Anime 665 Jojo No Kimyou Na Bouken Adventure Reviews Filter Check 1

I've never been a fan of JoJo or have I actually cared about the franchise.. until now! This is the first JoJo animation I have watched so I really didn't know what to expect from the series, but what I got after completion was a fighting anime that left me wanting more.. YES the ever so popular 2012 version.

This anime was far from perfect though as there were times where I was bored and not all the characters were developed as strongly as I hoped. The intro to 4 out of 7 or so of this anime began getting on my nerves and I ... began wishing they had decided to use a real opening or at least something different. JoJo 2000 is nowhere near the best action anime to grace the anime industry, but was still a fun joyride that proves even somewhat older anime can be as enjoyable as the newer anime.

The ending was a bit of a letdown, but that is most likely because I am so unaware of the JoJo franchise and what to expect timeline wise.

If you are a fan who enjoys mostly new anime.. find some time to try this hidden gem! It may motivate you to try out the 2012 version just like me.. and this as said coming from a JoJo noob.

(This review applies to the entire series, both the 1993 and the 2000 continuation episodes. Though the second half, especially the last three episodes, is noticeably superior.)

Yes, it is certainly bizarre.
JoJo is the thinking man's surrealist DBZ. Except instead of endless 3-frame loops of tedious "fight animation" it has sudden, subtle, blink-and-you'll-miss-it fight scenes. In it, weird fighters use weird powers in weird ways; typically by outwitting -- rather than merely overpowering -- their opponents.
The series' greatest strength is the unexpected, shocking oddity of it. Whenever you think the series is about to devolve into fighting game cliche, something utterly bugfuck happens. A villain will ... gleefully and intentionally decapitates himself to show his badassery. A dog addicted to coffee flavored chewing gum kicks ass with a voodoo sandstorm. Somebody telekinetically stops his own heart. A man with two left hands...I-I-I can't explain it. Oh, did I mention that most characters are named after random popstars?
The greatest weakness is the needlessly idiotic character models. Each character model includes numerous, distracting, embarrassing design choices like stupid clothes, inexplicable hair and mindbogglingly moronic jewelry. Jotaro's has a 50 lb chain hanging from his lapel and a hat that might be just a visor made of hairgel. Abdul (named after singer Paula Abdul) has hair like an untidy pile of soupcans and a necklace which might actually be the world's heaviest and least comfortable set of earrings. Even the final boss, Dio Brando, looks like a Hakuto no Ken villain re-imagined by Bronies. And then there's Polnareff. Fucking Polnareff. Good lord, Dorkula...cut back on the styling mouse, dude. You look like a cracker cosplay of the skinny guy from Kid'n'Play!
Only two characters aren't dressed like retarded clowns: Joseph Joestar, who looks like Richard Branson cosplaying as Indiana Jones; and Iggy....who is a dog and therefore doesn't wear fucked-up clothes or psychotic earrings.

Story.
Although it descends into wonderfully addlepated madness in the details, the overall plot can be boiled down to: Team of super-powered badasses travel around the world to kick the Big Bad Evil Guy is his smug face. After fighting all his super-powered henchmen first. Rinse Repeat.

Art
The art is nothing special. Perfectly workmanlike if you can get past the insane character models I ranted about above.

Sound
The sound effects used by the various Stands were oddly memorable, unlike the music which left no impressions at all. The voice acting (in the English dub) was slightly above average.

Character
Although each character is initially off-putting, they do grow on you. Yes, even Polnareff won me over.

Enjoyment
This series is viscerally fun and memorably deranged. It doesn't merely zig when you expect it to zag. It zrbft's and then zlrfts.
This is would DBZ would be like if it wasn't vapid, and what BoboBo BoBoBoBo would've been if that show hadn't lived off a diet of paint chips and monoxide.

This is a review from someone who watched the new Stardust Crusaders first so I do have some bias toward the new version and can't appriciate this version to the fullest. However that doesn't mean I feel this OVA is bad it's just we live in 2017 and a better adaptation exists. The first thing to note is that while this is the second part to be released it should be watched first as it is the first half of the story.

Art
Since it is the second part the animation is made to match the first 6 episodes released ... in 1993. Which for the reason previously stated is why I can give it a pass for a series that came out from 2000 to 2002, if it wasn't for that strange schedule of release I would expect way more.

Story
The story for the most part follows the manga although it omits and abridges certain parts such as the lesser stand battles. Odds are that your favorite character is still here though. Really there isnt alot to complain about as every major part of the story is still here.

Sound
Now I cannot remember a single composition in this series, It's largely forgettable when it comes to the music. The biggest reason I couldn't appreciate the Voice overs is that even the video game that pre-dates this has a much better Voice over. The voices here are a bit unremarkable but by no means awful unless you're watching the English dub in which the voices seem completely disconnected from the characters as if someone was just talking over the anime.

Now in conclusion I still found this enjoyable as it was another piece of Jojo to watch but I can only recommend it to people who have seen and love all the other Jojo Anime. If you haven't I'd say go ahead and watch the newer version as it's the full story and a much better adaptation.

I would never recommend this OVA to anyone as a replacement for the manga or the 2014 anime adaptation, but as it's own thing and a companion piece to the original story that offers different takes on some things it works surprisingly well.

The character designs are at least interesting, the animation is extremely fluid (vastly outshining SC anime) and the music is great at illustrating the tone. Sadly the weird self depricating humor that the series is known for is almost completely gone. The whole thing takes itself really seriously and that works as a detriment to some of the most riddiculous moments (like Joseph ... smashing the camera with his stand in order to produce a nude photo of the family's arch enemy whose head is posessing his grandfather). Sadly the voice acting and sound design fall flat, but I don't know if it is caused by the performances or the fact that I got used to the over the top voice acting kown from the modern adaptation of Stardust Crusaders. Overall I wouldn't recommend this OVA to anyone not fammiliar with the original but it's a cool thing that it was made.

This OVA covers the first half of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders. It differs from the source material in two main ways: minor plot details are changed to make it flow better within seven 30-minute episodes, and anything comedic is completely omitted. Your opinion will depend on what you think of these changes. I very much enjoyed this series for them. The changes give a main villain to the story arc, instead of the protagonists only fighting unrelated bad guys of the week. The serious tone well suits the stoic, observant character of protagonist Jotaro Kujo— he comes across as mature and pragmatic at first ... impression rather than off-puttingly rude. The seriousness also reins in the over-the-top behavior of other characters that otherwise would threaten to overshadow his quiet presence. Even the opening gets right to the point: depicting the gruesome death of Jotaro's ancestor Jonathan Joestar lets the viewer know what the protagonists are up against.

The art is striking and detailed, with subdued but beautiful colors, and seems to draw some influence from Western comics. There is a questionable-quality frame here and there but not enough to detract from my enjoyment. The music is old-school synth stuff that fits the visual style and tone of the series well.

If you're a big fan of old-school anime and/or JoJo, I recommend this one. As with many older OVA, make sure you watch the subtitled version since the English dub is not good.