JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 3—Stardust Crusaders, Vol. 7

Stardust Crusaders Deluxe #7

by Hirohiko Araki

A multigenerational tale of the heroic Joestar family and their never-ending battle against evil!

The legendary Shonen Jump series is now available in deluxe editions featuring color pages and newly drawn cover art! JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is a groundbreaking manga famous for its outlandish characters, wild humor and frenetic battles.

JoJo and friends continue to close in on their nemesis, DIO! Their travels take them across the Middle East, where they face new and more powerful enemies—a mysterious woman with magnetic powers, a strange man with the ability to control time and a smooth gambler who deals in souls. Will they die before they even get to DIO?!

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Comics, Shonen, Fiction, Action, Adventure

372 pages, Hardcover

First published September 18, 2002

About the author

Hirohiko Araki ( 荒木飛呂彦) is a Japanese manga artist. He left school before graduation from Miyagi University of Education.

He enjoys the baseball manga Kyojin No Hoshii (Star of the Giants); the video games Mario Kart and Bomberman; and likes Prince and other African-American singers, as well as jazz, rock, and rap.

He is a recipient the Tezuka Award for manga.

Reviews

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the D’arby arc so much. Honestly has to be one of my favorite all time arcs in jojo. But minus one star for Alessi. Baby Polnareff was adorable but we didn’t need to see that much of him. 😷 Honestly wish we saw little Jotaro a little more. The glimpse we had wasn’t enough. I’m sure he was adorable.

This volume covered Mariah to D’arby.

I also like the one chapter with Hol Horse and Dio. I love the sneak peak of Dio’s stand we got in the chapter. Shadow Dio is so spooky and I absolutely eat it up everytime he is on the page. I’m looking forward to seeing more of Hol Horse again.

[maddie ౨ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

d’arby was like a breath of fresh air but kid polnareff’s little penis is something i’ll repress and bring up in therapy in 20 years

[Rolando Marono · Rating 4 out of 5]

La estructura de Jojos sigue sin cambiar pero al menos, las 3 peleas de este tomo estuvieron más entretenidas y un poco más originales que las del tomo anterior.
De nuevo tenemos tres combates, el primero me pareció muy chistoso. Es un reto interesante para Polnareff y Jotaro y los vemos crecer de distintas maneras. Jotaro en fuerza y Polnareff en espíritu. El final de esta parte, con los cuadros sin texto y como el maestro Hirohiko fortalece las expresiones de los personajes, me gustó mucho.
El segundo combate es un duelo de astucia en las apuestas. Me pareció interesante y tenso. Todo el capítulo estuve pegado en el filo del asiento pensando en qué sucedería. El final resignifica también a Jotaro y sus habilidades. Me sigue pareciendo que Polnareff es mejor personaje pero Jotaro me gusta también.
Y el tercero me gustó bastante. Retorna el maravilloso Oingo; cuyo diseño de personaje me parece muy gracioso y tierno al mismo tiempo. Además que su Stand es reamente poderoso aunque en su primera aparición no se haya sentido de esa manera. Me gustó mucho que tuviera el brillo que merecía, además que su aparición en el tomo ocasiona un final inesperado para esta parte de la historia.
También aprendimos del stand de Dio. Ya sabemos que carta del tarot es y por qué no ha atacado a los demás y ha enviado a sus ayudantes con stands poderosos. Tres tomos más para terminar esta saga de Jojos que aunque me ha gustado más que las otras dos, tal vez podía haber sido un poco más corta.

[Grace Arango · Rating 4 out of 5]

LOVED THIS VOLUME! Favourite in the series so far!

[孙灵猴 · Rating 4 out of 5]

lo scontro sul finale del volume è uno dei più belli dell'intera serie.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

wanted to give this 5 stars for mariah, then 1 star for the whole baby polnareff section, and then circled back around to 5 stars because of the hol horse & dio chapter + the d'arby fight

but seriously. this volume is filled with some of the best of the egypt arc and also some of the most wasted potential in the history of jojo's. mariah is such a great character design-wise and her stand makes for probably one of the funniest fights in the whole series. and alessi is a WELL-DESIGNED villain. he's weird and creepy and scary!! but WHYYYYYYY was his stand used LIKE THAT

seriously. SERIOUSLY. imagine how great that whole section would be with polnareff and joseph swapped. alessi trying to weaken jospeh but he just reverts him to 18 years old and he pulls out all his crazy bullshit hamon moves from part 2. and jotaro just sits there and watches his grandpa kick ass. AND THEN ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE TOWN AVDOL AND POLNAREFF ARE HAVING A GAY ADVENTURE. WOULDN'T IT BE BEAUTIFUL

whatever i really really really love the way dio is being built up for the final fight. he's so intimidating and scary but also his charm really comes across through the way his followers speak of him. hol horse needed to be humbled bad i fear...

but also UGH it's insane how dio literally gets shot at and his only response to the guy who did it is commending him on being calm when he took the shot. and then hol horse instantly FALLS AT HIS FEET. GODDAMNNNN the cult stuff is just so good. dio is dangerous because he's charming!!! and charismatic!!!! and SCARYYYY !!!!!!! it especially went really well with the way mariah talked about him and then d'arby's breakdown at the prospect of betraying him. and ofc we're still recovering from n'doul literally just killing himself in dio's name. this was all set up for vanilla ice guys hashtag trust me.....

also live laugh love d'arby i like how that final fight was just "who can ragebait the other person better" i love you jojo !!!!!!!

[Jimmi Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm just going to say it: Alessi and his perverted stand, Sethan, are the worst antagonists in any Shonen Jump magazine (that I'm aware of) ever! This character is pathetic and openly admits that he likes beating the weak. It's crazy that they let him off so easily. If I were writing it, I would have had him bump into Joseph Joestar at the end instead of Jotaro. Have Prime Battle Tendency JoJo open a can of whoop!

In saying that, the entire time I was reading the battle, I was angry. If we digest art to invoke feeling, then Araki has done a brilliant job.

[Aleixo Vieira · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.5⭐️) Part 3 is getting so much better after the gang made it to Egypt. This volume has some of my favourite villains. Mariah, Alessi and D'Arby are always a blast to read through, can’t wait for the next set of enemies.

[Kris Ritchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this volume: de-aged heroes, a woman de-aged to a fetus, gambling with souls, and more Dio.

Again, as usual, very gay and weird. Look at the Joestar and Avdol chapters for an example....

[Johnny Bahama · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jojo should have been gambling in baby dicks rather than souls, wanna know why? Cause there is an UNCOMFORTABLE amount of baby dicks in this volume. Almost subtracted a star, but at the end of the day, that was a bold move, pimp - respect.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really want to give this a higher rating. The fight against Mariah is fun and seeing Joseph do stuff is always awesome. The D'Arby battle is fantastic and Araki does a wonderful job of making a Stand battle that isn't an actual fight riveting and interesting (which is something he will continue to do in later parts). We even get to see Hol Horse and DIO again! There's a lot to like here.

But I'm not really a fan of the battle against Alessi. The Stand is horrifying and Araki's noted love of horror movies is on full display, but it just comes across as gross and crass, which the series has been before, but on a much much worse level.

Still, most of the volume being good makes it hard to pass up, so I'll give it a 3/5 and start waiting for the next one.

[ComicNerdSam · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Mariah fight is fun, solid but not my favorite. Alessi is a great villain and I get what Araki was going for, but it ended up being super creepy. It’s also not my favorite. But the D’Arby the Gambler fight. Sweet jesus, that’s my absolute favorite JoJo fight. The tension is thick and Araki’s stellar pacing keeps you on edge the entire time. And then the last bit of it, it’s so wonderful and satisfying that I can’t help but grin like an idiot. It blows the last two fights miles away, it’s every strength Araki has as a storyteller and cartoonist done perfectly. It’s a perfect comic.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this volume, Avdol and Joseph turn into magnets, Polnareff turns into a little kid, and Jotaro plays poker without looking at his cards.

The D'Arby episodes are among my favorite episodes in the anime, and they were just as fun to read. As always, Jotaro is too cool for school. (Literally, since he practically dropped out of school to do all of this.)

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume of Stardust Crusaders was very enjoyable. Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Hirohiko Araki is a great series that I recommend to many people especially those who enjoy rock music(though names that are directly named after a band or song are changed for copyright reasons). This volume in particular takes place in Egypt after the main cast, being Jotaro, Joseph, Avdol, Polnareff, Kakyoin(who is hospitilized), and Iggy arrived there. Personally I found this book after watching the anime adaptation because I thought it would be interesting to read the original version.

In this volume we follow three adventures of the cast. The main adventure follows an intense poker game between Jotaro and D'arby(antagonist of volume) where losing the bet means losing your soul. D'arby is a professional gambler who rarely, if not ever, loses. Jotaro has to defeat D'arby to fight the true villain, Dio. The decks are, literally, stacked against him.
The ending of this volume was very satisfying. Seeing the calm and composed D'arby absolutely freak out and fall unconscious out of fear was almost a little amusing. To quote the volume:"He fainted from the pressure... in his heart he backed out of the game. He admitted defeat to himself, so the souls were released"(Araki 364)

All in all, I fairly enjoyed this volume. It wasn't the usual fistfight but instead a mind-pressuring poker game. I recommend this to any Jojo fan(as long as you have the context of the previous volumes) and even someone who likes poker in manga. Similar books are the rest of the volumes and previous and later parts. Avid Jojo or even manga fans in general may find to like this book. I'm sure you will enjoy this volume.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the seventh volume of Part 3 which makes it as long as Part 1 and Part 2 combined and we are still not at the end or even to the encounter with Dio. The stories do continue to be good but I do feel like it is being dragged out a little too much. We have been in Egypt for quite some time now and I just want them to get to Dio and have a battle to end all battles.
This volume is split into three stories and a one shot. The one shot is a nice break to the action with the main group and it was fantastic to see Hol Horse again. It didn’t really add a lot to the main arc but it was good to check in with Dio.
The fight with the various Stand users continue to get stranger and stranger. In this volume alone with have people being turned in magnets, turned into babies and betting their souls in bar games and poker. It is all so random. It was great to have a mixture of physical fight and ones that are more mental. There was a lso a lot of humour in this volume especially in the first two stories. That said there was also a lot of cringe especially when one of the group is turned into a baby and bathed by a young woman. Shudder. The stand out of the volume has to be the psychological battle against Alessi it was quite possible the most tense card game I’ve come across in a book.
All in all a fun volume but please hurry up and get to the climax… also please no more naked babies.

2022 Goals – #MangaMonday wk35

[jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

D'ARBY FIGHT D'ARBY FIGHT D'ARBY FIGHT!!!! I've given high praise to a few of the fights in Stardust, but absolutely nothing beats the D'Arby gambling battle. Not only is it arguably the best fight of the part (aside from the final DIO fight), but it's genuinely one of the best battles of the whole series to me and something that always makes it worth it to come back to Stardust. I think the whole idea behind this sort of fight is really a great expression of the kind of creativity that Jojo's and the stand format allows for, and what imo, ultimately makes it a great and lovable series.

This volume also has the Mariah and Alessi fights, with the former being actually also a very enjoyable and more lighthearted fight with a lot of Joseph and Avdol shenanigans, and the latter being an absolute horrifying freak of a fight that makes me wanna take a star away from the volume so bad despite ending with child Jotaro beating the shit out of a full grown adult. But neither of these factors matter since D'Arby on its own gets an unchangeable 5.

Quote of the Volume:

"YAH HAH HAH! What do you think you're doing, running around holding a dying fetus? I'LL TURN YOU INTO A FETUS TOO!"

- Alessi

[Lksreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

This volume specifically brought back some old Jojo sentiments from me. Think I’m partly hitting fatigue from so many frickin villains in this battle-shonen setting, but my main gripe is the length of these villains stay. I actually liked their Stands and had a lot of fun with them, I just don’t think their arcs needed to be 5+ chapters long. Starts cool but becomes a drag.

The magnetism chapters are great. Joseph gags don’t miss and him being stuck to Avdol had me cackling. Took a lil too long to buildup in my opinion but payoff was worth it. The baby Polnareff chapters were… fun but also overstayed their welcome. It was definitely weird, but it’s Jojo’s, so take it or leave it. At the very least the ending gave Polnareff a good guy moment shared with Jotaro, which I appreciate.

My favorite of the lot was D’Arby the Elder. I love a gambler and I was hooked on the games. It was a fun change of pace from the usual trickery of Stands and I like when Jotaro gets to be the main character. The high stakes kept me on the hook and Jotaro was the right cast member for playing hardball with a scummy cheater.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. The perfect mix of comedy, friendship, mystery and terror. All 3 battles are great. Mariah/Bast, Alessi/Set, & D’arby/Osiris.

The first is heavily comedic as Jospeh and Avdol get in to all sorts of compromising and embarrassing positions.

The second is also highly comedic and stars Polnareff. The brash and boisterous fool is a bit shy around the ladies, it seems. And we discover that Jotaro, even as a child, is a force to be reckoned with.

Jotaro shines again in the intense third battle, triumphing through sheer bravado, refusing to blink when faced with impending doom. These are some of the best scenes with Jotaro in stardust crusaders and highlight his strength as a character. Not relying on brute force, but will and wits.

There’s also a quick chapter from Hol Horse’s point of view that highlights the looming threat posed by Dio.

Everything is clicking here. The stands are unique and interesting, each presenting a new type of challenge to be solved. From human magnetism to baby transformation to gambling for souls. It’s Peak JoJo.

[Pinky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stand user Mariah meets the gang at the Valley of the Kings, her stand will cause grandpa Joestar to be magnetized. Grandpa Joestar will meet his fate by escalator unless Avdol thinks of something quick. Avdol and Grandpa Joestar are stuck together quite literally and will continue to be stuck, until they defeat Mariah. Thanks to quick thinking Avdol and Grandpa Joestar are saved and defeat Mariah, before meeting up with the rest of the gang. A new stand user turns Polnareff into a kid and Jotaro doesn't recognize him. Thanks to Jotaro the stand user is defeated and Polnareff returns to his normal age. Hol Horse gets sent on a mission to kill the Joestars and their entourage by Dio. D'ARBY is playing for keeps and takes Polnareffs soul first. Grandpa Joestar loses his soul in the next bet but all bets are off when Jotaro bluffs his way to victory against D'ARBY.

[Kristina Mlinarić · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fight against D'Arby was one of my favorites while I was watching the anime. D'Arby is a skilled gambler (and cheater) who never resorts to physical violence so he uses his composure and wits to win. You simply need to surrender your soul after losing which makes your body "dead". He finds his match in Jotaro, known for his cool mind under pressure, and what ensues is a very hilarious and satisfying game of poker.

Maybe it's a bit morbid but I imagine that after D'Arby releases trapped souls to their bodies some souls find the bodies long dead or, if the owners were buried recently due to appearing dead, the souls revive a person now effectively buried alive. Taking all this into account makes D'Arby's ability that much more terrifying.

P.S. Alessi villain makes for a creepy Pennywise the Clown persona.

[D. F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume is awesome! I was actually laughing out loud at certain points, despite the humor being pretty dated in some places. There were just moments here that got me pretty good. The first two encounters are on the funny side, with a side of body horror in the fight with Alessi, but it's the third act that really runs it all home. The encounter with D'Arby was just brilliant, and a wonderful display for both Jotaro's character and Araki's ability to generate tension. This felt less like coming up with ideas on the fly for his serial, and more like an artfully crafted encounter with tangible consequences. I loved it, and hope for more of that in the future.

[Radwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a banger volume!
- once again, joseph gets the hilarious bits and more ridiculos things happen to him
- the stands are creative! an electric socket to trick you and make you magnetic? he truly doesn't run out of ideas
- love the transition from stands inspired by the tarot cards to ones inspired by ancient egyptian gods and goddesses. love the strong inclusion of mythology in this part
- they get in really sticky situations and i'm amused watching them get out of
- oingo and boingo, d'arby, and that shadow man were some intriguing foes!

[Maciej Matusz · Rating 3 out of 5]

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 3, Volume 7, evokes mixed feelings for me. It features my least favorite encounter, which I find creepy, but also the best one,an entirely psychological battle with no physical fighting, which I enjoyed because it felt refreshing. Of course, the “villain of the week” format is still present, so if someone didn’t like the previous volumes, this one won’t change their mind. Additionally, I don’t quite understand how these volumes are structured. I would prefer if each volume contained entire battles rather than starting a new one with just the initial chapters.

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the fight w/ Mariah/Bast. I’ve always wondered what Jotaro & Polnareff would’ve done in that situation, but Joseph & Avdol were perfect for that fight. Alessi/Set fight is such a good one too, and I loved the ending when Polnareff clearly wanted to tell the woman what happened but didn’t and Jotaro was there to support him (and even smiled, a very rare moment for Jotaro). Hol Horse trying to shoot Dio was perfect. It showed just enough of Dio’s power while leaving the audience guessing what it could be. And D’Arby the Gambler…10/10. Jotaro is a mastermind.

[Asierito · Rating 5 out of 5]

De verdad que no lo entiendo. Araki no sólo consigue mantener un ritmo frenético e interesante, sino que también eleva la calidad del dibujo, la trama y los personajes. Y todo eso lo hace a cada número. Este es sin duda el tomo que mejor define lo que es esta serie: humor que te saca carcajada, personajes (y villanos) carismáticos y esa sensación de inseguridad constante que te deja con ganas de más.

[Nora Suntken · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost gave this one four stars (Kakyoin’s absence is weighing HEAVILY on this), but had some far too iconic moments to pass up. Joseph’s and Avdol’s… situation… is what legends are made of (and the bathroom issues are always a hoot). Polnareff turning into a baby is kind of weird and vaguely uncomfortable, but its finale is somehow one of the most emotional moments in the whole part. Finally, D’Arby is maybe one of the most iconic stand battles and is truly just peak Jotaro.

[joey · Rating 4 out of 5]

i loved the d’arby “fight” here as much as i did in the anime, loved joseph and avdol’s teamwork too, but unfortunately just as much as i did in the anime i hate hate hateeee the baby polnareff arc and that’s what’s keeping me from rating this a 5/5 💀 it makes me so uncomfortable. sure alessi is a great irredeemable villain, but *that* whole sequence… you know the one. but aww baby silver chariot and why are you on the bus even! 😭😭😭

[Yousseif Abdellatif · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honest reaction to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: it's loud, it's rude, and I laughed way more than I'm comfortable admitting. Hirohiko Araki doesn't care about being likable, and the narrator's rant about her coworker's passive-aggressive sticky notes is the funniest thing I've read all year. The jokes start repeating by the end, so it overstays its welcome a bit. Great for anyone who's ever had a terrible boss. Skip it if sarcasm gives you a headache.

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

86%

The D’Arby chapters are sooooo good. Some of my favourite in this part imo. Along with the final fight lol. The Mariah chapters are also really funny, although tbh I think the anime was funnier since it had the voice acting and animation to enhance it. Can’t wait to get to the chapters with D’Arby’s brother tho lol.

[RN_Hpesoj · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the femme fatale Stand user Bast with the power of magnetism, and I liked D'Arby the Gambler with the scenes involving betting and wagers. It's great that some of the battles in the series are of the mind and wits. I didn't love the chapters with Polnareff and the Stand user that used the shadow Stand to reverse the age of his opponents.