DESCRIPTION

CAST

MANGA ActionJoJo no Kimyou na Bouken: Stardust Crusaders
OVA ActionJoJo no Kimyou na Bouken
ANIME ActionJoJo no Kimyou na Bouken (TV)
OVA ActionJoJo no Kimyou na Bouken (2000)
ANIME ActionJoJo no Kimyou na Bouken: Stardust Crusaders - Egypt-hen

REVIEWS

• 

  ReBuggy

  65/100
  Compared to the previous two arcs, Stardust Crusaders takes one step forward, one step back, and two steps sideways.

  Just a quick note: this review assumes that you're already familiar with Parts 1 and 2 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency. Consequently, it may contain some light spoilers from those arcs.

  Stardust Crusaders is by far the most iconic and well-known part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, perhaps because it's the one that truly began to set the tone for all the parts to follow. However, being iconic doesn't necessarily mean it's the best. In a lot of ways, Stardust Crusaders takes one step forward, one step back, and two steps sideways.

  First, the biggest change from the previous two parts is the introduction of Stands. Stands are a unique variety of physical manifestations of fighting ability, usually taking the form of a humanoid. Basically, they're magic ghosts you use to punch people. These stands manifest in a variety of people (and animals) in a variety of ways. For example, while the protagonist Jotaro has a very straightforward Stand (i.e., it punches people), the Stands encountered in the series do a variety of things, from possessing people to attacking them through their dreams.

  It's important to set this up now because Stands are vital to explaining the plot of Stardust Crusaders. The Stands only begin to manifest in the Joestar line due to Dio taking over Jonathan Joestar's body, and Jotaro's mother/Joseph's daughter begins to develop a Stand that is slowly killing her because she can't control it. As a result, Jotaro and Joseph are joined by three others (Avdol, Kakyoin, and Polnareff) as they journey to Egypt to defeat Dio. From this point on, the show becomes a series of battles as this group of five, known as the Stardust Crusaders, encounter Stand user after Stand user interrupting their progress on their way to Egypt. The first part sees them fighting their way through all the tarot-based Stands (minus Dio) and ultimately arriving in Egypt.

  As with the last season, the anime is very well produced, with fantastic art, good music, solid directing, and beautifully hammy voice acting. The introduction of Stands, however, brings a drastic shift in things. For example, Hamon is completely irrelevant, making only one appearance in this first half and failing to be of any use. While it's a shame to lose the magic system we've had for the previous two parts, it's kind of a necessity since Hamon is really only useful for fighting the undead, and having to constantly fall back on that limits the places the series can go. The drawback is that Hamon incorporated the user's entire body and took a lot of training and skill to use, whereas Stands seem to be innate and, until you see a lot of them in action and really start to grasp how exactly the Stands and users are linked, it seems like the Stands do all the fighting and render the users themselves completely irrelevant.

  The introduction of Stands also allows for much more absurd fights. Yes, Battle Tendency may have had a Nazi cyborg, but the enemies in the first half of Stardust Crusaders includes an orangutan pedophile dressed in an admiral's outfit, an enraged car, and a genius baby. As a result, the series itself takes on a much sillier tone. The voice acting is blatantly over-the-top, which fits the new tone perfectly. Joseph added a bit of levity to Battle Tendency, but in Stardust Crusaders, his exaggerated yells and Engrish phrases instantly steal the scene, in the best way possible. On the flip side, because this arc doesn't take itself near as seriously, it also incorporates a lot more toilet humor. If the idea of our heroes feeding a baby its own poo, peeing in a man's mouth, or being forced to lick a toilet turns you off, well, you're probably not going to be considering this arc one of your favorites.

  It's also worth noting that this arc fixes a major problem from the previous arcs. While Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency only really had one hero and consequently had to sideline everyone else and have them shout out commentary like they're sportscasters, Stardust Crusaders uses a team of capable people who all get their chances to shine.

  Finally, the pacing of this arc is absolutely terrible. It's a travel story, and while in some ways that makes it feel more epic, it also turns it into a very episodic show, with they fighting one stand per every episode or two episodes. Most of these fights end up being completely irrelevant. They don't cause character development and they don't advance the plot. All they do is provide another obstacle for the Stardust Crusaders to face. There's a reason why the two halves of this adaptation have a total of 48 episodes while the OVAs from 1993 and 2000 that cover the same arc are able to condense it to 13. While it's exciting when watched weekly, it becomes a pain to watch all in one go.

  Due to the two halves of this arc being divided into two different seasons, I'm going to have to rate them individually, and the first half is by far the weaker one. It's a few episodes of setup, followed by what is essentially a lot of filler. The episodes may be fun, but they're not as compelling as what came before or what will come in the second half of Stardust Crusaders. On top of that, it's incomplete, so it loses a few points when judging it on its own. Despite that, this season is able to set up the new direction the series starts to take in a satisfactory way, and while it's not the same as Phantom Blood or Battle Tendency, I think it's just about on par with them. In the end, it's just good, pure fun with absolutely no substance to it. But really, isn't that what you're watching JoJo for anyway? Four stars.

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• 

  Fume

  70/100
  An even more bizarre continuation

  Part 3 Season 1 Spoilers and a fair amount of swearing ahead.

  So, i'll be talking about the first season of Stardust Crusaders of course, practically just finished it and i'm about 6 episodes in Season 2 but i won't be talking about that.
  I decided to watch this one instead of reading it like the previous parts, and i'll do the same with Part 4, after that i'll be back to reading like a nerd.
  So, what makes this an even more bizarre continuation? Battle Tendency gave the show a much more crazier nature, with both the characters and concepts, really left me expecting not being able to expect a thing in future parts, of course, a pretty bizarre adventure, but... where's Hamon?
  Of course i'd make that god damn question, i guess the power system in Jojo got a sidegrade, some may say it's an upgrade, some others, specially newcomers to the show like myself, might say it's a downgrade, but as for me, i can't really tell, i loved Hamon, it was such a good concept, kind of generic on some aspects but, really charming and they might've been able to squeeze out more out of it, but nope, here you go, the new power system, SUTANDOS!
  I do like Stands, i will totally get used to not having Hamon around anymore, but it is pretty sudden. Stands give the show a chance to get so much crazier, why? Because there's no limit to possibilities anymore, Stands who punch people to Stands that are literal objects, or even a fucking Sun, i'm sure Araki takes some pretty high liberties with Stands in the future, since some buddies say that these Stands, including the ones from Season 2, are pretty weak compared to those in future parts.
  Now... Jotaro, oh boy, sorry but i'm not sure about this guy yet. Jotaro is charming in his own way, he knows when to be funny and to stop being an edgelord, but for now, Jonathan is still the side bae, Joseph being the main bae ofc, so i'll give him some time, i do like him, but for now, the weaker MC yet for me.
  The gang, the Stardust Crusaders, i'm not gonna lie, i love them, Jotaro is ok, Joseph, hell yeah, Kakyoin, i like him he's simple but doesn't let me down, Polnareff... what the fuck, this fucking guy, where's Pol Pol's Bizarre Adventure, i love this man, no homo ofc, Abdul, pretty bland, but he does fill in the role of serious guy in the gang, and he's got some pretty cool moments, what happened to him after getting shot though, dude, "YES I AM!", are you literally Joseph now.
  And the episodic nature of this Part, it's different, reminds of shit like Ben 10, which don't get me wrong, i like Ben 10, but it's weird seeing it in Jojo, and it does give some crazy possibilities for the next villain of the day, with their wacky personalities and Stands, and it gives the Crusaders a chance to shine individually, it's pretty good and it gives them character development.

  Honestly, i think this Part will the Part 1's place, and everyone says that Season 2 is so much better, so i'm sure it won't disappoint.

  Thank you for reading you magnificent bastard!

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• 

  CryingLad

  92/100
  A new bizarre journey starts!

  [This review will contain Spoilers for the show!]()

  
  
  JoJo Part 3, one of my favourite parts. It introduces many of the amazing aspects of JoJo we take for granted now.

  [(SPOILER AHEAD) STORY:]()
  JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken: Stardust Crusaders starts off with something that happened all the way back in Part 1, Dio's Casket that has been under sea for several hundred years. This is the villain introduction, I mean we don't see or hear him but we know he's there and the fact that the crew who tried to open his casket vanish adds much more tension and a darker atmosphere to him.

  Next up we are introduced to the Hero, Jotaro Kujo, A delinquent type who quite literally told his mother to Shut the fuck up meanwhile the mother happily complied with his demands.

  This is also the time we are introduced to Stands after Joseph Joestar and Mohammed Avdol (A friend of Joseph Joestar who knows a lot about stands) enter the scene. We get our first look at just how they work and the fights that are possible. At first I was really off put by that, I mean we just got used to Hamon power in the previous two parts so just why switch it up?
  Oh boy how naive I was back then, Stands are 1000x better than Hamon, they allow for much more intricate fights especially due to the reason that each stand has its own ability and furthermore weakness.

  The next few scenes are set ups for the Villain, a tyrant who has been hindering the Joestar bloodline for years...Dio. This season is more of a setting up, it shows us the stands and the characters so its only natural that we'll get to see who the main sidekicks. So, once again, the next few scenes are dedicated to introducing the allies. At first they are infected with Dio's flesh bud which controls their will and makes them hostile though becuase of Jotaro's stand being super fast and precise he is able to remove all the buds for Kakyoin and for Polnareff thus allowing them to join. We are also shown the reason why the whole journey has started to find Dio, Holly Kujo (Mother of Jotaro and Daughter of Joseph) has a stand within her that is activating due to Dio, her body cannot keep withstand this and she will die. The crew has 50 days to find and kill Dio to help her. Polnareff's reason is different (at first), he joined after they set out on the journey and after Jotaro's flesh bud surgery he joined to find the kiiller of his sister and get revenge.

  This part follow a rule of 2 Episode Fights, this is the pretty much the rest of this season:
  1st episode - Introduction to enemy.
  2nd episode - Enemy is figured out and defeated.

  It's not as bad as it sounds but I wish there was a few episodes of breathing room before another fight.
  The story does advance every time an enemy is defeated and we get more glimpses into just how horrible Dio is so nothing is lost with this rule. We always keep moving closer to our goal.

  

  
  

  [CHARACTERS:]()
  Part 3 of JoJo introduces many new characters, especially this season as I said numerous times in the Story section.
  First up we have the man himself, Jotaro Kujo. The main character of this part, he acts like a delinquent always rude and shouting to people but as we go along this journey we can see that Jotaro does deeply care about his friends and family. Jotaro's stand is incredibly strong, fast, and precise. So we can expect a lot of fun and fluid fist fights. Jotaro has to be my favourite JoJo, at first I didn't like him cause of that whole delinquent behaviour but my opinion changed as I got to see more and more of his interactions with the crew.

  Joseph, He...is quite different from the Joseph we knew from Part 2. Joseph's behaviour is much more tame and calm compared to his Part 2 self, this probably is due to the reason that Joseph aged. He still does have his wacky moments and jokes but its far from what we got in Part 2, at least we have his "OH MY GODD" and "HOLY SHITTTT" so we're still good. Joseph's Stand is just a bunch of Purple Vines that can also conduct Hamon, good for far range combat and enemies that are weak to Hamon.

  Avdol, basically the backbone of the whole journey. He is the one who introduces us to Stands, he pretty much takes lead in the journey to Egypt, showing the crew around and talking about the Stands of the enemies. His behaviour is super serious, he wants Dio dead and he will go to far lengths to make sure that happens. Avdol's Stand is a fire type, he can melt pretty much anything and is also super strong, it is quite OP.

  Kakyoin is quite relaxed, though will go all out when he or his friends are in danger. Kakyoin's stand is weak in combat but can go to much further lengths than any other stand. His "Special" move called Emerald Splash is said to be unavoidable.

  Lastly we have Polnareff. Best JoBro in my opinion. Polnareff is tough, funny, and cares about his friends and especially his family. We can often see Polnareff telling some jokes or doing something stupid but when it comes to fighting or detecting if an enemy is around his cheerful mood turns into a deadly super serious one. Polnareff's stand wields a sword, it is incredibly fast just like Jotaro's stand. He is amazing at close combat.

  There are several enemy characters but there is too many to name since this part follows a rule of introducing a character and every 2 episodes.
  Most noteable enemies are:
  -Hol Horse, a gun wielding user who controls his bullets.
  -Enyaba, super obssessed with Dio. Her stand can turn people into puppets when a hole wound is present.

  

  
  

  [ART/ANIMATION:]()
  Part 3 still tries to keep true to Part 1 art style, beefy men with square-ish faces and all. In my own opinion it does look better than the last two parts.
  The Animation did get quite the upgrade though, especially the fights. The fights pack a much better punch to it.

  

  
  

  [MUSIC:]()
  Oh lawd, the OST on this one. It's hype!
  Each moment, each scene is filled to brim with amazing and fitting soundtrack that just adds that much more to the scene. Each fight also has a soundtrack that just builds so much sheer hype within the viewer. This song in particular is the pinnacle of the season, when it starts playing you know that shit will go down.

  

  
  

  [OVERALL OPINION:]()
  JoJo Part 3 (Stardust Crusaders) is one of my favourite parts. This season in particular was mostly introductions and all, Season 2 of this Part is where things get spicy but speaking overall combined Part 3 is one of the greatest. The characters, enemies, the OST, and plot are just perfect. Each time I opened up a new episode to watch I remember being hyped because of the OP and the fights. Good times!

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