JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is lauded for its imagination and creativity. As its name suggests, the anime does an excellent job of putting the heroes in unique situations that force them to think outside the box in order to prevail. Over time, JoJo's received such notoriety that there are various memes and spoofs based on it.
Despite its accolades, there are many harsh realities that might reasonably give one pause before fully investing in the anime. Such pitfalls prevent JoJo's from reaching its full potential and cheapen an otherwise vivid and compelling world.
10 Most Acts Do Not Give Equal Attention Between Leads
Every act of the series introduces new leads for the audience to follow. However, they are seldom given an equal amount of attention, meaning that certain characters will take precedence over others despite serving the same narrative purpose.
For example, Polnareff almost got as many fights in Stardust Crusaders as Jotaro himself. Conversely, Avdol barely had a single solo battle to illustrate the potential behind his Magician's Red Stand. The lapse in attention between both characters was especially jarring since Avdol debuted earlier.
9 Joseph Is Sometimes Problematic
There are some instances where JoJo's walks the line between being problematic and creepy. For instance, Joseph Joestar spied on Lisa Lisa in Battle Tendency in hopes of seeing her undress. Not only was this incredibly inappropriate behavior for the main character to indulge in, it's even worse considering that she was his own mother.
Joseph also did an insulting impersonation of LGBT people when attempting to infiltrate an enemy compound even though the disguise was so foolhardy he may as well have approached them without it. Most appallingly, Joseph worked with an active Nazi named Stroheim in order to fight Kars.
8 Hamon Was Almost Completely Abandoned
Baron Zeppeli introduced the concept of Hamon in Phantom Blood. It allowed him to channel energy into whatever he touched through a sophisticated breathing technique. It served as the heroes' primary weapon throughout the first and second acts, which kept audiences engaged.
However, Hamon was almost completely abandoned from the beginning of Stardust Crusaders onward. Ever since, Joseph only used it a single time in a haphazard attempt to repel DIO in the battle for Cairo. The transfer from Hamon to Stands was jarring since it went almost completely unexplained.
7 Fights Against Minor Villains Are Fairly Repetitive
From Part 3 onward, every act is padded out by fighting filler villains, and the conflict almost always has the same formula. The heroes are continuing their adventure, only to suddenly become injured or influenced by a mysterious power. After multiple failed attempts to identify or repel the threat, they combine their Stands with the environment in order to achieve a clever victory.
The fights are incredibly easy to predict, especially when the heroes enter any means of transportation. Some examples include the High Priestess, Notorious B.I.G, and Gray Fly, all of which ultimately had no long-term consequences or narrative significance.
6 JoJo's Is Too Obsessed With DIO
For all of JoJo's creativity, its obsession with DIO is a major deficit. Despite only being the main antagonist of the first and third arcs, he's been relevant to every single storyline to varying degrees. His flashbacks were usually obnoxious and expository.
For example, Pucci tried to complete DIO's plan to find Heaven in Stone Ocean, and Giorno is DIO's son. This means that although the anime was willing to kill DIO off, they continue to dredge him up as a major plot point.
5 At Least One Side Character Always Dies
Although deaths are an excellent way to raise stakes, JoJo's does it in a way so predictable that a bigger twist is to keep everyone alive. Side characters are notoriously prone to die, with some of their endings being fairly unceremonious and concise.
Even Diamond Is Unbreakable — the act known for its lighthearted tone and slice-of-life themes — couldn't resist killing Shigechi off when making Yoshikage Kira's fearsome introduction. The series would be easier to enjoy if the deaths weren't so formulaic and forced in many instances.
4 JoJo Leaves Many Important Issues Unresolved
JoJo does an excellent job of introducing enigmatic and fascinating characters, yet their interactions don't always receive closure. For example, it was never clear what happened to D'arby the Player's marionette victims since the Crusaders only won Kakyoin's freedom. If his power could have been disabled through violence, Jotaro would have knocked him out without playing a rigged game in the first place.
Similarly, Joseph's affair was a major issue that should have caused an interesting amount of dramatic confrontation with Suzie Q. However, she was barely seen in Diamond Is Unbreakable, which begged the question of how his infidelity impacted their marriage.
3 The Outfit Designs For JoJo Characters Are Ridiculous
The costume choices made in JoJo's are weird and offsetting at best. For example, Rikiel wore a cow-print outfit with a stifling collar. Although DIO's son, it was difficult to take him as a credible threat based on his ridiculous and unexplained impersonation of a dairy mascot.
Considering that most enemy Stand users disguise themselves among ordinary people, their bizarre outfits make them exceptionally easy to pick out when heroes are initially ambushed. It is especially true later in the series since the costume design actively becomes stranger over time.
2 There Is A Different Protagonist In Every Act
While casting an entirely unique protagonist for every JoJo's act is original, it is also especially jarring. It means that most characters only have a few chapters to fulfill complete arcs, with many remaining static throughout.
Although some heroes are recurring like Jotaro and Joseph, they don't return to a significant degree. The series' inability to commit to one protagonist makes the overall narrative feel like scrambled puzzle pieces rather than a single clear image.
1 Stands Become Increasingly Confusing Over Time
When Stands were first introduced, their powers were charmingly simple. For example, Magician's Red emitted fire, and Silver Chariot was a masterful swordsman. However, introducing more characters increased the need for originality, which made subsequent Stands convoluted.
Diavolo's "King Crimson" was an excellent example. It worked in tandem with "Epitaph," with one Stand seeing time and the other erasing it based on his needs. However, many fans struggled with separating it from DIO's "The World," as their effects were strikingly similar. Both took opponents down in the blink of an eye; Diavolo's simply had a more unnecessarily complex explanation.