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TLDR;

Story: 8/10
Character: 8/10
Art: 8/10
Sound: 10/10
Personal enjoyment: 8/10
Overall: 8/10

After being a little disappointed by Stardust Crusaders, I went into Diamond is Unbreakable expecting more of the same, and it met my expectations, but not in a way that I thought it would. What I mean by this is that some of Part 4 is the best season of JoJo ever, some is worse than Part 3, and some is sort of in between.
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- Story -

When DIU actually focuses on the main story, it's absolutely amazing. The best arcs in this show are not only some of the best in JoJo but some of my favorite in all of anime. Unfortunately, there are many arcs that don't focus on the story and they range from decent to boring.

DIU has a slow start, even more so than SC in my opinion. Admittedly, this show does take advantage of being entirely in the town of Morioh by having the enemy stand users befriend the main crew and usually show up somewhere later in the series. However, even if this is the case, many of the fight in the first half and a couple in the second half just feel slow. It doesn't help that many of the characters in this Part feel completely pointless, such as the invisible baby and the rock paper scissors boy.

Fortunately, the last 5 or 6 episodes are very climactic and very entertaining. The ending wraps up loose ends and is really satisfying to watch.

- Character -

While I do like the characters overall, nobody in the main group is interesting enough to make each episode with them fun. I thought Okuyasu was criminally underused, especially considering how powerful his stand is and how smart he was in his first battle. The character with the biggest growth was Koichi, and I enjoyed his arcs quite a bit, but aside from "you beat me up, let's be friends," there isn't a lot of noticeable character growth in this part.

By far the most intriguing character in this show is the main villain of DIU who, in my opinion, carried this part hard. Every episode that focuses on him is absolutely incredible. Everything from his more realistic goals to his stand to his developing confidence makes him great. As the first JoJo villain who isn't over the top evil and has actual arcs, he made Part 4 for me.

- Fights -

Again, the fights are hit or miss for me. Araki did get much more creative with his stands than he was in Part 3, and I really appreciated the abilities of every main character. However, it was tough for me to get into the earlier fights because for a while, it was just one after another. Also, some of the fights in the second half just made me want to fight out what the main antagonist was doing because that would've been more interesting. I will admit though that the final fight of this Part was very entertaining.

- Art -

Part 4 was known for having a lot of "quality" moments when it first aired, and I think much of this is just due to the fact that there wasn't a big gap of time between the end of SC and the start of DIU. I know plenty of people prefer the art style in Part 3, but I think DIU's style looks way better, especially since the characters don't all look like bodybuilders. Likewise, there are many moments, especially in the last couple arcs, where the animation is absolutely astounding.

If you want to learn more about the "quality" moments, check out jojocomparisons.github.io

- Sound -

Once again, David Production did an amazing job with the sound design in this show. The original voice acting is absolutely incredible and hilarious, the soundtrack fits perfectly, and the sounds of the different stands are really creative.

The English dub is actually pretty good too, especially Josuke and Kira (if you can tolerate Shining Diamond and Deadly Queen).

- Conclusion -

Overall, I think DIU is the second best animated JoJo part only behind Golden Wind. If you can get through the first half, you'll find an intriguing story, great fights, and one of the best villains in all of anime.

TLDR;

Story: 9/10
Character: 10/10
Art: 9/10
Sound: Actual Perfection
Personal enjoyment: 10/10
Overall: 10/10

After watching/reading every completed JoJo part, I can confidently say that Vento Aureo/Golden Wind is my favorite by a good margin. I don't know where Araki pulled this story from, but almost everything about Golden Wind is better than the previous parts (with a few exceptions that I'll go over).
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- Story -

Araki's approach to storytelling in this part is incredibly refreshing and a great change of pace. Unlike Parts 3 and 4, Golden Wind has a story that continually builds upon itself from beginning to end with stand battles between key story moments and great twists/turns throughout. Also, just the idea of taking over Italy's largest mafia organization is awesome to me, and the steps they take to get there are great.

The first act is amazing because of how well it sets up the structure of the mafia org, Giorno and Bucciarati's goals and how they have to go about achieving them. For real, by the end of episode 4 (which is still one of the most awesome things a main JoJo has ever done), I was completely hooked and Golden Wind continued to impress me.

The biggest complaint I hear about Part 5 is that its final act is anticlimactic, but I honestly disagree. I can't really go into detail without spoiling anything, but the main villain's ability combined with each party's goal makes the ending really tense in my opinion. The epilogue wraps things up nicely and gives a good satisfactory feeling.

My one complaint with this story is that characters don't die when they seem like they should (like for real, Mista got shot with his own gun more than he shot other people), and the deaths that do happen just seem really sudden and out of nowhere. It's like they just couldn't die until it was convenient for the plot. But aside from that, I think this story is fantastic.

- Character -

Golden Wind has my favorite cast of characters in all of JoJo. Everything member of team Bucciarati is awesome because of how well they complement each other. I can honestly say that I don't think there's a single annoying character in this part. Not only is everyone in the main cast unique, but they all have their own backstories that explain why they act the way they do. Take Abbachio as an example. Throughout this story, he is very distrusting of and rude to Giorno, and we learn later that he distrusts others because his blind trust of a criminal got his old partner killed. Also, Mista's stand has its own personality that gave the show some nice comic relief.

Even the minor characters like Giorno's hero and Polpo have interesting personalities and great dialogue.

Also, Giorno Giovanna is my favorite JoJo protagonist because of how he acts. As the son of Dio's head and Jonathan's body, he is the perfect combination of the two. With the same sense of justice as Jonathan and the same cruelty as Dio, Giorno really lives up to both of their names.

My absolute favorite character, however, is Bruno Bucciarati. With the way he leads and protects everyone on his team, the versatility of his stand, and the way he outsmarts his enemies, Bucciarati is (in my opinion) the most awesome likable badass character in all of JoJo. If anyone foolish enough dares to attack his children, Bucciarati will Sticky Finger their asses immediately. As shown especially in episodes 20 and 21.

I might say that the humor isn't quite as good as it was in Part 2, but there are still some hilarious moments.

Lastly, I'll just mention the main antagonist, who is also a great villain. I can't really explain why without spoiling anything, but he is personality-wise the most unique JoJo villain, and his busted stand makes the second half of this part tense and refreshing.

- Fights -

In terms of pure stand battles, I think Golden Wind does it the best. While it may not reach the highs of Jotaro vs Dio or Josuke vs Kira, the overall quality of fights combined with how well they're paced in the story make them the most interesting to me. Unlike with other parts, I can honestly say that they're isn't a single bad/boring fight in this part.

Araki gets even more creative with the abilities here, as there are so many diverse abilities and designs. Not to mention, each stand of the main cast (aside from probably Fugo) has its unique ability utilized well. For example, Sticky Fingers (Bucciarati) has a very simple ability of putting zippers on objects, but it's used in so many different ways that it feels like one of the most fleshed out stands in the series.

- Art -

I swear that Araki and David Productions is a match made in heaven. The character designs in Part 5 are even more epic and over the top than in previous parts. The art style increases in quality each part, and Golden Wind is no exception. Everything from the movement in fights to the swapping color palettes is phenomenally animated. Bless DP.

- Sound -

As always, David Productions made everything in GW sound perfect. The soundtrack is (in my opinion) the best it's ever been, the voice acting is great, and the sound effects seem realistic. DP got especially creative with the sounds of different stands. Gold Experience, Sticky Fingers, and King Crimson are just a few examples of stands with creative sounds.

As of right now, the English dub is on episode 13, and even if it's not as great as the original, the acting and dialogue is pretty good so far.

- Conclusion -

I wanna know what changed between the short time period between Part 4 and 5, because Araki's writing quality improved so much that it's insane. Combine that with the fact that David Production did their best work yet and you get the best season of JoJo thus far.

TLDR;

Story: 9/10
Art: 10/10
Character: 10/10
Personal enjoyment: 9/10
Overall: 10/10


Let me start by saying that if you haven't watched/read the previous JoJo Parts 1-6, I HIGHLY recommend that you do so before reading Steel Ball Run. There are plenty of parallels and callbacks to previous parts that will make this more enjoyable for you. With that said, if you really can't help but read SBR before the other parts, you can because this is it's own story with its own characters.
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When looking at it from an objective viewpoint, Steel Ball Run is almost certainly the BEST part of JoJo. Almost everything about it from previous parts is improved, including the main characters, the art, the pacing, the setting, and the weight of the fights.

- Story -

SBR takes the approach of Parts 5 and 6 by having a story that continually builds upon itself as it goes on while also having fights in between major story moments, and it works wonderfully. I've seen others say that SBR has a slow start and I honestly disagree. I think this start sets up its atmosphere and characters well, and also gives the characters in the story a clear goal.

The story gets more and more intense as it goes on, and the fights get better and better. Steps are gradually taken to a very climactic final act with multiple new developments and twists throughout, and the ending is as satisfying as the reader would expect. The setting is really well thought out, as Araki actually traveled to America to get a sense of what a story here would be like.

One complaint that I have is that there isn't much logic regarding a certain central plot device, but it leads to enjoyable moments, and if you like JoJo, logic probably isn't what you're looking for in this series anyway.

- Art -

Like most English speakers, I read the colored version of Part 7 by the Jojo's Colored Adventure team and I would recommend that everyone read SBR this way because it looks phenomenal in color.

Something unique about SBR is that it was the first JoJo part to switch from weekly Shounen chapters to monthly Seinen chapters, meaning Araki had more time to refine his artwork, and it definitely shows. Everything from the characters to the stands looks great in terms of both design and style.

- Character -

The cast of characters is undoubtedly the best aspect of Steel Ball Run. Every character in Part 7 is intriguing and (to an extent) believable. Everyone has clear reasons for the way they act and strive to achieve their own different ambitions, unlike in Part 3, where each enemy stand user is just a mindless drone of Dio.

The protagonist, Johnny Joestar, is great because of his physical, mental, and even emotional growths that he has throughout this part. These growths are somewhat due to Gyro Zeppeli, the other main character of SBR. The dynamic between Johnny and Gyro is arguably the best in all of JoJo because of how they tackle each battle together, how much they learn from each other, and just how hilarious and entertaining they can be.

Lastly, I'll just mention the main antagonist of Part 7, who is (in my opinion), the second best JoJo villain behind only Kira. I believe this for two reasons; First, he has a bizarre and terrifyingly powerful stand ability, and second, he has very realistic and even ideal goals. An argument can be made that the villain's primary goal is more ideal than the protagonist's, and he is the only main JoJo villain that I could actually see existing in real life.

- Fights -

While I still think I prefer the battles in Part 5 overall, SBR also has entertaining battles. Many stand abilities are really unique and creative, while some are underwhelming. Something interesting about these fights is that they focus less on the ability itself and more on the user, giving each enemy another layer of depth that wasn't there in previous entries. The best thing about these fights is that most of these are won by adapting to and outsmarting opponents, rather than just beating each other with brute strength.

- Conclusion -

Steel Ball Run is most certainly a top tier Part of JoJo. It may completely throw logic out the window sometimes, but if you enjoy great characters, good artwork, entertaining story and battle concepts, and horse races, then JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run is definitely a manga you'll enjoy.