Why You Should Watch Jojos Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders

friends how far we've come on this Bizarre Adventure oh you didn't where you think we're gonna end the year without covering this one did you but the time is finally here for us to discuss the most prolific part in all of JoJo's the legendary part three starring the iconic Joe Roku Joe but given the vast success of part two what was it that caused rocky to so drastically changed the formula of a series and what is it about this change that would so heavily influence not only the rest of JoJo's but shown and storytelling in general and finally what is it the Beggs Jotaro Kujo one of the most widely recognized and wildly popular characters in the series legendary history well friends one more time that is exactly what we're here to discuss so let's get on a plane to Egypt remember that this is most definitely the work of an enemy stand and let's talk about why you should watch JoJo's Bizarre Adventure part three Stardust Crusaders [Music] the biggest change to part three is something that I have been dying to talk about since our first video and that is the addition of stands to the JoJo's universe stands are ghosts like beings that are created from the spiritual energy of their user stands would have massive ramifications not only on JoJo's but pretty much any shown in series that was created in the decades that followed hunter x hunter Naruto one piece all have been influenced by the existence of stands I think the best way to think of stands if you're unfamiliar is that they're kind of like an extra limb they with few exceptions don't have their own personality and are understood to be a physical manifestation of the stand users lifeforce and I think to really get into why stands are such a big deal in jojo's we need to follow them right back to their origins in Chinese religion and mysticism namely the concept of ki also known as key or Qi key is the idea that we all have an inner life force flowing within us and certain people will claim that with enough physical mental or spiritual training ki can be harnessed in a multitude of different ways such as healing starting fires with your bare hands or even knocking someone out without laying a single finger on them the actual validity of ki is up for debate and not something we're going to get into here but the reason this is important for storytelling in particular shown and storytelling is that key was used in the early days of contemporary Shonen manga as a narrative excuse that let regular biological humans perform the same kind of superhuman feats that had previously been confined to robotic sci-fi characters like Astro Boy and Kamen Rider thus giving plain old humans the mystical grounding to be able to do things like fly and use laser attacks it might seem like a simple concept now but it dramatically changed the landscape of shown and manga with 70s sci-fi manga like Mazinger Z cyborg double O 9 and Space Battleship Yamato be replaced by more mystical martial arts based series of the 80s like Fist of the North Star Dragon Ball and of course JoJo's while other series dabbled with the idea of ki Dragonball would be the first major title to push the concept into its contemporary form and it did this by combining popular elements of sports manga such as training and growing ever stronger with martial arts-based ki which essentially put no limit on how powerful the characters could get over time and while this was initially a very good thing it did come with some long term problems like supporting cast being pushed further into the background or just flat-out running out of ways to express new levels of power for example as Dragon Ball went on and continued into Dragon Ball Z Goku's power could be measured by the size of his kamehameha energy blast with it eventually reaching near galactic proportions at which point you're not really left with very many meaningful ways to represent a character's progression of power and once a character has become this powerful it severely limits what can be seen as a viable threat to them which also greatly limits the kind of battles that can occur and this is a barrier that Araki was coming up against at the end of part 2 Jonathan had defeated a vampire Joseph had beaten a god where could the series go from there while still keeping the combat encounters relative and interesting and the answer Araki came to with stands see it's not really about how strong a stand is as much as is what specifically a stand can do each stand has its own unique abilities that come with their own strengths and weaknesses from the very basic like jotaro's close range star platinum who can basically just punch very fast and very very hard to the more complex ones like centerfolds who can attack you from inside the reflection of a mirror or a Riya who holds power over magnetism this essentially means that there is no perfect stand sure there are insanely overpowered ones but for the most part no matter what kind of stand you have there is someone out there with a perfect counter to your ability which is why Jotaro can go toe to toe with vampire lord do in part 3 and get his ass kicked by a rat in part 4 this means that Araki never has to worry about the problems that come with long term power level escalation a fact proven there that it's nearly 30 years later and we're still getting stand battles to feel fresh and original the other genius thing about stands is that they don't require any physical mental or spiritual training well there are various different ways to tane one you can't really work or study for it and this means that a stand strength is entirely separate from that of the stand user meaning that literally anyone can have a stand like seriously dogs babies monkeys Palmer if anything physical appearance give no indication of who a stand user might be nor how dangerous they might become and this serves two distinct purposes in the story for one it keeps everyone in JoJo's world vulnerable no matter how strong your stand is you yourself are still just a plain old human meaning that you're only ever one wrong move away from getting the literal soul or aura from your body and this keeps every fight in jojo's tense exciting and strategic as no victory is ever assured second it sells the fantasy that no matter who you are you could be a stand user just the way you are right now it would take years of training to be able to compete in the Budokai tournaments from Dragon Ball but according to JoJo's world there's nothing stopping even the most average person from obtaining a stand if stands were real which I wish they were I think this is also why the cast of the persona games are so much more relatable than your average JRPG cast they're just a bunch of regular kids but their personas give them the fantasy grounding to be able to fight back against the shadows the final and possibly biggest advantage of stands is the level of creativity and diversity it brings to the combat encounters as no two fights ever even feel remotely similar and it adds this tense puzzle dynamic to the fights if your son can do this then what does mine have to do to be able to counter that and it leads to some really crazy situations like how do you fight someone with no direct offensive abilities except that his stand can turn you into a child oh and he has an axe we're going to dive a little deeper into the fights later on but for now I think it's time we talk about the world and characters of Stardust Crusaders part three opens up and two things are immediately obvious for one the visuals look like they got a massive bump since part two and seconds everyone's favorite walking nightmare Dio Brando is back and he is crazier than ever right off the bat what I love about do being the villain for this arc is how it really contextualizes part one all of a sudden you realize that phantom blood wasn't really Jonathan's story it was Diaz and also makes Jonathan a far more tragic character as you realize he didn't really beat the oh he just prolonged the vampires eventual victory as if deal himself wasn't enough of a threat he's been lying at the bottom of the ocean for the better part of a century and aside from just being [ __ ] do he's now crazy with a full-blown god complex and terrifying new abilities of his stand the world and it's up to our main protagonist and great-great grandson of Jonathan Joestar alongside his ragtag Posse to travel to Cairo and put an end to the maniacal vampire once and for all and that protagonist is of course the iconic Joe Roku Joe the phrase badass is overused to the point of redundancy but Jotaro Kujo is like every badass moment from every film comic and TV show squeezed into a single person even Clint Eastwood thinks Jotaro is cool and if Clint Eastwood thinks you're cool then you probably are it's interesting to look at the evolution of protagonists from parts 1 to 3 as you'll notice there's a huge shift in the way Araki writes his characters we talked a lot about internal mechanics in our part 2 video how Jonathan was very much an externally written character with very little emphasis placed on his inner thoughts or dialogue and Joseph was kind of a mix on the surface he was a goofy trickster but internally he was a strategic genius so if we were to chart them Jonathan being external Joseph being both external and internal Joe Joe is nearly entirely internal meaning that he gives practically nothing away of his own thoughts or emotions however despite how little the character shows on the surface there's always the sense that he has his own internal logic his own way of dealing with problems and very particular ideas about what's right and wrong he's quite reminiscent of the steely American crime action stars of the late 70s and early 80s characters like detective Kojak and Dirty Harry who incidentally Joe rose iconic pose was based on Joe Joe really works as a carrot on two specific levels for one as mentioned above he's really cool but this is actively worked into his character and battle style unlike Joseph he keeps his movements to an absolute minimum any play he does make is considered focused and decisive and it's not unusual for him to sit back over the course of an entire battle only to in the last minute reveal some small detail that his enemy is overlooked and leads to their undoing much like a hard-boiled crime detective figuring out some vital final clue and solving a case in the final second the second level is that it leaves Joe Joe's actual character as somewhat of a mystery to the viewer it's often difficult to tell how he feels about any given situation or even those around him in fact at first he seems downright cold he's disrespectful to his mom and reluctant to have anything to do with Joseph and the rest of the guys but then occasionally you get these little glimpses into who he really is take episode 2 for example up until this point we've barely seen him show anything but disdain towards his mother Holly but then he comments that she looks a little pale and checks to see if she's feeling all right it's a small detail but a contrast so much with the way he's been acting up until now but it really strikes a no and leads us to believe that there might be more to his character than you're playing old hooligan badass this is the kind of writing that makes his characters so endearing he gives very little away but when he does it's a big deal and observing him closely and figuring out this side of him is one of the main pleasures of Stardust Crusaders Joe Joe's character Eric would continue well beyond par 3 and even as late as part 6 at which point were still learning things about him that are both surprising and touching and I think this is a big part of way a character conceived nearly three decades ago remains so popular to this day Joe Joe is joined on his journey to Cairo by his posse these Stardust Crusaders comprised of his great-grandfather and previous protagonists of part to the irreverence an infinitely likable Joseph Joestar the polite and diligent kakuhen the stoic and reliable of dull clown of the group Paul Roth and Iggy who surely wins the award for best anime dog well I think some members of the group are a little under devel especially Abdul who I really had a lot of trouble writing about in that previous sentence their strength lies in the endearing camaraderie that forms between them as the journey continues it's never the main focus but we do get a lot of fun little tidbits about characters like catch queuing and Paul Norris secret handshake or the fact that Joseph knows kakuhen is indeed kakuhen and not an evil doppelganger purely by virtue that he refuses to take off his school uniform while sunbathing Joseph's presence among the cast also really drives home the generational aspect of Joe Joe's well parts 1 & 2 basically existed in isolation part 3 feels much more like a culmination of everything that's led up to this point having direct ties to the two previous parts and this adds a lot of weight to the proceedings when Joe taro and do finally step out to face each other there's a real feeling that this is a showdown multiple generations in the making I think one aspect of Joe Joe's that really separates it from a lot of other anime and manga is Rocky's fondness for exploring foreign land through his stories it was a huge part of parts 1 & 2 but it is the main focus of part 3 starting in Japan and ending in Cairo Egypt and I think we're part three really shines is how it communicates the idea of the journey you saw glimmers of this in phantom blood and battle tendency but for the most part any globe-hopping that happens in those were basically just a beginning points on an end point where as part three is much more focused on the actual act of travel itself and this is another huge aspect of its appeal throughout starters Crusader's you can feel what seems like Iraqis very genuine fascination with foreign culture he seems to delight in exploring all the strange little eccentricities of each new lands and this gives each individual sub arc a really distinct setting look at atmosphere this really sells the idea that this is a real journey Iran but what's more when you've been watching it for a while you genuinely feel like you're taking a road trip with you and a bunch of your dumb buddies another advantage to this road trip style narrative it's how it's used to set up for the many unique and exciting stand battles of part three and I think this can be best summarized with a quote from Rocky from volume three of Stardust Crusaders when I'm traveling I can feel very lonely so I appreciate the kindness of strangers from the bottom of my heart still sometimes I start wondering why someone is being nice to me are they actually evil and planning my demise who's my friend who's my enemy the idea of danger coming from an unfamiliar place is a pretty core fundamental fear that mostly anyone will be able to relate to but it's the way Araki works this fear into his battles that's really clever I would say your average fight in media can be broken down into three parts engagement to where the two combatants face each other for the first time struggle where the actual fight takes place and the characters wrestle for dominance and resolution where the winner wins and the loser loses and from Part three onwards Araki would add a fourth stage the mystery the mystery takes place usually before our characters even know they're in a fight but it's the section of the encounter where something around our heroes seems amiss or the opponents has not yet properly revealed themselves or their abilities this means that before the fight can even begin our boys must figure out if they are being attacked who's doing it and how and it's this that relates back to the feeling of unease Araki wrote about this adds an extra layer of fear and tension to the bottles of part three as it's never a simple case of just beating up the person in front of you but instead figuring out who that person is and what exactly their stand can do you can certainly see other series that have this style of encounter there's a lot in the YuYu Hakusho chapter black arc for example but no series really commits to it in the same ways that JoJo's does take the terror of grey fight where when aboard an aeroplane our heroes are attacked by a stand user wielding a vicious stag beetle types and the enemy is most certainly another passenger on the plane and this initial mystery adds a terrific layer of tension to the encounter as our heroes scramble to figure out who among the crowded aisles is targeting them the stands also give the fights a huge amount of depth and variety as it basically takes off all limitations of what a fight can even be there's even several encounters where not a single punch is thrown and there's some of the most exciting in the entire series like Joe Varro's deadly game poker with Darby the gambler or cackles life-or-death video game battle with Darby jr. other standout encounters include the nightmarish dream battle with death 13 which takes place entirely within our heroes dreams Freddy Krueger style and my personal favorite the brutal struggle between best dog ever Iggy and the unbelievably frightening and intimidating Falcon pet shop both of whom are stunned users it's a testament to both Iraqi and the animators of this episode that they can make a battle between two animals barely bigger than rodents and make it one of the most nail-biting ly intense and shocking of the entire series the production of part 3 is also a significant improvement over parts one two it seems like a lot of work was put into capturing the distinct look and feel of the manga which is no small feat given how at this point in his career Araki had improved to such a degree that his drawings had reached a new level entirely feeling all at once densely detailed but also expressive and energetic while the animation isn't overly elaborate the character artwork is strong with a lot of intensely detailed steel shots and I think better represents the style of part 3 than excessive animation might have and it's all backed up by some really terrific direction direction is always important in media but it's especially important for a show like JoJo's where a lot of the major plot points involve characters simply realizing things like the nature of a stand or the identity of its user and the way the color is tone and music all shift and work in conjunction to sell these moments is one of the strongest aspects of its entire production also a huge shout-out to Daisuke Ono the voice of Joel Rowe who perfectly captures the characters gruff stoic exterior while infusing him with enough charm and charisma that he never comes across as too much of a dick which I imagine was a tough line to tread it's also worth noting that while Jojo Opie's up until this point have been incredibly strong stand proud might just be my favorite Opie of all-time studio kamikaze Doga have really outdone themselves combining an intensely pounding rock track with some of the most dynamic exciting and detailed visuals in the business if you have not already go check out mothers basements fantastic breakdown of the Opie the work and nuance that's gone into it is simply incredible unfortunately there are a few downsides to part three well the stance system offers many advantages over the standard bottle system of the time you can see parts where Araki himself is still very much figuring out the details star platinum sparrows are a little inconsistent to say the least and there's a few times when he develops a miraculous new ability and final moments of a battle that saves the day and honestly it just feels a little cheap sometimes stands tend to be at their most interesting when their abilities are limited and specific but it's the creativity of the stand user that makes them dangerous some good examples being the lock from part for Bruno's portals from part 5 or Jolene's web from part 6 but some of the stands from part 3 feel a little basic like take AB doll's magicians red it can shoot fire that's kind of its thing or this guy who can swim pretty good I guess which results in the odds stand battle that doesn't really hit home but given that Araki was still pretty much figuring out the system as he was writing part 3 you can overlook it the final thing I want to talk about for pi3 gets a little spoilery so skip to the time shown on screen if you want to avoid as anyone who's seen stardust crusaders will tell you the last part of the series gets pretty dark the bottles get more violence and intense and the show takes on a far more somber tone with a far darker and more macabre a visual style and color palette and tragically characters who have been with us for nearly the entire series suffer some pretty gruesome and harrowing deaths it's surprising in a lot of ways even feeling a little disjointed in one episode genre was playing baseball on a Super Nintendo and in the next were introduced to the horrifying vanilla ice and his stand cream who is a degree of magnitude more dangerous than anything that's come up to this point and it leads to one of the most desperate and tragic stand battles of the entire show this continues right up until the concluding moments of jove rose monumental battle with do and as the sun sets on the final scene it's hard not to feel like the series ends on a somewhat melancholy tone i was initially puzzled about why Araki chose to end this series in this manner and after giving it some thought here's my conclusion when i was a teenager me and if you friends ended up cycling across France and while I remember being so excited to reach our goal when I think back to it now what stands out for me the most is not the journeys conclusion but all the weird and fun things that happened along the way and that's the exact feeling I get when I watch Stardust Crusaders even though things go very wrong for our heroes in the final act it's the journey that brought them there and the adventures they shared along the way the really matters and I think this is a Rocky's message with part three the destination will always be far less importance than the journey that gets you there and oddly enough I think it's this same philosophy that makes Araki such a great author he doesn't see his stories as a beginning point and an end points but as a journey and one that he takes delight in every single step of and while reading Jo Jo's it's apparent that no one is more excited to see what happens than Rocky himself and I think it's this earnest enthusiasm that pushes him to move on from what's come before and to raise his series to new heights the journey of Stardust Crusaders is a great goddamn story but even more than that it represents one of the high points for an author who even despite his previous accomplishments is willing to entirely reinvent his series and set out on a brand new bizarre adventure all over again and this friends more than any other reason is why you should watch JoJo's Bizarre Adventure part 3 Stardust Crusaders friends this draws to a close this video and also this year a small announcement I'm going to be at Magfest 2017 I look like this and I'll be wearing this t-shirt follow me on Twitter for more info but if you do see me feel free to say hi once again I just sincerely want to thank you for joining me on what has honestly been a very bizarre adventure on my part watching this channel grow and gain momentum has honestly been incredible and I have some big plans for 2017 once again you can of course find me on Twitter at I pad 12 but maybe you want to check out the let's fight a boss video game podcast for our climactic 2016 game of the year showdown where we'll be taking a look back at 2016 and pitting its best games against each other for the coveted let's fight a boss Game of the Year award I'm going to take a much-needed rest for the next week or two but I will be back in January but until then friends enjoy doing whatever the hell it is you enjoy doing this holiday season take care of yourselves and I'll see you next year [Music]

Channel: Super Eyepatch Wolf

Views: 1,139,353

Keywords: Why you should watch, Jojos Bizzare adventure, Part 3, Stardust Crusaders, Jotaro, Kujo, Dio, Brando, Super, Eyepatch, Wolf

Id: ZDeyXHpe428

Length: 24min 3sec (1443 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 23 2016

Reddit Comments

[u/ggunslinger]

His channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtGoikgbxP4F3rgI9PldI9g

Super Eyepatch Wolf made similar videos for Part 1 and Part 2, I recommend to show these videos to anyone new to JoJo. Also he has a very nice video about villains (mentions Kira). IMO he deserves your attention.

[u/Mental_Miraak]

Time to send this to all of my imaginary friends

[u/RavenK92]

You should watch part 3 because then you can watch part 4.

Really, I get that enjoyment is subjective, but this guy is reading a level of depth into the characters, especially Jotaro, that there just never was. Jotaro had one sentence where he was mr angry quiet brooder, Polnareff was always angry and stupid, Avdol was always mr smartypants. Also, he makes it seem as if the crusaders ever actually intetacted with their environment at all. Nope, it was literally as follows:

1. Arrive in a city/country

2. Narrator narrates a short bit of trivia

3. Enemy stand user attacks and is defeated

4. Move on to next place

The locations were all just pretty backgrounds for the fights. The restaurant where J. Geil attacks and Egypt are the only times the crusaders actually interacted with the environment, which is one of the reasons why Egypt was so much better than the trip part. And in Egypt they were somewhat forced to interact with the surroundings to find Dio's mansion. Part 3 just really wasn't well written

[u/Jeroz]

Huh the thread was removed