Review of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind
Golden Wind might be the only anime I can describe in one word: PEAK. Undoubtedly the greatest animated JoJo arc so far, and genuinely what I consider to be the greatest anime I've seen. It's been over a year since I've watched it, and it's stood out in my mind all this time as the apex of all animation. Incredibly stylized art and animation that takes full advantage of the medium, especially with the stirking use of colors. Outstanding action that goes beyond the already-high standards set by the earlier JoJo installments. The greatest cast of characters thus far, with loads of chemistry among themselves bothat the start, with legitimately genuine and heartfelt development as the plot continues.
This time, our JoJo is the Italian delinquent Giorno Giovanna, the bastard son of Dio from when he was possessing Jonathan's body, just barely making him a part of the family. His personality is basically a perfect fusion of Dio and Jotaro's: He's ruthless, charismatic, and unpredictable like Dio, and focused, stoic, and driven like Jotaro. All of these traits combined makes Giorno the best protagonist up to this point. The absolutely absurd way that he's connected to the JoJo bloodline just makes it better.
Because as overpowered as he seems, the enemies in this series too are the most threatening in the series. In Stardust Crusaders and Diamond is Unbreakable, stand users could have been anyone, so it took a while for legitimately menacing villains to show up in each arc. This isn't an issue per se, and it made sense for the context of those storylines. But in Golden Wind, Giorno is deadset on climbing the ranks of the Italian mafia, and let's not delude ourselves, even the lowest member in the family would need to be immensely ruthless and cunning - they wouldn't induct you in the first place if you weren't. This in turn leads the fights to be the smartest and most intense thus far. Prime example, Giorno can adapt his power to heal his allies' major wounds - and his enemies know this, so they go out of their way to target him first, isolating or eliminating him so he can't heal or support his team. And for most of the fights where Giorno isn't directly involved, it's usually because that tactic worked.
On that topic, how are the stand fights? Ever since the franchise introduced stands in Stardust Crusaders, they've been the single most iconic component of the series, and Golden Wind has the best of them by far. Everyone's stand is incredibly powerful, leading to the fights having higher stakes and more intensity than ever before. Most of them last longer than one episode, without feeling like they're being needlessly prolonged, it's just that the circumstances and action are extreme enough to warrant it. Things reach an apex during the fight against White Album, one of the bloodiest fights so far against a stand user with such a psychotic personality that is equal parts threatening and hilariously entertaining. And every fight that follows it matches its quality equally, culminating in the fight against Green Day, a gruesome and malicious ability whose user is a vile, sadistic monster. For the characterization, the buildup, the action, and the perfectly cathartic climax, I have no reservation in calling this the greatest stand fight in the series. The beatdown Giorno gives at the end lasts for seven pages in the manga - completely deserved! - and the animation makes it even better.
Lastly, the pacing. From Giorno's introduction to Diavolo's inevitable defeat, the speed of the story and fight progression is akin to an F1 race, blitzing from start to finish while masterfully executing the course's twists and turns. By the end of the first episode, Giorno is already entrenched in his first stand fight against his soon-to-be ally Bruno Bucciarati, and subsequent encounters all happen immediately after the last, leaving no time for the heroes to rest. It's a veritable gauntlet, contributing even more to the sheer intensity of the show I was praising earlier. That's not to say there isn't any downtime for us, the viewers, just that it happens in quick and impactful moments between the fights. There are flashbacks for the heroes and enemies, as well as cuts to other characters outside the main party, and plenty of jokes and humor interspersed throughout to maintain levity. The most iconic example being the "Torture Dance", but my favorite is after the White Album stand fight - I already mentioned how bloody that fight is, so when that user is dead and one of the heroes arrives to see the aftermath in the most compromising way possible, the sudden juxtaposition led to one of my loudest laughs from any anime I've seen so far.
If I'm going to be completely honest and critical, it's not perfect. Giorno's and Diavolo's stands are a bit sloppy with how their powers are set up - I'm not even going to attempt to explain King Crimson, and Gold Experience's ability to reflect damage is never invoked beyond the first two episodes. Also, the stand fight against Man in the Mirror ended with me exclaiming "Okay, that seriously shouldn't have worked" - the only time I think it's too ridiculous, even by JoJo standards - and the anime ends with the stand "fight" against Rolling Stones, a sort of prologue to this arc which is thoroughly pointless and uninteresting, I'd consider it the worst stand fight in the overall series. And yet despite this, Golden Wind carries so much bravado, so much oomph, that I can willfully overlook these admittedly major flaws, because it does everything else masterfully.
I need to repeat this one more time. Golden Wind is PEAK.