JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken Part 1: Phantom Blood
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 1: Phantom Blood

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JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures Part I: Phantom Blood – Spoiler Free – Recommended

TLDR
Story – 7/10 – 7 x 0.275 = 1,925
Art – 7/10 – 7 x 0.2 = 1,4
Characters – 10/10 – 10 x 0.225 = 2,25
Enjoyment – 8/10 – 8 x 0.3 = 2,4
Total: 7,975 -> 8

Story – 7/10
... This is JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures’s Phantom Blood, the first instalment of the legendary manga made by Hirohiko Araki. It introduces the backstory of the Joestar family and of many of the predecessors of the future characters of the series.
The story is comic, relaxing, and engaging. Although not complex in any way, the beginning of the first part is a delight to behold.
Phantom Blood also has a predecessor, called the Hamon, to Jojo's more well-known fighting style—the “stands.” This style is quite interesting in itself and covers the first two parts of the series.
The rivalry between both main characters – Jonathan Joestar and Dio Brando – is nothing short of epic and very well done. Without giving spoilers, the story is action-packed and has a lot of dialogue to set the scene for the characters. One of the characteristics of each part is that they reach a conclusion, thus one not needing to read the first part to understand the second (for instance). This is achieved in the first part, although it will help to add a layer of lore to the third instalment of the series, Stardust Crusaders.
There are also supernatural elements, mainly through the stone mask and the research surrounding it. The story is well done and does not have leaps of faith – at least none worth mentioning –, although it is frequently over-the-top, which also serves as critique of the shounen genre.

Art – 7/10
JoJo’s art style is unique, and rightfully so. Even though it can get quite messy (not in a bad way), it always remains sharp, with a terrific and unique character design. The fight scenes are also well-done and a pleasure to read. The art style may not be everyone’s cup of tea, for it is not all that well polished, although technically impressive, but it is undoubtedly unique and functional.

Characters – 10/10
This is the strongest point in JoJo. The characters are likeable, and it is impossible not to vibrate with the adventures of Jonathan Joestar. Moreover, the minor characters are also impeccably well done, being a good mixture of helpful and comic. The villain – Dio Brando – is an exceptionally well-written character. There are almost no forgettable characters, quite on the contrary: the first instalment of JoJo is a statement on how to write good characters and sets the tone for further parts. Characters such as Jonathan Joestar, Dio Brando, Erina Pendleton or Speedwagon are impeccable. It is also fascinating that these are the predecessors of some of the characters that appear in later instalments. We thus feel a progression and a sense of lore that one simply does not get quite so easily from other mangas. More than anything, watching characters interact with one another is a joy.


Enjoyment – 8/10
While JoJo defined the shounen genre, the main component in the series was definitely its charm and the characters, and not the story in itself. The story supported the characters and fit the overall atmosphere, but it is not the main point. However, the story isn’t bad at all. Although they make a point of creating separate, quasi-independent parts, I believe it is fundamental to read the first part of JoJo to truly understand the wonderful characters that the story entails and the lore surrounding the legendary Joestar family.
JoJo is a chaotic—in the good sense of the word—manga with many elements of parody of the shounen genre, and it is masterfully done so. JoJo lays the foundation for a new type of shounen parody, such as One-Punch Man, having influenced many other mangas and being the beginning of a path to stardom. JoJo more than deserves a recommendation for being what it is, but mostly for being the beginning of an incredible journey with its unique allure.

Let’s talk about JoJo’s first part. Phantom Blood is definitely the simplest of all JoJo parts in terms of how the story is built but also one of the most complicated when it comes to how we view how it goes. Now, it’s clear why it’s the first thing that JoJo has ever created and therefore, the simplest. It reminds you of the simple, classic tales you learned or heard about before, most notably in this case, vampire stories. I, myself, like vampire stories, I think they’re fun but at the same time, though, it can get a little stale with writing whenever they tend ... to run out of ideas. JoJo part 1 is similar to that but with a bit of unique magic injected into it. This has been regarded as JoJo’s weakest part and while I do understand that assessment and agree that it’s flawed, I don’t think it’s bad or even mediocre either.

Now, what’s the story of Phantom Blood? As the first installment of the franchise, Phantom Blood slowly introduces quite a lot of interesting features, surprisingly enough. It’s about two men in the United Kingdom who go by the name of Jonathan Joestar and Dio Brando respectively. Both Jonathan and Dio possess the same determination yet are polar opposites of one another. They have a very complicated, competitive, and hateful relationship with each other. While they’re at it, both of them equally explore the stone mask, a mysterious artifact that will turn you into a vampire and once discovered by an Aztec tribe. The stone mask may look like a simple doomsday item at first but it holds a lot of questions that need to be answered. How does the mask affect you? Will it be carried any longer in the future? Or hell, shall it be destroyed for the better?

That’s where we talk about the story in practice. The story, while simple, is a little hard to think about. The first few parts of Phantom Blood are surprisingly solid. Sure, those may be that bizarre contrary to what the title says but they slowly build up well. From there, we see both Jonathan’s and Dio’s introductions and how they interact with one another. Jonathan represents courage, heroism, and honesty while Dio represents selfishness, dominance, and lies. Even if they’re introduced as children from the start, the story tackles their personal symbolism nicely as they treat them as brothers who fight over who will be on the hills or below. It’s also nice how they keep the stone mask a secret for a little while. Portraying it as a decoration until both Jonathan and Dio fight each other in a mansion and afterward, Dio’sbit of blood after his defeat suddenly activates the mask.

The slow build-up of how both Jonathan and Dio discover the mask on their own as now adults is also pretty good. Again, we still see how the story develops on how the two represent. After Jonathan finds out what Dio is plotting, Dio has no choice but to reject his humanity. Dio figures out the true potential of the stone mask embraces the greater evil and, by extension, kills Jonathan’s father. Jonathan lost nearly everything but he still avenges his ruined family. This is the best part of the story personally because not only did we see a major cycle of two people interacting with each other, finding out mysteries, and starting a major clash but also the consequences Jonathan has to face, whether it’s his fault or not. Despite his beef with Dio, he wants him to know better even with his gentlemanly acts. Their contrasts with each other only motivate them more and more.

This, however, is slightly bumped down with the introduction of Hamon. Hamon is a power that is channeled after practicing outdoor martial arts. It comes with a variety of moves depending on how anyone who learns it fights. Hamon is actually a cool power system but since it was utilized, the story from here doesn’t necessarily have the same charm it has before. Now, it still extends the compare and contrast between the two main characters but we’re going slowly from here. A vampire that creates a zombie army is sick as hell, even if it’s not the most unique type, but with the focus on zombies, it becomes your everyday battle Shounen. That being said, the story still holds potential but aside from the penultimate battle between Jonathan and Dio which is the most interesting part of the Hamon arc, it can feel a little too stiff for its own good. I mentioned before how this part resembles a lot of the classic and simple vampire stories. The use of Hamon pretty much proves that. Thankfully, though, the final clash with Jonathan and Dio where both of them indirectly embrace each other at the end despite their characteristics while Jonathan successfully saves Erina is the saving grace.

Now, for characters. Starting with the main cast consists of Jonathan, the first JoJo and a gentleman, Dio, the main villain, and an invincible vampire, and Will A. Zeppeli, the man who first showed us Hamon and is Jonathan’s mentor and companion. Jonathan is kind of an endearing protagonist, contrary to what one would say. His will to be a gentleman and motivation to protect both the world and his future family not only is pleasing but also add to his character. Sadly, however, he can also come off as quite bland. He’s a very honest and honored person with a few silly moments of him being a dork, especially before the time skip, but that’s much about what he could offer. He’s still a solid character but he could have done more with his development, especially as the JoJo of this part.

The main villain of this series is, funnily enough, the true protagonist. Dio pretty much carries the whole series. He’s the villain that started it all. What really makes him special is how he gets away with things as long as he wants to reach what he wants. He has a tragic backstory where he lives with a poor and foul family and he admits what went wrong with both his life and his doings and yet, he doesn’t care because he wants to be known better. Even after becoming a vampire, he’s a great villain because of how his evilness is portrayed. Not only that but even though he wants to lower Jonathan (although he respects him more as the story goes on), he also uses him as a tool because Jonathan shows some kindness to him. He’s a despicable and loathsome character done right in my books.

Will A. Zeppeli is a little disappointing. He may introduce the concept of Hamon and is a helpful sidekick to Jonathan but he could have developed more. He could have explored more about the future of his family. A similar case can be said with the side characters. They help Jonathan but that’s about it. Yes, Speedwagon is one of the most important characters in the franchise as he’s the future of the later JoJo parts, mainly with his legacy, but aside from that and the memes, he still comes off as a little flat. Nonetheless, he’s still decent overall and the best side character in this part.

The art surprisingly aged well. Even though some of the body proportions tend to look off, the art is very unique and differs from a lot of anime/manga art styles. It gives more detail and expression to both the environment and the cast. Fashion choices are good too, although I’m not a fan of Dio’s second vampire outfit.

And that does it. Phantom Blood has its flaws but it still shows more heart than you would like to admit. It can be slow despite being the shortest part but it’s still a good introduction to the franchise. The story and characters could have done better but they still manage to show their own unique charms. The whole part isn’t too great or anything but even then, it still should not be skipped all things considered.

JoJo Part 1 may just be the worst manga series I have ever read, but three factors keep me from giving it anything less than a 5. First, it is easy to see how JoJo influenced a lot of anime and manga series that I find more palatable because they dial down the goofiness from JoJo a bit. Second, the art style in JoJo is well above almost all of it's Shonen Jump peers. Third, there is a significant jump in quality between part 1 and part 2. Pretty much every other aspect of this manga is banal. Just getting through all the volumes felt ... like a chore. Reading only part one of JoJo felt like it took longer than reading all of One Piece. I can't think of a single shounen battle manga I like less than JoJo part 1.