Part 1 Phantom Blood

"Phantom Blood" the first part of JJBA tells the tale of Jonathan Joestar (right) and his intertwining fate with Dio (left)

Intro to JoJo

I have decided to start a blog dedicated to my favorite manga/anime series. Before I get into that I will give a quick summary on what manga and anime is and what makes the series special. Manga are basically comic books from Japan. They have a particular art style that makes it unique compared to other cultures comics.  Anime is basically any form of animation from Japan. Japanese cartoons and Japanese comics pretty simple right? JoJo's Bizarre Adventure or JJBA is one of the best selling mangas of all time, having sold over 80 million copies in Japan alone and as a result has expanded from other media formats such as Anime, Video games, Movies and other merchandise. The series is currently divided into 8 parts stories of their own that are mildly related to previous parts. Each part stars a different JoJo which I will explain more in later posts. I hope my blog will inspire you to give the series a chance.

Phantom Blood

Originally starting in 1987 in the weekly serial Shonen Jump, JJBA was well recieved among fans for its unique art style and story telling as well as living up it's title of being particularly "bizarre." The first story takes place in late 18th Centuary Britain where Jonathan Joestar, better known as JoJo, a young boy meets with Dio Brando.  Dio a boy close to his age who's father recently passed had come to live with the Joestars reclaiming a debt George Joestar, JoJo's father owed to his family. Dio however almost immediately reveals to JoJo he's not here to make friends and things continue to spiral into a series of unfortunate events. Eventually JoJo learns to stand up for himself and overcomes the trials Dio intially put him through and a few years of peace come to pass. After that though things take a really bizarre turn when a family heirloom turns into a vampire producing machine and Jonathan must learn how to combat this new menace. 

Why I like Part 1 is it's where it all began. You learn about sendo a special martial art that by enhancing our breathing we can generate the sun's energy through our body, the perfect way to combat vampires. This is an important aspect to later parts in the series so its good to read this to get the fundementals. Jonathan Joestar is one of my favorite JoJo's because he is like the Captain America of JoJo. He knows what the importance of strength because he grew up weak and then out of know where becomes a human tank capable of fighting any kind of monster. He has a truly pure heart and a similar naivety to the Captain but also the same desire to vanquish the bullies of the world. No spoils but they both have very similar fates as well. (READ) I highly recommend Phantom Blood if Captain America is too your fancy or you're a cool person who likes to read things in order!