Jojo fans, it’s time. Today, I’m ranking the Jojo parts. While every part is great, some are definitely better than others. A quick caveat before we start: this ranking will be based on the parts that have been released in the anime so far. Everyone talks about how good part 7 is and I’ve been tempted to read it, but I’m going to wait for the anime because I feel like it adds too much to the experience. The music, the sound effects, the voice acting: I could picture myself reading manga for other shows, but not Jojo’s. Anyways, here’s the list:

Part 1-

It’s not much of a surprise that this one is here. It’s not bad by any means. It has some iconic moments and sets up the rest of the series. Dio’s subbed voice actor alone makes this part worth watching. However, I have to diss Part 1 because I feel like it’s the reason a lot of people can’t get into Jojo’s. Jojo fans hype the show up so much that, for a prospective Jojo fan, I could completely understand them feeling overwhelmed by Part 1. If the series started with the explosive energy of Part 2 or skipped straight to the parts with stands, I feel like it would be easier for people to become Jojo fans. Also Jonathan is the worst Jojo so that doesn’t really help. 

Part 3- 

I like Part 3. All of the side characters are hilarious, particularly old Joseph and Polnareff. The final fight with Dio is legendary (spoilers!!!), and even though Jotaro is a blank slate of a protagonist, he’s still edgy and cool. A lot of the stand battles are memorable and super meme-able. Unfortunately, like Part 1, I have to bring Part 3 down because it’s a major roadblock for people trying to get into Jojo’s. Part 3 is too long. The whole journey feels very drawn out. I forget where I heard this comparison, but Part 3 in particular has a “monster of the week” feel. Each episode is like, “Woah, there’s a new stand user, let’s beat them. Yay!” In other parts it feels like the stand battles happen more naturally, but in Part 3 the stand users just randomly show up and it causes the pacing of the part to drag. 

Part 6-
Since this part was released rather recently, it’s a bit tough to rank at the moment. For now, I’m going to place it at this spot. Part 6 has some big upsides. Jolyne is one of the better mc’s and her battle theme goes insane. The side characters, specifically Weather and Anasui (Anastasia in dub), are some of my favorite characters in the entire series. Pucci is a great villain and has a unique ability that is central to the part’s story. Once you get like two-thirds of the way into the part, a major event happens and from that point on every episode is a banger. I loved the ending of the part in particular, although I’ve heard that it’s a bit controversial. The problem with Part 6 is that the first half of it is… mediocre. Netflix is partially to blame for this, as they released the episodes in batches that definitely weren’t strong enough to be released on their own. After watching the first batch I was left feeling underwhelmed and confused. While this is admittedly a bit of an unfair criticism, I also believe Part 6 has additional problems. Jojo’s is known for its iconic death scenes, but the most important death scene in Part 6 is really lame. Furthermore, and I know this is another weird criticism, the Part 6 openings are so disappointing. Up until this point Jojo’s hadn’t had a single miss with its openings, but both of these openings are mid even when compared to other conventional anime openings. They’re easily the two worst openings in the series. 

Part 4- 

In my mind, Part 4 is a better verison of Part 6. It has the same problem of having a weak first half and a significantly stronger second half. However, its first half isn’t as bad as Part 6’s and its second half has a more rewarding payoff. Part 4 is a slice of life anime for the first 25 episodes or so. Thankfully, it makes up for it by having some of the best characters in the series. Koichi, Grandpa Joseph, heck, Rohan is such a good character that Araki wrote an entire side-series based on him (which is phenomenal by the way). I was annoyed at first when nothing was really happening story-wise, but seeing all of the wacky interactions of the characters was entertaining enough for me. Then, Kira shows up. In my opinion, Kira is up there for the best villain in all of anime, and after he reveals himself the rest of the show is peak Jojos. 

Part 2-

Part 2 is so silly. Joseph is the best Jojo and it’s not even close. His dynamic personality brings the part to life. He’s flashy, he’s childish, he’s arrogant, but all in the best way possible. His clackers go crazy, his “Joestar secret technique” is unbeatable and his classic, “Your next line is…” hits way too hard… Caesar is also amazing, and the fact that his dub voice actor is the same guy that voices Eren Yeager is hilarious to me. Caesar’s bad Italian accent combined with Joseph’s over-the-top British accent creates the perfect comedic combination. The sub voices are great too- some of the best Jojo “Engrish” lines come from Part 2. The story is just as chaotic as its main characters. With the help of Speedwagon, Lisa Lisa, and a robotic German military officer, they fight these ancient vampire pillar men who are trying to destroy the world or whatever. I especially love how Joseph blasts Kars into space at the end of Part 2 and then shows up to his own funeral to troll everyone. I feel like it would be a lot easier for people to get into Jojo’s if Part 1 wasn’t a thing and Part 2 was their first exposure to the series. 

Part 5-

Giorno’s theme. Do I really need to say more?

Seriously though, Part 5 is by far the highest quality Jojo part. The story is more cohesive than the other parts, following a gang trying to overthrow an Italian mafia boss. It feels like there’s a reason for the stand battles happening rather than just “Uh oh, a stand user showed up!” Additionally, all of the main characters are fantastic. They have great chemistry with each other and provide plenty of comic relief. However, you also learn their deeper motives through flashback episodes that are scattered throughout the part, which is awesome. Mista and Bucciarati are my personal favorites, but I also liked a lot of the side characters like Risotto, Ghiaccio, Dopio (if he counts as a separate character), and, of course, my boy Coco Jumbo (he’s not really a character but I adore him all the same). As an additional bonus, the Part 5 drip is ridiculously clean. The characters’ outfits and style fit their personalities perfectly. On a more somber note, Part 5 also has my favorite death scene out of any anime I’ve ever watched. I didn’t even like the character that died, but the suddenness and aftermath of the death just felt so real. My only criticism of Part 5 is that Giorno is one of the weaker Jojo protagonists. On the bright side though, Golden Experience is an awesome stand that makes Giorno’s fights super entertaining. It stinks having to tell people that you have to watch over a hundred episodes of Jojo’s to get to the best part, but to be honest Part 5 is so good that it’s completely worth it.

As a bonus before I end this article, I’ll throw in a quick ranking of the Jojo openings: 2, 8, 1, 4, 5, 9, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11. Of course, all of these are amazing, and the rankings change slightly based on special variations of openings, SFX versions, and their actual full songs. 

Jojo brethren, let me know your thoughts on this list down in the comments!