JoJos Bizarre Adventure is Hirohiko Arakis magnum opus with the recent fantastic anime adaptions by David Production. JoJo has been receiving universal acclaim and fans from all over the world. 220https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f7/JoJonoKimyounaBoukencovervol1.jpg 280https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/prof.jpg The stories can vary heavily from the hero battling an evil but charming vampire Part 1: Phantom Blood to battling Aztec male stripper gods with the help of cyborg nazis Part 2: Battle Tendency to an adventure through Egypt to fight your familys 100yearold archenemy Part 3: Stardust Crusaders eventually leading to horseback ridding race to find the remnants of Jesus Christ Part 7: Steel Ball Run. The franchise never grows stale even to this day and is still incredibly unique. Araki deserves all the respect in the world for the amazing stories he has created. 550https://i.yt.com/vi/8JnRq10bmsI/maxresdefault.jpg Part 1 Phantom Blood which covers the first 44 chapters of the manga volumes 1 5 is the weakest part in the entire series but an important landmark for planting the seeds and much of the foundation for the future parts. During its publishing run in Weekly Shonen Jump it was one of the many series inspired by Fist of the North Star featuring lots of muscular men full of testosterone but having the anomaly featuring a foreign protagonist and a setting outside of Japan. Phantom Blood is set in England between 18801889 following Jonathan JoJo Joestar as he attempts to stop his evil adoptive brother Dio Brando from taking over the world after the latter gained vampiric powers from a stone mask. JoJo uses the power of Hamon a breathing technique that allows him to project Ripple energy energy that is similar to that of the sun. Hamon uses a lot of thought and it isnt just a power about destruction Araki is creative with the use of it. Parts 1 and 2 are the only parts of JoJo to not feature Stands the main fighting superpower from Part 3 onwards. 270https://howtolovecomics.com/wpcontent/uploads/2015/05/MysteriousMask.jpg 300https://howtolovecomics.com/wpcontent/uploads/2015/05/JojoDioMeet.jpg 520https://i.pin.com/originals/28/b1/4d/28b14df6075237a68e8fcb6a83e469c1.png The story is simple yet entertaining to read through starting out with 5 introduction chapters showing the relationship between JoJo and Dio then a time skip where the core story unfolds and the ensuing madness begins. The issues with part 1 of JoJo are that it does not set a great representation of the absurdity that is to follow in the later parts and you can tell that Araki still was setting up the foundations. Many people refer to Phantom Blood as the worst part of JoJo I can understand all the criticism. The series does require a bit of time for its foundations to set in in order for it to pick up its pace but if you require a sense of wow after hearing so much about this franchise and you wish to have a great first impression then perhaps start with episode 1 of the phenomenal anime adaption by David Production. Jonathan is not that great of a character he is portrayed as a pure gentleman and is designed to be an intentional goodytwoshoes protagonist so that it would contrast with Dio whose characterization is so stereotypically evil it is ridiculous. However for Dio it works especially in the later parts despite his overly evil persona he has a great character design and so much charisma. While Jonathans character design and color scheme in the manga is like a Kenshiro clone thankfully David Production in the anime decided to replace his color scheme. The remaining characters in Part 1 just side characters. They fit in the story decently but none are overly memorably besides Speedwagon and Zeppeli. The manga does keep your attention as any character could die at any moment as Araki is not afraid to kill off his characters. The art is very good and has many beautiful doublepage spreads environments and facial details. It is no secret that JoJo is well known for its various poses of characters it all contributes to Arakis great understanding of the human figure. The art style is unique later on Arakis art style has a large evolution change as the characters change from a muscular/buff physique to a slim more gay design. 520https://i.pin.com/originals/30/b4/4f/30b44f1e978e87cf7488d74721681481.jpg Overall Part 1 Phantom Blood despite it being the worst part in the series Im giving it a 7/10 just for the seeds it planted for the future arcs.