(26 episodes)
What’s it about ?
Ridiculously hot-blooded family feuds in late 19th-century Britain.
Characters
Jonathan Joestar, aka the titular “JoJo”. The teenage heir to a rich family, he’s mostly a nice guy, but a bit of an entitled brat (and has his fair share of “what the hell, hero ?” moments).
Dio Brando, son of a man who “saved” (i.e. “was about to steal the gold teeth of”) Mr Joestar Sr’s life more than a decade ago, and thus is welcomed like a second son after Daddy dies. He’s much more liked than JoJo, in part because he does outwardly behave better than the true son, but mostly because he’s an EEEE-VIL conniving bastard who does everything he can to undermine JoJo’s reputation. This includes alienating his friends, stealing his kinda-girlfriend, and burning his dog down. Just in case you had missed that he’s supposed to be EVIL.
Production Values
Wow, old school ! The original manga got published in 1987, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was already looking retro by then. The quality is kinda crap, but since it’s a parody anyway it doesn’t matter.
Overall Impression
It’s hard to explain exactly why this show is so mesmerizing. It’s not subtle, and very stupid indeed, but the joke works. Can it support 26 episodes ? Maybe if it lives up to the “bizarre” of the title, and gets to be weirder than the very pedestrian plot we get this episode ; which is fine for a setup episode, but I was kinda expecting more, you know ?
Still, I’m giving it a couple more episodes to find its feet.
