E.O. Speedwagon, is hilarious and lovable. He ends up becoming arguably the most significant protagonist in the entire series later on and is one of the most selfless and kind characters ever conceived. Jojo's mentor, Will A. Zeppeli, is fun and easy to root for, even though his time spent with the reader is short. Dio is a fantastic villain and is certainty one of the most easily hateable ever made.

However, the real star here is Jonathan himself. He is one of the single greatest actions protagonists of all time, period. Jonathan is also one of the most perfect characters ever made in terms of temperament and beliefs. Jonathan is a truly selfless and righteous hero. He is the epitome of humanity, a perfect gentleMAN. He's manly in all sense of the word. He is ripped as all Hell and is a fearless and fierce fighter. However, he is also a noble and kind man at heart who believes in and fights for absolute good. This is a man who despite living a life of true suffering holds to the true ideals of the knight stories he grew up on. He never falls into "white knight" territory though because he only gets involved in matters that concern him. Rather than fight other people's battles, he seeks to better that person so they can fight for themselves. Jonathan's angelic and divine demeanor makes him impossible to not root for. He lost his family, fortune, love (For a bit at least), and dignity, and thus has nothing to lose. But as time goes on and he matures and begins to have a family of his own, he has everything to gain through vanquishing all evil that comes into his life, all coming from Dio. The ending is a testament to this. Because of Jonathan's struggle, his family is able to survive through generations and events he couldn't possibly conceive.

Enjoyment: 8/10
The fights are excellent and there is true raw emotion behind them. This is a fight to the death by two brothers that eventually encompasses much more than a family feud. Jonathan, unlike most action heroes at the time, is neither unstoppable or stone cold, and without going into spoilers he faces true tragedy and reacts realistically to it. And just as Jonathan sheds manly tears, I can say I'm feeling the chills up my spine recalling Phantom Blood's climax.

Overall: 7.8/10
Despite being considered the worst Part of the entire series, The Phantom Blood is nonetheless a fantastic action epic and a damn good Gothic horror story to boot. It sets the stage perfectly for the entire series and never overstays its welcome. Jonathan and Dio are both icons and inspirations to the medium as a whole and it's easy to see why. Araki's writing is strong and is only brought down by his young and inexperienced style, that only gets refined as the series goes on for the most part.

The first part of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Phantom Blood, is generally looked at as the worst part in the series. And... well, it is. But, it's still very good. I can see people's problems with it. It's short. The characters aren't fleshed out. The story isn't strange enough and the fighting isn't very special. But, I wouldn't say it's a great JoJo part, but it is a fine introduction. It's very simple. The story is just the interaction between a hero and a villain and, while the hero is nothing special, the villain is great. I think it's certainly worth watching all the way through for newcomers to JoJo.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is undoubtedly my favorite manga series. This is my first review, so take it easy on me.

Even though JoJo's as a whole is gigantic, This review is going to be of this part alone. And this part, is definitely not the greatest in JoJo.

-= Story (6/10) =-
The Story is fairly simple, Our characters are introduced very early: Jonathan Joestar being our protagonist, and Dio Brando being our antagonist. Dio does all he can to make Jonathan's life as miserable as possible, With his end goal to become the heir to the Joestar family, and acquire all their wealth.

-= Characters (5/10) *slight spoilers* =-
The Characters are also quite simple. Jonathan's entire personality is his desire to be a gentleman. He is the embodiment of good. Dio is the complete opposite, his character is completely evil. This is Dio's entire personality (at least until later parts). We also have a small cast of companion characters. Robert E.O. Speedwagon being the best. And Will Zeppeli being the only other worth noting. There are a few others that were so un-interesting and unimportant to the story, I can't even remember their names.

-= Art (8/10) =-
Hirohiko Araki makes absolutely amazing art, and while part 1 of JoJo probably has the weakest art of the entire series, It is still absolutely amazing. It's honestly the best aspect of Part 1. And alone, makes it worth a read.

My overall enjoyment of part 1 is about 7/10, Alone it's probably closer to a 6, but If you intend to go into the series deeper than part 1 (Which I highly recommend), It will be closer to an 8, because you appreciate it much more, later on in the story. Anyways, those were my thoughts on part 1 of JoJo. This is my first review, so let me know if there is anything I can improve upon.

(TLDR Review at the bottom, as always, thanks for reading)

THE MAN! There was a time where the image of a man was this big muscular guy, sometimes even going around kicking ass, beating the hell out of bad guys, and saving the day. Oh yeah. What a time that was.

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is a series most anime/manga fans have heard of. Whether it be because of, "ZA WARUDO", "Yare yare daze", Thunder Cross Split attack, what have you. Or just how you just caught onto it because of how popular it was. It is one of those series that has been engraved into defining the animanga culture as we know it today. However, as I started this series. I never expected it to have a simple but great start.


Narrative:
The story is interesting because it takes a rather important historical setting, Victorian Britain as well as a great piece of film history, being old school action, you know, big strong guys fighting people. The Stallone and Schwarzenegger times. In fact, the characters were actually based on their aesthetics. In any case, the fusion between the setting and style made for an interesting story to get into. In a time when light bulbs were being made, all kinds of new things came into knowledge, especially things that didn't make sense, such as magic. Who would have guessed punching and kicking people would make its way into the story? But even so, the use of old school action being brought as the way of life for these characters fit perfectly in the story. Everything connects together like some kind of puzzle. Apparently, butt-kicking action pretty much fits in everything.

On the other hand though. Jojo Part 1's story is very simple, and although it is obvious that there will be more to add onto there is still some dissatisfaction from it nonetheless. If I could sum it up for you then about 50% of the story is just, fighting the bad guys, the other moments are either character development or the plot moving forward without there being a fight, such as meeting new characters. I hate to be that guy who oversimplifies everything and uses that as an excuse for criticism, but it really does come off like that. Some of the longest fights I have seen in a while taking place. For something with a short story as itself. It doesn't make it look particularly interesting. The fights come off as slightly cheesy too, with patronising dialogue every time a special move is about to be pulled off. To be fair, you could use that as a reason to support the fact that it only adds to the classic elements the story tries to give out. Though, cheesy things are cheesy, though I won't exactly say that that is bad. If anything, it is to be expected, this came out in the 80s and was probably the hype to shout finishers at your Mario question box of a TV back then. I wouldn't exactly call cheesy things bad, but they are cheesy regardless.

Characters are very good. Jonathan in particular is the pinnacle person of whom is affected by the story atmosphere the most. He is shown to have excelled in his studies, which relates to the Victorian professors of their time, as well as always upholding his good morals, as a gentleman of his time should do, and enforcing them as so with his muscular MAN physique. Very unprecedented, but a cool combination to put together. His development is loveable too, like most movies (for example Karate Kid) where a character starts off as weak, then goes off to gain skills/powers from the foreign ancient times in order to defeat the evil that terrorises the world. It is very basic, but it works well with his British gentlemanly behaviour. It is so odd, but it works so well. Jonathan is pretty cool, seems like the kind of person people would look up to as well due to his contribution of "the age of muscles", wouldn't be surprised if people did as well.

Dio is an interesting guy. He is a classic villain, the "I will rule the world! Muhahaha!" kinda guy. Again, very cheesy, as well as the fact that there was probably not a great deal of thought put into his detail. Everything about him is what you would expect a villain of his kind to do. Though he is probably the best character foil for Jonathan because the style enforces it as so. There isn't really a lot to go on about Dio at this point of the series. Everything he does is already stated at the beginning and with him just sending out his minions to do what he pleads, then there isn't much I can say. He is your generic classical villain, but when this was peak character for its time, I must say he does a good job at being one.

Side characters are funny in Jojo Part 1, in that, they come and go faster than anything I have seen. The only noticeable exception is Speedwagon. They come, do whatever they must, and die off like they never exist, probably because the story was so short is why it happened. But to see a character like Zeppeli come and tell Jonathan one day that, "you must defeat Dio! It is your destiny!" wails nothing but a character plot device. Though with Zeppeli, he is that sensei type character that allows for the hero to progress on to their goal. But other characters I cannot say the same, I mean look at Dire… Side characters had their flaws and it would have been better if they had some more attention to them. Otherwise, on the whole, they were decent.


Art:
The art is great. It really does a good job of sparking out the MAN in characters with incredible detail, more so Jonathan than anyone. But even so, it does a good job at highlighting what makes a character in the story themself. Jonathan the MAN, Dio the villain, Speedwagon that one dude in the corner, Zeppeli the weird sensei. The art does so much in using the correct tone for each character attribute. Not anything I haven't seen before but that is a very creative way to go around things. Not anything I have seen in the past too.


Enjoyment:
Seeing a ton of MAN action has made me want to eat some iron now. But seriously, with all its old school, classic vintages squished into one action-packed story full of expected events but executed in a decent fashion anyways, it was going to be a good read. Another thing to enjoy is the references to pieces of history and cultures the story gives, such as Tudor England queens, Jack the Ripper makes an appearance, and the ancient techniques the Asians used and have passed down all the way to current world time in the story. I knew I was going to enjoy this a lot. And I so well did.

Overall - 7.75 (8)



TLDR Review:
Story - 7: Nice combo for the Victorian era and 80s action/martial arts
Art - 9: Art brings out the best in all characters relative to their personality, greatly detailed too. Aged very well.
Character - 7: Classic attributes to characters. Jonathan is a nice mix, Dio is a good old school villain played well. Side characters can be seen as plot devices, except Speedwagon.
Enjoyment - 8: THE MAN action is on point. History and culture references are good to see from too.

Overall - 7.75 (8)



Heh. I was expecting the essence of Jojo to be in the first part, but instead, I was greeted with some old school fun. I can't say that I am disappointed, because honestly, it is probably a great way to start the series. Now I will just venture on to see where the real fun is at.

As the starting point for one of the longest running manga series', JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 1: Phantom Blood, while certainly not very flashy, provides a solid foundation on which Araki builds the rest of the JoJo saga.

The story of Phantom Blood is simple: save the world by killing the false childhood friend turned vampire. To accomplish this feat, Araki introduces "Hamon", a fighting technique based on breathing. Though an interesting concept, Hamon is not the most creative feature to be found even in shonen manga, especially compared with the wonderfully imaginative "Stands" introduced by the third JoJo series "Stardust Crusaders". Nevertheless, along with the powerful fighting technique comes equally powerful foes derived from English history with the intention of putting an end to Jonathan Joestar's quest for revenge. This of courses makes for plenty of exciting action, but at the end of it all, the story is still highly generic. An emotional ending wraps up the five-volume series quite well, but it is only enough to carry quality of the overall story to a mere "fair" level -- not bad, but nothing to be amazed about.

Like the story, the characters of Phantom blood are also very simple. They are mostly distinctively black-and-white. The good guys are exceedingly noble and just, while the bad guys are overwhelmingly sinister and cruel. There are a lot of exaggerated emotions to be seen from the characters -- tears would be shed at the hero's act of benevolence, while the vile deeds of the villains would always be accompanied by exclamations of sheer horror. But because of how excessive it is, the reader would often passionately cheer for the heroes and boo for the bad guys, adding satisfaction to each of the heroes' victories. The simplistic characters of JoJo, while not outstanding, carry a hint a undeniable charm.

The art style of JoJo is definitely its selling point, though it may not appeal to everyone. The physical build of the characters is Phantom Blood's most obvious distinction: virtually every male character who makes an appearance dons the physique that would be the envy of bodybuilders. Araki loves to draw muscles, and a LOT of them, to point where he would draw muscles that do not exist in actual human anatomy. As a result, the men become hulking giants with clothes so tight that it makes make one wonder how they can manage to breath. However, the burly heroes and villains look great while fighting, and combined with Araki's bold style, the action is both gruesome and vivid. The tone of the panels are dark due to the heavy use of shading, which serves to build the dark atmosphere of most of Phantom Blood's settings. The details on the monsters make them so hideous that instances of their often brutal demise are greatly satisfying.

If you are looking for a simple beat-them-up shonen manga and do not mind the lack of creativity in the story and characters, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 1: Phantom Blood is worth a look. It is not the best the JoJo saga has to offer, but its unique and dynamic art, accessible characters, and even the simple but generic plot still offer up plenty of thrills.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood may not be as engaging as what follows it, but with interesting art and a well-defined rivalry at its core, it still serves as a sufficiently strong opening chapter.

The story of Phantom Blood follows Jonathan Joestar and his sinister adopted brother Dio, and their rivalry. The story initially portrays Jonathan as being inferior to Dio, who actively works to undermine him, but gradually Jonathan not only catches up with Dio, but surpasses him. However, a wicked plan is brewing, which may impact far more than the Joestar family. One of the strongest points of the story is that little of it, with the exception of a supernatural catalyst and the occasional henchman, is not a direct result of an action carried out by a main character. There are few coincidences, and the story progresses at a steady rate, providing sufficient build-up and pay-off. On the down side, this does in a sense feel like a prologue to the superior follow up, Battle Tendency, as you are left with many questions regarding the vampires and superhuman powers, and neither the aforementioned build-up or payoff are significantly large. However, this is good in some ways, because it leaves the viewer enough to get a general idea of the world without overloading them or biting off more than it can chew. The story, viewed alone, isn’t quite as fulfilling as it is alongside its contemporaries, but is still moderately entertaining.

The characters are what drive the story forward, and they do it effectively and with an abundance of style. Jonathan, our main protagonist, is a fairly straight-thinking, simple man, but one with heart and determination. Dio, his adopted brother, on the other hand is much more sinister, manipulative and insincere, and these two characters mirror each other excellently, each illustrating qualities that the other lacks. The portrayal of these characters from their adolescent years helps to establish their individual characteristics and dynamic, which only becomes more intense and consequential as the story continues. The supporting characters are also quite interesting, particularly Speedwagon and Zeppeli, and the villains are sufficiently challenging and visually appealing to serve their purpose.

Jonathan’s father, however, is not depicted in a way that makes him seem wise or endearing, which is problematic given that the manga seems to be asking the audience to become emotionally invested in him outside of his role as a father. Also, though Jonathan’s honourable attitude juxtaposes Dio quite well, it does lead to him being a slightly dry and predictable character, outside of battle scenes. Dio is the most enthralling character, stealing the audience’s attention whenever he appears, and is perhaps Phantom Blood’s greatest achievement. He’s not Johan (Monster) or Griffith (Berserk), but he oozes malice and charm.

The art for Phantom Blood is distinct, high quality and memorable, with every male character being built like a house. The visual highlights are Jack the Ripper, Zeppeli and the two resurrected soldiers, all of whom are simply radiant with style and character. The facial expressions are also notable, as they blend in with the style while simultaneously feeling authentic and believable. The style does improve over time, but even though this isn’t quite as bombastic in design as Stardust Crusaders, its humble, down-played visual look helps to ground the art with the narrative.

All in all, Phantom blood is not quite as outstanding as the other entries in the Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure franchise, but is nonetheless a triumph in both artistic and character-building integrity.

As a fan of Old school Shonen anime and manga, I knew since the start of my journey to absorb everything shonen I could find that I’d eventually have to tackle not only one of the most famous fighting stories, but one of the best selling and longest running manga period, Hirohiko Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.



JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has been in publication since 1987 and tells the adventures of the Joestar Family. The history of the Joestar Family tree is complicated and long-winded, so I’ll have to give a history lesson when I’m more knowledgeable on the subject. For now, I’m talking about where it all started, with Johnathan Joestar and Dio Brando.



I had no idea what to expect from JoJo. Obviously a beloved manga with a rich history and storyline, but aside from the main character always being a Joestar and every character being built like a brick wall I didn’t know exactly what I was getting into, only that it’s a cherished piece of Japanese pop culture that has seeped into the hearts and minds of westerners more recently. But even with the zero expectations, I still found myself surprised.



The first thing that struck me about Phantom Blood, the first arc, is Araki’s hyper-detailed art style. Araki’s ability to draw depth and definition and to bring life to environments was nothing short of spectacular to me. But as I kept reading I started noticing cracks in Araki’s drawing ability. For starters, EVERY male character has the build of a Greek God. Even the children have forearms I’d kill for. And no matter what a character is wearing, be it a tailored suit or a smoking jacket, it fits almost as if it were painted on. Every bulging muscle is well defined in every article of clothing worn, which creates this almost parody of 80’s Shonen Fighter physiques. And despite what I said about Araki’s ability to draw these hyper human forms he does slip frequently into the Rob Liefeld wasteland of talent, with characters’ bodies morphing into enormous tumor filled sack and postures bordering and sometimes fully committing to the painfully awkward and implausible. This doesn’t mean that I think Araki is in any way a bad artist. The man showed clear talent and unique flair in his early career that I’m sure has evolved and grown as his career has continued. It’s just strange to me to see someone with clear talent showing no control or knowledge of anatomy or perspective at times. It's hard to rate the art here because sometimes it borders on a perfect ten, while occasionally slumping into a four.



The story of JoJo is just as outlandish as its art, with the nefarious Dio Brando coming to live with the Joestar’s after the death of his father. The sibling quarrels and sadistic tendencies of Dio create a slow burn that quickly elevates once Dio dons the stone mask. It’s at this point that the story quickly kicks from first to fifth gear and goes off the deep end. Dio becomes an unstoppable, immortal vampire zombie, and Jonathan becomes a 6’ 4” 230lbs juggernaut of unbridled strength. And it’s here where the story goes full Mad Bull 34. For those of you who have never read Mad Bull 34, imagine if steroids and cocaine became a sentient being that grew up to become a mangaka. That mangaka would create Mad Bull 34. Phantom Blood is Mad Bull set in England during the late 19th century. Unbelievable body proportions, ludicrous amounts of blood and gore, gruesome deaths. It gets a 7 from me purely because of how enjoyable it was in its ludicrousy.

The characters and their development are nothing special. Johnathan Joestar is your typical Shonen hero who must overcome seemingly insurmountable odds to save the world. He's a kind, gentle soul who can also shatter bones with a mere thought. Dio is your stereotypical Shonen villain: pure evil down to his core. Araki obviously wrote Dio to be the most irredeemable character possible and he did a damn good job at it. There also isn't much to say about the supporting cast. Johnathan is later joined by Speedwagon and Baron Zeppeli, who aid him in his quest to find and destroy his rival and the stone mask that created him. Baron Zeppeli provides a solid mentor role for Johnathan, teaching him how to do the Hamon, an ancient form of martial arts that is the only form of hand-to-hand combat that can kill the now indestructible Dio. Speedwagon is pretty useless. He's a street thug who comes to respect Johnathan for his fighting ability and tries his best to assist him as his lackey in any way he can. He's kind, yet hot-headed, but ultimately serves no purpose and could have been completely left out.

While I can’t say I find Phantom Blood good in the sense that I think it’s a classic story, I can say I enjoyed part one of Araki’s manga in the same way I enjoyed Mad Bull 34. Both are junk food entertainment in the same vein as Battle Beyond the Stars and Yor, the Hunter from the Future. There’s no substance, everything is hilariously exaggerated, and it never stops finding new ways to surprise you. So I guess you could say that JoJo both exceeded and fell short of my expectations. With such a dedicated fan base and legacy as JoJo has I was expecting something completely different than what I got, but I can’t say I was let down by this experience. While it doesn’t come close to works such as Dragon Ball Z or One Piece, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has definitely been a fun ride that I can’t wait to continue.

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.

Story - 5

Brother, girlfriend, the start at joestar's house is wonderful
I love the relationship between dio and Jonathan and this part of the story is extremely charismatic. BUT, then when Jonathan leaves the mansion, it is EXTREMELY DRAGGED AND MEDIOCRE. It is horrible thanks to the senseless madness that was going on. That may be a good thing, but here it was done in a completely dragging way, which made it horrible.

Art - 7

The art is extremely dated, and that's great.
If it weren’t completely disproportionate pictures (jonathan wall)
It would be perfect.

Character - 5

Damn, the characters are mostly pretty bad and forgettable. Of course, we have Speedwagoon and Erina, who are good characters, and they have the yummy dio right, but otherwise it is quite forgettable. Jonathan really is just not the worst jojo, because he is charismatic.

Enjoyment - 3

The start is great, but when they leave the house of joestars, it becomes the most dragged thing in the world.
It gets to be torturous to read in some moments of the work.

Overall - 6

An average start for jojo, but at least it has the first fun part, and it is one of the most important parts of jojo, connecting all parts to it directly.
(mainly 3)

For the first part of the JoJo Series, Phantom Blood, while not as good as itself, it's very good as a starting point. The way we see Jonathan going from a innocent and naive, but still courageous and honored kid, to a full-grown adult, ready to sacrifice himself for the well-being of others, is very well-done.

While the art itself isn't that good, seeing how it evolved until the current Part 8's style (specially if compared to the same characters in the new style, shown in the artwork for the "JoJonium" covers), show how much Araki took his time to improve itself (the same with the story).

A good manga if you like a good story, and a even better gateway into one of the biggest manga series ever made.

Jojo part 1 is the weakest jojo part, its characters are bland and the story is forgettable, although the art is still good, its simply no jojo, it feels like Araki is still struggling with what he wants to do, while I still enjoyed myself, the absurd characters and over the top macho of part 1 is really what makes it fun, characters like speed wagon and Dio are infinitely fun to watch, there still mainly very bland their either underdeveloped or boring, for.example Jonathan, Jonathan is the most boring jojo and is the worst jojo.

overall: 6/10
story: 6/10
Art: 8/10
character: 4/10
Enjoyment:8/10

This is your online sensei.

JoJos bizarre adventure : Part 1 Phantom Blood was a very cool series to read and better than the anime, but some things noticed such as dio's ear dots are invisible at some times.
id give this a 9/10

これはあなたのオンライン先生です。

ジョジョの奇妙な冒険：パート1ファントムブラッドは読むのにとてもクールなシリーズで、アニメよりも優れていましたが、Dioの耳のドットなど、気付かれないものも時々目に見えません。
これを9/10にします

SPOILERS AHEAD

When zepelli sacrificed himself to save JoJo, this was the only death (other than Jonathan) i had feelings for because Dire had no character development at all and felt like a bland character in all senses.

Volume 1 (hardcover)
When dio heartlessly kicks Danny it sets an amazing role for dio as the villain and the way George joestar treats Jonathan is disgusting and he needs some manners. When dio turns into a vampire it sets a clear goal, to kill dio.

Volume 2 (hardcover)
This volume wasnt the best volume but it was still ok.

Volume 3 (hardcover)
JoJos death was sad and fits the series quite well.

DISCLAIMER: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a currently ongoing series with (at the moment of writing), 7 complete parts and one ongoing one. It's important to first make the distinction that this is NOT one ongoing story split into parts, but rather 8 stories in the same universe following the Joestar bloodline, that share similar elements, plot points, and even motivations in some cases.
Due to that, this and my other JoJo reviews will follow an unique JoJo rating system, since in my opinion it cannot be easily compared to other manga, done in a beginner-friendly way so as to illustrate whether or not it is worth it to get invested in the series, and how it compares to other parts of it.
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Being a rather short manga, it has a concise story that doesn't overstay its welcome and is perfectly summed up in the synopsis of it. Dio Brando is a rather complex character in this part, and seeing his desperation as he tries to become unstoppable is wholly enjoyable, even if the plot itself isn't anything new.


Phantom Blood deals with Ripple/Hamon, a technique which draws upon perfect breathing to imbue the user with a hell of a lot of supernatural energy that "ripples" across their body. This is the core of Phantom Blood's fighting and it's basically yoga-powered fist fights. Enjoyable, not very original, and definitely not used to its full extent.

Phantom Blood isn't too crazy, unlike later parts. If you can accept the Ripple as being a legit power, you can accept almost anything this manga throws at you. There are a few crazy moments that might have you questioning "how did that even happen?", but for those you just have to enjoy the spectacle and try to not think too hard.

Now the art, it's not very good. It takes inspiration from Fist of the North Star but the anatomy is all off, and some panels require a few extra moments to really understand what's going on. That said, it's still very iconic despite all that.


The protagonist, Jonathan Joestar, is the most standard shonen protagonist you could think of. He's a goody two-shoes with a love interest that gets betrayed and still forgives them and just wants to stop them and have them be fairly judged for their wrongdoings.

Compared to him, our antagonist, Dio Brando is just about the best character in the manga. You feel for him during his backstory, and just as you are about to warm up to him (like Jonathan), he does unspeakable things that make it really clear that he is the villain, and that he's a hell of a charismatic one at that. It's no surprise he is one of Shonen's most popular villains of all time.



Overall it's one of the craziest shonen works out there, featuring superpowered men fighting superpowered vampires and zombie-vampires in a desperate attempt to stop one of the most charismatic villains from winning over the world. For a five-volume manga, it's also surprisingly deep with its themes although you'll have to dive a bit deeper to get the most out of it.

I have it rated as a 5 simply because there are other works that did these concepts and characters better, but seeing as it is very short to read, it's at least worth a try, which you can do in a lazy afternoon.