Darby: We shall wager our SOULS!
Jotarou: Hey, Abdul, I’m short. Can I borrow yours?
Abdul: Are you on Crack? HELL NO!
Skeptical Reader: "JoJo’s What?!"
England, Late 1800’s – Jonathan Joestar encounters an orphan boy named Dio Brando and takes him into the family. Unfortunately for the wealthy Joestar, Dio aspires to take over his family fortune, which includes a mysterious stone mask. Jonathan learns of this betrayal after Dio tries to poison his father, Josh, and tries to stop him. In his quest to finish his job, Dio dons the stone mask covered with the spilled blood from Josh, and becomes an immortal vampire. Johnathan then learns about Hamon, an inner power fueled by the sun, which he uses to defeat Dio. In their final battle, both Johnathan and Dio go down with a sinking ship on its way to America.
Nearly 100 years after that battle, Josef Joestar (grandson of Jonathan) senses the resurrection of Dio whose body is discovered by treasure hunters. Dio managed to kill Jonathan and attach his head to Jonathan’s body and survive. His reawakening triggers the release of a new psychic power called Stands. Stands are psychic projections that can only be seen by other stand users. When a user’s Stand is injured (only possible by another Stand), the user is injured as well. The Stands themselves vary in strength, power, and distance in which they can be utilized. This power manifests itself in Jotarou’s mother, Holly, but she is unable to cope with her new powers and is dying. Josef and Jotarou only have a short time in which to save Holly’s life by defeating Dio once and for all.
But enough with the summary – if there is one word to sum up the feeling of this anime, it’s TESTOSTERONE. We have several manly men strutting around busting things up with their psychic projections. Although, JoJo’s goes beyond the usual violence and adds a very realistic measure of suspense and thoughtfulness to the story. Jotarou and his friends may look like rejects from The Village People, but the situations are quite thrilling and engaging. My favorite part is where Josef Joestar and company do battle with Darby the Gambler. He plays any type of game, but his one requirement is that you wager your soul! The tactics in the third episode, both physical and psychological, are simply amazing to behold. For these people, "raising the ante" is at a whole new level…