Jojo’s is the epitome of shonen manga.
Creative Staff:
Story/Art: Hirohiko Araki
Translation: Evan Galloway
Touch-Up Art & Lettering: Mark McMurray
Design: Fawn Lau
Editor: Urian Brown
What They Say:
Jonathan Joestar and his mentor Zeppelli continue their pursuit of the villainous vampire, Dio! But to get to him, they must first face down his murderous henchmen! In battle after bloody battle, JoJo and Zeppelli are pushed to their limits and beyond!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
This book ends the first part of Jojo’s, the Phantom Blood arc, and begins the confusing way Viz has decided to release Jojo’s. The next book in the Jojo’s chronology is Part 2 Volume 1 and begins Battle Tendency. But this was quite a way to end things. Jojo’s has only ramped up from its humble beginnings and I hear it only goes higher.
The volume starts in the middle of an story, “Tarkus and the Dark Knight Blueford,” from the last volume. This is really the first big test for Jojo as these two monstrous figures stand before him, between him and Dio. This is the first big fight after Jojo learns Hamon and, without it, he would likely be useless against the two.
It’s in this volume that Jojo truly shines. He defeats Blueford with his virtue, Tarkus with his sorrow, and Dio with his vengeance. He runs through a gamut of emotions with having his master die before his eyes, having to kill his own brother, and getting married. He even dies with the brother’s head in his arms while his wife escapes an explosion with a baby girl and another in tow. Jojo dies without ever knowing he’ll have a son.
In Summary:
This first arc seems to only serve as an introduction to the universe of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure rather than an introduction to the characters. Battle Tendency is longer than Phantom Blood and, from what I hear at least, Phantom Blood is one of the weakest arcs. I did really like Phantom Blood though. It served as a not-to-ridiculous, but still very ridiculous, intro into something I know will only get crazier. Jojo’s is something best enjoyed sitting back and steeping in how absurd everything is.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: August 4th, 2015
MSRP: $19.99
