JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 3 Stardust Crusaders by Hirohiko Araki

Blurb:

Our heroes have made it to India! And if their enemies don’t get them, the culture shock will! But before they even have time to settle in, evil Stand users are upon them. If you thought the enemies they fought before were strange, wait until you see what they’re up against now. The trippiest road trip ever continues!

Review:

Several years after the events of Battle Tendency, Joseph Joestar is visiting his daughter, Holly Kujo, in Japan, when he discovers that his grandson, Jotaro Kujo, possesses a unique new power. This shift from Ripple-based combat to the use of magical ‘Stands’ is perhaps the most brilliantly creative change that elevates JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure to a whole new level. 

I started reading JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure last year, and I’ve liked the first two parts quite a lot. While I had some issues with each part, I’ll still say these were some of the craziest manga stories I’ve read so far. The immense popularity of Araki’s epic makes complete sense. With that being said, let’s get on with the review…

SPOILERS AHEAD!

What I liked:

So far, I’ve liked each part of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure a smidge more than its predecessor. And that trend continues with Part 3 Stardust Crusaders. And Stands have a huge role to play in that. While I found Ripples to be quite a creative combat mechanic, Stands took things to a whole new level of craziness. From simpler Stands like Silver Chariot that fight physically, to ingenious Stands like Boingo’s Tohth, each brought something unique to the table. Every single battle and every single step of the journey—despite seeming formulaic—challenged our main group constantly. The formula with at least one of them figuring out a way to cheat or outsmart the Stand User got old pretty quickly, but the creative use of these Stands and our main characters’ resourcefulness continued to awe me. 

Now, speaking of the main group, I really liked each character, except Jotaro Kujo, the MC of this part. Yes, his Stand, Star Platinum, has a pretty cool design. Even his power is pretty awesome. However, that’s where my praise ends. I’ll talk about him in the next section. As for the other members of the group, I liked Avdol and Polnareff quite a lot. Both of them had unique designs, and their characters stood out to me the most. Avdol especially felt like a rock that everyone could lean on when in need of support, and his stoic nature and serious personality really felt fresh, compared to the goofy side-characters we’ve seen in the previous parts. 

Polnareff was goofy, but his resilience impressed me. Kakyoin’s Stand, Heirophant Green, was another awesome design, with his personality complementing Polnareff and Avdol nicely. And lastly, we get Joseph Joestar returning with his own Stand, Hermit Purple. It was nice to see him act like an adult for once. He feels like he has grown in the years since Part 2, and for the better. The villains were all hits or misses, but largely, each one served to be an interesting challenge on the journey at hand. 

The story itself is epic but straightforward. The epic scale of the plot is largely owing to the number of locations that the group travels to before reaching their destination. This is the part which felt a little tedious to me, and I’ll explain in the later section why. The plot was straightforward, but the Stand Users trying to hamper our heroes’ quest were crazy and creative enough to make the plot feel gripping. 

Overall, Stardust Crusaders’ introduction of Stands and its usage of its characters’ personalities to push this narrative forward through bizarre challenges really continues to build on the legacy of JBA. Things keep getting better and better, and I am enjoying this ride, regardless of how ridiculously absurd everything gets at times. 

What I didn’t like:

As with the previous parts, I continue to be irritated by the way Araki depicts women. Even the powerful villainesses end up displaying stereotypical traits. Women rarely have agency, and remain absent for the majority of the narrative, except when they must care for or avenge a male relative. I wonder when the women in JBA will finally get their due, because I’ve started reading Part 4, Diamond is Unbreakable, and so far, it feels largely the same. 

Apart from that, I really did not like Jotaro Kujo. He was too lackluster for me to care. I get the idea of a cool-headed, overpowered protagonist, but it just didn’t work for me. Especially given how colorful the rest of the cast of characters is, with Polnareff, Avdol, Joseph, and even Iggy! I Jotaro is pretty boring, his ‘ingenuity’ feels less like his skill and more like plot armor/convenience. 

In addition to that, I found some of the depictions of foreign cultures quite racist. This is an old manga series, but still. The formulaic nature of the narrative made the journey feel longer than it should have, and the racist portrayal of foreigners made that journey tedious. 

Lastly, the ending felt a little disappointing. I loved Dio’s Stand’s true power, but found its usage rather underwhelming. Not only that, once the good guys win, there is barely any celebration or easing out of the story. We just… end. After the way the first two parts ended, I expected better. 

Conclusion:

A bizarre journey across half the world featuring ingenious ‘Stands’ and the nefarious Dio, Stardust Crusaders continues to build on the epic and the absurd.

TL;DR:

WHAT I LIKED: Stands, ingenious combat, absurd narrative

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: Jotaro didn’t appeal to me, finale was underwhelming, the treatment of female characters