Overall Thoughts on Jojo's
Oct. 28th, 2018 10:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerFYI: THIS IS MY RESPONSE TO THE ENTIRE SERIES, BECAUSE YES, I HAVE NOW READ EVERY CHAPTER OF MANGA THAT HAS BEEN PUT OUT. SO YES, THERE ARE MASSIVE SPOILERS. Of course, being told explicitly even about a Stand doesn't necessarily spoil anything because things sound so bizarre out of context you don't understand, but. Proceed at your own risk.
Imma include this here, just in case you're just curious but haven't read Jojolion yet and don't wanna click below the cut.
My list of Parts from Best to Worst is as follows: Diamond is Unbreakable, Steel Ball Run, Battle Tendency, Vento Aureo, Phantom Blood, Stardust Crusaders, Stone Ocean, Jojolion.
My list of Jojos from Best to Worst is as follows: Jotaro, Josuke, Giorno, Jolyne, Joseph, Jonathan, Johnny, Gappy.
My description of the Parts:
Phantom Blood: Castlevania.
Battle Tendency: Indiana Jones with Ancient Vampires.
Stardust Crusaders: Travel Narrative/Traditional Shounen Fighting Arc.
Diamond is Unbreakable: Murder Mystery Slice of Life.
Vento Aureo: And now for Italian Mafia.
Stone Ocean: Prison Breakout + the End of the World.
Steel Ball Run: Horse Race, Relics of a Saint.
Jojolion: A Less Coherent Twin Peaks (Mystery + Soap Opera)
For everyone including me confused by Jojolion: It's the Twin Peaks part. This is both good and bad. See, for Twin Peaks, part of the slow experience is the point, because you learn about the characters. Twin Peaks is composed of two main genres (besides the whole Lynchian weirdness, which is just a thing you get used to especially in the realm of the bizarre): mystery and soap opera. I love mysteries. It's pretty much the genre on which I was born and raised. (I grew up watching Perry Mason, Sherlock Holmes, and of course the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, reading Three Investigators, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Lord Peter Whimsey.) Soap
operas, on the other hand...I find really boring. So I kind of tune into certain scenes in Twin Peaks (specifically, the investigation scenes) and tune out for everything else. I still don't know all the characters' names because I really don't care. I had to look some of them up for this.
Plotwise, I prefer Deadly Premonition because there isn't a second the detective is off the screen.
It's possible that Jojolion will turn out well, mystery-wise. Araki does tend to drop plot threads. A lot. I hope he's got enough notes, because speaking from personal experience, trying to write a mystery over 7 years is a recipe for forgetting all the plot points even when you don't have a bad memory. (I've been writing Shadowed Suspicion for four years and have already forgotten things, which is why I occasionally just reread things and have extensive notes. I can't imagine how much worse it would be for seven years.)
But he's always going to lose half my attention, because I both don't care about Daiya or Tsurugi (*names looked up because I'd just been referring to them as *Creepy Chess Girl and *Boy Who Dresses Like a Girl) and think that it's creepy that they've got sexual interests in people older than them. (But then, to be fair, the whole Audrey/Cooper ship also has me uncomfortable, so there's that I suppose? It's not out of character for soap operas, probably-actually, yeah, I'm probably on to something, because Los Destinos was super weird and didn't really hold my attention either. Just creeped me out. I forgot anything that happened in it, other than there was sorta a mystery too because there was a girl looking for...her family or past or something???)
Gappy and Yasuho work fine as detectives, if weird ones. But they're in good company there (if you haven't, I recommend you look up Twin Peaks Rock Toss for an example of some pretty bizarre detective work-don't worry, it doesn't super spoil anything, because just like with Jojo's, knowing where it's going or even being told specifically things that happen doesn't tell you how it works or how it fits in or how they get there). For me, though, Norisuke's the only other interesting character in the bunch, which either a) doesn't help with the soap
opera aspects or b) is a result of them. I can't say which.
Plus, the plot of the mystery feels meandering to me, so it's not holding my attention as much. There are moments that are pretty cool, and chapters, but overall I don't get the comments about Best Work!!! (And no, I'm not reading it chapter by chapter, because I read about 40 pages in a batch, got bored when they got
to Yet Another Soap Opera Chapter with...hang on, I have to look up her name...Karera, and stopped reading for a while, then caught up to the current chapter.)
There's also the issue of being pretty much alone--I like ensemble works, where main characters can rely on each other. A big reason as to why I haven't even touched Danganronpa.
Then again, I have a feeling a lot of the people enjoying it might like nonfiction/Real Life Drama/Soap Opera more than me, which makes perfect sense--it just ain't my cup of tea.
I figured this one after more chapters--I actually liked the Milagro Man and Blue Hawaii, but...I haven't seen any Stand Stats. The wikia has some, but I have no clue how they got them. In the parts themselves it feels like other than a few like Blue Hawaii Araki's got no clue what the Stands are capable of and just went the lazy
route of "uh, they can do whatever they need to for the part". Plot Devices: The Stands is really kind of boring. It's why Pucci wasn't too interesting of a villain in actual application, even if the idea of him as a villain was kinda cool.
Also, every other Stand User instinctively knows how to use their Stand, because it's a reflection of them, their personality. Gappy I get, but Yasuho seems like an idiot because she doesn't have that. (Gappy could be explained as his amnesia.) This is probably because Araki doesn't know what the Stands can do, so his characters don't either.
The art is good. Possibly because Araki's got more time to work on it. I have to say, though, I got confused in some panels because there was so much going on and I have no clue what's happening. (That could just be because I've been spoiled by Jojo's Colored Adventure, though.)
My list of Parts from Best to Worst is as follows: Diamond is Unbreakable, Steel Ball Run, Battle Tendency, Vento Aureo, Phantom Blood, Stardust Crusaders, Stone Ocean, Jojolion. I really like the feel of Diamond is Unbreakable, and while Steel Ball Run has its issues, specifically that I felt the first half was a bit slow, it's really good. Valentine in many ways is better than our current president, albeit that they agree about the use of women. (Still, he has a respect for America that certain people just don't.) I really feel weird about Lucy's part in SBR, because in some places she got to be one of the most awesome female characters with agency in the series and in others it was a step back. I just enjoyed all of Battle Tendency. The middle couple choices are kinda arbitrary, honestly, though the anime is definitely pushing both Vento Aureo and its protag up there a bit. Stone Ocean's first half was pretty good and it was ruined by the railroading at the end. Yes, you heard me, ruined. Because Araki was writing from the conclusion, so it didn't matter what Jolyne did, it was truly the one that was useless. There's nothing she could've done to change the outcome. What's worse, because of the railroading, Pucci didn't have to do much to ensure he got the future he truly desired. He basically just had to exist to have his win handed to him. That's sucky writing. He at least did better in Eyes of Heaven (yeah, there are issues with it, partly because I think Star Platinum Requiem should've been a thing, but they got some character interactions and things right and D'arby being there was the single best) when he sacrificed himself to ensure (in his mind), DIO's victory. And it would've been, y'know, if it weren't for those pesky kids and their pesky Stands. Plus there was the whole thing with the snails, which broke my brain worse than anything else in Jojo's besides Jojolion. I've explained my gripes about Jojolion above. And honestly I have nothing wrong with Jonathan or Phantom Blood. A lot of people think it's boring, but it's like...it's got Speedwagon, for one thing, and Jonathan is interesting if only because of the archaeology. Actually, that's possibly why his old friend Speedwagon got into it, now that I'm thinking about it... Plus, he's the Captain America of Joestars. It's just that the rest of his relatives are so ridiculous in comparison.
My list of Jojos from Best to Worst is as follows: Jotaro, Josuke, Giorno, Jolyne, Joseph, Jonathan, Johnny, Gappy (Josefumi). I used to be a typical Westerner in that Joseph was my favorite, but between recent adaptations and recent events I decided I couldn't go with that any longer (particularly the whole racism and treating women badly things). I still love the trickster aspect and the fact that he's not your typical protag, but...on principle, he dropped. A lot. He probably could've stayed up in at least top 2 if he'd been written more Eyes of Heaven-like (one of the things that that game definitely got correct) when he was older. Jotaro at least got two parts where he's awesome, though the way he went out in Stone Ocean was garbage. Not that he shouldn't have died--nothing can stop the Plot Train--but he should've at least gone out fighting, especially because he got his memories back. Plus I like the subtle characterization in Jotaro and Giorno. As you can tell given how much Jotaro fanfic I write, I find it easy to get in his head, because he's the awkward, quiet, introverted part of me. The rest of me is kind of Josuke, apart from the greedy thing--Josuke's the Yugi of Jojo's, and I'm definitely the Yugi kind 'can't we get along' type. But I do have a berserk button, unlike Jonathan. I do confess, though, the anime threw Giorno up a couple notches, partly just 'cause of all the expansion they're doing on single panels. They're doing a better job showing the ruthlessness of DIO and the kindness of Jonathan and that's such a cool combination. Jolyne is pretty much Buffy which is awesome. Johnny's an interesting character and very realistic, but I don't necessarily like him. He has the best character arc/development of any Jojo, though. And I really, really like him in that P4 crossover fanfic. Gappy's written so inconsistently that sometimes I like him (that moment of "what in the world could that be??" /smack is pure gold), but at other times I'm bored/don't like him.
Imma include this here, just in case you're just curious but haven't read Jojolion yet and don't wanna click below the cut.
My list of Parts from Best to Worst is as follows: Diamond is Unbreakable, Steel Ball Run, Battle Tendency, Vento Aureo, Phantom Blood, Stardust Crusaders, Stone Ocean, Jojolion.
My list of Jojos from Best to Worst is as follows: Jotaro, Josuke, Giorno, Jolyne, Joseph, Jonathan, Johnny, Gappy.
My description of the Parts:
Phantom Blood: Castlevania.
Battle Tendency: Indiana Jones with Ancient Vampires.
Stardust Crusaders: Travel Narrative/Traditional Shounen Fighting Arc.
Diamond is Unbreakable: Murder Mystery Slice of Life.
Vento Aureo: And now for Italian Mafia.
Stone Ocean: Prison Breakout + the End of the World.
Steel Ball Run: Horse Race, Relics of a Saint.
Jojolion: A Less Coherent Twin Peaks (Mystery + Soap Opera)
For everyone including me confused by Jojolion: It's the Twin Peaks part. This is both good and bad. See, for Twin Peaks, part of the slow experience is the point, because you learn about the characters. Twin Peaks is composed of two main genres (besides the whole Lynchian weirdness, which is just a thing you get used to especially in the realm of the bizarre): mystery and soap opera. I love mysteries. It's pretty much the genre on which I was born and raised. (I grew up watching Perry Mason, Sherlock Holmes, and of course the Queen of Crime, Agatha Christie, reading Three Investigators, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Lord Peter Whimsey.) Soap
operas, on the other hand...I find really boring. So I kind of tune into certain scenes in Twin Peaks (specifically, the investigation scenes) and tune out for everything else. I still don't know all the characters' names because I really don't care. I had to look some of them up for this.
Plotwise, I prefer Deadly Premonition because there isn't a second the detective is off the screen.
It's possible that Jojolion will turn out well, mystery-wise. Araki does tend to drop plot threads. A lot. I hope he's got enough notes, because speaking from personal experience, trying to write a mystery over 7 years is a recipe for forgetting all the plot points even when you don't have a bad memory. (I've been writing Shadowed Suspicion for four years and have already forgotten things, which is why I occasionally just reread things and have extensive notes. I can't imagine how much worse it would be for seven years.)
But he's always going to lose half my attention, because I both don't care about Daiya or Tsurugi (*names looked up because I'd just been referring to them as *Creepy Chess Girl and *Boy Who Dresses Like a Girl) and think that it's creepy that they've got sexual interests in people older than them. (But then, to be fair, the whole Audrey/Cooper ship also has me uncomfortable, so there's that I suppose? It's not out of character for soap operas, probably-actually, yeah, I'm probably on to something, because Los Destinos was super weird and didn't really hold my attention either. Just creeped me out. I forgot anything that happened in it, other than there was sorta a mystery too because there was a girl looking for...her family or past or something???)
Gappy and Yasuho work fine as detectives, if weird ones. But they're in good company there (if you haven't, I recommend you look up Twin Peaks Rock Toss for an example of some pretty bizarre detective work-don't worry, it doesn't super spoil anything, because just like with Jojo's, knowing where it's going or even being told specifically things that happen doesn't tell you how it works or how it fits in or how they get there). For me, though, Norisuke's the only other interesting character in the bunch, which either a) doesn't help with the soap
opera aspects or b) is a result of them. I can't say which.
Plus, the plot of the mystery feels meandering to me, so it's not holding my attention as much. There are moments that are pretty cool, and chapters, but overall I don't get the comments about Best Work!!! (And no, I'm not reading it chapter by chapter, because I read about 40 pages in a batch, got bored when they got
to Yet Another Soap Opera Chapter with...hang on, I have to look up her name...Karera, and stopped reading for a while, then caught up to the current chapter.)
There's also the issue of being pretty much alone--I like ensemble works, where main characters can rely on each other. A big reason as to why I haven't even touched Danganronpa.
Then again, I have a feeling a lot of the people enjoying it might like nonfiction/Real Life Drama/Soap Opera more than me, which makes perfect sense--it just ain't my cup of tea.
I figured this one after more chapters--I actually liked the Milagro Man and Blue Hawaii, but...I haven't seen any Stand Stats. The wikia has some, but I have no clue how they got them. In the parts themselves it feels like other than a few like Blue Hawaii Araki's got no clue what the Stands are capable of and just went the lazy
route of "uh, they can do whatever they need to for the part". Plot Devices: The Stands is really kind of boring. It's why Pucci wasn't too interesting of a villain in actual application, even if the idea of him as a villain was kinda cool.
Also, every other Stand User instinctively knows how to use their Stand, because it's a reflection of them, their personality. Gappy I get, but Yasuho seems like an idiot because she doesn't have that. (Gappy could be explained as his amnesia.) This is probably because Araki doesn't know what the Stands can do, so his characters don't either.
The art is good. Possibly because Araki's got more time to work on it. I have to say, though, I got confused in some panels because there was so much going on and I have no clue what's happening. (That could just be because I've been spoiled by Jojo's Colored Adventure, though.)
My list of Parts from Best to Worst is as follows: Diamond is Unbreakable, Steel Ball Run, Battle Tendency, Vento Aureo, Phantom Blood, Stardust Crusaders, Stone Ocean, Jojolion. I really like the feel of Diamond is Unbreakable, and while Steel Ball Run has its issues, specifically that I felt the first half was a bit slow, it's really good. Valentine in many ways is better than our current president, albeit that they agree about the use of women. (Still, he has a respect for America that certain people just don't.) I really feel weird about Lucy's part in SBR, because in some places she got to be one of the most awesome female characters with agency in the series and in others it was a step back. I just enjoyed all of Battle Tendency. The middle couple choices are kinda arbitrary, honestly, though the anime is definitely pushing both Vento Aureo and its protag up there a bit. Stone Ocean's first half was pretty good and it was ruined by the railroading at the end. Yes, you heard me, ruined. Because Araki was writing from the conclusion, so it didn't matter what Jolyne did, it was truly the one that was useless. There's nothing she could've done to change the outcome. What's worse, because of the railroading, Pucci didn't have to do much to ensure he got the future he truly desired. He basically just had to exist to have his win handed to him. That's sucky writing. He at least did better in Eyes of Heaven (yeah, there are issues with it, partly because I think Star Platinum Requiem should've been a thing, but they got some character interactions and things right and D'arby being there was the single best) when he sacrificed himself to ensure (in his mind), DIO's victory. And it would've been, y'know, if it weren't for those pesky kids and their pesky Stands. Plus there was the whole thing with the snails, which broke my brain worse than anything else in Jojo's besides Jojolion. I've explained my gripes about Jojolion above. And honestly I have nothing wrong with Jonathan or Phantom Blood. A lot of people think it's boring, but it's like...it's got Speedwagon, for one thing, and Jonathan is interesting if only because of the archaeology. Actually, that's possibly why his old friend Speedwagon got into it, now that I'm thinking about it... Plus, he's the Captain America of Joestars. It's just that the rest of his relatives are so ridiculous in comparison.
My list of Jojos from Best to Worst is as follows: Jotaro, Josuke, Giorno, Jolyne, Joseph, Jonathan, Johnny, Gappy (Josefumi). I used to be a typical Westerner in that Joseph was my favorite, but between recent adaptations and recent events I decided I couldn't go with that any longer (particularly the whole racism and treating women badly things). I still love the trickster aspect and the fact that he's not your typical protag, but...on principle, he dropped. A lot. He probably could've stayed up in at least top 2 if he'd been written more Eyes of Heaven-like (one of the things that that game definitely got correct) when he was older. Jotaro at least got two parts where he's awesome, though the way he went out in Stone Ocean was garbage. Not that he shouldn't have died--nothing can stop the Plot Train--but he should've at least gone out fighting, especially because he got his memories back. Plus I like the subtle characterization in Jotaro and Giorno. As you can tell given how much Jotaro fanfic I write, I find it easy to get in his head, because he's the awkward, quiet, introverted part of me. The rest of me is kind of Josuke, apart from the greedy thing--Josuke's the Yugi of Jojo's, and I'm definitely the Yugi kind 'can't we get along' type. But I do have a berserk button, unlike Jonathan. I do confess, though, the anime threw Giorno up a couple notches, partly just 'cause of all the expansion they're doing on single panels. They're doing a better job showing the ruthlessness of DIO and the kindness of Jonathan and that's such a cool combination. Jolyne is pretty much Buffy which is awesome. Johnny's an interesting character and very realistic, but I don't necessarily like him. He has the best character arc/development of any Jojo, though. And I really, really like him in that P4 crossover fanfic. Gappy's written so inconsistently that sometimes I like him (that moment of "what in the world could that be??" /smack is pure gold), but at other times I'm bored/don't like him.
