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Jun 19, 2023
(This review contains spoilers!!!)
Again big problems despite top animation
As usual for the series, this arc has no special story. Tanjiro needs a sword and therefore comes to the village of the swordsmiths. Here he meets other Demon Slayers and trains on the spot. During the training there is a little mystery and then the village is attacked by Upper Moons. The fight against them then fills most of the arc.
This arc comes with the exact same problems as the previous arcs. My biggest problem with Demon Slayer is that the plot is written very earmarked. Power ups come out of nowhere because the mangaka
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just needs them. Oh, Tanjiro can do the Flash Breathing. Surprise, Genya can eat devils because that's just how it is. Or Nezuko suddenly endures the sun at exactly the right moment. But before that, the author wants a dramatic scene, so that the viewer might believe that Nezuko really dies. So she burns at first, kicks Tanjiro away and then survives after all. That Nezuko doesn't really die was always clear, though, if you're honest. Just like before in the series, every relevant character has to have a sad backstory, so we get multiple flashbacks in this arc as well and it sucks. Why does everyone, really everyone have to have a sad backstory? Fortunately, they left it at the Upper Moons in this arc and didn't give them a backstory like that as well. In general, no scene hit me emotionally great. The anime just doesn't manage to make me care about the characters.
At least the animation is phenomenal in this arc as well. The only thing that bothered me were the CGI fish. Otherwise, the breathing abilities were beautifully realized. There were also cinematic camera movements and beautiful particle effects. The visuals are well above industry standard in this arc as well, so you can look forward to fun fights.
So this arc also has the same problems that the series showed before. But the visuals are very convincing. Despite everything, I had fun with the arc and look forward to more. The finale of the series will probably be a visual masterpiece.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Jun 18, 2023
(This review contains spoilers!!!)
A film without any ideas of its own
The first movie of One Piece has no fresh story. It sort of takes the prologue story of One Piece ("Wealth, Power and Glory...." We all know it) and just rewrites it a little. There was once a pirate named Woonan who was called - surprise - Gold Pirate. He stole stolen gold from pirates together and eventually had a huge treasure. Then he hid it on an island. To find this treasure, there is a treasure map, which coincidentally reminds us of the Road Porneglyphs. There is also a little boy named Tobio whose
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biggest dream is to find the treasure (comparable to Luffy), and his grandfather Ganzo knew Woonan (comparable to Garp). This story has many parallels to the real One Piece story, even more so from today's perspective.
The film is now by and large a simple treasure hunt story. With an island, treasure map, riddle and an antagonist who is also looking for the treasure. The riddle is on the treasure map and is super trivial. Apparently, not even minimal effort has been made here. By the way, the main antagonist is El Drago. He has eaten from a Devil Fruit (the name of this is never mentioned). The power of this Devil Fruit seems very One Piece untypical and fits more to Dragon Ball (he can shoot such a Kamehameha out of his mouth). Of course, so that Zoro also has an opponent, El Drago has a swordsman named Golass as a sidekick. Both the fight against El Drago and Golass are pretty boring.
At least the comedy aspect of the film is convincing. The comedy gives the movie a bit of that old One Piece feel. Ruffy is stupid, Nami yells around, Usopp lies for his life, and Zoro is typically cool on it. However, I feel like the writers of the movie simplified the consistency of One Piece to just comedy and stretched it to the max. There are some very over-the-top jokes that don't fit even for the old One Piece. For example when Ruffy asks Ganzo if he died and even repeats that. Yes Ruffy is the typical stupid Shonen protagonist, but he's also not that stupid. The old One Piece, besides the comedy, also makes up for a sense of adventure with, or rather through, an unknown island. The island here, however, remains uninteresting. No inhabitants, no special animals, nothing.
In the end, the film should have been made longer and embellished more. So even for huge One Piece fans (like me) there is no real reason to watch this movie and even less for basic viewers. At the same time, the film is not really bad, but simply sinks into insignificance without bringing its own ideas to the franchise. Too bad
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Mar 26, 2023
A fresh coat with many problems
Blue Lock is a sports anime that takes a very new and unique approach. Normally, you follow a team, which wants to fight its way to the top and thereby bond together as a team. The team inevitably has to learn that teamwork is important and that together you can do anything. But not so in Blue Lock. Here, it's all about pure ego. The animal in every striker that will go over dead bodies for its own goal and triumph over others. It's about the ecstasy of victory, about every goal you fight for yourself. In this way, Blue
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Lock is a complete antithesis to the established sports anime formula. But can it work at all?
Japan sucks at soccer. Not my words. And that's why it was decided to create a project, something that would help Japan gain a presence in global soccer. That's Blue Lock. But what is the Japanese team missing. The answer is: a striker. Japan is good at defense, but to win you need good strikers. Blue Lock is a project in which the best strikers from all over Japan specifically compete against each other with the goal of creating an ultimate striker. The principle is a typical battle royal. Teams fight against each other, the losers get kicked out and in the end there should be only one left at the top.
The series takes a very mathematical approach to soccer. To this end, a new rule is introduced match after match. First, each striker is supposed to find his weapon. Weapons are skills like analytical thinking, strong physical strength, fast sprinting or high jumping power. Once you have found them, you are supposed to refine them, learn how to use them in the right situations and create a formula for scoring a goal. Little by little, more and more rules are introduced. Isagi, our protagonist, learns these with us. He has to understand what makes a real striker over the course of the series and from match to match. Isagi starts cliché-like at the bottom. In Blue Lock, all strikers are ranked and then assigned to teams. The worst players are put in the worst team, the best in the best team. Isagi, of course, is assigned to Team Z, the lowest team, and as if that weren't enough, he is second to last on the ranking list. The matches actually always follow the same formula. The opposing team is insurmountably strong, Isagi despairs, he understands what is wrong with him or the team, learns this during the match and then wins in the best case. This formula is really repeated every match. Despite this, the matches are really exciting and - may sound confusing now - diversified.
There are several reasons for this. On the one hand, each character has its own weapon or rather superpower. And so the opponents always come with new superpowers. These weapons are presented in such an extreme way that they rob the series of any realism. These weapons are superpowers, there's no denying that. Whether you like it or not is a matter of taste. In the world of anime, I always like such an approach. But if you are looking for a realistic soccer anime, you are really wrong here.
The second reason for variety are the characters. However, they are not special, because they follow the simple clichés. The sympathetic friend, the cool one with white hair, the aggressive one who hates everyone, the fearful yet strong one and so on. The series is full of them and if you've watched it, you know exactly who I just meant with the descriptions. Isagi himself is probably one of the weakest characters. He has a big problem, but to understand that, I have to go further.
First, we need to understand how the series explains things. Namely, in the simplest way possible when it comes to storytelling. With pure exposition dumping. Simply translated, exposition is as much as explanation. This is often found at the beginning of a narrative. This is where the situation, the world, the characters, the rules and so on are explained to the audience. This can be done cleverly or badly, and Blue Lock does it - well - pretty badly. The smartest way of exposition is showing. Instead of long mono/dialogues, rules or situation are simply shown. This shows skill at storytelling and at the same time doesn't think the viewer is stupid. Accordingly, the simplest way is the opposite. Long dialogues between characters or monologues in the form of thoughts. Blue Lock uses the latter. Namely, monologues that Isagi conducts in his head with himself. I don't think much of this kind of exposition. There is no cleverness in it, and at the same time it takes the audience for fools.
And now we come back to Isagi. We hear his thoughts incessantly. How he thinks, despairs or rejoices. But despite this intimate insight, Isagi remains "empty". We don't get a picture of his character. He remains a blueprint of a main character without his own personality. Without corners and edges. This makes sure that you don't sympathize with him. As a viewer, you don't care about him. He is almost a means to an end called exposition. But I learned to love other characters. My favorites are Nagi and Bachira. But again, they are typical anime side characters. Just the cool sidekicks. Still, I learn a lot more about them than I do about Isagi. What is their past? Where does their love for sports come from? What is their goal? Isagi, on the other hand, remains just an empty figure that you're supposed to empathize with. Similar to Link from the game "The Legend of Zelda". But that doesn't work as well as with Link, because you don't play Isagi yourself.
Now let's get back to something positive. Namely the art. The studio "8bit" knows how to make a lot out of a little. The animation alone is only average to quite good. A lot of still images or GIFs (i.e. loops) are used. Also, scenes that show the course of the game from a bird's eye view are always animated with CGI. This CGI is very noticeable and distracting. However, the images in reverse are beautifully drawn. The artstyle is excellent and retouches the little animation. Animation is not everything and you can get a lot out of little. A good studio knows how. And 8bit knows how. In general, the visuals of Blue Lock are excellent as a result. The background music is also great. The rock and hip-hop heavy tracks hype well. Also, all the openings and endings are bangers.
Conclusion: In general, Blue Lock is a fun soccer anime with many problems. It turns the established formula around and focuses on ego instead of teamwork. The matches are exciting and varied in themselves. Still, the storytelling is weak. The mangaka follows a formula that repeats itself every match. He also uses a lot of exposition dumping and the protagonist remains an empty shell. The presentation, artistically and musically, is fabulous in return. However, the series follows so many anime clichés that it's no wonder the anime is such a success. It uses exaggerated superpowers and is extremely action packed. If you want an exciting and typical anime experience, this is recommended, even if you're not a soccer fan (I am not either). If anime has always been too over the top for you, then this isn't for you either. Despite everything, I had fun with this one and look forward to the second season.
Thanks for reading
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Mar 22, 2023
THE surprise title of the anime winter season.
"The Fire Hunter" is a title I expected nothing from. The official trailer is so forgettable and meaningless that I almost didn't watch the anime. Luckily I did, because otherwise I would have missed out on arguably one of the best titles of the anime winter season.
The Fire Hunter is set in a future where people's bodies have changed so that when they come in contact with fire, their bodies themselves burst into flames. This set humanity far behind in terms of its development until an alternative fuel was discovered, derived from the blood of fire demons.
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The Fire Hunter's task is to hunt such fire demons and "harvest" their blood. Now humanity has once again arrived at the stage of industrialization. In this world, our protagonist Tokou lives in a small village. She is in the forest without permission, where she encounters a Fire Demon. However, she is saved by a Fire Hunter. Each Fire Hunter is accompanied by a dog for support. The Fire Hunter dies during the rescue, but his dog Kanata survives. Tokou, as punishment for being in the forest, is given the task of taking the dog to the capital to the deceased Fire Hunter's relatives.
The Fire Hunter or, as it is called in Japanese, "Hikari no Ou" is an anime adaptation of the novel of the same name. As in other novels, The Fire Hunter tells a parallel story with a second protagonist. It is about Koushi, who lives in the capital. His sister is seriously ill and his father has died. Because of this, they come to live with Yuoshichi, who does not act without ulterior motives. To what extent these two storylines come together, you'll have to figure out for yourself.
The enchanting story, which is nevertheless based on our world, gives you the feeling of a Ghibli studio story. It has a very deep and mysterious lore. This is revealed piece by piece and explains the present at the same time. This is how lore should be presented. The lore is about gods, demons and intrigue.
I watched the first episode without expectation on 14.1.2023. And left with a huge satisfaction from this. Of course I found the world interesting, but what animated me much more to continue watching was - well - the animation. Or rather the artstyle. I have great respect for what the studio "Signal.MD" has done here and will keep an eye on them in the future. The artstyle is very artistic and thus unfortunately a blessing and a curse in one. Many scenes look simply fabulous because of the artstyle, but in fight scenes the animation often doesn't know how to handle the artstyle, making many (not all) fight scenes look cheap, almost ugly. In other scenes, you can't help but be amazed. An up and down, which doesn't please everyone. But that's not all with the special animation style of The Fire Hunter. The anime uses stills inserted in the right places. Seems perhaps at first inappropriate for an anime, but these show again the artistic vein of the anime. For these stills are colorful oil paintings (don't nail me down on the term oil painting). They are really beautiful and enhance particularly emotional moments or moments that are special for other reasons. Again, this style choice is a matter of taste and won't appeal to everyone. As a third, special stylistic device, the anime uses images within images, almost like panels in manga. To explain: for example, the main image shows an entire large room in long shot, and to the left or right of the image appears another image in which the actual action takes place. Such moments can be found again and again in The Fire Hunter. All of this shows how well-designed The Fire Hunter is in terms of staging, and this artistic design in general really stood out to me.
Conclusion:
The Fire Hunter makes for a super fascinating world. It is set in our future and yet it has a lore about gods and demons that is told in a clever way. The story can't quite unfold yet in terms of content due to the shortness of the anime with only ten episodes, but it promises great things. If you want to take a look at the anime, I recommend watching the opening instead of the trailer. Here the beautiful artstyle comes into its own. If the story or lore don't convince you, it should be the artstyle that everyone should have experienced once. It can be seen that the anime probably had some problems in release. But still, it is definitely recommended and should receive much more attention.
Thanks for reading
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Feb 10, 2023
A beautiful parody of the original
First, let me explain my camp. The original Detective Conan is THE series of my childhood (besides with One Piece), and to this day is one of my favorites of the medium (as is readily apparent). Detective Conan is a masterpiece for me and ever since I heard about an anime adaptation of the manga "Detective Conan: The Culprit Hanazawa" coming out, I've been hyped.
The anime is a parody of Detective Conan through and through and never takes itself too seriously. This is evident right from the opening "Tsukamaete, Konya." Our protagonist Hanazawa doesn't dance in the opening by accident.
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The entire dance, as well as Hanazawa's final pose, is a parody of Detective Conan's eighth opening, "Koi wa Suriru, Shokku, Sasupensu." And the series is also full of such self-referential parodies. For example, the anime addresses the question of what it's like for the citizens of Beika to live in such a district with so many murders. Also, the character design of Ran Mori or Hanazawa are obvious parodies. But that's all I want to anticipate in this review.
To watch this spin-off, you should know Detective Conan, otherwise almost all the jokes won't work. But that's exactly what I like about this spin-off. It's precisely because this series is so self-referential that the spin-off parodies Detective Conan so well. And that's all the series wants. That's why I give it a complete recommendation for every fan of Detective Conan.
Thanks for reading
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jan 29, 2023
Junji Ito's manga can't be animated well!
Of course, the genre of horror in the medium of anime has always had a hard time. It's hard to trigger horror in the consumer with drawn pictures and animations. Horror in anime very quickly looks like trash. That's why you should focus on atmosphere and shock the consumer. And that's exactly what Junji Ito's manga do perfectly. And that's exactly what the anime fails at.
Junji Ito is a masterful horror mangaka and arguably the best in the industry. He is well aware of the weaknesses of the manga medium when it comes to horror, yet he executes the
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genre perfectly. In each story he builds an oppressive atmosphere and manages to shock the reader at just the right moment. For this Junji Ito uses very detailed images. He draws on individual panels sometimes for hours. He also uses a simple and well-known trick of the manga industry. He puts the shocking pictures at the beginning of the double page. So this image jumps in your face when you turn the page, because when you read a manga, you always see the other images already in the corner of your eye. Only when you turn a page, you don't know what's coming. And it is exactly this effect that Junji Ito makes use of. Furthermore, Junji Ito addresses certain phobias in most short stories, including, for example, trypophobia (the fear of irregularly arranged holes), claustrophobia (the fear of confined spaces) or hypnophobia (the fear of falling asleep). He wraps these up in mostly crazy and loopy stories. Junji Ito's manga works are simply great.
The anime is unfortunately just a poor adaptation of the whole thing. It lacks everything that makes the manga so good. The most obvious are the simply drawn pictures and the mediocre animation. Unlike the manga, the anime can't boast of rich detail. As a result, the shockers are absent. No images that cause discomfort or nausea, no images that shock with an exaggerated depiction of violence, and no images that trigger phobias. On top of that, a quickly produced animation. When watching the anime, pay attention to the eyes. Often the iris and pupil are unintentionally missing and only the white sclera of the eyes can be seen. The anime just barely manages to create an oppressive atmosphere, but you probably can't call it horror. Of course, the stories are taken from the manga. But these are just so poorly implemented that I kept asking myself how good these images must look in the manga.
On a positive note, I want to mention the music, especially the opening and ending. The opening "Paranoid" by MADKID is super fitting to the anime. The rocking screaming and the visuals reflect the weirdness of Junji Ito's stories. The ending, on the other hand, is more relaxed and I really like it as a standalone song.
Now follows a brief commentary on each short story of the anime. There might be some slight spoilers:
"The Strange Hikizuri Siblings" - Ends somewhere in the middle and horror is left out
"The Story of the Mysterious Tunnel" - Atmosphere was poorly built up
"Ice Cream Bus" - prime example of "must be gross in manga" and CGI was distracting
"Hanging Balloon" - a good adaptation
"Four x Four walls" - zero atmosphere. Where's the horror? I don't want a slice of life.
"The Sandman's Lair" - Here we have our hypnophobia, but fear of sleep doesn't come up.
"Intruder" - epitome of saying nothing.
"Long Hair in the Attic" - Super story, but does not dare to show shocking violence. The images lack detail.
"Mold" - Triggers zero nausea. The pictures are too flatly drawn for a black and white format.
"Libary Vision" - Beautiful story of a man slowly going insane. But the fact that the woman doesn't act and just watches is super unbelievable. (Her synchro is not good either. But that's by the way.)
"Tomb Town" - Why doesn't the corpse in the trunk stink. But nice world Junji Ito creates there. The images lack depth again.
"Layers of Terror" - Again, the images lack detail. The story is nice and crazy. But you should reach for the manga here as well.
"The Thing that Drifted Ashore" - CGI, CGI, CGI.
"Tomie・Photo" - I love the Tomie stories. I love the mystery around her and the charisma of Tomie. I didn't get either of those. Also, the depiction of violence is again too lax.
"The Unendurable Labyrinth" - Poor build up of atmosphere. You can guess the rest, right?
"The Bully" - one of the better implementations.
"Alley" - quite cool, not special
"The Headless Sculptures" - Must repeat myself: bad pictures, nice crazy story
"Whispering Woman" - The whispering woman was depicted creepy. Enjoyed it.
"Soichi's Beloved Pet" - I guess the worst comes at the end
If you don't know the manga, you can probably have fun with the anime. If you liked Junji Ito Maniac, you have to check out the manga, and if you didn't, then also. There are 2-3 good adaptations here, but all the stories lack the visuals. That's just what makes Junji Ito. You're disgusted and don't want to read any further, and yet the next night you're sitting down to the next story. Junji Ito stands and falls on the images, if you do not get that right, no anime will ever adapt Junji Ito well. I hope the Uzumaki anime gets that right. The trailers looked promising. Apparently they recognized the problems and tried to adapt the manga style. Still, I stand by my initial thesis: "Junji Ito's manga can't be animated well!" At the same time, I don't necessarily mean to say that it can't be done. It will probably just never happen, unfortunately. A good Junji Ito anime needs two things: time and money. I can't imagine that any producer would put so much money into a niche project like Junji Ito and give the studios enough time than something clever would come out of it. Please let me be wrong. The future will tell.
Thanks for reading
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Jan 13, 2023
(This review contains spoilers!!!)
No clumsy war anime, but surprisingly profound
Vinland Saga is, at its core, a revenge story. It deals with a young boy who lives only driven by revenge. This boy is our protagonist Thorfinn, and his father Thors was killed by a Viking, namely Askeladd. Thors was a very noble warrior. His son Thorfinn takes over this characteristic. He wants to defeat Askeladd in a fair duel. But to get this duel, he has to fight as Askeladd's subordinate at his side. Thus, Thorfinn experiences war at an early age. The series sometimes asks the question: what happens to such a young boy
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in war? The anime deals with the battles between the English and the Danes around 1000 AD. Our Thorfinn fights as Askeladd's subordinate on the side of the Danes.
The anime is designed very realistically. Each character acts in a comprehensible way. The arstyle and character design are also very realistic. The battles are well animated and CGI is used sparingly and appropriately. It is never distracting. There is no holding back in the depiction of violence. Blood flows in masses and body parts fly as well. This is exactly how a historical anime must be portrayed. Unfortunately, the synchro is very bad. I don't mean the acting, that's great, but that everyone speaks in Japanese and pretends not to understand each other.
Slavery was everyday life at that time. Thus, slavery is also thematized in the anime. You see some slaves, but the anime does not deal with their lives. The anime grasps the topic larger and relates it to Thorfinn. Thus, each person is a slave in his own sense. Thorfinn, for example, is a slave of revenge.
One of the biggest themes in Vinland Saga is religion. In the anime, different cultures and religions come together. Among them is Christianity, of course, but the Vikings believed in their own Norse mythology. Religion determines how people act. The Vikings are a warrior people and this is reflected in their religion. Their idea of paradise is Valhalla, which you can only get to if you die as a warrior in battle. In both religions there is also an idea of the end of the earth. Christianity calls it the Last Judgment and for the Vikings it is Ragnarok. At the same time, the anime opens the dawn as a sign of the turning point. Vinland Saga takes place precisely during such a turning point. In the present there is war, but people believe in a soon redemption and improvement of the conditions, by God or whoever. But they wait in vain for this redemption or salvation. From this, the anime develops a critique of the gods, which shows itself most strongly in Prince Canute.
Prince Canute is, in my opinion, the most interesting character from Vinland Saga. At the beginning, he is a very shy person who is not fit to be the prince of the Danes. Nevertheless, the people expect strength from him and his father, the king, is disappointed. Canute is a strong Christian. In war he prays to God and hopes not to die. But when Ragnar died, he realizes that God does not help him. As an act of defiance, he rebels against God and wants to create a paradise on earth. "We don't need a kingdom of heaven and trials. Our paradise is on earth," Canute says. This development is good and important for Vinland Saga. But it is too rushed and therefore seems unbelievable. On the other hand, Canute is also a pacifist.
Vinland Saga is generally pacifistic. The anime deals with this theme in several ways. On the one hand, the depiction of violence is pure pacifism. There are regular montages of corpses and Thorfinn's development shows what war can make of you. Namely, a callous murderer who will go over dead bodies for his own goals. On the other hand, the anime combines pacifism with criticism of the gods. According to Willibald, humans are sinful by nature. Their ancestors, Adam and Eve, did not listen to God and were banished from paradise as a result. Analogous to this narrative, one sees a bitten-off apple lying on the ground, clearly an allusion to the apple in paradise. This is the idea of original sin from Christianity. Willibald continues that human cannot love but only prefer. According to him, human's death, as well as nature and heaven, are love. If we are dead, we become a part of nature. These words of Willibald made Canute understand. God will not help them and he himself must end the war and create a paradise. For this he wants to overthrow the king. Through Askeladd's sacrifice he succeeds. So Thorfinn does not get his revenge and thus the circle is closed. The anime ends with Thorfinn dropping his knife. In the reflection of the knife, the first season passes by as a montage. With this, Thorfinn gives up his revenge, so to speak, because a true warrior does not need a sword.
Vinland Saga is, all in all, a great anime and deals with profound themes that are appropriate for the time. At the same time, the battles are fun to watch, partly because Wit Studio's animation is very well done. Overall, it's a very realistic and adult anime and a must watch title.
Thanks for reading
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 26, 2022
(This review contains spoilers!!!)
Dio is back!!!
Story:
This season picks up where the last one left off. JoJo's group has now arrived in Egypt and needs to get to the capital, Cairo, where Dio is staying. Along the way, they again encounter many Stand users, all with creative and unique abilities. Because of the different Stands, each episode has its own unique feel. This formula had already worked very well in the first season of Stardust Crusaders. They are now relying on this formula and taking it further. In the first season, each Stand was the image of a Taro card. In this season, each Stand is
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based on an Egyptian deity. The starting point of the story of Part 3 is simple. Dio, the antagonist from Part 1, is back. He wants to subjugate the world and thus has to be defeated by the Joestars for moral reasons on the one hand. In addition, Dio is responsible for the appearance of the Stands. He has taken over Jonathan Joestar's body, the body of JoJo from Part 1, and could only survive that way. Thus the fate of Dio and the Joestars is linked. As a result, each Joestar gets a stand. So also the mother of Kujo Jotaro, the JoJo from Part 3, but she is too weak for a Stand and gets deadly fever. So Dio must also be defeated to save the mother of JoJo. Therefore Jotaro, his grandfather Joseph, Kakyoin and Avdol set off for Egyptian and meet more companions on their journey.
In Part 1, Jonathan and Dio's fate was one. They grew up together and died together. Now in Part 3, Dio could only survive with Jonathan's help. However, Dio can't get rid of the Joestars. Through Jonathan's body, his fate is now tied to that of the other Joestars as well. The fact that Jotaro's Stand "Star Platinum" is very similar to Dio's Stand "The World" is no coincidence. Both Stands are sewing fighters, with low range and high precision. In the finale, it becomes clear that Jotaro is the only one who can defeat Dio. Dio's Stand The World also has the ability to stop time. Kakyoin died for this information. Joseph understands Kakyoin's dying message and passes it on to Jotaro. Joseph also dies in the process. In itself, Star Platinum and The World are equal. The difference is that The World can stop time. Jotaro is conscious in the world in which time has been stopped, and can observe but not act. To everyone else, however, it seems as if time never stops. For them, Dio teleports, so to speak. Jotaro learns to move in the stopped world during his fight with Dio. First a few moments, then seconds, and finally he was able to stop time himself, which is how he then defeats Dio. So in the end they had the same stand. Dio's body decomposes in the sun and thus the invisible bond between Dio and the Joestars is seemingly severed. Joseph, however, was revived with Dio's blood. This may be a clue for later.
Characters:
The new thing in this part is the group dynamic. The group consists of Jotaro, Joseph, Kakyoin, Polnareff and Iggy. Together they travel from Japan to Cairo. On the journey, you get to know each character better. You understand their personalities and motives for hating Dio. I didn't like Jotaro Kujo at first. He seemed unsympathetic and would like to be cool. That was intentional. You understand later that he just wants to protect his family and he is just damn cool. In addition, his outfit is mega. He is my favorite JoJo so far. Joseph is also back here. He is the only one who still uses Hamon. It's useless against Stands, but still finds its use. His portrayal is different than in Part 2. He is portrayed here as a typical American with phrases like "oh no" or "oh my god". His phrase "next you will say" we get to hear again though as a reference to Part 2. My second favorite besides Jotaro was Dio this season. His performance is superb. He is the ultimate evil, super brutal and kills without hesitation for his own purposes. His synchro is great. All in all, his character design is very well done, both visually and the personality.
Humor:
In general, I love the over-the-top humor of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. It was present in this part as well. However, I generally don't like pee pee humor. In the first season of Stardust Crusaders this was still okay, but in this season it appears more and more. Often connected with Iggy. Humor is subjective, of course. I didn't like this aspect of the humor, but otherwise it was top notch again .
Art:
The artstyle remains true to Manga in Part 3, as it did in Parts 1 and 2, with huge onomatopoeia and panel like splits of the screen. At special moments, the color scheme changes, adding highlights. The edgy artstyle fits JoJo's and gives the series recognition value. If you happen to see an image from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, the series is directly relatable only through the artstyle. The animation is better in Part 3 than in Parts 1 and 2. The fights are nicely animated and have nice camera work now and then. So the visuals are perfectly done again in this part.
Sound:
The opening did not appeal to me. It's fine and the worst of the series so far. But the visuals of the opening were top. Beautifully animated, with nice pictures. In the last episodes Dio came into the opening, which was very creative and provided for variety. In the last episode, the opening had sound effects like in parts 1 and 2. No other series does that. It shows attention to detail and that fits JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. The ending "Last Train Home" is unfortunately only an instrumental. It is atmospheric. But I would have preferred a song with lyrics. The episodes with Boingo had their own endings, which showed the creativity of JoJo's again. The synchro was again top. All roles were well played. In the end, I want to highlight the sounds from the Stand The World. Those deep, exploding basses showed the power of The World. In general, sonic underpinnings in this Part again did great.
Conclusion:
The journey from Japan to Cairo was super fun. The different creative Stands of the opponents provided variety. In addition, you saw many different places and cultures of the real world. So it never got boring. The characters were consistently likeable and worked great together. Each character also had his solo moments. The finale against Dio was a rewarding highlight after this long adventure. The series is over the top and I love that. This was especially evident again in the humor, art and sound of the series, which is what makes it so iconic. Part 3 is clearly the best part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure so far compared to Parts 1 and 2.
Thanks for reading
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 23, 2022
"Your underwear is showing."
"YEAH"
Story:
In Part 2 we had Jonathan's grandson, Joseph, and now in Part 3 we have his grandson Kujo Jotaro, JoJo for short. Who would have thought otherwise. The starting point of the story is again simple, but what was done in this part from the basically simple story, is ingenious. Our JoJo ends up in prison. He could leave it, but stays of his own free will. The reason for this is that he is possessed by an evil spirit and, as a result, a danger to society. But JoJo is persuaded to leave the prison. This is done by Joseph, the
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JoJo from Part 2, who directly explains the new combat system as an exposition. The evil spirits are Stands. The Joestar family and some chosen ones possess such Stands. They were triggered by Dio or more precisely by Jonathan's body, the JoJo from Part 1. You can see that all previous JoJos are relevant here. Dio survived Part 1 by taking over Jonathan's body and staying in the treasure chest for 100 years until he was finally fished by sailors. The fate of the Joestars and Dio is thus intertwined. Dio coming back with Jonathan's body is cleverly written. The linked fate of Jonathan and Dio from Part 1 thus remains consistent and Part 1 does not lose its significance. Their fate is one. And in Part 3, Dio now gets to deal with the others of the Joestars. Jotaro's mother also got a stand through Dio. But she is too weak and gets severe fever. If Dio is not stopped, Jotaro's mother would die. Dio is in Egypt and so the JoJos set off for Egypt. Season 1 of Part 3 focuses on the adventure to Egypt. JoJo and co. travel on their way through many countries, cities and waters. As a viewer, you learn a lot about our world and its cultures. JoJo and co. meet opponents, hired by Dio and all with a unique Stand. Each episode offers a new experience. Cleverly written.
Fighting system:
Stands reflect Araki's love of American pop culture. He drew inspiration from that culture for his ideas. So much so that names like Killer Queen and Bad Companie were changed for US release due to copyright. The Stands replace the Hamon. Each Stand has a very special and unique ability. The Stand is a manifestation of that ability and fights instead of the user in combat. The user controls the Stand. If the Stand is injured, the user receives that injury as well. The Stands are a very good innovation. They give enough variety to each episode so that it never gets boring. Joseph is the only one who can use Hamon. It is useless against Stands, but finds its use here and there.
Characters:
What makes this part special is the group dynamic. The group consists of Jotaro, Joseph, Polnareff, Kakyouin and Avdol. Each character is likable and they work great together. In the process, everyone in the group finds their use and no one is neglected. It's not like Jotaro is super strong and wins every fight. The different abilities of the Stands in the group complement each other and so everyone has their time to shine once. As the adventure progresses, you get to know each character better. You understand their motives and motivations. Joseph, of course, you know from Part 2. His behavior has changed a lot. He seems much more "adult". As a bow to Part 2, however, we get to hear from him once again "Next you say". Jotaro was first very unsympathetic to me and acted on wannabe cool. But that changed in the course of the story. At the core, he cares about his family and he's just super cool.
Humor:
Also in this part the humor is great. It's completely over the top again, of course, which fits perfectly with JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. The density of the jokes has decreased in this part. But that was just right for the seriousness of the part. I really enjoyed the humor throughout.
Art:
The artstyle stays true to manga with huge onomatopoeia. Here and there the screen panel like is split. In special places, the coloring of the images changes, which set highlights. The animation has improved a lot compared to last season. The part has better animated fights and some good camera work. Again, a very good visual presentation.
Sound:
The opening "Stand Proud" is a banger, but at the same time the weakest opening so far. The ending is unfortunately no longer "Roundabout" but "Walk Like an Egyptian". Also a beautiful song from the 80s. The soundtrack is consistently good. The highlight is the Stardust Crusaders theme named after the part. It acts as Jotaro's theme and has huge recognition value. The synchro is also great again.
Conclusion:
Part 3 is the best part so far. The journey from Japan to Egypt was super fun. Each episode had a different feel. The different creative Stands made for variety and you saw many different cultures. So it was never boring. All the characters in the group were super likeable and had wonderful chemistry together. The fights were very fun and beautifully brutal. Also, the presentation was top notch again both sound and art. I like this series more and more each season. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for reading
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Dec 16, 2022
Spoiler warning!!!
Introduction:
In the mid-80s, the first chapter of the shonen manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure by author Hirohiko Araki appeared in Weekly Shonen Jump and the manga is still on airing today. The Golden 80s are considered a very special era not only in general pop culture, but also in the world of anime and manga. After a thirteen-part OVA series from studio APPP, studio David Production set out to create a manga faithful anime adaptation. JoJo is a monument to the 80s and still bows to this era thanks to David Production. Thus, the entire anime is kept in the style of that era. At
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the same time, the manga is so iconic that it served as a role model for many other movies, series and video games. The Persona from the franchise of the same name are a reinterpretation of the Stands from JoJo, introduced in Part 3, and JoJo also served as the inspiration for the Street Fighter series. Or a popular anime example, the breathing art from Demon Slayer is taken from the Hamon from JoJo. Other examples: Fairy Tale, Tekken, and Devilmay Cry. So many allusions exist that the obligatory JoJo reference has become a meme itself. But if it's just not a JoJo reference, JoJo memes consist mostly of two things: the famous theme "Giorno's Theme" and the many quotes (as an example: "You excpecting JoJo to be your first kiss? Too bad! It was me, Dio!"). One of the big unique selling points of JoJo is the artstyle. For example, parts of the manga were temporarily on display at the famous Louvre art museum. Furthermore, the fashion brand Gucci organized several JoJo promotions in their stores. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a phenomenon. At the end of 2016, there were about 100 million manga volumes in circulation, securing JoJo's Bizarre Adventure a place on the list of the best-selling manga of all time.
Story:
The spirit of JoJo Part 1 is strongly reminiscent of oldschool anime such as Fist of the North Star, also an anime from the 1980s era. The story of Part 1 is kept relatively simple. JoJo and Dio are step-siblings. Jonathan Joestar, JoJo for short, is the good guy. Dio is the bad guy and he gains vampire like abilities through a mysterious mask. A chase ensues in which JoJo meets many friends and enemies. One of the friends is Zeppeli. I liked Zeppeli a lot. He serves as a mentor for JoJo and explains the Hamon combat system to us viewers in an understandable way. More about that later. But the enemies are also really well written. Jack the Ripper, as the well-known antagonist of Sherlock Holmes, worked well as Dio's henchman. But this one was evil anyway. The noble knights Tarukus and Blueford, on the other hand, reflected the diabolical side of Dio's abilities and the noble abilities of JoJo. These warriors, who were actually dead, were reborn for Dio's purposes, and their personalities were greatly consumed as a result. Dio dehumanized them and filled them with hatred. This was well shown by Blueford. JoJo's Hamon destroyed Blueford's zombie form in battle causing his actual noble soul to resurface. JoJo trusted in humanity and gave Blueford the chance to kill him. Blueford, however, refrained from doing so. He felt pain again through JoJo and where there is pain, there can be joy. This is what humanity means to Blueford. This is a bowl scene for the rivalry between JoJo and Dio. JoJo and Dio are agonist and antagonist. They are opposites. And so are their powers and personalities. Dio is inhuman and hateful, while JoJo is human and noble. Tarukus is meant to reinforce the effect of Dio's dehumanization. Blueford becomes human again thanks to JoJo and dies as a result. But his friend from old times Tarukus doesn't care. He even desecrates Blueford's grave by destroying his armor. Later he kills Zeppeli, which rekindles JoJo's flame. So Dio killed JoJo's father and caused Zeppeli's death. JoJo thus had every reason to hate Dio. But when JoJo throws Dio out of the castle, Dio cries. Their relationship is tricky. Yes, JoJo hated Dio, but he grew up with him. They are opposites and opposites attract. They grew up together and also died together (for the moment). In the end, their destiny was one.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is, at its core, a story about generations. JoJo is not simply good because he is good. And Dio is not simply evil because he is evil. Just like their tricky relationship, this has familial reasons. JoJo's father was already a kind-hearted man, and Dio's father was evil to the core. In the very first scene, these two fathers meet. JoJo's father had an accident. The mother died and the baby, JoJo, had survived. However, Dio's father did not take care of the baby. He suspected JoJo's unconscious father was dead and wanted to rob him out of greed. JoJo's father noticed this and believed Dio's father wanted to save him. So JoJo's father believed in the good in people and Dio's father was greedy. These qualities were adopted by the sons. You could say they "inherited" them.
In general, the story from the first part was solid. There were no special tricks or plot twists. It was just very simple. But the fights were fun. The ideas were good, but they were not developed enough. If the fast pacing had been slowed down a bit and the characters and relationships had been given more time, it would have done the story some good. On the other hand, the first part only serves as a foundation for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, on which the following parts can build. So it's a good decision that the first season consists of Parts 1 and 2.
Part 2, Battle Tendency, builds on Part 1 and is very similar to it. The "new" JoJo, Joseph Joestar, is the grandson of Jonathan. Joseph has inherited his hamon from Jonathan and can use it. But he only knows basics. It should be mentioned that Joseph's father, George, did not know hamon. In Part 2, we learn that the masks come from the Pillar People. They awaken and they want world domination. Now it's up to JoJo and his friends like Caesar Zeppeli to stop them in order to save JoJo's life and the lives of many others. To do this, JoJo must learn to deal with Hamon. He and Caesar go to Venice to meet the mentor of this Part Lisa Lisa. The many real life locations and the embedding in the story of the real world give the story more realness. The training session is short but well designed. We learn many new things about Hamon and different ways to use it. Of course Zeppeli dies again. This time it is Caesar Zeppeli. The fights were again a lot of fun in this part. The horse race remains in my mind, a clear highlight of this part. The main antagonist Kars is the ultimate evil. There is no real explanation for his actions. But there is no need for one. Kars wants to defeat the sun and strives for more and more power. He wants to become an immortal super being. For this he also acts with dishonest means. For example, he fights two against one in a one on one battle. His henchmen, especially Wamuu, unlike him, have honor and stick to agreements. In the course of Kars‘ fight against JoJo and company, Kars achieves his goal and defeats the sun. To finally defeat him, JoJo follows in his father's footsteps and becomes a pilot. However, Kars is not killed. He is transported into space by JoJo's gumption and a bit of luck, freezes and now floats for all time through the vastness of space. This is the greatest punishment for Kars. Now he wishes to die. But he has ruined this for himself by his greed for power. This part doesn't have any special tricks or plot twists either. The fact that Lisa Lisa is JoJo's mother was weakly resolved and ultimately vegetated into a bad cliffhanger. Sad.
Fighting system:
Hamon is a very good fighting system in terms of the idea. The decision to explain it to the main character and at the same time to us with the help of Zeppeli was successful. But unfortunately, Hamon was used poorly. New rules were introduced during the fight, which always seems like making up something new for the main character to win. For example, in Part 1, during the fight, it is suddenly said that metal conducts Hamon. As a result, JoJo wins, which of course feels somehow undeserved. But if metal is suddenly surrounded by stone, it doesn't conduct hamon. This rule exists so that JoJo remains trapped. It seems like the rules are there for the plot to move forward, not because they are the rules of this world.
Also, the inheritance of Hamon to the grandson of Jonathan is stupid. Especially because the son of Jonathan could not use hamon himself. Anyone who knows anything about inheritance can see that this makes no sense. Besides, hamon is a skill that has to be learned laboriously. Likewise, Caesar accidentally uses hamon in his flashback. Hamon is a breathing technique that you use consciously and which is weakened by feelings of anger or fear. One must learn to embrace fear. This is how Zeppeli explains it in Part 1, but Caesar uses Hamon in the flashback even though he is upset by an insult.
Hamon is a well-established martial art and much could have been made of it. However, Araki does not follow the rules himself or these rules are explained during fights for the benefit of the main characters or to avoid plot conveniences. This is lazy writing. You can tell Araki didn't feel like doing Hamon anymore, so the battle system changed from Part 3 on.
Characters:
The characters are well narrated throughout. Every single one of them brings the story forward. My favorites are, on the one hand, Dio as the antagonist of Part 1. He's the biggest asshole, but his performance is very epic. His character design and good synchro add to that. On the other hand, JoJo from Part 2, he's very funny. I also really liked his ideas/plans as well as personality.
Humor:
The humor in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is special and extremely unique. It's hard to explain. It's that over the top. You laugh your head off when Dio just hammers his legs into the wall or JoJo pulls a Tommy-Gun out of nowhere. Humor, as always, is a matter of opinion. You have to experience it yourself to decide if it appeals to you. In Part 2, the humor is much better than in Part 1. I liked it throughout, though.
Art:
The manga faithful adaptation is most evident in the artificial presentation of the anime. There are huge onomatopoeias everywhere, which are really only typical of manga. Furthermore, from time to time the screen is split similar to manga panels, often at the theatrical reaction faces. The artstyle of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is super iconic and own. It's perfect for portraying the exaggerated nature of JoJo. At the same time, the artstyle is kept in the style of the 80s. All the colors create beautiful images. The animation is not particularly outstanding. Often it consists only of still images or, in dialogues, only of moving mouths. However, the artstyle ensures that this is not very noticeable. In general, the visuals are superbly done.
Sound:
The anime is very true to manga. Still, it is well aware of the strengths of the anime medium. Namely, the anime features a great soundtrack. Both the openings of Part 1 and Part 2 are bangers. One of the best openings in anime history. I found the opening of Part 1 to be a bit stronger. The transition to the ending "Roundabout" from YES is so creative that it became a meme itself and few know the origin. The soundtrack from Part 1 by Hayato Matsuo is in a classic old style, which is very fitting. The Part 2 soundtrack by Taku Iwasaki is more action packed and some tracks have lyrics. I really liked the soundtracks of both parts and the tracks were used appropriately throughout. The sound effects are also just fitting to the over the top of JoJo. The explosive and deep basses capture the spirit of JoJo super.
The dubbing in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is over the top, just like the anime itself. The voice actors are absorbed in their roles and many of the scenes are carried by the outstanding and emotionally charged dubbing. The voice actors did a phenomenal job.
Conclusion:
The story alone is not special. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is not carried by the story but by the spirit of the series. What makes this series special is not what is done, but how it is done. The arstyle, the soundtrack, the synchro and the humor all work together to create a work that is incomparable. There is no such thing as JoJo. JoJo is one of a kind. This series is so over the top. On the other hand, you still take the series absolutely seriously. It prances on the border to trash tv. But it doesn't cross that line. The meme culture of JoJo on the internet was not created because the series is trash, but because it was so brilliantly done. The author Araki wanted it to be that way. He thus achieves what many series fail to do.
Thanks for reading
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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