And so Jojolion comes to an end.
I don't know what it is exactly, but by now it's an irrefutable pattern for me: I just like all even-numbered Parts more than the odd-numbered ones. In fact, I may go as far as to say I like all four even-numbered Parts more than any odd-numbered Part. Something like 4 > 2 > 6 ≥ 8 > 5 ≥ 7 > 1 > 3. Subject to change, to be sure; I especially want to re-read Steel Ball Run at a faster pace to get a better feel for it.
"Jojolion" is significant for being probably the most "dedicated" I've been to reading on of the longer (that is, "post-Hamon") Parts. Parts 5, 6, and 7 were all disrupted by me inadvertently taking long hiatuses in the middle of reading. Part 8, by comparison, was finished at a consistent rate of about one volume a day. It's therefore possible my appreciation of the Part is because I didn't waste much time with it. Compare my favorite Part, "Diamond Is Unbreakable," which was the last one I read in one go, without dilly-dallying. (Fun coincidence that that Part is also set in Morioh...)
If I were to try explaining what I like about the even-numbered Parts, I guess it would be that Araki-sensei seems to aim for "trying new things," whereas odd-numbered Parts feel largely like "fight-fests," really stretching thin the "monster of the week" format. The reason I currently list "Stardust Crusaders" at the bottom of my subjective ranking is because the plot is basically just "We need to get to DIO," and the whole thing is padded with Araki coming up with how Stands work as he goes. "Diamond Is Unbreakable" feels like Araki is more confident in Stands, and can come up with ideas beyond just a gauntlet of fights. "Vento Aureo" then feels like a second chance at "SDC," using the self-knowledge gained from "SDC" and "DIU" to create another gauntlet of fights with the creativity of the Morioh cast. "Stone Ocean," like "DIU," limits the scope of "adventure" to the prison and a bit of Florida outside the prison walls, and this constraint, including the "prison break" element, lends a different feeling from the "We have to defeat the bad guy" idea that covers most the duration of Parts 3 and 5. "SBR" is at least quite unique with the horse race, but it follows a linear path akin to Jotaro's journey to Egypt.
"Jojolion" is, to my understanding, not too well-liked among JoJo Parts. But the people who dislike it also overhype "Steel Ball Run," so... I'm not too worried; I'm already forced to be a contrarian for feeling underwhelmed by "SBR," so I may as well like "JJL." The story of "Jojolion" is divided roughly into two parts: the mystery of Josuke's identity, and the quest for the New Locacaca. The manga initially presents itself with the mystery, but it's resolved somewhat soon, and I guess doesn't feel too significant by the end of the series, especially because the main idea is more about "Josuke" becoming his own person, and not necessarily going back to his life as Josefumi. Then again, we get a decently touching moment where Yasuho finds photos of Josefumi in Josefumi's mom's phone at the very end of the series, and Josuke doesn't do much to pursue his kinda-mother after she leaves the scene. But I guess the "significance" here is actually that Josuke is accepted into the Higashikata family in the next scene, which makes sense. Well, more or less.
Most of the cast of this Part are the members of the Higashikata family. A fan of the rest of the manga/franchise would assume the family would follow roles similar to other casts in earlier Parts, possibly like Bruno's crew in "VA," being roughly the closest analogue. "Jojolion" defies this expectation; Josuke's closest ally is Yasuho, a friend of the family, and none of the actual family members ever really take on a role akin to a Zeppeli/Speedwagon/Caesar/Kakyoin/Polnareff/Okayasu/Koichi/Bruno/Mista/Anasui/Ermes/FF/Gyro. The closest ones would be Joshu, Norisuke, and Tsurugi, but Joshu remains a butt-monkey the whole time, Norisuke doesn't have a combat Stand, and Tsurugi is kind of taken out of commission by being roped into his father's quasi-antagonistic role. As for the other Higashikatas: Daiya at least gets a pretty great Stand battle as an antagonist; Hato helps kill a villain, but we only see her Stand for a few pages; Mitsuba does help a bit in a late-game Stand battle; and I guess technically Kaato does a lot of heavy-lifting toward killing the Final Boss. Otherwise, for the longest Part so far, it's kind of weird how little we see of allied Stands. But I guess it's also true the Stand battles here last pretty long, so most of the characters who get time to shine end up getting quite a bit of time before they're basically retired.
Probably the biggest hurdle to "accepting" this story is just how different it is from its immediate predecessor. There's an idea that the Saint Corpse is responsible for Stands in Morioh, or is responsible for the Wall Eyes functioning like the Devil's Palm to awaken Stands. The Spin does factor into the story, but rather late; indeed, I feel some of the shade thrown at the story is because of how late "Go Beyond" comes out, though I'd say it's adequately foreshadowed compared to how similar endgame power-ups occur in the franchise, and it isn't really any zanier than "Star Platinum The World," "Gold Experience Requiem," or "Tusk Act 4." The main thing that stands out against "SBR" lore is how the Rock Humans seemed not to exist in America over a century ago, and seem limited to Japan despite the Locacaca being from South Guinea or wherever. Or, rather, the fact that Rock Humans and non-human Rock Organisms and the Locacaca are all introduced, and don't seem to have much to do with each other directly; Rock Humans are theorized to be an alternate path of evolution in case Homo sapiens fails, but the other Rock Organisms seem almost random and exist more to give enemies that aren't just humanoid Sutando Tsukai; the Locacaca could probably stand alone, without really needing the antagonists to be "Rock Humans" over just normal humans. There's some consensus that Tooru's motive is to a) get really rich off selling New Locacaca treatments and b) put Rock Humans at the top of society above carbon-based humans. But a carbon human could seek monetary gain just as well. And why not vampires like the Hamon saga? There's some background to say female Rock Humans can reproduce with human men, but male Rock Humans can't reproduce with human women, and Tooru has been grooming Yasuho most of her life, but... there's nothing about using Equivalent Exchange to give Tooru the ability to breed with Yasuho or anything. Not explicitly, at least. Actually, when I think about it, we kinda dropped the relevance of Josuke's four testicles, but there could easily have been a plot about Tooru using the New Locacaca to take Josuke's extra pair so he'd be capable of insemination the human way. Maybe this was partly planned, and Araki just dropped it, or forgot, like the possibility of Part 4 Josuke time-traveling to inspire his child self to change hairstyle. I don't know.
At the end of the day, Josuke is pretty cool, Wonder of U is really cool, and Part 8 does well to carry the torch from the original universe Morioh and make everything as fun and creative as back then.
****
Misc. notes:
One thing that bugs me about the combination of Morioh setting and "Rock Human" antagonists is the notable absence of an Angelo analogue. Dude got punched into fusing with a rock by the original Josuke. In a way, he was Morioh's first Rock Human.
Also, I shitted and skeeted my pants when the Fumi-kun of 1941 activated Hermit Purple. Partly because I totally forgot the name "Josefumi" is meant to invoke "Joseph"...