I saw this post so I figured what the heck, I might as well talk about the evolution of Jojo’s character design.
To begin, parts 1, 2, and 3 are something of a matching set, with Phantom Blood obviously being the roughest of the bunch as Araki figures out the best way to draw giant muscular men.
Battle Tendency and Stardust crusaders can be seen a further tuning of Araki’s first style, culminating with the final battle with Dio.
Moving into part four we see a transition in Araki’s designs, most clearly illustrated by Josuke at the beginning and end of the part.
We see Araki moving away from the Fist of the North Star roots of the series as his influences from the world of fashion take hold of his style.
Vento Aureo displays this foundation most plainly with its main cast largely wearing some form of suit. We can also see the physique of older characters adapted to Araki’s evolving style as walls of muscle like Jotaro and Polnareff look waifish in comparison to their debuts.
Part six can be called the last hurrah of Araki’s original style as it continues part five’s visual theory of slender figures, though now with a far greater abundance of female characters than ever before. Interestingly, part six’s male cast appear more muscular than part five’s in my opinion, perhaps a result of their comparatively few and thus more distinct appearances.
Going into part seven we see Araki transitioning into his modern artstyle as the part progresses. It is around the end of the part where we see the birth of Araki’s tendency to give all his characters the same face. What really makes Araki’s new style different to me is this detail as distinct features such as eyes, noses, lips, etc. blend together.
I would call part eight the first “modern” part in terms of its relation to Araki’s designs.
It’s difficult to recognize Araki’s style changing in motion it’s only when we see older protagonists depicted in his current style that the evolution becomes obvious.
I think Jojos is one of the best examples of an author evolving and growing with his own work. Both as a writer and artist we see a continual development of his style as what started as homage becomes something entirely unique in its own right.
I am bitterly reminded of another favorite manga of mine which had a similar artistic evolution, Chainsaw Man. I’d agree with many fans that early part two was the peak of Fujimoto’s artistry and over time the series loses a sense of refinement that characterized the changing story.
Whether or not we’ll see a similar cyclical process from Araki is unclear but I’d say it’s unlikely. Even so, a part of me does yearn to see what a part one styled Johnny Joestar would look like.
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