JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

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This article is about the manga series. For other uses, see JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
(disambiguation).
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 Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from 1987 to
2004, and was transferred to the monthly seinen magazine Ultra Jump in 2005. The
series is divided into eight story arcs, each following a new protagonist bearing the
"JoJo" nickname; the eighth part, JoJolion, began its ongoing serialization in May
2011. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is Shueisha's largest ongoing manga series by volume
count, with its chapters collected in 129 tankōbon volumes as of December 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 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 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
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 two 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, the young son of a
wealthy landowner, Jonathan Joestar, 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 with the
use of 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 Naples, Italy, Giorno Giovanna is formally
the son of DIO, but is biologically descended from Jonathan Joestar. 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. Jolyne
encounters the Stand White Snake, which can steal the Stand and soul from its
target, condemning them to a coma and eventually death. After Jotaro falls victim
to White Snake, Jolyne unites with other Stand-using prisoners to save her
father.
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 search the country for the
scattered parts of a holy corpse for his own patriotic 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 105–127, 100 chapters. 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 suffering from amnesia buried in the rubble and nicknames him "Josuke".
Josuke tries to uncover the secret of his past and discovers that he is the result
of a fusion of two people. Josuke is also confronted with the activities of a local
crime syndicate, which sells the fruit of a mysterious Locacaca tree, capable of
healing people and then "taking" something in return.

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. [3][4]

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.[5] 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.[3] 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.[3] 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.[6] For Stardust Crusaders in particular,
Araki was influenced by role-playing games in designing
the characters' skills.[3]
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.[7] 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.[8] 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.[7]
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.[9] 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". [10] 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.[11] 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.[6] 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."[10]
Araki uses unique onomatopoeia and poses in the series,
which he attributes to his love for heavy metal and horror
films.[12] 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.[13] The poses are so popular that fans often
reenact them in homage to JoJo.[14] A reporter for Rocket
News attempted to shop at the special 25th
anniversary JoJo-themed Lawson in Sendai in a JoJo-
dachi in 2012,[15] and in 2014, singer Shoko
Nakagawa remarked that she accidentally broke
her coccyx after performing a JoJo-dachi during a concert
in Nagoya.[16][17]

Media
Manga
See also: List of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure volumes

Hirohiko Araki, the author of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

Written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki, JoJo's Bizarre

Adventure began serialization in Weekly Shōnen Jump's
combined issue #1–2 of 1987, published in Japan
by Shueisha on January 1, 1987.[18] 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. [2]
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 last
volume of Golden Wind), 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;[19] Steel
Ball Run was re-released in the format in 2017 and 2018.
[20]
 A sōshūhen omnibus series recreating the first four parts
as they originally appeared in Weekly Shōnen
Jump (including color pages, promotional text, and next
chapter previews) was published between 2012 and 2016.
[21]
 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".[22] A premium hardcover release of the first
three parts was published under the brand "JoJonium"
between 2013 and 2015.[23]
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;[2] in
2002, the series was unsuccessfully considered for release
as monthly comic books.[2] Between November 2005 and
December 2010, Viz published Stardust Crusaders, the
most well-known part in the series, in 16 volumes.[24]
[25]
 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.[2] 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. [26] Viz began
publishing the JoJonium release of Phantom Blood digitally
in September 2014, with a three-volume hardcover print
edition following throughout 2015.[27] Battle Tendency was
published in four volumes in 2015 and 2016,
[28]
 and Stardust Crusaders was published in ten volumes
from 2016 to 2019.[29] Viz began publishing a new digital
and hardcover edition of Diamond Is Unbreakable in May
2019, and has released six volumes as of August 2020. [30]
Spin-offs
See also: Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan
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.[31] It follows Rohan Kishibe
from Diamond Is Unbreakable, and is the first entry in
the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan series. Dead Man's
Questions[c] follows Yoshikage Kira from Diamond Is
Unbreakable; it was published as three chapters in the
magazine Allman in June and July 1999.[32] Both one-shots
were later published in Under Execution, Under Jailbreak,
[d]
 a collection of short story manga by Araki published in
1999.[33] "Oingo Boingo Brothers Adventure",[e] a one-shot
featuring the title characters from Stardust Crusaders, was
released in October 2002;[34] 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".
[35]
 "Mochizuki Family Moon Viewing" was published digitally
in September 2014 during the debut of Shueisha's Shōnen
Jump+ website;[36] a second tankōbon volume collecting the
episode and the stories "Monday, Sunshower", "D.N.A",
and "The Run" was published in July 2018.