CW: Very questionable portrayal of minor, or minor-like, characters.

Let me preface by saying that part 4, Diamond is Unbreakable, is what I consider to be the worst part in the original timeline, so I was quite apprehensive when part 8 was first announced. Having said that, Jojolion shows in many ways how Araki has improved as a mystery writer, yet at the same time, still falls in some of the usual pitfalls when it comes to his writing in general.

Set in the town of Morioh but the new timeline, JoJolion stars Jousuke, an amnesiac man who gets adopted by the Higashikata family after he gets found, naked, buried nearby. However, unlike part 4, which was more of cat-and-mouse thriller, this is more of an amateur sleuth mystery. In fact, don’t get mistaken, unlike part 7 which (up to a certain extent) could be considered a remake of part 1, JoJolion is so separated from its original counterpart that you could even start reading it as a standalone if you wanted to.

“This is a story about breaking a curse.”

So starts JoJolion. A strong start, and one that I’d easily put among the strongest in the series. Speaking of, let’s start with the positives!

Unlike part 4, which tended to meander a lot during the middle when it came to its core mystery, part 8 starts from the beginning with it and most chapters tend to advance it in a significant matter. It also has one of the best female characters I’ve seen by Araki in Yasuho, proving to be resourceful, plot significant, and likable. And last but not least, the rock humans make for good antagonists, being threatening, having interesting backstories, and being an integral part when it comes to Jousuke’s past.

However, the longer the part goes on, the more its flaws become apparent. Outside of Yasuho, there are no likable characters in the main cast, which, sure, could be ignored, but a bigger sin is that they’re inconsequential as well. In fact, with the exception of Joubin and Tsurugi, this is probably the most useless cast out of any parts so far, they having no part at all in the story even when their powers would have been really useful in certain situations. Moreover, when it comes to the mysteries themselves, so many get introduced along these chapters, yet few if any have some kind of payoff.

Who or what caused the bite marks in Jousuke at the beginning? What relation, if any, do they have with Stand abilities? What’s the nature of the curse they’re trying to break? Whatever happened to Yasuho’s hair clip animal? Etc.

None of them provide an answer (or at least an acceptable one), in fact, you could even argue whether they actually broke the curse or not by the end; and while you can just shrug it with “Araki forgot”, let’s remember that this part is not your typical action manga, it’s a mystery, and as such, you need to be more careful when it comes to answering these mysteries. Even more so when, sure, today, it's less of an issue since you can binge the part completely if you want, but I shudder thinking how people who were waiting for months for new chapters felt when this was the payoff.

All in all, while an overall improvement over part 4, I still can’t recommend JoJolion. And by the way the synopsis of part 9 is written (coupled with how inconsequential to the original timeline part 4 was), I could even say that you can safely skip this part.