So I did a quick search and apparently there's NO JJBA thread yet. People reference it in almost every other thread that I read on this forum, but no official topic… time to rectify that, I guess.
A summary from OM because, well, it seems customary:
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure has 92 volumes… not chapters, volumes!!! It tells the story of the Joestar family, and their battles against bizarre enemies. Jonathan Joestar's battle against the vampire Dio Brando starts it all in Part 1: The Phantom Blood. It continues into roughly each second generation of Joestars through all subsequent parts of the story. The anime OVA starts from Part 3.
Ta daa.
Personally, I'm only partway through this series because the scans get really bad at some point and I have a hard time making it through them. Til now though, I've found a few things I like and a few that I dislike.
The Good
-Artwork
I really like the old-school looking art, and I like how everything looks super stylized and manly and at the same time often the men look fairly effeminate; it's really interesting and keeps me entertained even when the fights lull a bit, which they seldom do…
-Fights
Oh yeah, people using craftiness to fight instead of zoomj power levels? Yes, please. Individual and distinct power sets? Yes, please. Even if things end up being a bit hokey or even (hate to say it) Deus Ex-y, that's a lot better than one kao-ken kamehameha pushing another phallic shape back on Vegeta, sending him into space etc.
-The Naming System
When I have more time, I plan to edit some pics in here for giggle value, but the 70s and 80s rock/pop names keep me laughing. Hard to take them seriously at first but it seems like an extrapolation of a lot of my issues getting into certain mangas and for that I appreciate the goofiness all the more. Here's a quick list of them for the time being, up to the point I've gotten to in the manga. Feel free to mention more since these are almost easter eggs with the old and occasionally obscure musical references dropped in.
+Dio: Durr, it's Ronny James Dio, for godsakes.
+Speedwagon: comma R. E. O.
- Lisa Lisa: Crappy 80s singer chick
- ACDC / The Cars / WHAM: By no means a trio to my mind, but they got the job done.
- Loggins and Messina: And I thought I'd never hear either of those names again, let alone the two together. Again, har.
- Jojo itself is possibly an enduring reference to the Beatles' song.
- Santana! I forgot Santana.
^ Yeah kinda giggles.
The Bad
-The Fucking Artwork
Seriously I love it but sometimes that crap can be mondo distracting, and the limp-wristed hip-heavy poses these guys strike sometimes really undermines their extreme masculinity, even introducing overtones of homo (to my paranoid thinking, at least). It's a pro and a con.
-Power-schemes phase in and out and I haven't (yet) seen a good explanation as to why.
Yeah. Ripple is gawn, stand is IN baby. I wonder what, if anything, is next?
Anyway, that's all I got time to mention at the moment. I guess I figured it deserved a thread and, well, if manga's taught me anything it's that circumstance can make heroes of paupers.