JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1987 to 2004, and was transferred to the monthly seinen manga magazine Ultra Jump in 2005. The series is divided into eight story arcs, each following the adventures of a new protagonist bearing the "JoJo" nickname; the eighth, JoJolion, began its ongoing serialization in May 2011. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is Shueisha's second largest manga by volume count, with its chapters collected in 127 tankōbon volumes as of April 2020.
A 13-episode original video animation series adapting the manga's third part, Stardust Crusaders, was produced by A.P.P.P. and released from 1993 to 2002. The studio later produced an anime film adapting the first part, Phantom Blood, which was released in theaters in Japan in 2007. In October 2012, an anime television series produced by David Production adapting Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency began broadcast on Tokyo MX. As of July 2019, the studio has produced four seasons adapting through the manga's fifth part, Golden Wind. A based on the fourth part, Diamond Is Unbreakable, was released in Japan in 2017.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is well-known for its iconic art style and poses, frequent references to Western popular music and fashion, and creative battles centered around Stands, psycho-spiritual manifestations with unique supernatural abilities. The series has sold over 100 million copies in print to date, making it one of the best-selling manga series in history, and it has spawned a media franchise including one-shot manga, light novels, and video games. The manga, TV anime, and live-action film are licensed in North America by Viz Media, which has produced various English-language releases of the series since 2005.
Plot
Each of the series' eight protagonists is a member of the Joestar family, whose mainline descendants possess a star-shaped birthmark above their left shoulder blade and a name that can be abbreviated to the titular "JoJo". The first six parts take place within a single continuity whose generational conflict stems from the rivalry between Jonathan Joestar and Dio Brando, while the latter two parts take place in an alternate universe where the Joestar family tree is heavily altered.; Part 1
; Part 2
; Part 3
; Part 4
; Part 5
; Part 7
; Part 8
Production
For JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Araki wanted to use a classical method as a base before introducing modern elements. As an example, he often draws in a realistic style but uses surreal colors. Araki has been aiming to draw real spirits in JoJo resulting in him going to the Kappa River in Tōno, Iwate, to get a better understanding of the concept. Araki claims to be inspired from the art of the 1980s, shading techniques in Western art, and classical paintings; the manga coloring is based on calculations rather than consistency, with Araki citing artists like Paul Gauguin as inspiration. He also claims mystery is the central theme of the manga, as he was fascinated by it as a child. Furthermore, Araki wanted to explore superpowers and energy in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure resulting in various concepts such as the Hamon and the Stands. He said that the supernatural basis of the fights in his series evened the battlefield for women and children to match up against strong men. For Stardust Crusaders in particular, Araki was influenced by role-playing games in designing the characters' skills.The characters had no models, except Jotaro Kujo, who was based on Clint Eastwood. Araki stated that he wanted to try a different type of main character for every part; for example, Part 1's Jonathan Joestar was a serious and honest person, whereas Part 2's Joseph Joestar was a trickster that liked to mess with people. Although their personalities are different, the two share a physical resemblance in order to have some continuity because it was unheard of in the 1980s for a main character to die in a Weekly Shōnen Jump series. Araki's consistent focus on the Joestar family was intended to give a feeling of pride as well as the wonder and mystery surrounding the lineage.
Araki originally planned the series as a trilogy, with the final confrontation taking place in present-day Japan. However, did not want Part 3 to be a tournament affair, which was popular in Weekly Shōnen Jump at the time, and therefore decided to make it a "road movie" inspired by Around the World in Eighty Days. With Part 4, Araki said that he moved away from "muscle men" as they fell out of popularity with readers and he wanted to focus more on fashion. When designing his characters' outfits, Araki considers both everyday fashion and "cartoonish, bizarre clothing that would be impractical in real life". For Part 6, Araki wrote a female protagonist for the first time which he found complicated, but also interesting due to the humanity she could possess. He later described Part 2's much earlier supporting character Lisa Lisa as fresh and "unheard of" in both manga and society in general for its time, and said it was exciting to challenge people's expectations with the female warrior-type. Having not specifically set out on creating a disabled character, Araki explained that Part 7's paraplegic Johnny Joestar was a natural result of wanting to show a character who could grow, both physically and mentally, during a race where "he would be forced not only to rely on other people, but horses as well."
Araki uses unique onomatopoeia and poses in the series, which he attributes to his love for heavy metal and horror films. The poses, which are known in Japan as, are iconic on his book covers and panels, and were inspired by Araki's trip to Italy in his 20s and his studies of Michelangelo's sculptures. The poses are so popular that fans often reenact them in homage to JoJo. A reporter for Rocket News attempted to shop at the special 25th anniversary JoJo-themed Lawson in Sendai in a JoJo-dachi in 2012, and in 2014, singer Shoko Nakagawa remarked that she accidentally broke her coccyx after performing a JoJo-dachi during a concert in Nagoya.
Media
Manga
Written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure began serialization in Weekly Shōnen Jumps combined issue #1–2 of 1987, published in Japan by Shueisha on January 1, 1987. The series is divided into eight story arcs, each following the adventures of a new protagonist bearing the "JoJo" nickname. The first part, titled Phantom Blood, was serialized until October 1987 and collected in five tankōbon volumes; the second, Battle Tendency, was serialized from November 1987 to March 1989 and collected in seven volumes. Stardust Crusaders, the third part, was serialized from March 1989 to April 1992 and collected in 16 volumes, completing Araki's originally planned trilogy.Diamond Is Unbreakable, the fourth part, was serialized from April 1992 to November 1995 and collected in 18 volumes; it was followed by the fifth part, Golden Wind, which was serialized from November 1995 to April 1999 and collected in 17 volumes. After volume 63, the tankōbon numbering for each subsequent part restarted from one. Stone Ocean, the sixth part, was serialized from January 2000 to April 2003 and collected in 17 volumes. The first 23 chapters of the seventh part, Steel Ball Run, were serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from January to October 2004; in March 2005, the series was transferred to the monthly seinen manga magazine Ultra Jump. It ran until April 2011, and was collected in 24 volumes. JoJolion, the eighth part, began its serialization in May 2011; it has been collected in 23 volumes as of April 2020.
Between 2002 and 2009, the first six parts in the series were re-released by Shueisha in bunkoban format; Steel Ball Run was re-released in the format in 2017 and 2018. A sōshūhen omnibus series recreating the first four parts as they originally appeared in Weekly Shōnen Jump was published between 2012 and 2016. Since 2012, all eight parts in the series have been digitally colored and distributed by Shueisha for smartphones and tablet computers under the brand name "JOJO-D". A premium hardcover release of the first three parts was published under the brand "JoJonium" between 2013 and 2015.
In the early 1990s, Viz Media reportedly had plans for an English-language release of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure in North America as The Strange Adventures of Jojo; in 2002, the series was unsuccessfully considered for release as monthly comic books. Between November 2005 and December 2010, Viz published Stardust Crusaders, the most well-known part in the series, in 16 volumes. However, the company changed the names of several characters and Stands due to copyright concerns and censored certain scenes, including scenes of animal violence redrawn by Araki himself. In 2013, Viz expressed further interest in localizing the series, but explained its difficulties in doing so due to Araki's numerous references to real musicians and fashion designers. Viz began publishing the JoJonium release of Phantom Blood digitally in September 2014, with a three-volume hardcover print edition following throughout 2015. Battle Tendency was published in four volumes in 2015 and 2016, and Stardust Crusaders was published in ten volumes from 2016 to 2019. Viz began publishing a new digital and hardcover edition of Diamond Is Unbreakable in May 2019, and has released five volumes as of May 2020.
Spin-offs
Araki has also authored several manga spin-offs of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. The first, "Episode 16: At a Confessional", was published as a one-shot in Weekly Shōnen Jump in July 1997. It follows Rohan Kishibe from Diamond Is Unbreakable, and is the first entry in the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan series. follows Yoshikage Kira from Diamond Is Unbreakable; it was published as three chapters in the magazine Allman in June and July 1999. Both one-shots were later published in a collection of short story manga by Araki published in 1999. a one-shot featuring the title characters from Stardust Crusaders, was released in October 2002; it is drawn in the style of Boingo's Stand Tohth, a fortune-telling comic book. Between January 2008 and February 2018, six chapters of Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan were published in various magazines. A tankōbon volume was published by Shueisha in November 2013, collecting the stories "At a Confessional", "Mutsu-kabe Hill", "Millionaire Village", "Poaching Seashore", and "Rohan Kishibe Goes to Gucci". "Mochizuki Family Moon Viewing" was published digitally in September 2014 during the debut of Shueisha's Shōnen Jump+ website; a second tankōbon volume collecting the episode and the stories "Monday, Sunshower", "D.N.A", and "The Run" was published in July 2018.Anime
Studio A.P.P.P.
A 13-episode original video animation adaptation of Part 3, Stardust Crusaders, was produced by A.P.P.P. The first set of six episodes, which begin during the middle of the arc, were released by Pony Canyon on VHS and Laserdisc from 1993 to 1994. The series was released by Klock Worx on DVD and VHS from 2000 to 2002, starting with seven newly-produced prequel episodes adapting the beginning of the arc. Super Techno Arts produced an English-language dub of all thirteen episodes in North America as a six-volume DVD series between 2003 and 2005, with the episodes also arranged in chronological order. A.P.P.P. also produced JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood, a feature film adaptation of the manga's first arc; it was released theatrically in Japan on February 17, 2007.David Production
At a July 2012 press conference celebrating the 25th anniversary of the series, Araki announced that an anime adaptation of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure was in production and would premiere in October 2012. The 26-episode first season, which covers the Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency arcs, aired weekly on Tokyo MX between October 2012 and April 2013. Although teased in the post-credit scenes of the finale, a second season adapting Stardust Crusaders was officially announced in October 2013. It aired on Tokyo MX in two halves for a total of 48 episodes; the first from April to September 2014, and the second from January to June 2015. At an event for the anime in October 2015, a third season adapting Diamond Is Unbreakable was announced. It premiered in April 2016 and ended in December 2016, for a total of 39 episodes. A fourth season of the anime adapting Golden Wind was announced at an Araki art exhibition in June 2018. The first episode debuted at Anime Expo in July, and the season aired in 39 episodes from October 2018 to July 2019 on Tokyo MX.An original video animation based on the "Millionaire Village" episode of the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan spin-off manga was distributed in 2017 to those who purchased every DVD or Blu-ray volume of Diamond Is Unbreakable. A second OVA adapting the "Mutsu-kabe Hill" episode was released with a special edition of the manga's second volume in July 2018. Two more OVA episodes adapting the "At a Confessional" and "The Run" episodes were screened in Japanese theaters in December 2019 and released on DVD and Blu-ray in March 2020.
With the 2014 premiere of Stardust Crusaders, American-based website Crunchyroll began streaming the anime series for viewers outside Japan one hour after the episodes aired. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, who holds the DVD rights to the series, released the first season of the anime in September 2015, with an included English dub. In July 2016, Viz Media announced it acquired the Blu-ray rights to the series; it released the first three seasons with dubs between August 2017 and January 2020. In October 2016, American cable block Adult Swim began airing the anime on its Toonami block.
Other media
Drama CDs
From 1992 to 1993, a drama CD adaptation of Part 3 was released in three volumes, titled and They starred Kiyoyuki Yanada as Jotaro, Kenji Utsumi and Gorō Naya as Joseph Joestar, Akio Ōtsuka as Avdol, Shō Hayami as Kakyoin, Ken Yamaguchi as Polnareff, Keiichi Nanba as Hol Horse, Shigeru Chiba as J. Geil, and Norio Wakamoto as DIO.A drama CD adaptation of Part 4 was released from 2016 to 2017 in two parts. The first was titled and the second They were only available with the limited edition Blu-ray release of David Production's Diamond Is Unbreakable anime adaptation, and starred Yūki Ono as Josuke, Wataru Takagi as Okuyasu, Yūki Kaji as Koichi, Hiroki Shimowada as Toshikazu, Yuko Lida as Junko, and Takahiro Sakurai as Rohan.
Video games
Several video games based on the series have been created. A titular role-playing video game based on Part 3 was released for the Super Famicom in 1993, and several fighting games have been released, including for the series' 25th anniversary. Characters from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure have also been featured in various Weekly Shōnen Jump cross-over games.Light novels
Several light novels based on the manga have been written, each by a different author, but all including illustrations by Araki. The first, based on Part 3, was simply titled JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, released on November 4, 1993, and written by Mayori Sekijima and Hiroshi Yamaguchi. written by Gichi Ōtsuka and Miya Shōtarō and based on Part 5, was released on May 28, 2001. Both novels received Italian translations and releases; the first in 2003 with the subtitle The Genesis of Universe, and the second in 2004. In 2000, it was announced that Otsuichi was writing a novel based on Part 4. It proved difficult to complete; in Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! 2005, Otsuichi claimed to have written over 2000 pages, but thrown them all out. His work, The Book: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 4th Another Day, was released on November 26, 2007. In April 2011, it was announced that Nisio Isin, Kouhei Kadono, and Ōtarō Maijō were each writing light novels in celebration of the series' 25th anniversary. Kadono's, titled was released on September 16, 2011 and based on Part 5. Nisio's, titled JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Over Heaven, was released on December 16, 2011 and based on Part 3. Maijō's novel, Jorge Joestar, was released on September 19, 2012. It features characters from and inspired by nearly every part of the series.Art books
Araki has released several books containing original artwork he has produced for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. JoJo6251 was released on December 10, 1993, and features artwork, story details, and behind the scenes information for Parts 1 through 4. It was followed by JoJo A-Go! Go! on February 25, 2000, which features original artwork focusing on Parts 3 to 5. On September 19, 2013, he released JoJoveller, a multimedia set that includes a book featuring original artwork for Parts 6 through 8; a book detailing the history of the publications; and a book detailing every Stand featured since Stardust Crusaders.Live-action film
In 2016, it was announced that Toho and Warner Bros. were partnering to produce a live-action film based on Diamond Is Unbreakable. The film was directed by Takashi Miike, stars Kento Yamazaki as Josuke, and was released in Japan on August 4, 2017. Both studios were planning for worldwide distribution and are hoping to create sequels.Reception
Manga
Sales
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has over 100 million copies in print, and is one of the best-selling Weekly Shōnen Jump series of all-time. The first volume of JoJolion was the second best-selling manga for its debut week, its second volume was number three and its third was number two. All three volumes were some of the best-selling manga of 2012. All three volumes of Viz Media's release of Phantom Blood and all four volumes of Battle Tendency reached the top seven positions on The New York Times Manga Best Seller list.Critical reception
named the series a "must read", declaring the artwork of "a standard virtually unseen in most manga produced today". Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network wrote that JoJo's Bizarre Adventure "combines a fighting story with a solid emotional background, and will absolutely put hair on your chest." She called Dio an excellent villain that the readers can enjoy hating. However, she criticized the anatomy of characters, saying "bodies are often twisted into impossible positions." Otaku USAs Joseph Luster called the series "fun as hell" and noted how the beginning is not filled with action like most Weekly Shōnen Jump series, but instead has the tension of horror and thriller films. Heidi Kemps, also of Otaku USA, was mostly positive in her review of Rohan at the Louvre, praising the art for being drawn in full-color by hand, although noted that readers new to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure might not fully understand the ending due to there being only a brief explanation of Rohan's Stand power. Writer Gen Urobuchi noted that in "Part 2" even though Caesar Zeppeli dies, he became "immortal."Accolades
For the 10th anniversary of the Japan Media Arts Festival in 2006, Japanese fans voted JoJo's Bizarre Adventure second on a list of the Top 10 Manga of all time. The series ranked 10th in a 2009 survey by Oricon on what manga series people want to see receive a live-action adaptation. The 2013 edition of Kono Manga ga Sugoi!, which surveys people in the manga and publishing industry, named JoJolion the 12th best manga series for male readers. JoJolion won the grand prize for manga at the 2013 Japan Media Arts Festival.Anime
The first set of OVAs was given three out of five stars by Eric Gaede of THEM Anime Reviews. He praised the fight scenes as more believable than those from other series such as Dragon Ball and the characters' personalities, although felt the villains resorted to clichés when they are about to be defeated. However, he called the story "disjointed" and the animation "drab and colorless".The JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime television series was named one of the best of 2012 by Otaku USA. It was added to the list by Joseph Luster, however, in his review he cited David Production having a small budget for several of his problems with the series, stating some portions of the animation are a "butt hair above motion comic standards," but that it usually makes up for it in "sheer style." Michael Toole of Anime News Network had similar views, writing that the show's good writing, art direction, and pacing were "sometimes obscured by grade-Z animation."
At the 2013 CEDEC Awards, the anime's opening sequence won in the Visual Arts division. Several critics have credited the success of the anime adaptation for bringing about a surge of popularity for the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure franchise amongst Western audiences. In 2018, Danni Wilmoth of Crunchyroll included the series on her list of "The 20 Series Every Anime Fan Needs to Watch". In 2019, Polygon named the series as one of the best anime of the 2010s.
Gadget Tsūshin listed "Pesci, Pesci, Pesci, Pesci yo!", a quote from the fifteenth episode of Golden Wind, in their 2019 anime buzzwords list.
Controversy
In May 2008, both Shueisha and studio A.P.P.P. halted manga/OVA shipments of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure after a complaint had been launched against them from Egyptian Islamic groups, including Islamic fundamentalists, after noticing a scene in the OVAs that has the villain, Dio Brando, reading a book depicting pages from the Qur'an. This recall affected the English-language releases as well, causing Viz Media and Shueisha to cease publication for a year. Even though the manga did not feature that specific scene, Shueisha had Araki redraw scenes that depicted characters fighting on top of, and destroying, mosques for later printings of the series. Viz resumed publication a year later, with the eleventh volume being published on April 7, 2009. Jason Thompson later included Shueisha's changes to the manga on a list of "The Greatest Censorship Fails" in manga.Legacy and collaborations
The September 2007 issue of Cell had a cover drawn by Hirohiko Araki with a ligase represented as a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Stand. He also contributed artwork towards the restoration of Chūson-ji following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. Araki contributed JoJo-inspired art for Sayuri Ishikawa's 2012 album X -Cross-, where she performs one of the series' iconic poses and is drawn wearing jewelry from the manga. JoJo-style artwork has also been produced for other literature, such as for a 2008 collection featuring Yasunari Kawabata's short story "The Dancing Girl of Izu" and a 2012 reprint of Tamaki Saitō's Lacan for Surviving.In 2009, Araki's was one of five artists featured in the Louvre's Le Louvre invite la bande dessinée exhibition for his artwork of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. To commemorate this honor, he wrote Rohan at the Louvre, a 123-page full color story starring Rohan Kishibe visiting the Louvre and discovering a cursed painting tied to his family. The following year it was published in France and ran in Ultra Jump, and in February 2012 was translated and released in North America by NBM Publishing.
From July 19 to August 18, 2019, the Tower Records store in Shibuya held an exhibit celebrating the finale of the fifth part of the series, , and to promote the release of two games, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Pitter Patter Pop! and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Last Survivor. The exhibit showed various concept art pieces from the series' artists as well as scripts from the show. Visitors could receive free items such as stickers, folders, and cards upon completion of various tasks, such as answering a quiz or buying a certain amount of items. Each floor of the Tower Records building had a character on display, as a cardboard cutout and on the elevator doors. On August 14, 2019, a panel was held with directors Hideya Takahashi and Yasuhiro Kimura, and producer Kasama.
Several video game characters, such as Street Fighters Guile and Tekkens Paul Phoenix, were inspired by JoJos Polnareff. When they discovered a new species of Neostygarctus in 2013, scientists Shinta Fujimoto and Katsumi Miyazaki named it Neostygarctus lovedeluxe after a Stand from Diamond Is Unbreakable. The song "Don't Bite the Dust" by heavy metal band Lovebites was influenced by and named after a Stand from Diamond Is Unbreakable.
Gucci
From September 17 to October 6, 2011, the Gucci store in Shinjuku hosted the Gucci x Hirohiko Araki x Spur "Rohan Kishibe Goes to Gucci" Exhibition, a collaboration between the luxury Italian clothing brand, Araki, and the Japanese fashion magazine Spur. The exhibit celebrated the 90th anniversary of Gucci and featured a life-size figure of Rohan Kishibe, as well as numerous illustrations by Araki that included actual pieces of the brand's own 2011–2012 fall/winter collection and his own original fashion designs. The October 2011 issue of Spur featured another one-shot manga titled Rohan Kishibe Goes to Gucci, in which Rohan goes to a Gucci factory to discover the secret behind a magical handbag with the characters wearing and using Gucci products. This was followed by another collaboration in the February 2013 issue of Spur with Jolyne, Fly High with Gucci, starring Jolyne Cujoh from Part 6. A free English translation of the latter was previously available on Gucci's Facebook page. Again, Araki's artwork was featured in Gucci's storefront displays around the world.25th anniversary
There were several art exhibitions in 2012 in Japan for the manga's 25th anniversary. The first was in Sendai, Araki's birthplace, where a Lawson store was remodeled to look like the "Owson" store that appears in Diamond Is Unbreakable and JoJolion. The store was opened from July 28 to September 30, and contained exclusive goods with the Owson name. The second exhibition was held in Tokyo from October 6 to November 4 and hangouts were held on Google Plus to allow fans to view the gallery at night through the lens of Remote Romance, an original "Stand" Araki and his team created for the event. The exhibit was taken to Italy from June 28 to July 14, 2013, and shown at the Gucci showroom in Florence.The October 2012 issue of Ultra Jump contained a special booklet titled 25 Years With JoJo that also celebrated the anniversary; it featured messages and tribute art from well-known manga artists such as Akira Toriyama, Yoshihiro Togashi, Eiichiro Oda, Clamp, and 18 others. During the 25th anniversary celebrations, a special smartphone with a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure-inspired UI was released.
To celebrate the release of the All Star Battle video game created for the 25th anniversary, a special JoJo-themed train traveled the Yamanote Line in Tokyo from August 29 to September 9, 2013. Illustrations and advertisements of the series littered the interior, with videos of the game shown on displays, while the exterior had 33 characters as.