So I finished Diamond is Unbreakable
I typed one of these for Stardust Crusaders ages ago when I finished it and I wanted to do the same for DiU since like, my reactions to this one were so Big and visceral.
Again a disclaimer that I have been livetweeting JJBA in this thread, and specifically from here onwards was my DiU livetweet if you wanna experience it. It might provide some context but I’ll be sure to add most of what you “need” to know here as screenshots anyway
What I liked
First things first the back and forth mood between tension and funny moments dot com was actually kind of nice, in retrospect? It really did do for a nice change of pace from the absurdity of SC and brought me back a lil to how BT handled its mood. Granted this is also a bit of a negative for me as well but I felt this flowed better than it did in Stardust Crusaders, so much so that the dychotomy really did feel earned
I genuinely did love the characters also!! I have Four (4) that were my favourites, but a lot of them brought at least SOMETHING to the table. There’s a big problem again of Araki having way too many characters at once and introducing too many and making them less developed as a result, and a lot of them are one-off, but at the very LEAST he manages to pull what I called a Ducktales 2017 and mix and match different characters together
I think a good part of why this worked at all is how things were contained to just Morioh, which means everyone has to interact one way or another. It’s a small town, everyone is neighbours, which means there WILL be overlap. I think that was a brilliant idea for Araki since he likes making way too many OCs so, this worked, in a way
Also, Josuke and Okuyasu’s friendship… I was legitimately sold on it. I like how it felt like it developed over time and they found a common ground, because that is exactly how it was depicted and how it felt. But I really liked it, it made the last few episodes hit HARD for me. I deadass felt Josuke’s rage. He was devastated and covering it up with anger
That brings me to Josuke. I was also on the fence about Josuke for a long time, but he won me over in the end. He’s a lot like Joseph (I’ll fucking get to that) which was a welcome change from Jotaro, and I do think I prefer characters with his energy. But he’s a lot less like… mature, I’d say? Than Joseph was (and that’s saying something), and that helps them both be distinct from one another. I think Josuke utilizes his anger to cover up for a lot of emotions he doesn’t like or doesn’t want to feel, and to push himself through situations that need it, but he’s really a chill guy, if stupid. I like that about him
Oh wait, back up, speaking of Jotaro. I like how DiU utilized him a LOT in the sense that it recontextualized what he went through in SC, what he is like now, and the way he copes, which is in no way. I really liked his relationship with Koichi, actually. And I wish he’d been actually Josuke’s like dad or something bc not only do I think that would’ve been a much much more interesting story, I also think the dynamic between him and Josuke was rather underutilized and adding this change of them being estranged father and son would’ve been a good way to toy with it, considering weird Joestar bonds have been a thing before
This man is so traumatized it’s not even funny
I liked the presentation of it all, the creative use of Stands, the silliness, the mystery at the end, a LOT of it. I think DiU is a good part. I just have to tell you what I hated next
What I didn’t like
Joseph.
If you go through the thread you see that the IMMEDIATE reaction I had to the bastard child twist was to get pissed and stop watching. I don’t know why this had to be a thing, it’s just so stupid. Can we seriously have no Joestar relationships that aren’t a direct descendant kinda thing here? It’s part of why I wish Josuke had been Jotaro’s son instead, or at the very fucking least, a cousin. It’s more interesting, but Araki barely even used Joseph anyway. He’s senile for crying out loud. There’s not a lot he CAN do, and everyone knows it–he’s only there to further convince me that Araki hates him
Oh, also? Fuck Yukako and the way the show pushed her and Koichi together. Like, WHY? Why did that make sense in your head, Araki? Because it doesn’t. I’m fully convinced Koichi is under Cinderella’s influence even though Aya’s dead. Shoo. Fuck Yukako.
I also felt like a lot of episodes were just there to drag the plot out and the quality of the Part was like… a rollercoaster. I could be watching a great episode one moment, then a shitty one next. Also, the story really only picked up with the introduction of Reimi and the Kira mystery, and I resent it for that because it really did feel like we were just fucking around wasting time before that, but I also recognize that Araki DID use the start of the Part to lay down a lot of groundwork and worldbuilding–it’s just that he did a piss poor job at making it
Also while I’m ambivalent on it, the fact that so many characters were introduced as total freaks and then they mellowed out and became like, relatively normal… why? All it did was make me hesitant to like some characters, like Yukako, Hayato, and Rohan. Rohan became one of my favourites and I still could not stop thinking about how he almost killed Koichi (although I did think him thinking that Koichi was his best friend after a long time passed was honestly kind of adorable?)
Another thing I am disappointed about was that flashback that Josuke had where a really injured man with a pompadour pushed the car out of the snow. EVERYTHING was pointing to that being Josuke. That was Josuke and you CANNOT convince me otherwise–he was way too stylized as him to not have been. And then nothing came of it!! I’m disappointed!!! Like, mnior I guess but that had me on the edge of my seat the ENTIRE show!! I was so ready!!!!! That was so!!! It would have said a lot about Josuke’s self love!!!! I am mad that we fucking lost it!!!!!!
LIKE THIS IS JOSUKE. THIS WOULD’VE BEEN SO FUCKING COOL. WE’VE ALREADY FUCKED WITH TIME ONCE WE CAN DO IT AGAIN
Ugh anyway
I liked Kira as a villain but I feel like he was kind of underutilized. When the show introduced his dad, I started to feel the exhaustion of yet another bumbling moron except this time, it wasn’t even a bumbling moron I liked. The guy was just… an annoyance both mechanically and as a character. Kira playing house was interesting and his weird relationship w his fake wife and kid was something I Wished got explored more, because when he had to go into hiding… god that was tense. The problem is we didn’t get to see him hide much
Final Thoughts
I think Araki improved a lot on what made Part 3 so flawed and decided to take a page out of his Part 2 book for what worked there, and made something pretty solid. Part 4 is still really flawed, but I must admit it is a general improvement on what he’s laid down on the table. This energy is fantastic, I just wish he’d reign it in a little and not get so carried away
Anyway, I don’t have a LOT of thoughts on Part 4 actually, so I’ll end this post by showing you the blorbos I made in this Part
I’m looking forward to Golden Wind, actually. I want to meet everyone. Everyone says I’ll like everyone, but mostly Bruno and Narancia, so here’s to me meeting them!!