MAJOR SPOILERS FOR ALL OF JOJOS Part 1 of the review: https://www.serializd.com/review/11062406 Part 2, Kars(And the Pillar Men): So to sum up all three of the main Pillar Men, it’s basically like this: Esidisi is a throwaway for Joseph’s character to grow, Kars is just alright, and Wamuu is fantastic. This antagonist review is really just gonna cover Kars though because he’s the main antagonist of the part. Kars has a very strong introduction(Wamuu’s is better) and has a very strong conclusion(The best in part 2) and that’s really it I guess. He has some amazing moments such as when he conquers the sun and gives us one of the most stunning visuals to ever grace an anime. He also has some more great scenes like when he plays Lisa Lisa like an electric guitar, maybe not thematically great but it’s super funny to watch, kinda creepy too in a way. Kars is just a bit of a letdown, he’s incredibly intimidating and a scary antagonist, definitely scarier than part 1 Dio due to that sense of hopelessness he gives our characters and us when he becomes the ultimate life form, but that’s kind of all he’s got going for him. I mean, Wamuu feels like more of a main antagonist than him most of the time. Part 3, Dio: Going from Part 1 Dio to Part 3 Dio is a pretty big change in a way. We go from yes, pure evil Dio in part 1 to even more evil Dio somehow in part 3. He goes from killing dogs to killing cats bro he’s just ruthless everytime we see him. He also has a stand in part 3 which adds to the fear factor because the ability to stop time is just absolutely terrifying. He kills Kakyoin which sucks because Kakyoin was pretty cool and he almost kills Joseph which is crazy because the show makes us think he’s dead until the very end. I love Dio in part 3 and I believe his dynamic with Jotaro and his dynamic with Joseph is very good and helps to strengthen his character a lot more in the part. He has a very satisfying conclusion as well, basically every Jojo character does. Part 4, Yoshikage Kira: By FAR the most overrated antagonist in all of Jojo and one of the most overrated antagonists ever probably. He’s not really all that interesting until like his final character arc with bites the dust and his conclusion. His conclusion and bites the dust save him from being worse than Kars honestly. He has a good introduction that makes you think, “Man, this is gonna be a great antagonist.” until you actually see more of him and he has like 5 cool moments. Yeah sheer heart attack is cool but it’s only really good for stakes and showing Kira as a threat, in terms of Dialogue Kira is meh and he only has one actually good monologue, the whole “My name is Yohsikage Kira” thing is really good and that’s about it. Mid dynamics with the only standout one being his dynamic with Hayato. Overrated 2nd worst Jojo antagonist, keep crying. I don't care. Part 5, Diavolo: If you think he’s bad you have no media literacy.(Joke) But Yeah Diavolo is quite literally flawless and is so effortlessly the best character in Part 5. I have Diavolo in my top 10 of all time. He's just absolutely amazing and one of 3 perfect Jojo antagonists in my opinion. He has undoubtedly the best introduction of any Jojo antagonist and a top 3 introduction in the series as a whole. His symbolism is perfect as well, he has a phenomenal dynamic with Giorno and Polnareff, and he actually adds stupendously high stakes to the part. He wipes out almost the ENTIRE crew in part 5, he’s an absolute demon bro. Diavalo has a perfect conclusion for both his character and Giorno’s character as well, in a way it kind of ties into his symbolism but more on that when I do some mini analysis paragraphs on some characters. Part 6, Enrico Pucci: 4th best antagonist in Jojo and an amazing character to oppose Jolyne, Jotaro, and the rest of the gang with what is maybe the second most terrifying stand in Jojo’s entirely. Pucci is a character who from his introduction is made out to be a threat and he stays a threat throughout the entire series. He smokes Jotaro at the start and smokes everyone at the end. Made In Heaven is an absolutely petrifying stand that in real life would scare anyone. I love the way Pucci and Dio are intertwined and the idea of “achieving heaven” is such an interesting topic that Araki decided he would touch on for this part. Pucci has a great backstory and has some PHENOMENAL overall dynamics, most notably his dynamics with Jolyne, Jotaro, Dio, and Weather Report. He gives us one of the most bone chilling moments in the entire series as well with that final monologue “You were 2 steps late, Jotaro Kujo.” absolute masterclass. Pucci will always be underrated and is probably around top 20 in animanga for me as an antagonist, amazing character through and through. WARNING: THERE WILL BE MANGA SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT Part 7, Johnny Joestar: Johnny undergoes the best character arc of any Jojo in all of Jjba so that’s nice. His story of “learning to walk” is executed perfectly and once it gets animated I think everyone else will agree and it will likely be widely known as the best Jojo part(even though it isn’t) Johnny is the third best character in the part and he serves as a phenomenal protagonist to our story. He has some of the highest peaks in all of fiction(Let’s go home) and is just overall an amazing character to watch grow. His dialogue is almost unmatched in the series and he has some of the best conflicts I’ve ever seen presented in any character in fiction. His final conversation with Funny Valentine is breathtakingly beautiful and one of the best moments in Jojo and maybe even in all of Animanga, it really highlights his growth. Part 8, Gappy/Josuke Higashikata: The BEST Jojo and maybe even the greatest fictional character to ever be thought up and brought into existence. He has the best dialogue in all of Jojos of any character and the 2nd best dynamic of any Jojo character. He has maybe the best overall dynamics? I’m not sure it’s between him and Johnny. His dynamics with Tooru, Yasuho, and basically everyone in part 8 is amazing. He has probably the third best internal conflicts of any character ever and some of the best external conflicts. He has perfect characterization and the highest overall peaks of any character ever.(Gaps all of Mono that I’ve seen sorry Mozza) He’s also the most entertaining, I’ve read both part 7 and part 8 twice and through and through from chapter 1 to the final chapter Part 8 is flawless. It’s a perfect mix of pure and raw emotion, impactful storytelling, flawless characters, and just overall perfection in general. I’ve never been more immersed in a series than I was when reading Jojo, more specifically Jojolion. Jojolion had me enthralled from the first chapter and it was so good it took me only 2 days to read it both times I read it. Araki’s magnum opus, a perfect mix of everything before. Gappy will always hold a special place in my heart as one of, if not the greatest character ever. Part 7, Funny Valentine: The best Jojo antagonist anyone who tries to tell you otherwise is just objectively wrong. He has such incredible characterization and is effortlessly the best character in Part 7. He has what’s maybe my favorite monologue ever with the napkin speech but it’s tough to choose between that and any Kiichi monologue in Kiichi VS, this is about Jojo though. Valentine is flawless for a number of reasons, whether it be his dialogue, his monologues, his themes of patriotism and hypocrisy, his symbolism, or anything else you can find about him really. He’s a character you don’t feel bad for when he gets what he gets, and he’s also a character that many people have argued for being in the right, though if you ask me he definitely wasn’t in the right. Part 8, Tooru: Most underrated character in the series, people will dislike him for a multitude of reasons, all of which are NOT good reasons. The first of many reasons will be “He didn’t show up until the final arc, not enough plot relevancy blah blah blah blah” just dumb stupid stuff. For the 25ish chapters he was in the manga he had an immense presence and it was made incredibly clear who he was and what he was there to do. Another dumb excuse people will use to call Tooru Mid is “His stand is more of a character than him” which again, is dumb considering him and his stand are THE SAME CHARACTER, his stand is an extension of him. A third reason will be “He lacks depth” which is just straight up wrong. He has an incredible amount of depth and is a top 10 antagonist of all time, just like Valentine and Diavolo. Most people couldn’t explain Tooru’s character if you asked them to; they just like to blabber about “Mid, no depth, no plot relevancy” without ever backing up any of their claims. Sorry for the rant about that but yeah I love Tooru Top 10 all time. RANDOM MINI ANALYSIS SECTION I’m just gonna analyze random stuff in the little sections below. Giorno vs Diavolo: Most people probably already know what I’m about to say but I’ll say it anyway. The english translation of Dio is “God,” and the english translation of Diavolo is “devil,” or “satan.” This means that when we get Giorno vs Diavolo we get Giorno(The son of God) vs The Devil or Satan. The fight is also horrifically one sided due to GER which is in reference to the fact that in the face of God or the son of God the Devil is powerless. Diavolo’s fate is an infinite death loop which could also be in relation to a form of “hell” for Diavolo to remain in forever. This would go along quite well with the Biblical themes Araki ties into his story all the time. More in Part 3 of the review: