JOJOS BIZARRE ADVENTURE

 

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Japanese: ジョジョの奇妙な冒険, Hepburn: JoJo no Kimyō na Bōken) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's shōnen manga magazine 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 nine story arcs, each following a new protagonist bearing the "JoJo" nickname. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is the largest ongoing manga series published by Shueisha by number of volumes, with its chapters collected in 131 tankōbon volumes as of September 2021.

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 December 2022, the studio has produced five seasons consisting of 190 total episodes adapting through the manga's sixth part, Stone Ocean. A live-action film based on the fourth part, Diamond Is Unbreakable, was released in Japan in 2017.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is well-known for its art style and poses; frequent references to Western popular music and fashion; and battles centered around Stands, psycho-spiritual manifestations with unique supernatural abilities. The series had over 120 million copies in circulation as of December 2021, 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

See also: List of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure characters

The universe of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a reflection of the real world with the added existence of supernatural forces and beings.^[2] In this setting, some people are capable of transforming their inner spiritual power into a Stand (スタンド, Sutando); another significant form of energy is Hamon (波紋, "Ripple"), a martial arts technique that allows its user to focus bodily energy into sunlight via controlled breathing. The narrative of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is split into parts with independent stories and different characters. Each of the series' 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".^[a] 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 three parts take place in an alternate universe where the Joestar family tree is heavily altered.

Part 1: Phantom Blood (ファントムブラッド, Fantomu Buraddo)

Volumes 1–5, 44 chapters. In late 19th-century England, Jonathan Joestar, the young son of a wealthy landowner, meets his new adopted brother Dio Brando, who loathes him and plans to usurp him as heir to the Joestar family. When Dio's attempts are thwarted, he transforms himself into a vampire using an ancient Stone Mask and destroys the Joestar estate. Jonathan embarks on a journey, meets new allies, and masters the Hamon (波紋, "Ripple") martial arts technique to stop Dio, who has made world domination his new goal.

Part 2: Battle Tendency (戦闘潮流, Sentō Chōryū)

Volumes 5–12, 69 chapters. In 1938, a German expedition discovers and awakens a Pillar Man, a powerful humanoid whose race created the Stone Mask. The Pillar Man kills the researchers and escapes to awaken the other Pillar Men so that they may regain dominance over humanity by obtaining the Red Stone of Aja. Joseph Joestar, Jonathan's grandson, unites with new allies and masters Hamon to defeat the Pillar Men.

Part 3: Stardust Crusaders (スターダストクルセイダース, Sutādasuto Kuruseidāsu)

Volumes 13–28, 152 chapters. In 1989, Dio Brando (now referred to as "DIO") awakens after his tomb is salvaged from the ocean. Because Dio had managed to capture Jonathan's body, Stands (スタンド, Sutando) awaken in Jonathan's descendants, consisting of Joseph, his daughter Holly Kujo, and grandson Jotaro Kujo. Holly, however, is unable to cope with her own Stand, and has only 50 days to live. Jotaro, Joseph, and their new allies set out to defeat Dio before this deadline expires, and encounter Dio's henchmen along the way.

Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable (ダイヤモンドは砕けない, Daiyamondo wa Kudakenai)

Volumes 29–47, 174 chapters. In 1999, the Joestar family learns that Joseph has an illegitimate son, Josuke Higashikata,^[b] who lives in the fictional Japanese town of Morioh. Josuke learns of a mystical Bow and Arrow that bestows Stands upon those struck by its arrowheads. As they hunt down the Bow and Arrow, Josuke and his allies encounter a serious threat in the form of the Stand-using serial killer Yoshikage Kira.

Part 5: Golden Wind (黄金の風, Ōgon no Kaze)

Volumes 47–63, 155 chapters. In 2001, in Naples, Italy, Giorno Giovanna is the son of Dio, conceived while he was in possession of Jonathan Joestar's body. Giorno seeks to become a mafia boss in order to eliminate drug dealers who sell their wares to children. His team, which consists of Stand users, must confront the mafia boss Diavolo and protect his daughter Trish Una, whom Diavolo intends to kill in order to hide his identity.

Part 6: Stone Ocean (ストーンオーシャン, Sutōn Ōshan)

Volumes 64–80, 158 chapters. In 2011, near Port St. Lucie, Florida, Jotaro Kujo's daughter Jolyne Cujoh is framed for murder and sent to prison. She works together with other Stand-using prisoners and her father to hunt down prison chaplain Father Enrico Pucci, loyalist to Dio, who seeks the creation of a new universe shaped to his and Dio's will.

Part 7: Steel Ball Run (スティール・ボール・ラン, Sutīru Bōru Ran)

Volumes 81–104, 95 chapters. In an alternate timeline's 1890, United States President Funny Valentine holds a cross-country horse race with a $50 million reward to the winner. Valentine intends to use the race to gather the scattered parts of a holy corpse for his own nationalistic ends. Racers Gyro Zeppeli and Johnny Joestar uncover Valentine's ploy and must defend themselves from his hired assassins.

Part 8: JoJolion (ジョジョリオン, Jojorion)

Volumes 105–131, 110 chapters. Set in the same universe as Steel Ball Run, in 2012, the town of Morioh has been devastated by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which has caused mysterious faults colloquially known as the "Wall Eyes" to appear in town. Local college student Yasuho Hirose discovers a young man buried in the rubble and nicknames him "Josuke". Suffering from amnesia, Josuke tries to uncover the secret of his past as he is also confronted with the activities of a local crime syndicate and their leader, Toru, which sells the fruit of a mysterious Locacaca tree, capable of healing people and then "taking" something in return.

Part 9: The JoJoLands (ザ・ジョジョランズ, Za Jojoranzu)

The ninth part began serialization on February 17, 2023.^[3] In modern day Hawaii, siblings Jodio Joestar and Dragona Joestar work together in illegal activity to provide for and protect their mother. Jodio declares that this story is about him becoming filthy rich.

Production

Araki is inspired by western art, such as this piece by Paul Gauguin which inspired him to use unusual colors in his own art.^[4][5]

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.^[6] 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.^[4] 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 Hamon and Stands.^[4] 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.^[7] For Stardust Crusaders in particular, Araki was influenced by role-playing games in designing the characters' skills.^[4] In creating the manga's generational story, Araki thought much about death and the legacy people leave behind in their lives for their descendants, after the death of his grandfather. He took inspiration from Roots: The Saga of an American Family and East of Eden. Araki focused on Roots for its family-centric story,^[8] and he took the idea of intertwined destiny and rivalry between two families from East of Eden. He thought highly of stories that were well-received after changing protagonists, which influenced Araki's decision to kill Jonathan Joestar and write a generational story, passing on his "Spirit" to his own descendants.^[9]

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.^[10] 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.^[11] 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.^[10]

Araki originally planned the series as a trilogy, with the final confrontation taking place in present-day Japan. However, Araki 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.^[12] 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".^[13] 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.^[14] 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.^[7] 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."^[13]

Araki uses unique onomatopoeia and poses in the series, which he attributes to his love for heavy metal and horror films.^[15] The poses, which are known in Japan as JoJo-dachi (ジョジョ立ち, lit. "JoJo standing"), 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.^[16]

 

^ΠΗΓΗ