Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Reading question

[TeChameleon]

So, I've been reading Jojo's Bizarre Adventure off and on, and generally enjoying it, although the enjoyment dipped a bit with Golden Wind (villain protagonists really aren't my thing, no matter how often the text insists that they're 'righteous') and has, quite frankly, vanished entirely with Stone Ocean. It went something like this;

Oh, okay, female protagonist, cool cool... and opening on a masturbation... joke..? coming from a character young enough to make it very uncomfortable. Alright, moving along... falsely accused, going to prison, wow, this system is hilariously corrupt to the point that it feels like it's tottering through those moments between unwisely picking a fight with Kenshiro and popping in a blood fountain. There's no way a society this dysfunctional could survive any length of time, blargh, suspension of disbelief is really kind of suffering. Oh, goodie, and Jotaro, who I kind of dug as a character, is a completely crap dad. Lovely. So, set in prison, could be a good story coming out of the lead struggling to maintain her optimism and innoce... aaaaand she just murdered her corrupt lawyer in cold blood. Nice.

Characters are wildly unsympathetic, everybody involved is insane... does it get better? Because I don't like any of these characters, and I don't care what happens to them. And, in all honesty, Hirohiko really isn't very good at writing female characters >.<

All this boils down to should I just skip to Steel Ball Run in hopes that things will improve?

[hungrycrow]

I liked the ending to part 6, but everything leading up to it was kind of underwhelming. Maybe if and when the anime gets released it will change my mind.

Steel Ball Run is definitely great though.

[ben-zayb]

I'm just picking it up a few chapters at a time, and take breaks whenever I don't find the arc interesting. It felt like most characters really weren't engaging or compelling enough, and it's not a rare feeling for me to want to drop the Stone Ocean entirely and just head straight to Part 7. Jolyne would've easily been my least favorite JoJo had Joseph not been cheating on his wife. Some of the fights feel like retreads of what we've seen before.


I've been told Stone Ocean's ending is an important piece of JoJoverse lore, so I really want to finish this part. However, this Bohemian Symphony Arc is really testing my faith in Araki. I haven't had the will to pick JoJo back up for the past months because of it.

[LaZodiac]

The first big chunk of Stone Ocean is really good. I 100% get not liking the uh... strange way it opens, and Jotaro as a bad dad sucks, but it's actually really good. The characters are great, sympathetic and badass and also a little ****ed up in a way that I think works really well.

Then C-Moon starts and... I mean I still liked what was happening for the most part, but it leads to some ****ing cursed places in my opinion, in terms of writing. It's not until the VERY end though that I think it collapses in on itself.

I'm shocked you're not liking Bohemian Rhapsody because I think that was one of the cooler moments of the back half of the part. It was... weird and esoteric, but it made way more sense than Weather Report.

Anyway, ultimately, like it or not this part is super duper important for understanding the next part due to how it ends so you kinda have to truck through it if you want to get to Steel Ball Run, which is arguably the best part of Jojo.

[Rater202]

I've been told Stone Ocean's ending is an important piece of JoJoverse lore, so I really want to finish this part. However, this Bohemian Symphony Arc is really testing my faith in Araki. I haven't had the will to pick JoJo back up for the past months because of it.

so, part 7 is a reboot. It's back in Olden Times with alternate versions of Johnathon, Zeppilini, and Dio but tells a completely different story, and Part 8 is latter in this new timeline.

Without spoilers, the ending of Part 6 makes it clear why they chose to reboot rather than continue the original timeline, but you don't really need to know the why to enjoy the rebooted stuff... Like, unless you're playing Jojo, Eyes of HEaven. You need to know what the hell happened t the end of part six to understand anything that's happening in Eye's of Heaven.

Beyond that: The plot of Steel Ball Run can accurately be summed up as "I know this horse race is important, but Jesus Christ told me we need to murder the president." If you think you'd enjoy that more...?

[hungrycrow]

Beyond that: The plot of Steel Ball Run can accurately be summed up as "I know this horse race is important, but Jesus Christ told me we need to murder the president." If you think you'd enjoy that more...?

I think the best selling point for part 7 is that it focuses on only two main characters, and both of them are interesting and deeper than the typical Jojo protagonist.

[ben-zayb]

I'm shocked you're not liking Bohemian Rhapsody because I think that was one of the cooler moments of the back half of the part. It was... weird and esoteric, but it made way more sense than Weather Report.Back half? I thought I'm nearing the end. That's the fiction stand, right?

Most of what I enjoyed are easily either FF being the best character (and yes, everyone is wrong if they don't agree), or whatever creative uses Araki did with Stone Free and KISS. I like Dragon Dream and Diver Down too, but their users are meh. I heard Anasui's supposed to be a woman, but I don't think finding him boring is a matter of whether he's Diavolo's long-lost sister or brother.

@rater: On ignore soon as I glanced "part 7" from the long post. I have the general idea of part 7 already spoiled, but I really would like to minimize that and discover the details myself.

If Rater's not spoiling any details other than the concept of Spin and alternate universe, please let me know.

[LaZodiac]

Back half? I thought I'm nearing the end. That's the fiction stand, right?

Most of what I enjoyed are easily either FF being the best character (and yes, everyone is wrong if they don't agree), or whatever creative uses Araki did with Stone Free and KISS. I like Dragon Dream and Diver Down too, but their users are meh. I heard Anasui's supposed to be a woman, but I don't think finding him boring is a matter of whether he's Diavolo's long-lost sister or brother.

@rater: On ignore soon as I glanced "part 7" from the long post. I have the general idea of part 7 already spoiled, but I really would like to minimize that and discover the details myself.

If Rater's not spoiling any details other than the concept of Spin and alternate universe, please let me know.

The general impression I get from people is that the entire back half of Stone Ocean is rough. You're very close to the end though.

*High fives for F.F. solidarity* also literally the best part of Stone Ocean is how KISS and Stone Free are super cool in how they are utilized.

Anasui was originally a woman in his first appearance but in all subsequent chapters was male instead. I kinda like Anasui from my memories, but maybe that's just because I enjoy feral idiots.

[TeChameleon]

... my cynical side wants to say they went with universe reboot because they realized that the 'unexpected offspring whose life the previous protagonist is somehow not part of' gimmick was getting very tired very quickly, even after only three of them, and didn't want to move into near-future stuff for whatever reason.

Wellp, guess I'll see if I can soldier on, although I'm reserving the right to just go 'screw it' and read a summary before hopping into Steel Ball Run.

[Dragonus45]

I get the Golden Wind thing, its also probably my least favorite JoJo, while Stone Ocean is probably the worst written despite having a weird charm that makes me still kind of like it. It is however, worth going through if only for the Magnum Opus that is Steel Ball Run. Honestly, if you find yourself struggling to hard I say just skip it, read a quick plot synopsis, and just do SBR. It is without a doubt PEAK JoJo! and something no one should miss.