JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 5: Golden Wind stars Giorno Giovana, a teenager in Italy who turns to crime after being raised poorly by a negligent mother and abusive stepfather. Shenanigans and tragedy ensue, as is routine with the JoJo series.
Prior JoJo knowledge isn’t necessary for Golden Wind, which is easy for me to say since I’ve read the previous four parts and might not notice if some critical information relies on them.
Taken by itself, the story is a fun road-trip-in-a-turtle story about a group of friends trying to save a girl.
Giorno starts off as a tourist scammer, but graduates as a criminal to join the mafia. It involves a lethal banana gun and a zippo that shoots you with a bow and arrow. (Looking at that sentence, I can see how the prior JoJo parts got me to a point where I can see the way Giorno joins the mafia and say “sure, but when does the bizarreness start?” So maybe they are necessary.)
He and his new gang all have superpowers (thanks to the lighter), so they are tasked with escorting the mafia head’s daughter to safety. This is good for their criminal ambitions, but by the end they’re protecting her because she’s their friend and it’s the right thing to do.
I liked it, but I think I would have liked it more if I didn’t know the prior arcs – even if they did help me accept things like Giorno turning his tooth into a clandestine jellyfish or the main villain having polka dot hair. I kept on anticipating callbacks and cameos that never happened (or I wish didn’t) and I didn’t fully appreciate the story or characters for what they were.
I think I’ll like it more on revisit.