This review may contain Spoilers
JoJo overall never really was one the greatest in my opinion. Entertaining? yes, but a whole lot of narrative flaws to go along with it, as I continued with the JoJo series it seemed to get better as it went on but it never reached the heavens as much as I wanted it to, until a fateful day in San Diego.
Art
The art style of JoJo has always been a selling point, it's very unique and expressive but in this particular part it seems that the art got a step-up in terms of quality, the art is more expressive and detailed and thus it becomes quite stunning at times which may have been the result of a better schedule therefore Araki has more time to draw the manga panels, Is it the best I've seen in terms of art quality? It's close, It's neither as detailed as say Berserk's nor as realistic as Vagabond's art however Araki's art has its own charms including the paneling in which Araki has mastered at this point.
Characters
Perhaps Araki's Achilles' heel earlier on was with his characters, they tend to be simplistic or not have much nuance but slowly as JoJo evolves, so does Araki. Part 7: Steel Ball Run has what might be the greatest character that Araki has ever produced in Gyro Zeppeli who has the comedic aspects of Joseph, the badassery of Jotaro and the nuance of Yoshikage Kira and so much more, that's not to say that the other characters of this part were not nearly as good as Gyro because they are. Johnny is likely the most well-written JoJo due to his constant development throughout the part, the new DIO gets a more fleshed out backstory than the one that came before him and similar to Johnny, is given development; Funny Valentine also becomes one of the most interesting villains in manga due to his noble goals and motivation that differ vastly from the "I will rule the world because I'm the strongest" ideology that a lot of villains in media possess and other less important characters are given time to shine as well which is not the usual when it comes to long running series as the protagonists tend to take the spotlight a lot of the time. The characters of Part 7 are some of the best Araki has ever produced and it is a testament to how much he has improved as a writer and he himself will be a testimony to that.
Plot
The story follows the expeditions of Gyro and Johnny, who embark on a race with the aim of gaining recognition and also to gets some cash. As they go on this adventure, we also follow these two as they try as best as they could to and gain "corpse parts' to become stronger and eventually win the race as many others try to stop them from doing so. One other problem that I had from the JoJo franchise is that the "villain of the week" nature of the stories can get rather stale after a while. While it is true that Part 7: Steel Ball Run still has a "villain of the week" format, it does not get nearly has redundant as parts earlier on. The problem with the said format is that the readers know that by the end of that section, the heroes will always win because the plot cannot progress otherwise however Araki has found the solution to this problem; The Steel Ball Run itself; unlike the other parts, the heroes can lose a stage of a race but still continue the race and so the plot still progresses; the inclusion of a Funny Valentine's exploits also add a great addition to the intrigue of the story. As previously mentioned, Gyro and Johnny can lose a stage but still continue and this often is the case as they never seem to get a win and when it seems that they finally have hope, they are almost immediately brought back down which makes you root for them even more and in turn; you continue reading just to see them win which makes it all the more heartbreaking when that win never comes, however in the end Johnny would have accomplished something far greater than winning the race itself; he has performed a miracle just like what Jesus Christ himself has done. Tragic JoJo endings seem to have become a staple in the franchise so naturally, one would think that you would eventually get used to it after 7 parts but this ending is especially tragic but at the same time, it leaves us hope for the future. The story is phenomenally good and the 'villain of the week" format does little to hinder that, although it likely could have been paced better, it is still a『Gold Experience』
Fuck wrong part.
Other Stuff
Araki delves into philosophy, presenting really intriguing ideas.
The stand abilities are as always, creative and innovative.
The introduction of Funny Valentine's stand;『D4C』was great, it's a total mindfuck that creates an air of intrigue and menace from the stand.
This part has probably the most fulfilling JoJo power up in the form of『Tusk Act 4』, it never felt like an asspull or plot convenience such as the case with the power-ups from parts that came before it.
This is without a doubt, Araki's magnum opus and reading it made me realize why it is so highly regarded among the general anime community, Part 4 was really great but Part 7 is phenomenal, it has the unique flair that JoJo is known for but also the subtle nuance and and great character writing that Araki struggled with in the beginning. This is a must-read for anyone not just to JoJo fans. Arrivederci!
Aw shit wrong part again.
