Stardust Crusaders is the third part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Part 3 revolves around Jotaro Kujo, grandson of Joseph Joestar, and renewed the feud of the Joestar family with DIO. Stardust Crusaders was brilliant in terms of adventure.
The Joestar group – Joseph, Jotaro, Polnareff, Avdol, and Iggy – traveled almost the entire world in order to save Holy Kujo Joestar and kill DIO once and for all. The series had some awesome bits and some not so brilliant moments. Overall, Part 3 was thoroughly enjoyable, however, it was not perfect and had some flaws.
10 LIKED: DIO'S RETURN
It is fair to say that DIO is the most iconic villain in the series. He was first introduced in Phantom Blood, DIO was brought back in Stardust Crusaders after a hiatus.
He came back with a new body and a new ability. DIO lived up to his reputation throughout the entirety of Part 3. He kept his malevolent aura, which made him more mysteries and enigmatic.
9 HATED: TOO MANY STANDS
Stardust Crusaders can be divided into two parts: Egypt and non-Egypt. Both parts are filled with Stands, actually, there are a bit too many stands in the series. First, there are Stands that represent the 9 Egyptian gods.
Then there are the other Stands that the Joestar group encountered while they were trying to reach Egypt. It wouldn't have been a problem if all the Stands were good, but more than 50% were average Stands. This led to the series feeling formulaic, as the heroes simply jumped from one battle against a Stand user to another.
8 LIKED: THE JOESTAR GROUP
Part 3's Joestar group is one of the best teams in the entire JoJo series. There was a little bit of everything in the group: Joseph was funny as ever, Polnareff and Avdol were polar opposites but very close friends, and the serious Jotaro had the amiable Kakyoin to keep him company.
The final member of the group was Iggy. While he could be annoying at times, he too had self-respect.
7 HATED: LIED TO POLNAREFF
Polnareff and Avdol were very close friends. When Avdol pretended to "die" in the fight versus J. Geil; Joseph and co. lied to Polnareff about the circumstances. They told the latter that Avdol had fallen in battle, and Polnareff remained in the dark for a long time.
Polnareff remained ignorant until the group decided to meet Avdol's father, who was actually Avdol himself. It was a really bad decision to hide the truth from Polnareff no matter what the reason.
6 LIKED: IGGY & AVDOL SACRIFICE
Iggy, Polnareff, and Avdol entered DIO's mansion on their own; unfortunately, the trio were reduced to a duo in the blink of an eye by Vanilla Ice. After gobbling up Avdol, Vanilla Ice turned his attention to the Frenchman and Iggy.
Vanilla Ice was really annoyed by Iggy and he beat him black and blue. Iggy had his moment when he gave up his life to save Polnareff from Vanilla Ice. Polnareff was moved by Iggy and Avdol's sacrifices and so were the fans.
5 HATED: JOTARO MANGA ARMOR
Jotaro versus DIO was an exciting fight, and it has grown into one of the most iconic fights throughout the anime community. However, there was one bit that was a bit disappointing. DIO was ready to kill Jotaro and he most probably would have if the latter had not stuffed his clothing with manga and magazines.
It was just silly. Why would anyone stuff their clothes with comic books before fighting an enemy? There are plenty of other options to consider.
4 LIKED: JOSEPH REVIVED
DIO made short work of Kakyoin and then he went after Joseph Joestar. With the power of the World, DIO was able to kill Joseph with his knives. At that point, it seemed that the hilarious Joseph would no longer be around.
However, Jotaro had admirably discovered how to restart the heart of an individual. So, he took Joseph's body and injected the blood that DIO stole from him, and then restarted his heart.
3 HATED: KAKYOIN'S DEATH
Kakyoin was one of the key members of the Joestar group. He came up with the idea to find out what the ability of DIO's Stand really was. Kakyoin's discovery came at a great price; DIO used The World's ability to stop time and punch a hole through Kakyoin.
Kakyoin's backstory was not shown until the very end, which could have been explored earlier in the series. Kakyoin could have been an even greater character; Hirohiko Araki really missed a big opportunity with him.
2 LIKED: INTRODUCTION TO STANDS
Part 3 was different from the first two JoJo parts. While the first two sections, primarily Part 2, had Hamon as their main source of power, all that changed with Part 3.
In Stardust Crusaders, Araki introduced a new power known as Stands. A Stand is the manifestation of the spiritual energy of a person, and they vary from person to person. After their introduction, Stands became the main source of power in the series.
1 HATED: NO MORE HAMON
Hamon was one of the more unique powers in the anime-verse. It was a cool concept, and it dominated the first two parts of the series; however, Araki decided to switch to Stands in Part 3.
The introduction of Stands pushed Hamon out of the picture. Joseph did use it once or twice, but that was about it. Sadly, fans had to say goodbye to this novel power.