Joutarou and Polnareff are my GOATS! In preparation of STEEL BALL RUN releasing via the winter 2026 Anime releases; it comes out on the 19th of March (It's already out with 1 episode.) Thought I'd start my marathon watch with this anime--JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Phantom Blood, Battle Tendency and Stardust Crusaders are now complete!
'Stardust Crusaders' is an arc that I really enjoyed despite the flaws eps 1-24 had, and the new power system with introducing stands was a really cool idea! It opened up doors for so much more creativity during the fight sequences and allowed for intriguing strategic combat between each stand user. However, I still think Battle Tendency is my favorite arc so far in the sense of its fast pacing that made the story feel more focused, the pillar men were great villains and the fights were structured a lot better compared what they were during part 1 of Stardust Crusaders. Even with the flaws and dragged out fights that part 1 offered, I still enjoyed the hell out of this arc! Mainly due to the dynamics that the crew had between Joseph, Joutarou, Kakyouin, Polnareff and Avdol. They truly made it a lot more enjoyable! And we can't forget Iggy! This dog made things so much more hilarious! Not to mention nearly all of the villains during part 1 that came to attack the crew while they were traveling through different countries to make it to Egypt, were forgettable and just alright... Nothing compared to how BADASS and AWESOME the fights were during part 2 of this arc! Speaking about part 2 of Stardust Crusaders, this is where the fights got a lot better, the pacing finally found its footing with building tension throughout the narrative and everything just felt so much better when the crew finally made it to Egypt! So in reality part 2 is what really carried this arc for me. Without it, this arc would've gotten a lot lower rating from me, even though I said I did have fun throughout eps 1-24! Only because of the dynamics that the crew had brought! I also enjoyed Joutarou a lot more as the protagonist compared to Joseph.
The repetitive villain of the week formula that the story structure heavily relied on, just made a lot of this arc suffer with fleshed out fights that made its pacing take a hit. Especially throughout part 1 (eps 1-24) where Joutarou and his crew are making their way to Egypt via their road trip across many countries and locations. This is where a lot of the fights felt not only dragged and stretched out, but A LOT just felt like filler type fights to me. Its pacing also suffered during this first part, because sometimes I just got rather bored of some of the fights from eps 1-24 that could've been executed a lot better. Part 2 (eps 25-48) is where the fights started to build a lot more tension with moving the plot a lot better with its pacing THAT finally found the right footing. Just everything about this 2nd part was awesome! It manages to makeup for the slow paced story during the first part all whilst offering memorable fights that didn't feel dragged out. Instead all of the fights during this second part were badass! Despite the issues I had with the first part, I still think this whole arc isn't bad at any means! It just felt a little inconsistent throughout eps 1-24 and finally speeds up with the right pacing, focused narrative and fights that felt like they mattered along with building the right amount of tension which was let loose during the finale with Dio finally appearing on screen to fight the crew. The finale itself was worth the wait and it made up for all the flaws that part 1 had offered.
Conclusion
this arc will stay in second spot, for now. As Battle Tendency is my favorite arc so far! I still enjoyed the hell out of this arc despite the problems episodes 1-24 had offered. But like I stated beforehand, the dynamics between the crew was just so damn awesome not to stay engaged and enjoy this arc as a whole, even though A LOT of the fights were dragged out and felt forgettable. This changed A LOT when the arc finally got so much better and found its right footing in every single direction during episodes 25-48 aka part 2. Every stand user that the crew fought in Egypt was just so badass! And this built up well delivered tension that got you more excited for the Finale between Dio against Kakyouin, Joutarou, Joseph and Polnareff! With the new power system; introducing Stands. This allowed for each fight to become so much more creative with the ideas and strategic combat.
All in all 'Stardust Crusaders' is a great arc if you look past the flaws that eps 1-24 had and it kind of makes up for it with the awesome dynamics between the crew throughout the first half as well. Once you get past the lame fights and finally get to them reaching Egypt, this is where things get serious! Nonetheless, if you enjoyed the first 2 arcs of Jojo's you will for sure love this arc too!
Top 4 Characters Ranked:
Top 4 Episodes Ranked:
Top 4 Fights Ranked:
Overall Rating For Stardust Crusaders - 8/10
19 out of 21 users liked this review
