Part 1 is unironically one of the best parts
>Jonathan vs Dio is kino each time it happens, the mansion, castle, and boat fights are all fucking fantastic
>While the setup for Jonathan and Dio's relationship is rather dull, the payoff of seeing how it evolves by the end of the part makes the set up well worth it
>Dio is also a phenomenal character in his own right, and his descent into madness is top tier
>Character relationships in general are high quality, Jonathan and Speedwagon is basically a better executed version of Giorno's relationship with Bruno's gang
>Get to see the events of part 1 influence 2-6 in a satisfying way, like Jonathan convincing Erina to save herself leading to the existence of every future protagonist and saving Lisa Lisa or Jonathan's kindness to speedwagon pay out dividends to his ancestors
>Historical setting is used to excellent effect, part 1 even has storytelling elements that were popular in that era
>Awesome emphasis on horror and body horror
>While definitely the driest part of Jojo, it still has it's fair share of memorable Bizarre moments that the series has become so known for, like Zeppeli punching the frog
>Jonathan vs Bruford
>Zeppeli's sacrifice and Poco nutting up to save Jojo
>Musical references that aren't just "literally the band/songs name lmao"
>Jonathan fights Jack the goddamn Ripper while holding a glass of wine
It filters a lot of casuals because it's more subdued, but it's excellent.
Part 1 is unironically one of the best parts
Even in retrospect, Phantom Blood is boring as fuck to me desu
Give it a re-read. I don't think anyone really appreciates Phantom Blood the first time through anymore because the parts of Jojo that tend to draw people in and what Phantom Blood does are rather different, so it's almost inevitable to want "just get through it" to experience what's beyond the first time.
Digesting it while it doesn't feel like an obstacle between you and getting to the crazy stylish bullshit that drew you into the series in the first place is when it shines.
I was lured to JoJo because someone compared Phantom Blood to Stoker's Dracula book, which I really like. I had a vague knowledge of Stands and the like through osmosis but it wasn't until they compared it to Dracula I gave it a read.
It's nowhere near my favorite part, but I really like it and think it was a good primer for the series.
Based. Part 1 never overstays it’s welcome. Dio and Jonathan relationship was great.
JoJo has good parts? I thought it's all dog shit.
To be honest part one anime was thing that really sucked me into jojo.
Previously I thought it was series about some guy using yoyos as weapons.
Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency are literally the only well-written parts of the whole series because Araki actually gave a fuck about the narrative structure of his story and at least planned what he was doing ahead. Compare it to the 180° his writing takes when writing villains-of-the-week tier battle shonen bullshit where nearly anything feels improvised. He acted like he had to trade his ability to write stories with real weight and purpose for the creative freedom of Stand battles. This just sucks.
Jojolion is the best written part though.
The worst case of that is part 4 but I think it getters much better from 6 onwards
>No Lisa Lisa youth story
Being a hamonfag is suffering.
I feel like 5 is the biggest disaster in terms of writing. Individual bits like Grateful Dead and Beach Boy are fantastic but the overall package falls apart
Funny I feel parts 1 5 and 6 are the strongest of the original timeline
I think Araki's storytelling plummeted in part 3 and the first half of part 4 but he gets the hang of it in late part 4.
The first 3 episodes of Part 1's anime are probably the best in terms of adaptation (rivaled by the occasional moments of aesthetic brilliance in Battle Tendency's adaptation).
I've never seen a show paced so flawlessly.
Phantom Blood also has the best ending of any part. It really shows Araki's poetic ability, which he doesn't bust out too often.
That said, Jojo gets better as it goes along and 1 is probably my least favourite after 3.
this but unironically
5 has so many weird loose ends hanging off of it and missed potential. Turning characters like Polpo and the execution squad into monster of the week encounters was a waste of some excellent characters and their potential, it also causes part 5 to massively skim over the fact that the cast are all gang members entirely.
Stuff like Koichi showing up for no reason and Diavolo's nonsensical backstory and endless asspulls drive me insane. Same with Giorno's powers changing on a per-fight basis. For god sakes there's so much vestigial potential there's an entire companion character that's nothing but dropped story elements.
It's the messiest written part in my opinion, it's all over the place.
Part 3 is fine with being monster-of-the-week because being a road trip journey was its gimmick originally, its when Araki decided to apply that to every subsequent part that it became a problem.
First half of Part 4 following Koichi's shenanigans is still the lowest point of JoJo for me.
>Giorno's powers changing on a per-fight basis
This is the worst.
I actually really like the monster of the week format in part 3. The international roadtrip and that format complemented each other wonderfully. They spread enough substance out inbetween. And I really feel like every encounter is memorable. I can't remember a lot of the minor stands from other parts, but I can remember the stands, users, fights, and iconic bits like "do you understand" or "IM GONNA BITE YOUR DICK OFF POLNAREFF". Whereas most of the stands I remember from other parts are the oddities like Superfly, Stray Cat, and Notorious BIG.
Avdol's non-death is the only major gripe I have with the part. It's a little unambitious outside of the introduction to stands but it executes what it set out to do super well.
Late DiU has Kira's dad blatantly padding out the story in the most forced way. The first half's storytelling felt unique for JoJo, but the second half felt like typical monster of the week crap part 3 did.
Kira's dad made for one great fight moment but he was such a shit character
This. Originally I enjoyed part 4 but was a tad frustrated with the lack of the plot moving forward in any way. Kira's dad stabbing random people with the arrow to annoy Josuke and co can fuck right off. Some of the encounters were entertaining but the reason they were happening was fucking awful.
Phantom Blood is very good
Also I think this gets overlooked a lot but Part 5 is legitimately the ONLY Jojo part to feature only one supernatural force, just stands.