JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 4: Diamond is Unbreakable So Far – Should You Be Watching?

Yes. That’s it, post over. Go and watch it. David Production’s anime adaptation of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure manga has been ongoing since 2012. Each “Part” of JoJo is fairly distinctive, and Diamond is Unbreakable seems like a great jumping on point that will also delight series fans.

 

Watched 4/? episodes

Streaming on CrunchyRoll

 

Screenshot 2016-04-27 12.31.09 Diamond is Unbreakable So Far

 

Part 4 is a big landmark in the JoJo series as a whole, marking the departure from Araki’s hulking muscle men of the first three parts, and transitioning into the more lean and fully glamorous style JoJo is best known for today. It’s also a lot more of a homely and less epic tale, set entirely in Morioh, a moderately sized commuter town. While all the JoJos have been young, Josuke Higashikata is the first JoJo to have to balance his daily life with the strange Stand-related goings on.

 

David Production’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has been consistently fantastic so far, but Part 3 was a little bit of a step back after Part 2 stylistically. Of course, it had some crazy, stylish moments, but in general Stardust Crusaders was presented in a fairly stylish way. This isn’t the case with Diamond is Unbreakable, where David Production have doubled down on some of the style on offer in Part 2, to match the somewhat surreal and suburban Gothic of Araki’s vision of Morioh. The opening scene of the anime pretty much tells you all you need to know about the notes the anime is going to hit.

 

Screenshot 2016-04-27 12.33.51 Diamond is Unbreakable So Far

 

That opening is fantastic, because it highlights how great an anime adaptation can be when it doesn’t stick rigorously to the source material. Of course, Diamond is Unbreakable treats it source with a lot of respect so far, and sticks to it where possible, but they’re also fully aware of how to make the best use of an adaptation of what was originally a serial. It’d be impossible for Araki to foreshadow and lampshade everything that will happen perfectly when it ran for 3 years over 174 weekly chapters. It’s brilliant, but it doesn’t always come together in places. This anime adaptation seems set to tie everything together from the offset in a much more pleasing way. It’s also a scene that perfectly lampshades the tone of the anime, that surreal feeling of the suburban Gothic, something dark lurking beneath the sunny surface…

 

Screenshot 2016-04-27 12.32.31 Diamond is Unbreakable So Far

 

The first couple of episodes do a great job of setting up the tone of the series, with crazier than you’ve even seen them Stand powers and battles, brilliant colours, David’s superb sound design in both effects and music, and some wonderfully stylized cuts. These see Josuke teaming up with fan favourite protagonist and star of Part 3, Jotaro. The next couple of episodes have shown that they’re not eager to rush things, taking their time with the Nijimura Brothers storyline.

 

Not only does this seem to be a culmination of the love and respect David Production have already show for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, but it also seems like it will be here to stay for quite a while, being quite a long and cosy story. Fans of the manga will love it. Fans of the anime will love it. New fans can jump right in, and, guess what? They will love it too.

 

Screenshot 2016-04-27 12.36.35 Diamond is Unbreakable So Far

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