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REVIEW: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 1 GN 1


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Merxamers



Joined: 09 Dec 2013
Posts: 720
PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 12:42 pm Reply with quote
this first arc reminded me a lot of reading E. R. Burrough's Tarzan novels; the story may not be genius-level, but it's a heck of an entertaining read.

You'll see this more as the arc goes on, but i DARE anyone to name a manga that wouldn't be improved by replacing the main villain with Dio. He's amazing! He's so unbelievably, shamelessly cruel and petty to Jojo that, as painful as it CAN be at times, it makes it readable again ("Your first kiss wasn't with your true love, it was with ME, DIO!!!!")

It was interesting that you felt this resembled a silver age comic in style and tone, because i've felt similarly about the entire JJBA series; the whole thing reads much more like a western comic than a manga, in my opinion, from the art style to the action.

i look forward to seeing how you feel about the upcoming chapters Smile
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Krey



Joined: 26 Jan 2014
Posts: 34
PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:00 pm Reply with quote
My opinion might be a tad biased, but Phantom Blood only keeps getting better. If you're interested in reading Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, I recommend reading the first part all the way through before moving onto the next parts. It's well worth it, and it does lay down the foundation for the rest of the series. Plus Dio has to be one of the most cruel, yet entertaining villains you'll see in manga.
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Ryusui



Joined: 22 Jun 2004
Posts: 461
PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:08 pm Reply with quote
Shame about the "translation." I read the preview and it was scanslation-tastic. It'd kick ass if someone would actually opt for a more "period novel" feel to the translation, but nope: "I'll never forgive you" is too sacred a cow to butcher. Razz

(Me, I've gotten to a point where I'd rather change the dialogue completely than leave a "yurusanai" translated straight.)
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doomydoomdoom



Joined: 08 Mar 2013
Posts: 278
Location: Michigan, USA
PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:15 pm Reply with quote
Kind of feels like you were looking for something, anything, to criticize. Araki's off-kilter, clasically-influenced art style is something that set him apart from his contemporaries, and has led to the oft-imitated and beloved Jojo Poses. His somewhat unsubtle and grandiose situations/dialogue, clearly influenced by American comic books, doubtless contributed to its success in Japan. Also, a correction, you called Jojo a seinen manga; it's most definitely a shonen.

I wish you also would have touched on the character naming (were any changed, and if so which ones), translation feel, etc. Most people who are taking a look are already familiar with the plot I would think. But as you're unfamiliar with Jojo it's not that huge of a deal.

But I think it's neat that you approached Jojo blind, from the beginning. People who are unfamiliar with the series can now read it the way it needs to be read.

And I love Araki's penchant for in-your-face, cruel violence. Viz unwisely censored most of that out of Part 3; appears they learned their lesson.
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rheiders



Joined: 05 Jul 2011
Posts: 1137
Location: Colorful Colorado :)
PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:22 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
bodies are often twisted into impossible positions.

Oh come on, that's the best part! Very Happy
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2599
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:25 pm Reply with quote
doomydoomdoom wrote:
Kind of feels like you were looking for something, anything, to criticize... Also, a correction, you called Jojo a seinen manga; it's most definitely a shonen.


That's interesting; I honestly did have a problem with the things I mention, but maybe the overwhelming craziness/awesomeness of the book made it feel that way.

You're right - at this point in the series, JoJo's is still classified as shounen. Later it moved to a seinen magazine (at least, I believe Ultra Jump is more seinen; it certainly feels that way from the issues I've seen) in I think 2004 or 2005.
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Merxamers



Joined: 09 Dec 2013
Posts: 720
PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:27 pm Reply with quote
doomydoomdoom wrote:
His somewhat unsubtle and grandiose situations/dialogue


'Somewhat unsubtle' may be the biggest understatement i have read in a long time Anime hyper Every reaction, facial expression, villain, and perilous situation is cranked up to 11 all the time, and that's what i love about it Smile

I would say that this part has the roughest art of all the Jojo series (it's his first, it's to be expected); and it's pretty humorous to see how his male body figures transform from the muscular hulks of part 1 to the boy-band bishonens of part 5 (which we, unfortunately, likely won't see published for many years, if at all)
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j Talbain



Joined: 27 Oct 2010
Posts: 279
Location: Toronto, Ontario
PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:45 pm Reply with quote
Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency are honestly my favorite arc's of the series. No stands just people with supernatural powers fighting vampires = awesome.

I'm stoked for the Hardcover. Looks perfectly JoJo Laughing
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Via_01



Joined: 24 Aug 2014
Posts: 551
PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 1:46 pm Reply with quote
Princess_Irene wrote:
doomydoomdoom wrote:
Kind of feels like you were looking for something, anything, to criticize... Also, a correction, you called Jojo a seinen manga; it's most definitely a shonen.


That's interesting; I honestly did have a problem with the things I mention, but maybe the overwhelming craziness/awesomeness of the book made it feel that way.

You're right - at this point in the series, JoJo's is still classified as shounen. Later it moved to a seinen magazine (at least, I believe Ultra Jump is more seinen; it certainly feels that way from the issues I've seen) in I think 2004 or 2005.


Jojo's art is certainly unique, however, Araki has yet to get the hang of it by this volume, so even though the Jojo poses are awesome, I do agree that Araki's drawings (specially bodies) need polish (his art does get a lot better with the years)

And yes, Araki switched from Shonen Jump to Ultra Jump around that time as he worked on Part VII. It seems he realized that Jump policies were changing in order to be more child friendly, which would force him to censor certain parts of his work. He also did it because Ultra was a monthly magazine, meaning more time to draw. You'll notice if you ever get to read that part: after 20 or so chapters, the art gets a sudden boost in quality, probably to the point of making Jojo one of the manga series with the most detailed drawings out there. Imagine 50-page chapters of well drawn Jojo...
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Hellfish



Joined: 19 Dec 2007
Posts: 391
Location: Mexico
PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 3:02 pm Reply with quote
Gods like Huitzilopochtli required human blood on a regular basis, not vampires really but I could see how they could strech the mythology and connect the two.

I think this will be my chance to finally read Phantom Blood. Smile
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ReNellGlover



Joined: 08 Feb 2014
Posts: 122
PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 4:30 pm Reply with quote
This "chihuateteo" she mentioned; I looked it up, and I found nothing.
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azabaro
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Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Posts: 251
PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 4:54 pm Reply with quote
ReNellGlover wrote:
This "chihuateteo" she mentioned; I looked it up, and I found nothing.


I copy and pasted that into Google, but it seems to prefer "cihuateteo". Wikipedia result
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Mr Adventure



Joined: 14 Jul 2008
Posts: 1598
PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 5:47 pm Reply with quote
I've choose to be patient and read Jojo from the beginning and via official means.


And I'm soooooo glad I did. Phantom Blood has been a great comic reading experience. Its just so wild and over the top. The art and writing is so raw, its always great to see where a creator came from.

Now that Phantom Blood is over I can't wait to get into the next arc.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2599
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 6:45 pm Reply with quote
azabaro wrote:
ReNellGlover wrote:
This "chihuateteo" she mentioned; I looked it up, and I found nothing.


I copy and pasted that into Google, but it seems to prefer "cihuateteo". Wikipedia result


That's interesting - in my Aztec mythology textbook it's spelled with the first "h." Time to talk to the school about their choice of texts...Anyway, the c(h)ihuateteo is an interesting monster regardless. I love that women who died in childbirth were on the same level as men who died in battle in Aztec mythology.
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Darkmagick
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Joined: 24 Nov 2011
Posts: 461
PostPosted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 6:52 pm Reply with quote
Mr Adventure wrote:
Now that Phantom Blood is over I can't wait to get into the next arc.

Phantom Blood isn't actually over yet - at least not in this particular printing. The second volume of it is coming out in May.
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