JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 5: Golden Wind suffers from the same problem as Parts 3 and 4: it doesn’t really pick up until the halfway point. However, Golden Wind has one advantage that the other ones didn’t fully utilize, which is one overarching journey that the characters go on. While the other parts more heavily relied on a monster-of-the-week style of storytelling, this one uses that style to its advantage and tells a story of a group of people moving toward a goal who are constantly beset by the very mysterious force they’re secretly trying to destroy. It’s similar to what Araki did in Part 3, where a group of people go on a globe-trotting journey, but they seemed to move in no particular direction, and it really slowed the season down. In Part 5, however, the gang got stuff done. They always had a specific place they wanted to go, or a goal they aimed to accomplish, and despite the challenges that were thrown in their way, they always made it through and continued their mission.
Bucciarati’s gang is my favourite group of main characters in Part so far. Their team dynamic really shines in specific situations, and they really seem like they had a history with each other before Giorno arrived. Of course, a couple of them are underutilized (Abbacchio and Fugo), but each of them has a good amount of backstory to flesh them out. Heck, Giorno might have just taken his place as my favourite JoJo! The main villain is in the shadows for most of the series, but his presence is still felt throughout, and he’s probably the most powerful villain we’ve seen in any JoJo part thus far (which is why they had to invent the most broken mechanic to defeat him, but I don’t care because it’s JoJo).
FAVOURITE EPISODES
This is probably the scariest Stand I’ve ever seen, and they do a great job of ramping up the tension since it all takes place within an enclosed space.
This one and my number 3 pick are basically interchangeable. This is the two-parter where Trish finally shines, and where she essentially becomes a part of the main cast instead of being a Macguffin somewhere in the background. Check another unkillable Stand off the list.
Basically the same as the previous pick, but this is Bucciarati’s episode. We learn about how he reacts in situations that go against his self-perceived code of honour. Plus, it’s the first episode we get to see the boss of the organization, and where the season takes a 180 into the new plot for the remainder of the Part.
In some ways, it’s stronger than all the Parts that came before it. The finale was very good, but it required some massive deus-ex-machina to defeat the main villain, which took away some of the impact. But this is JoJo; deus-ex-machina is its bread and butter, so I can’t complain too much.
By all accounts, I should have enjoyed this Part more than Part 4, but while this one has a stronger first half than any other JoJo part, the ending was weaker than every other JoJo part. Still, it’s far more consistent, which is why there’s no section on my least favourite episode; there are no episodes under a 7/10 for me, which is very impressive for JoJo. Finally, I’m almost caught up to the anime adaptations. Time to see what all the fuss is about in Stone Ocean.
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