Ok, I'll admit I haven't read any of the manga, except for some of Phantom Blood and Steel Ball Run, even though I religiously watch the anime and love every bit of it. As a kind of side effect, I do see pictures comparing Araki's older art style with his recent, and I have to say I'm a little torn. His older and less "clean" art style appeals to me because it feels more free. Idk I think it has a rough quality that makes his newer style feel sterile in comparison. In general, older things are better to me. On the other hand, I also like his recent style precisely because it's cleaner, and I can appreciate skillful art (I feel like I just said chocolate is good because it's chocolate, but vanilla is also good because it's vanilla lol). As you've pointed out, what really matters is the beautiful, buff men in fashionable clothing, posing fabulously, and omg I love all of that! This whole "slimming down" with every new character is a bit disappointing. I think the characters in seinen/shounen manga were becoming slimmer and might've affected Araki's art, though I'm not sure (Fist of the North Star, Berserk, and Battle Tendency were created around the same time and have buff men, but nowadays even muscular characters are comparatively slim). Besides that, I still like his work. I wanna get an art book for Christmas and some posters, maybe a few T-shirts (lol I don't have that kind of money).
I feel the same way. His art is definitely more detailed nowadays, but the slimming down kills me a little bit since it takes away from what I used to know about the series. If you look up pictures of Dio in Stone Ocean it's really disappointing to see how lack luster he is. I don't mind not all the characters being buff, but I wish Araki had stuck more to the original designs when re-drawing older characters or something. I'll admit as well that I haven't read all the manga either, since I either watched the anime series and didn't feel like I needed too, but I am currently reading Steel Ball Run and just like you said I like the cleanliness of the pictures (except for the fight scenes because I have no idea what is going on lol). Still, I also love his art and I hope that he continues to keep evolving in terms of his style. It would kind of be a shame if his latest series would reflect his style for the future. Also, it's nice to hear someone with an opinion on this and thanks for giving your take on it. And I hope you get enough money for that stuff you want though lol. I kinda want the new Eyes of Heaven game since I liked the demo, but that also costs money I don't have :P
How do you guys feel about the mangaka's (Araki's) art transformation in the JoJo series?
In my opinion I like the style used in Jotaro's arc and the Eyes of Heaven game, but that might be because I like guys with tall, muscular bodies with pretty faces lol. I don't really like the style of the newer arcs especially images of redesigned characters, like Jotaro in Stone Ocean. I didn't mind the Steel Ball arc's art though and the first 2 parts when Araki was beginning were definetly way too muscular. Idk I just seriously enjoy buff, but beautiful men wearing questionable, yaoi looking clothing just like in part 4 (Dio with that halter top though in Eyes of Heaven game was hot ლ(´ڡ`ლ) lol enough of my opinion now. I would like to hear what others think :)