JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders Review

jojo-stardust-crusaders-cpJojo’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.
Joutarou’s mother, Holly contacts her father, Joseph Joestar (the main Jojo from part 2) out of concern for her son. Joseph agrees to travel to Japan to attempt to convince Joutarou to leave his cell. When Joseph arrives, he goes to meet Joutarou and attempt to explain the situation behind the “spirit”, explaining that Joutarou is not in fact possessed by a spirit, but rather that the spirit is the manifestation of his fighting spirit. Reluctant to believe such a theory Joutarou remains defiant but when one of Josephs friends, Mohammed Avodl forces Joutarou into a fight, he is forced out of his cell.

c89f3865bfc8774818f7a799b30af22fIt 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.

8dc98982c3fa94fdb6ac06aedf393b1eAs 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.

Image result for Jojo stardust crusaders rero gifMuch 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.

Stardust Crusaders (Part 3) is arguably the most popular part of the JJBA series and the favorite part for many fans, but I would have to disagree. I very much enjoyed part three but I found that after the point where the group leaves Singapore, the show very much becomes a “villain of the week” scenario with two episodes per enemy and this format continues right up until the end of this season. I just found that this format was too repetitive and dragged out the fights much more than was needed. When I read the manga I found that this problem wasn’t present because I was able to read through the parts much faster and so the fights never seem to outstay their welcome. I think that this is just a result of the conversion of manga to anime.

I rate this anime 7.5/10.

H

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JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Review

63vtwxyqkvcaqdtqd5nict4fh75First 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.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is one of my favourite animes of all time, and I don’t say that lightly. There is just so much to love here, the over the top action and ridiculous story, the hilariously cheesy yet engaging dialog, not to mention the unique art style with its sudden colour swaps.

12312The 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.

Jonathan was an instant hit with me, his chivalrous and debonair attitude made for a really entertaining watch, inversely however I really didn’t like Joseph as a character at first, but the more time I spent with him, the more I came to enjoy his tongue and cheek attitude.

12312.jpgAs 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.

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is a fun and engaging show full of plenty of action and entertaining banter and I strongly recommend everyone check it out.

I rate this anime 8.5/10.

H

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Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! Episode 7 + 8 Review

Reminiscences… of Paradise Lost (Episode 7):

12312.jpgIts summer vacation time and Yuuta and the rest have agreed to join Rikka on her trip to visit her grandparents. During the course of the trip, Yuuta notices that Rikka has been acting quite out of the ordinary, being far quieter than usual. It is not long until Yuuta learns of Rikka’s life in her past home, including her grandfather disapproval of her Chynebu tendencies and of how her father succumb to illness three years prior.

The episode very briefly dips into a typical beach episode but thankfully regains its focus relatively quickly. We learn that Rikka has denied the fact of her fathers passing and refuses to go to his gravesite. In an attempt to help her, Yuuta assists Rikka in escaping from her grandparent’s house and fleeing to her old house where she lived with her parents.

12312.jpgIt takes some time but the pair eventually reaches Rikka’s old house, only to discover that the house was demolished and the lot now stands empty. It is not long, however, until Toka catches up to the pair determined to get Rikka to realise the reality of their situation.

This is the episode where this show gets serious, really delving into the trauma that leads to Rikka developing her chunibyo personality. This adds a great deal to Rikkas character and allows us the viewer to have a much deeper understanding of her personality, especially the nature of her home life and how her family views her.

 

Exiled… Just the Two of Them (Episode 8):

12312Continuing right after the events of the previous episode Toka is trying her best to force Rikka to come to terms with the fact that their old house is gone and their father is dead. At this point Rikka runs away again, meaning that Yuuta must chase her down. He runs all over the area searching both the grandparent’s house and the beach (where he finds his friends lighting of sprinklers).

In a last-ditch effort, Yuuta runs to the trains satiation where he finds Rikka on the train headed home, Just making it aboard in time to get to RIkka. The two decide to stay on the homeward bound train, along the way Yuuta describes what resulted in him developing his chunibyo personality.

12312.jpgAfter arriving home Rikka discovers that she has forgotten the key to her apartment, so Yuuta offers her to stay at his for the night. He soon discovers that his own family is away for the night, so we all know what that means. The two decide to go to the convenience store to buy some food, as the night passes Yuuta feels himself falling for Rikka, but while he tries to ignore those feelings, it seems Rikka may be feeling the same way about him. 

Much like the last episode, there is a great deal of character development but this time there is much more of a focus on the growing bonds between Yuuta and Rikka. I thought that the time spent eating food was a particularly endearing scene, Not to mention the connection established during their train ride back to the city. Knowing whats soon to happen, It’s easy to say that this is clearly the calm before the storm.

Thanks for reading!

H

Don’t forget to share and follow The Anime Accord on all the social site and visit our Patreon if you feel like supporting us. Arigatou.

 

 

Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! Episode 5 + 6 Review

A Binding… Cross (Hard Study) (Episode 5):

Rikka has failed yet another math test and her teacher is growing concerned fearing that in her obligation to the FEMS club she is neglecting to study, it is suggested that if Rikka cannot improve then the club should be disbanded.

12312.jpgRikka suggests that if the club were to clean the school’s pool perhaps there would be reason enough to not disband the group, however, in typical fashion the club members spend the whole time playing around rather than cleaning. For some reason, I just can’t shake the feeling that this scene may have been for the purposes of fan service rather than plot, but hey who am I to say.

Left with nowhere to run, Rikka is forced to study if she ever wishes to reach the mandated class average score. Yutta decides that he will help Rikka study, but as you might expect this just leads to the two getting distracted, leading to Yuuta discovering how Rikka has been feeling lonely since moving to her new home. As motivation for the test Yuuta says that he will create a cool email handle for her if she can pass the math test.

12312.jpgAfter the test, Rikka ends up scoring quite poorly, fortunately for her, however, so does the entire class, lowering the needed average and therefore allowing the FEMS club to stay together.

Rather than existing only to pander to the fans, this episode does – to some degree- highlight the growing closeness of Rikka and Yuuta, especially showcased through the Rikka getting her new email handle in a very touching scene.

The Atoned… Messiah (Innocent) (Episode 6):

12312.jpgThis episode takes time away from Rikka and her shenanigans to focus more on Yutta and his other friend, Makoto Isshiki, the wannabe lady killer. Makoto receives what he assumes is a love note and thinking that is might be from Shinka, decides that it would be best if he talked to Yuuta.

However, while searching for Yuuta in the FEMS clubroom Makoto pay witness to Shinka’s true nature as a grade A jerk. Shinka then begins to threaten Makoto into forgetting what he saw and in the process causing him to lose his notebook containing the secret ranking of the girls in the class.

12312.jpgIt is not long before the notebook is discovered and the entire class goes into interrogation mode, grilling all the boys in an attempt to find the culprit. In an effort to save the other boys from punishment Makoto claims ownership of the notebook, naming himself as the sole culprit. Mistakenly offering to shave his head as penance for his crime, but it’s too little too late as Makoto is reluctantly forced to shave all his hair off.

With begrudging misery and his new hairstyle, Makoto makes his way to the meeting spot designated in the love note, but to no avail as the mysterious author makes no appearance. Later that night Yuuta is approached by Rikka’s older sister, Tooka, who asks him to join her and Rikka over summer vacation.

This episode is a nice break from the usual business, fleshing out some of the minor characters and setting up the situation for the upcoming summer vacation “arc”. I found the humour in this episode to be charming and lighthearted, Although I have to say that with only 12 episodes, it’s a bit of a shame to lose one of those episodes to something that doesn’t add a great deal to the plot.

Thanks for reading!

H

Don’t forget to share and follow The Anime Accord on all the social site and visit our Patreon if you feel like supporting us. Arigatou.

 

Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions! Episode 3 + 4 Review

The Heretical… Twintail (Episode 3):

12312.jpgTime is passing and Yuuta and Rikka continue to grow as friends. But now the time has come to chose a club for school activities, because what sort of anime high school would this be without a club.

The gang then set about surveying all the different club opportunities, ranging from cheerleading to drama. However, Rikka decides that instead of joining a club she will create her own club while at the same time, assimilating the failing “Nap Club”.

And so the new “Far Eastern Magic Society” club is born, with the sole purpose being to study the almost certainly fictional invisible boundary lines. As I just mentioned the “Nap club” is drawn into the FEMS and I think this is where we see the just how two dimensional some of these characters are. Kumin, in particular, becomes a one trick pony whos only real characteristic is that she sleeps a lot.

12312.jpgThis episode is also when we are introduced to Sanae Dekomori, Rikka’s underling and fellow delusional. She doesn’t play much of a role in the events, merely serving a supporter for Rikka, although she has more character than Kumin and does add to the humour of the show so I’m not too miffed.

Regret of… the Scriptures of Darkness (Mabinogion) (Episode 4):

12312.jpgYuuta finds himself pondering why Shinka, one of the most popular girls in the school would want to join the “Far Eastern Magic Society”, especially when she is already part of the cheerleading club. She asks Yuuta if she can visit his house for some unexplained reason, so naturally, Yuuta agrees and comes up with a plan to keep  Rikka and Sanae off his back for some time.

As it turns out, however, Shinka has only one thing in mind retrieving a journal that had ended up in Yuuta’s position. It is revealed that this journal (The Mabinogion) was written by Shinka during her very own Chunibyo phase, and she wishes to destroy it burying her past embarrassments. As the book burns, Shinka reveals that her only reason for joining the FEMS was to retrieve and destroy the book, but is surprised and outraged to learn that Sanae has multiple copies, meaning that her work is far from done.

12312.jpgThis is a turning point for this character, much like Kumin, Shinka goes from being a nice, friendly person to an outright jerk. Thus cementing her personality for the rest of the series and quickly becoming a very unlikeable character. However, I do have to admit that I like the dynamic of her being an Ex-Chunibyo like Yuuta, adding just that bit more diversity to the cast.

Thanks for reading!

H

Don’t forget to share and follow The Anime Accord on all the social site and visit our Patreon if you feel like supporting us. Arigatou.