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This review will be broken into two parts. First a spoiler free review, then one with spoilers.

Spoiler Free Review

My spoiler free review portion of this review is simply to inform those who might be considering getting into JoJo what to expect. This is easily the most underrated parts out of JJBA and personally, I love it. However, I do understand that this is not an easy series to get into when you begin with this part. Here are a couple options I reccomend:

1) Try the anime. If you're an anime guy or both anime and manga then this is the route you should start. Many ... people have a difficult time getting through Part 1, even though it's the shortest part. But! The anime does an excellent job adapting the manga and surpasses it in almost every regard (I say almost because there are a few art choices I love in the manga). It even cuts out a few moments that are considered to be the most boring in Part 1.

2) This is the route I reccomend if you are dead set on going for the manga. Read the color manga!! I know this won't be an option for people who only read their manga physically, but man, the color manga is so beautiful and for some of the JoJo parts, I much prefer the manga. Though again, I do prefer the anime for this specific part. But, with Araki in his early art style many people tend to get turned away easily. But the color manga helps it a little better.

Now with those two options out of the way, I'll talk about the overall qualities of the manga. I'll do my best to stay away from spoilers.

Story- 8/10

The story is basic and does lack a lot of originality. The Fist of the North Star manga series and the novel Dracula are essentially the blueprint for these few chapters. Araki himself has credited these two sources as being his inspiration. But I'm not usually one who hates a piece of work just because it is extremely similar to another. I mean, when you look at it, there are major aspects of Berserk that are scarily similar to Fist of the North Star as well. But they are both amazing stories. Anyway, there is a story here that I think is worth engaging in and for most people, it only goes up from here. So what's to lose?

Art- 8/10

I give the artwork an 8/10, which might be slightly too critical. I could possibly bump it up to a 9, that's mainly because I've seen how better Araki's art gets in the future. Still though, I think Part 1 has some great art and some amazing panels that I still love looking at. It does receive some harsh and somewhat unfair criticisms, people have become a bit spoiled (so have I at times). But if you are at all familiar with the many memes that have come from the series it will add to your enjoyment. Honestly the characters look so goofy it makes you laugh at times, but to me, it just makes it better.

Character- 9/10

Okay, so the characters are also a bit underrated. I'm giving them 9/10 enjoyment wise and I'll be a bit harsher on them in my spoiler review. I love Jonathan as a lead and DIO is fantastic villain. He's goofy, fun, evil, and of course, iconic. To me, DIO is up there as one of the most iconic villains like Frieza from Dragon Ball Z.

Enjoyment- 9/10

I don't think there's anymore to be said in terms of my enjoyment. This really is a fun part and I was hooked into the series right away when I watched the anime. Many people have given me a hard time for liking this part as much as I do, but I simply believe it doesn't receive enough credit.

I hope this convinces you to read or watch JoJo!

Side note: Please do not skip Part 1 and/or Part 2, they are important to understanding the plot and you will be confused and lose a great deal of experience.

Spoiler Review

Okay, this is where it comes down to being a bit more critical and of course where the spoilers come in. Now the first part of this review was just praise, praise, praise. But I'm going to be honest, Part 1 has many issues.

Reinforcing of Victorian era Stereotypes

As someone who is well read in Victorian literature and has done research on the era, as well as written a 10 page research paper for Graduate school on Victorian literature, I have a bit to say regarding this.

Jonathan Joestar is our main protagonist hero. The prim proper gentleman nobleman. The good guy. Dio Brando is our main antagonist villain. The selfish greedy scoundrel invader low-class peasant. The evil-doer. I think already you can see the problem here. The lower class in the Victorian era were treated horribly and that was often reflected in its literature. Many authors however, tried to expose the upper class by showing through literature how horribly the lower class was treated. An example of this being Wuthering Heights. Where the main character, Heathcliff who is full of racial stereotypes, is constantly oppressed because of his class and appearance.

The idea of an "invader" coming into a noble person's home or country was a common thing in these types of novels. And it usually was symbolic for immigrants. London was the most populous city during the time and there was a boom in wealth. For a better opportunity and life, many people across Europe (and other places too) came to London to also attain this wealth. This however brought an extremely xenophobic era. It was worse to be an immigrant than a British lower class, as you were automatically seen as the lower class if you were an outsider.

Dio is this outside character, though he is not an immigrant. But he is of the lower class. I believe Araki meant ZERO harm when writing this and that Dio is not meant to be symbolic of this type of character in anyway. But he is still reinforcing Victorian era stereotypes. You might think this is a silly thing to mention, but what if Araki had reinforced African American stereotypes in Part 2? Yes, it was a long time ago, but we still are sensitive and careful about these sort of things. I'm not blaming Araki and this didn't take out any of my enjoyment of the manga. I'm simply pointing out the facts.

Lastly, this comes as so surprise. As Dracula is one of the biggest inspirations for this part. Dracula is also a symbolic novel regarding immigration. Dracula's entire character as a vampire is also representative of immigrants with the way he is treated with fear and disdain. Dracula drinking the blood of English women and tainting their blood is a fear that the Victorian English had regarding immigrants breeding with English women. They literally believed that an immigrant having a child with an English woman would result in the child being tainted and sinful.

Lack of Originality: From Fist of the North Star to Dracula

I probably don't need to say more regarding Dracula and most of it can be pretty obvious. Fist of the North Star however may be a tad less obvious. The first is Hamon, a power system based on Ki (I recall it was called that anyway) from Fist of the North Star. It is immediately introduced to us as a means to heal others, in both series. There are some differences between the two power systems. But the differences lie in Hamon basically being able to do, well, anything. It was a power system that was entirely built of plot convenience and could do whatever the plot called for. It rarely felt special and was poorly explained. It did however have some cool concepts with it being similar to the sun, making it the vampire's ultimate weakness. The ice ability the vampires had was also a cool touch that added an interesting dynamic for these two abilities. Something I wish was expanded upon a little more, but that I feel was done a bit with Vanilla Ice in Part 3. One of a few reasons why he is my favorite minor antagonist in JoJo.

The last part of the Fist of the North Star is Jonathan and Dio's relationship and characters. Both of them are heavily moulded after Kenshiro and Shin. At times Jonathan and Dio's dynamic can be even closer compared to Kenshiro and Raoh. But Jonathan and Dio's designs look a great deal like Kenshiro and Shin, especially Jonathan. Dio also is raised as Jonathan's brother, isn't in love with Erina but does try to get involved like Shin does, and betrays Jonathan creating an ultimate rivalry. This is the same thing that happens in the FotNS. Though admittedly, I think it's done much better in JoJo. As the beginning of FotNS is not its strongest part, which is when Kenshiro vs Shin is. Araki however isn't the first author to do this. As Kentaro Miura also does the same thing with Guts and Griffith and these two are even better than the rest.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately that was me critiquing the series and probably harsher than I ever have. My intention is not for you to label Araki as a classist, racist, xenophobe, or any of that. Because I think Araki is a good man who has never tried to insult anyone through his work or words. There are simply flaws to this piece I've noticed and that I thought I'd share.

Thank you for reading.

"Naruto rip-off." Is it really? Yes, it is. Definitely. If you only read the first chapter. I'm not going to sit and pretend that the first chapter doesn't seem very similar to Naruto.

Asta and Naruto both are reaching for the top ranking status the Wizard King and Hokage. Asta cannot use magic and Naruto sucks at using chakra. Both are hard workers and are obnoxious. Can I continue now? No, sorry, I can't. That's about all I can think of that would make this a "Naruto rip-off." Mind you, that's all stuff that is contained in Chapter 1.

I've often heard people comment that Yuno is ... identical to Sasuke. I honestly just have to laugh at that comment. The two are both geniuses and the main character's rivals, but other than that the similarities end. Yuno has a positive look on Asta and considers him a worthy rival. To be honest, I think Asta and Yuno's rivalry is far more unique than what we typically see in shonen.

Now does Black Clover follow a certain shonen formula? Yes, I would say so. There are definitely similarities that can be pulled from My Hero Academia and Naruto as well as other shonen. But those aren't things that typically bother me. I think Black Clover and My Hero Academia have a more fresh feel than people give them credit for.

Now I was begged to not read this series and have been told so many things about how bad it is. But you know what, I finally decided to ignore it. I wanted to see just what this series was all about. There were enough fans of the series that I figured I could get in on it to. Wow, did I love the ride.

I keep an open mind when reading manga or watching anime. The only series I'm probably biased towards is Dragon Ball. But One Piece, Code Geass, Yu Yu Hakasho, and some others were all some series I thought looked horrible but I ended up loving.

Black Clover was a great surprise for me and has risen as one of my favorite series. It hasn't passed Dragon Ball or Naruto. But I do enjoy it more than My Hero Academia and Attack on Titan. I think this series has the potential to be better than Fairy Tail too, if it isn't already.

The story of this, well, story, is good. One thing I hear said about this is that Black Clover has good pacing. Which it does. It doesn't end fights too quickly and yet, the arcs seem to flow in a quicker manner. You feel fairly satisfied after each arc I would say. The current arc is very long, but its to be expected as this is something all the other arcs have led up to. But don't fret, the series won't end for a long time.

The art is great. There are angles that I've seen this artist pull off very well that others can't do. The amount of detail is beautiful and it might be the best shonen jump detail I've seen.

The characters in this series are a big success. I was very pleased with how they were written and have enjoyed many. Usually it's a little easier for me to pinpoint a favorite character in a series, but I can't in this one. There are just too many I love.

All in all, I really enjoyed this series. I would reccomend this to any fan of Naruto, Fairy Tail, Seven Deadly Sins, or even Berserk (latter Berserk, this isn't a dark series). And if you enjoyed Black Clover yourself, you should check out those series too! (Even though I only got into the first season of Seven Deadly Sins).

Thank you for reading!

Overall Rating- 8.8/10

Spoiler Free Review

Okay, not often do I say this, but I'm going to say this--this is an anime adaptation that's definitely better than the manga. The Uprising arc in the manga was easily my least favorite arc in the series. There were too many politics and far too much dialogue that honestly felt like a chore to read. But this anime season, I swear they cut out all of the boring content.

This was an action filled season and yes there were still politics involved, but it was hardly a bore. I found this season truly thrilling and it's easily my favorite season yet. The animation ... is absolutely beautiful and I promise you that it won't be long when you start this season until you see some crazy scenes.

Keep in mind this is just the first half of the season. The second half doesn't release for a while. So this season only covers the Uprising arc. I look forward to the second half! Highly reccomend this season.

Spoiler Free Review

I know, I know, Gintama is one of those anime that just always impresses. Great humor, action, suspense . . . well, normally. First off, don't go thinking I disliked this second half of the Silver Soul arc. But it's not without its flaws, but we'll get there.

The arc has a great story and some shocking scenes. There is truly some heart wrenching suspense that you haven't experienced before in Gintama. Passionate and emotional scenes are filled throughout. A fantastic final battle, but . . . things are cut short. Not to go into details, but there is an abrupt feel that changes ... the mood entirely. It wasn't subtle and was disturbing. You're left thinking, "Wait . . . wait that was it?" Not at the end of the series of course, just part way through.

The series begins to take a good turn, but where it tries to slide back into the humor zone--I don't know. Yes, Gintama is known for this. But this time, it just didn't feel right. Most of this part is great, but there's that abruptness that greatly bothers me. This was not a strong finish to the series at all and I'm sad in saying that.

Short Review - Spoiler Free

Overall this was a pretty decent movie. Certainly much better than the last Fairy Tail movie. Animation was fantastic, better than the actual series. The story itself was all right and would've been better if there was more time to work with. The fights and the story itself felt pretty rushed. There was too much in too little of amount of time. A concern I have as well is the amount of sexual fanservice in this movie. It takes away from it and has too much focus. I'm shocked to see that "ecchi" is not a genre for this movie.

Overall I ... gave it an 8/10, but I think roughly a 7.5 is a bit more accurate. The average rating for this movie is a pretty good and true. Which is a bit surprising since Fairy Tail gets more hate than it deserves.

Spoiler Free - Full Series Reivew

For a moment, take Neon Genesis Evangelion and Guilty crown then try to put them together. This anime took what those two anime series failed at and made it work. If you're not into romance, then right away this series is not for you. If you're watching this series for action, then this series isn't for you either. While both of these are genres for the series, one is simply the driving force over the other and that's okay.

This is an anime that I just thought I'd give a try and wow, did I love it. It was a great ... ride through it all and I'd say I was mostly satisfied. Since this is spoiler free, I won't go into details, but there are some thing I would've preferred to have gone differently. But overall, this is one of the best anime of the summer.

Story 8/10- The general concept of the story is good and certainly interesting. However, it isn't necessarily something new. These post-apocalyptic types of anime are popping up all of the time now. However, the story between Hiro and Zero Two is very cool and amongst the other children too. I'd say as far as the events going on with the characters, is the best part of the series.

Art 9/10- All around very good art. The colors and animation are very pleasing are almost never lacking.

Sound 9/10- The soundtrack for this series is certainly nothing short of great. I can't complain about any of it, but it isn't perfect.

Character 10/10- This is definitely a character driven series. If you like to get into characters, then this series might be for you especially if the rest sounds intriguing. The development is astounding for all of the characters. There is definitely more focus on others and I was left a bit hanging with a couple characters at the end of the series. But that was more of my preference rather than a true critique. It is also worth mentioning that these are very likable characters that are easy to get attached to.

Enjoyment 8/10- As much as I have already talked this up, 8/10 might be a little bit random. While it is a fun, cute, serious, suspenseful, and enjoyable show it isn't without some boring moments. Not to mention that some of the action is lacking. However, I've come to learn that mecha anime have not technically been very strong when it came to action--which seems slightly odd to me.

Overall 9/10- I definitely reccomend this series, if any of what I have said sounds like this series might be for you. Well, chances are it definitely is. It's always nice to have a great series going on that is so short.