Board Thread:Manga Discussion/@comment-27659575-20171102233127/@comment-26912075-20171110162323

That first paragraph was, again, a bunch of unsubstantiated claims and strawmen. Quote: " do you think JJBA is a masterpiece? maybe a dumb but fun series someone can enjoy by turning his brain off? What do you think is the best aspect of the manga?" What part of that makes this thread limited to the discussion of art? Art is different from artwork. Graffiti, of course, is just meaningless and cringeworthy vandalism and in no place did I say otherwise. The art I am referring to is artwork, which is defined as " illustrations, photographs, or other nontextual material prepared for inclusion in a publication." The art you were referring to means this: " the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power." As you can see, they don't mean the same thing.

There is a difference between a summary and a series. A summary only contains the most important aspects of a series or of a character and then introduces them to an audience who may be somewhat confused or may have forgotten something about a character in order to clarify things. That is not a story. What you describe art as being is a medium of storytelling. However, storytelling, in and of itself, is meaningless if there is no compelling plot to tell. Take Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven for example. It boasts a good flow and a precise poetic rhythm to keep the audience engaged. Now take that and write a few stanzas on the breath of a horse. No matter how much symbolism or imagery you can throw in there, it simply won't be compelling because there is nothing to do with such a concept. That is what I mean by having art (and animation in the case of anime) being subservient to characters and plot because without developed characters and an interesting story the greatest storytelling capabilities the world has ever known will fell insignificant and be easily wasted.

I actually have that book purchased, I just haven't read it yet so I can't comment on it.

I'm not asking for an essay, just a few short examples. Sure, art can be used to such an effect, however, I do not perceive anything like that in Jojo. It seems overly pretentious that you think these things qualify for development. Development is when a character changes his personality or beliefs dependent on events that occur in the story (oh look, another reason why the story is more important). Sure, these things can be delivered subtly through the art, however, art using poses and postures is characterization and not character development (unless they change the way they act after an event). Also, if a character's personality is very one dimensional, played to death, and boring then personality, as shown through art, is meaningless.

Ok, how about you reread Part 5 and focus on Mista or Narancia, and tell me how great of a character they are. You can't, because beyond a few character dynamics and a defining quirk, they have no other character. I'm not asking for every character to be Reinhard von Lohengramm, but I do want characters that are shown in the show to force the main character to change or battle his ideals in ways both subtle and not. Having one-dimensional villains, who are seemingly evil for the sake of power or money is boring. It's been played to death and gives no depth of character or tension to the story, especially after they are thrown out after ten chapters and never seen again. They feel meaningless and like a waste of time in order to stall and bring more hype to the couple of villains that actually matter. I'm not saying there are no good characters in Jojo either. I love Joseph Joestar and his dynamic with Caesar. I think Valentine is better than the vast majority of shonen villains. However, just because there are a few characters I like doesn't mean it makes up for all the underdeveloped, useless, and boring characters that riddle the franchise.