SPOILERS FOR PART TWO!!
I finished all 4 parts of JoJo a few days back, and my God it feels over-whelming. I'm gonna start Part 5 this month, and knowing that there's gonna be no JoJo after July is a bit depressing. So I thought it'd be fun to discuss the part which, according to a lot of people, got them into JoJo: Battle Tendency(cue the opening). Battle Tendency is from episode 10 to episode 26 in the first season.
For me, personally, Part 2 is a one-man show. If not for Joseph Joestar, this would have been a lot less enjoyable. He carries the entire story with his weird, quirky, off-beat and absurd personality. He's definitely a lot different from Jonathan, which I think Araki wanted to establish firmly. He's a trickster, and is all about survival and doesn't shy away from using under-handed tactics. He's also cunning, which is something not really seen in shounen manga protagonists. And Tomokazu Sugita's performance as Joseph is my favourite performance in the entire series. And he manages to make it different from Gintoki, even though it can come across as pretty similar.
As far as Caesar is concerned, I think Araki made him out to be a better character than Will, who's sort of introduced and immediately killed. We actually see Caesar and JoJo clashing at first, with their opposing personalities, and slowly developing into friends. And when he dies, we actually see shades of how Araki treats death: brutal, sudden and unfulfilling. It can be seen throughout later parts. And also, no deus ex machina, which is also something I loved(and especially in Stardust Crusaders, but more on that later).
The Pillar Men are fine villains. They are menacing, and they are established to be powerful villains on the go(definitely more powerful than Dio), especially when they rub against that one soldier and half of his body disappears. But they definitely aren't as nuanced as Dio, nor do they feel as personal. Which is to say that Part One is as much Dio's story as it is Jonathan's. More so, even. But I really like the Pillar Men's theme. It's incredibly badass, and the soundtrack itself is a lot, lot better in this part.
Other characters are fine. Speedwagon is the same over-expository and I'm-gonna-describe-what's-happening-on-screen guy, and Lisa Lisa could have definitely done more after how they built her up, but I really liked Straizo(although he's a Nazi ¯\_(ツ)_/¯).
The plot isn't any different from part one to be honest, it's just the execution, and the way in which Araki made sure he improved every single aspect of Part One(except the villain), and the fact that it's a non-stop total blast from start to finish(albeit at a pace that's slower than Part One), with moments of total insanity from time to time, makes it extremely entertaining, although Joseph and Caesar are the only noteworthy characters.
The animation is still nothing but a lot of still-frames, but the art is very, very detailed so that makes sure I have enough attention, and also it's a lot more colourful in this part with weird intermixing happening. The soundtrack is a lot better, and the voice acting is great.
The visuals in the OP are fantastic, but the song itself was something that took some time for me to get used to. I still loved it, just not as much as Sono Chi no Sadame.
Tagging you guys here: @Sindar @Demon_Skeith @Mansi14 (whenever you watch)
I finished all 4 parts of JoJo a few days back, and my God it feels over-whelming. I'm gonna start Part 5 this month, and knowing that there's gonna be no JoJo after July is a bit depressing. So I thought it'd be fun to discuss the part which, according to a lot of people, got them into JoJo: Battle Tendency(cue the opening). Battle Tendency is from episode 10 to episode 26 in the first season.
For me, personally, Part 2 is a one-man show. If not for Joseph Joestar, this would have been a lot less enjoyable. He carries the entire story with his weird, quirky, off-beat and absurd personality. He's definitely a lot different from Jonathan, which I think Araki wanted to establish firmly. He's a trickster, and is all about survival and doesn't shy away from using under-handed tactics. He's also cunning, which is something not really seen in shounen manga protagonists. And Tomokazu Sugita's performance as Joseph is my favourite performance in the entire series. And he manages to make it different from Gintoki, even though it can come across as pretty similar.
As far as Caesar is concerned, I think Araki made him out to be a better character than Will, who's sort of introduced and immediately killed. We actually see Caesar and JoJo clashing at first, with their opposing personalities, and slowly developing into friends. And when he dies, we actually see shades of how Araki treats death: brutal, sudden and unfulfilling. It can be seen throughout later parts. And also, no deus ex machina, which is also something I loved(and especially in Stardust Crusaders, but more on that later).
The Pillar Men are fine villains. They are menacing, and they are established to be powerful villains on the go(definitely more powerful than Dio), especially when they rub against that one soldier and half of his body disappears. But they definitely aren't as nuanced as Dio, nor do they feel as personal. Which is to say that Part One is as much Dio's story as it is Jonathan's. More so, even. But I really like the Pillar Men's theme. It's incredibly badass, and the soundtrack itself is a lot, lot better in this part.
Other characters are fine. Speedwagon is the same over-expository and I'm-gonna-describe-what's-happening-on-screen guy, and Lisa Lisa could have definitely done more after how they built her up, but I really liked Straizo(although he's a Nazi ¯\_(ツ)_/¯).
The plot isn't any different from part one to be honest, it's just the execution, and the way in which Araki made sure he improved every single aspect of Part One(except the villain), and the fact that it's a non-stop total blast from start to finish(albeit at a pace that's slower than Part One), with moments of total insanity from time to time, makes it extremely entertaining, although Joseph and Caesar are the only noteworthy characters.
The animation is still nothing but a lot of still-frames, but the art is very, very detailed so that makes sure I have enough attention, and also it's a lot more colourful in this part with weird intermixing happening. The soundtrack is a lot better, and the voice acting is great.
The visuals in the OP are fantastic, but the song itself was something that took some time for me to get used to. I still loved it, just not as much as Sono Chi no Sadame.
Tagging you guys here: @Sindar @Demon_Skeith @Mansi14 (whenever you watch)
