JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s best season is also the best way to start

The most daunting part about approaching this series is the fact that there are over 153 episodes spread across 4 seasons. JoJo’s Bizarre AdventureThe hardest part of starting a business is knowing where to begin. The layperson will find it confusing. JoJo’s Bizarre AdventureThis may make it seem difficult to understand. Based on Hirohiko Araki’s supernatural fantasy adventure series of the same name, David Production’s JoJo’s Bizarre AdventureThe anime adaptation of the movie has been in production for several seasons, starting back in 2012. Each episode features a unique plot and cast. With the first 12 episodes of the fifth season — JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean — set to premiere on Netflix tomorrow, viewers new to the series understandably might feel a bit lost when it comes to wading into the wacky, hyper-violent, and occasionally spooky misadventures of the Joestar family.

Luckily you don’t need to worry with JoJoEvery season JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure tells a relatively self-contained story, with only a handful of characters reappearing through one-off cameos or as supporting characters to each season’s main cast of heroes. That means you could conceivably jump into the series during any season — even technically Stone Ocean — at the risk of only missing only a handful of details here and there. The question here is: Which season? JoJo’s Bizarre AdventureShould you be watching to prepare? Stone Ocean or see if you like the show at all, you can’t go wrong with Stardust Crusaders, the adaptation’s second season.

Based on the third story arc of Araki’s original manga, Stardust CrusadersIt is often considered the most beloved arc. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure for the fact it being the only arc to be adapted into an anime with the 13-episode OVA (original video animation) series directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo and Hideki Futamura prior to David Production’s own adaptation of the arc in 2014. It’s also the first arc to introduce the concept of “Stands”; think of it as a “guardian spirit” that functions as an extension of the life-force of a particular person (called a “Stand User”) that amplifies their fighting abilities in a way that is unique to them and them alone.

Image: David Production

Some, such as the Joestar extended family members, have the natural ability to summon Stands. Others must use more dangerous means to summon the guardian spirit of Stand. Through all subsequent arcs, the concept of Stands has been a constant throughout. JoJo’s Bizarre AdventureThe new version is also available. Stone Ocean. In each arc, a different member of the Joestar family is forced to confront a nefarious supernatural adversary, oftentimes either in the form of (or tangentially related to) the family’s vampiric nemesis DIO.

Stardust CrusadersJotaro Kujo’s story is about a teenager who manifests Star Platinum, a strong Stand. Under the wing of his grandfather Joseph Joestar, Jotaro learns that the awakening of both his and Joseph’s own Stand is in response to DIO, who swore a lifelong vendetta against the family since becoming the adversary of Jonathan Joestar, Jotaro’s great grandfather and the protagonist of the first season of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Phantom Blood (hang in there — I know this is a lot, but it’s important). Having stolen the corpse of Jonathan’s body and attaching his own head to it, DIO manifested a Stand known as “The World” that had the power to halt the passage of time around him. DIO gained followers by using his ability to stop time. While Joseph and Jotaro are able to keep their Stand abilities in check, Jotaro’s mother’s life is threatened as her Stand power begins to invasively leech off her own life energy. With no other options, Jotaro and his grandfather must embark on a journey to Egypt in order to draw DIO out of hiding and kill him once and for all in order to save Jotaro’s mother.

Image: David Production / Kamikaze Douga

Though the first 26-episode season of the David Production anime, which covers the “Phantom Blood’’ and “Battle Tendency” arcs of the original manga, is awesome and has tons of memorable and exciting characters and fights, the core qualities of the series that most fans of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure know it for arguably don’t begin to fall into place until Stardust Crusaders. Aside from the introduction to the Stands, Jotaro Kujo is one of the series’ most iconic protagonists and a recurring supporting character in both The Unbreakable Diamond, the third season of the anime which follows Jotaro’s illegitimate half-uncle Josuke Higashikata, and the forthcoming season of Stone Ocean.

The supporting cast is filled with eccentric and likeable characters from Henry Jones Sr.-esque Joseph Joestar, including the fire-wielding fortune teller Mohammed Avdol, the fencing martial artist Jean Pierre Polnareff, a Stand-wielding Boston Terrier named Iggy, and Jotaro’s former enemy-turned-friend Noriaki Kakyoin. The season also features some of the most bizarre and formidable enemies of all. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, from an acid-spewing stag beetle with a projectile Xenomorph-like tongue named Tower of Gray or a sentient ape Stand User with the power to bind themselves to any object while enhancing their own strength — including a cruise ship.

I’d really recommend that you watch every season of JoJo’s Bizarre AdventureIt is a great show, and you can watch it from anywhere. The show is also easy to understand for anyone who goes in. Stardust Crusaders is perfect not only for anyone who wants to catch up on the best-known chapter of the Joestar’s generational feud with DIO but also for those who want more information on the backstory of Jolyne’s father, Jotaro Kujo. Each season of JoJo’s Bizarre AdventureIt is just as eccentric in its characters and its premise, as it is in its sheer absurdity and sometimes horrifying humor. If you’re looking for just the right season to decide whether or not to dive headfirst into the world of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Stardust CrusadersIt is strongly recommended.