Newer fans of the long-running shounen battle anime JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure will likely have been enticed to get into the series by way of its iconic battle sequences, dozens of quotable lines, outrageous powers, and memorable characters. The series is sprawling, however, and to get to that endlessly-memed battle between Dio and Jotaro in Part 3, newcomers to the series will have to watch or read Parts 1 and 2 to get the full context for what’s going on.
Impatience is a natural human failing, and is not uncommon among an anime fan with a considerable backlog of shows. This tendency has lead to the controversial practice known as “part skipping” among JoJo fans; wherein new viewers hop over Part 1 to get to the “good stuff” in Part 3 quicker. The practice while understandable, is misguided, because there’s a lot of great stuff that shouldn’t be missed in Phantom Blood.
10 The Debut Of Dio Brando
Series antagonist Dio Brando is among the most instantly recognizable anime villains ever devised, and for good reason too. Dio is one of the most relentlessly evil dudes ever put to page, seeming to exist only to make everyone miserable for his own gain, and to have a good time while doing it.
Dio’s sadistic antics didn’t come out of a vacuum, though, and Part 1 does a fantastic job of setting him up as the villain fans will love to hate going forward. Seriously, the amount of sheer wickedness that this guy gets up to in Part 1 is staggering, making it a character introduction newcomers won’t want to miss.
9 The Glorious ’80s Charm
Perhaps one of the reasons that new fans struggle to connect with Part 1 is the nature of the adaptation (this is a 2012 adaptation of a 1987 Shounen Jump manga, after all). The Shounen Jump zeitgeist in the ’80s was defined by titles like Fist of the North Star, and a host of other stories about huge buff guys beating each other up, and Phantom Blood doesn’t exactly break that mold.
Don’t be discouraged, though, that’s a core part of the part’s appeal. Far from the somewhat subversive tone of other JoJo parts, where the heroes are sometimes less than flawlessly heroic, Part 1 is a story about a guy of upstanding moral character, fighting for love and justice. It might be a little corny by today’s standards, but that’s part of what makes it so much fun.
8 The Foundation Of The JoJo Mythos
One of the biggest appeals of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is that each subsequent part is completely different from its prequel, with a new protagonist, setting, villain, and sometimes powers added to keep the story feeling fresh after being around for decades.
However, there are some consistent themes, tropes, and character archetypes common from part to part, and many of them find their origin, unsurprisingly, in Phantom Blood. Although it might lack the totally outrageous fight scenes of later parts, it does introduce the audience to the DNA that makes up JoJo in general.
7 That Opening
Studio David Productions’ adaptation of JoJo almost always has fantastic music, especially in the opening and ending of each episode, which both do a great job of setting the tone of the story. It can be challenging to pick a favorite out of such a wide selection, but a powerful case can be made for “Sono Chi No Sadame,” the hot-blooded track that marks the beginning of every Part 1 episode.
On top of some great visuals that accompany the opening credits (some of which are major spoilers for later events, for those with the advantage of context), the track itself is perfect for getting the audience hyped up for some JoJo.
6 Excellent Fight Scenes
It wouldn’t be a proper JoJo experience without some stand-out battle sequences, and Phantom Blood is no exception to this rule. Throughout the course of the part, Jonathan will battle zombies, vampires, gangsters, and adopted brothers with malevolent intentions to secure honor for himself and his family.
As per usual with JoJo, the outcome of a battle is typically decided by wits and strategy rather than brute strength (although that plays a part as well). It’s always a great time when Jonathan seems to be down for the count, but secretly has a backup plan that will surprise both his opponents and the audience in equal measure.
5 Robert E.O. Speedwagon
JoJo‘s fight scenes can get a little obtuse from time to time with their outlandish strategies and powers, often to the point that it’s difficult to discern exactly what a character is planning in a fight. To account for this difficulty, JoJo typically has a dedicated character who’s primarily there to act shocked, and to explain the events of the battle.
Phantom Blood‘s iteration of this archetype is the charming fellow Robert E.O. Speedwagon, former street thug and future chairman of the Speedwagon Foundation, who fights with a razor-tipped hat. Speedwagon’s antics and constant bewilderment at the events of the story make him a great addition to the cast, and a big part of the reason why Part 1 is so endearing.
4 A Cool Power System
JoJo stories from Part 3 onward feature a totally restructured power system for the characters to use in combat. Where Parts 1 and 2 feature “hamon,” a sort of kung-fu like breathing technique that unlocks superhuman powers, Part 3 introduces the audience to “stands,” spectral projections of a user’s spirit that can have an extremely wide range of abilities.
While fans generally agree that the shift from hamon to stands allowed the series to come into its own and be far more creative regarding battle scenes, there’s still a lot to love when it comes to hamon. For one, there just isn’t an adequate replacement for screaming “Sunlight Yellow Overdrive!” before beating the bad guy — that’s like the perfect ability name for this anime.
3 Great Training Sequences
There are a number of major differences between the stands of Part 3 onward and the hamon of Parts 1 and 2, the most obvious of which being the mechanical differences between what each power allows a user to do. There’s another notable point of contrast, though, and that’s that while stands are an innate power the user has, hamon is a technique that must be learned.
This means that Part 1 can deploy a couple of classic martial arts movie-style training sequences where our protagonist has to learn from a master of his craft in order to gain the power that he needs to defeat the villains. This adds an interesting element of character growth to the power system, which is leveraged to the story’s advantage.
2 Ultimate Gentleman Jonathan Joestar
Jonathan Joestar, the protagonist of Part 1, wants nothing more than to become the ultimate gentleman so that he can keep his love interest safe, protect his family’s honor, and tries to erase any villainy in the world. He might lack the gruff badassery of Kujo Jotaro or the roguish charm of Joseph Joestar, but it’s impossible not to become endeared with Jonathan’s earnestness and strength.
Joseph’s straightforward goals and uncompromising moral fortitude make him one of the best JoJo protagonists in the lineup; he doesn’t spend a lot of time brooding or second-guessing himself, which makes him an easy guy to root for. Overall, Part 1 is a somewhat unambiguous struggle between good and evil, so Jonathan is the perfect guy for the job.
1 A Shocking Twist Ending
One of the most commonly reiterated complaints about Phantom Blood is that it lacks a lot of the trademark JoJo surrealism that makes the series so bizarre (it’s in the name, after all). To a certain extent, this is correct, as Phantom Blood is missing some of the eccentricities that audiences know and love in later parts.
Do not be lulled into a false sense of security, though, because author Hirohiko Araki has a couple of surprises up his sleeve even in this early adventure. Without getting too far into spoiler territory for those who haven’t started yet, the ending in particular of Phantom Blood is hard to see coming, and it upends the direction the series seemed to be taking beforehand.
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