JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Fans Compare Phantom Blood’s Anime Adaptations Side by Side

While JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has gained a massive recent boost in popularity thanks to the anime series produced by David Productions, a good number of folks don’t realize that this isn’t the first time that the Joestar line was brought to television screens. Created by Studio APPP, this original take on the first story arc of the Bizarre franchise features an entirely new look at Phantom Blood, giving us a far earlier interpretation of the fight between Jonathan Joestar and the villainous vampire that is Dio. Released as a test animation, fans have compared the animation from this first take with that of David Production’s later version of JoJo’s first season!

Reddit User Pichuunnn compared images from the test footage produced by Studio APPP as well as images from the first season of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, with each having their own distinct look that go a long way toward bringing the story of Jonathan Joestar to life:

Devoid of Stands and instead focusing on the attacks called “Ripples”, solar based energy techniques that acted as the perfect counter measure to Dio Brando and his army of vampires, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood was our initial introduction to the Joestar line. Jonathan himself was as nice a protagonist as you could think of, believing that Dio was a brother to him rather than realizing his “adopted brother” was anthing but. Swearing to destroy the life of Jonathan and his father, Dio eventually found his way to a stone mask that gave him a supernatural power boost.

With the first season ending with Jonathan and Dio seemingly perishing in a fire, it wasn’t until the third season of the franchise, Stardust Crusaders, that we discovered the terrible fate of the first Joestar. Dio had managed to take over Jon’s dead body and use it as his own by attaching his severed head to it!

What do you think is the better version of the story of Phantom Blood displayed here? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and JoJo!

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure was originally created by Hirohiko Araki for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1987, and is one of the longest running series in the magazine overall. It follows the story of the Joestar family, who are each destined to take down various supernatural enemies. The series has been split up into eight parts, with each part following a different generation of the Joestar family. The series has sold over 100 million copies, and has been licensed for an English language release by Viz Media. The series has spawned multiple anime, video games, toys, and even jewelry. The series currently has an anime adaptation that initially began in 2012, and now has run for over 100 episodes spanning the first five major arcs of the series.