Manga 3008 Jojo No Kimyou Na Bouken Part 5 Ougon No Kaze Suggestion

most underrated part of jjba (possibly besides part 1 but second most underrated doesn't sound as good lol)

golden wind is a really odd part. it's a mix of parts 3 and 4 having a mystery element of who the boss is, with a villain of the week element like part 3. golden wind starts off with an unlikely main character, the son of dio but technically a joestar due to body-switching bullshit. giorno is a great main character and so many people overlook him due to his greatness being so subtle. he's the best parts of Dio and Jonathan. he's got Jonathan's morality and Dio's ... ruthlessness which is very clear in some times. the side characters like bruno, mista, and fugo have lots of depth and are great additions to the cast and la squadra are all great antagonists. this part was IMO the most entertaining and had me hooked throughout it all.

More stylish, more fashionable dudes, more horrific Stand powers, less enjoyable.

Going in order through the Jojos, this is another twist on the formula, breaking away from having a real Joestar and having a weird half-ish hero by way of villain. The actual action unfolds into a similar chase like Part 3, but all throughout Italy and full of morally questionable folks. A wannabe mafioso isn't a very typical protagonist, and it's unfortunate that Giorno has even less personality than Jotaro because he could've done more with his motivation and the way he fights the structure from within. But instead, he is a stoic badass that ... barely talks after the first 15 chapters and is too strong for the plot (for the 3rd time in a row a Jojo is BUSTED in combat).

The art has cool cut-ins to show reactions to the insanity that unfolds, which is a nice touch for this part, but the art is a step down from the last two in terms of coherence. Characters are sort of interesting, but also less endearing than Jotaro or Josuke's posses (save for Mista, who is great).

If you want the series to be more fashionable and more people to melt into horrible puddles, then this might be your favorite part! For me, I'm not going to look back on it too fondly.

The experience of reading Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind is agonizing to the point of causing the reader to question what they ever liked about JoJo to begin with. This cold, ominous story is sandwiched between two truly great works (Diamond is Unbreakable and Stone Ocean), which only make its interminable runtime of nothing but dull action scenes more maddening.

Despite taking place in his beloved Italy, Araki seemingly had no fun at all writing Part 5, as there is somehow less appreciation of Italian food and architecture here than in Parts 2 and 4, which take place in America and Japan respectively. The frequent ... references to The Godfather feel more like textbook metaphors than loving or meaningful quotes. The depiction of the mafia as a demonic cult is true to life and fascinating, but it is conveyed with such neutrality I wonder if the manga even views this as a bad thing.

Metaphors are a central part of Part 5. Quirks like Mista's superstition resemble literary foreshadowing more than the silliness of prior character quirks, and even the stands themselves are more metaphorical than ever. While Stands as a representation of a character's heart was an idea in Parts 3 and 4, it is a core element of Part 5, with almost every character having a clear symbolic meaning to their stand's design or power. These meanings range from disconcerting and strange to genuinely profound, though most exist in a relatively neutral space. While this all sounds complimentary, it comes off more as cold than intelligent or insightful. The characters appear to have strings above their heads.

The characters themselves are not mostly unlikable, though. Bruno's crew is a mixed bag with a high average, with Trish and Mista being solidly engaging characters with distinct character arcs, and Narancia and Abbacccio being truly beautiful souls with memorable arcs and character details. Certain events involving Narancia in the story feel quite sickening and sadistic to me, in a way that taints his prior sincerity and dedication to Bruno in my mind. These 4 characters are the highlight of Part 5, and carry its weakest moments.

Unfortunately the main protagonist and antagonist of Part 5 could probably legitimately not be worse. Giorno Giovanna, our personalityless Christ figure, goes from tender, brilliant, hotheaded genius to psychotically violent without ever changing his blank expression. If Giorno had only the former Mary Sue qualities he would be no more frustrating than Part 3 Josuke, but the existence of the latter is frightening in a way I can't really put into words. Is Araki's idea of Jesus seriously a stone faced Freemason who yells "USELESS USELESS USELESS" when he pounds people to death with his tulpa? Is this personality schism supposed to represent how Giorno has both Dio and Jonathan's blood in him? That sounds reasonable, and it may be a result of bad translations, but I feel he totally whiffed in that regard. Araki attempts that same idea to much more effective results in my opinion later on in the series anyway.

As a contrast to Giorno we of course have a satan themed antagonist. Superficially this is something I would normally get behind as a Christian (after all, he is the villain) but the treatment of this antagonist is so sadistic and creepily flat I would be uncomfortable with calling it agreeable to me in almost any way. The villain of Part 5 and the eventual final confrontation with him reminds me of King Hu's Dragon Inn in a bad way, I feel like I'm missing something philosophical on both accounts and I'm not really sure I'd be impressed if I found out what.

Ironically, despite being so boring, Part 5 is also horrifically violent. Araki has always been a sick fuck but nothing in prior parts seems as monotonously insane as the fights in Part 5. The villains come off as so pathetic and confused (though also extremely evil) and the fights go on for so long that the whole part acts as a deterrent from reading shonen battle manga as a whole. I will admit though, the kindness of Bruno's crew members balances this out a bit, for sure. There are creative moments and tender moments in some of these fights, particularly the ones involving Trish, but the main emotions I had while reading Part 5 were boredom and disgust. Relative to other shonen battle manga, these fights are still more exhilarating than average, but I expect more from Araki.

It may just be the scans I read but the art seems to be a noticeable step down from the endearing, sweet panels and facial expressions of Part 4. Part 5 as a whole acts as a transition from the more lighthearted, uplifting and sincere Parts 1-4 and the increasingly literary, religious and mature Parts 6-8, but it sure is a rough transition. It loses most of what is great about Parts 1-4 without having yet gained the poetry and complexity of Parts 6-8. There are metaphors, allusions, interludes, all that smart seeming stuff, but it tends to lack grace and heart. Even moments and reveals that should be energizing and fun strike me as thinly veiled "sugar to help the medicine go down".

I do not like being harsh on JoJo and there are elements of Golden Wind to appreciate, but ultimately over the years it has never grown on me. Considering the likable characters and patches of creativity Part 5 would likely have earned much higher praise from me had the ending been good at all, but unfortunately that isn't the case. At least it's over.