Been a while since I’ve done a list and since in on a Jojo bender right now I figured why not make a list of my favourite stands because there sure is quite… a… lot. Anyway, this list isn’t in any particular order I just listed them as I thought of them.
1. Horus
We didn’t actually get to see a great deal of the “actual” Horus stand but we got to see it in action a fair bit. Horus takes the shape of a big icy bird-like skeleton which looks pretty cool. I think the main reason I like Horus so much probably comes down to how badass Pet Shop is in his fight against Iggy, I mean sure he dies but for the majority of the fight Pet Shop was pretty unstoppable and he pulled some pretty sweet moves.
2. Cream
Cream is just weird, but also a seriously dangerous stand. For those how don’t know, Cream has a void portal inside its mouth and anything it eats disappears forever (Itself and stand user Vanilla Ice notwithstanding). When Cream eats itself it turns into an invisible ball that erases whatever it touches making Cream a serious danger to anyone who isn’t fast enough to work out how the stand works and to top it all of Vanilla Ice is literally immortal, so there’s that. All in all, Cream is a serious danger that requires some serious luck to beat.
3. Hanged Man
For how lame Hanged Man’s user J. Geil is, the Hanged Man has some seriously sweet moves. I thought it was pretty awesome how he could just jump from reflection to reflection, being invincible whilst in the reflection world. And with Hanged Man only having one short period of vulnerability, he really is pretty awesome. It’s not till he starts jumping into peoples eyes when you really realise the gravity of his power, ultimately though, that’s also his downfall. As a side note to those who know, I wonder if Hanged Man would appear in the same dimension as “Man in the Mirror” from part 5? I’m assuming so.
4. Death Thirteen
Death Thirteen is one of those stands who, with the right user, could have very easily defeated the Stardust Crusaders. It just comes down to the fact that Mannish Boy, the user, happens to be a baby is the reason why he was defeated. Well, that and that if he hadn’t spent a great deal of time mocking Kakyoin he could have easily killed both him and Polnareff. Death Thirteens ability to trap people in a dream world makes it ideal for assassinating targets, with 13’s ability to control every aspect of the dream world means that its impossible for the target to fight back. And on top of that, if the target wakes up they won’t remember anything besides the fact that they had a bad dream. There’s no doubt that Death Thirteen is a pretty awesome stand.
5. Hierophant Green
I wanted to include at least one hero character’s stand on this list and when I was thinking about which one of the stands I like most I came to the conclusion that while Star Platinum is the usual fan favourite, being that he is super OP and could win almost any battle, It just seems too convenient. So I came to the conclusion that Hierophant Green was a better choice. The awesome utility of it being able to unravel itself, possess people and even its staple “Emerald Splash” attack is one of the few ranged abilities of the crusaders, Hierophant green is just super cool. I also really like the toxic waste hazmat style its got going, It just really “stands” out (pun intended) from the other stands in this part. I do want to mention how it is a little irritation how his abilities seem to change throughout the course of the series but that sort of thing isn’t anything new to Jojo. Kakyoin is also just such a cool character and it really kinda sucked how we barely got to see him in any of the second half of the series.
Well, that’s it for my list of my favourite stand from Stardust Crusaders. Leave a comment below and let me know what some of your favorite stands from part 3 are. If you haven’t seen or read Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure before then I would strongly recommend checking it out. Thanks for reading
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Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders is the follow-up season to the original Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. Releasing in April of 2014, Stardust Crusaders introduces Joutarou Kuujou, who is NOT your everyday typical Japanese high schooler; in fact, he may be the furthest thing from it. He begins his story locked up in a jail cell demanding not to be set free, the reason being is that he believes he has been possessed by a spirit, and not the friendly variety.
It is soon after this encounter that Holly begins to manifest her own stand, however, her peaceful nature prevents her from being able to control it and as such she falls terminally ill with little more than 50 days to survive. And so Joutarou, Joseph, and their new companions set out to save Holly, to do so the group must track down and defeat the believed dead Lord Dio Brando, an immortal vampire with terrifying power. The band must travel half the world across to the city of Cairo in Egypt. However, it will not be smooth sailing as Dio has employed the aid of many other villainous Stand users who are set on preventing the group from reaching Dio.
As I previously stated Stardust Crusaders introduces the concept of “Stands”, deciding to chuck Harmon out the window altogether (pretty much). Stands are described as the physical embodiment of one fighting spirit and can take many different forms such as a giant fire chicken, zombie fog, and even just a gun, however, most people think of Jotarou’s iconic Star Platinum, the purple punching ghost. It is really these stands that make JJBA so Bizarre in the first place. The abilities (while nowhere near as outlandish as later parts) are very unusual.
Much like the previous season of JJBA, we see the continuation of the resplendent art style which I thought was used to even greater extent than before, really changing bringing deeper contrast to the events and never failing to capture my interest.
First airing in October of 2012, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure tells the story of two intertwined fates. The first of Dio Brando a young boy who – through the passing of his father- becomes the benefactor of the Joestar house. Unsatisfied with the hand he was dealt in life, Dio sets about attaining all the power he can, seeing the benevolent Joestar household as his first stepping stone. Meanwhile, with Dio’s arrival, Jonathan Joestar (the titular Jojo) soon finds that his life of youth and chivalry is about to be flipped upside down. Dio will take everything from Jojo, even turning his own father against him. When Dio gets his hands on a mysterious stone mask with the power to resurrect the dead, Jonathan will have to learn the power of hamon to defeat his adopted brother. Their differences will result in the beginning of a never ending war between the immortal Dio Brando and the proud Joestar family.
The story of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is full of many ridiculous twists and turn with a comedic absurdity, but also full of really emotionally powerful moments that really tug on the heart strings. I really liked how the series was also split into two separate, yet interconnected character arcs, on for Jonathan and another for his grandson Joseph Joestar.
As I previously mention, the art style of the show is incredibly unique. You’ve all probably seen the impossibly defined muscles and jaws so chiselled you could use them to draw straight lines, but this is only the very surface of the art style. There are always strong shading lines giving the show a very comic bookie vibe, the other thing that makes the are stand out so much is the colour change I mention earlier. At particular moments during the show, all or most of the colours make a dramatic shift to a different colour, yellow will become green and red will become blue. These changes always coincide with a tonal sift, like a new danger appearing or when someone is suddenly murdered. Its really cool stuff and I love it.
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