Stand

Plot

The universe of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a reflection of the real world with the added existence of supernatural forces and beings. In this setting, some people are capable of transforming their inner spiritual power into a Stand (スタンド, Sutando), which are psycho-spiritual manifestations of a person's fighting spirit; 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 nine 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". 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 a second continuity 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 Jonathan's position 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, German researchers discover three lifeforms called Pillar Men, powerful humanoids responsible for the creation of the Stone Mask. The Pillar Men awaken and escape in search of the Red Stone of Aja, which will turn them into invincible superbeings. Joseph Joestar, Jonathan's grandson, unites with new allies and masters Hamon to defeat the Pillar Men and their leader, Kars.

Part 3

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 aimed 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 was inspired by 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 claimed that mystery is the central theme of the manga, as he was fascinated by the concept of 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. He said that the supernatural basis of the fights in his series evened the battlefield for women and children to match up against physically strong men. Much like Araki's previous work and JoJo's spiritual predecessor, Baoh: The Visitor, the idea of an ultimate being was used in Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency in the forms of the vampires and the Pillar Men, respectively. For Stardust Crusaders in particular, Araki was influenced by role-playing games in designing the characters' skills. This part marked the transition from physical power to an emphasis on mental and spiritual power, with Araki noting that the idea of Stands came from the idea of drawing the heart and soul.

In creating the manga's generational story, Araki thought much about death, particularly the death of his grandfather, and the legacy people leave behind in their lives for their descendants. He also took inspiration from Roots: The Saga of an American Family and East of Eden. Araki focused on Roots for its family-centric story, 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 off Jonathan Joestar and write a generational story, passing on his "Spirit" to his own descendants.

None of the characters were modeled after anyone, 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. 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 wonder and mystery surrounding the lineage.

Media

Manga

Written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure began serialization in the weekly shōnen manga anthology Weekly Shōnen Jump's combined issue #1–2 of 1987, published by Shueisha on January 1, 1987. The series is divided into nine 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. 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 restarts from one. Stone Ocean, the sixth part, was serialized from December 1999 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, was serialized from May 2011 to August 2021 and collected in 27 volumes. In the September 2021 issue of Ultra Jump, Araki stated in the author's notes that part 9 of the series, tentatively titled "JoJoLands" and later finalized as The JoJoLands, would begin on February 19, 2023, following a short break.

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 (including color pages, promotional text, and next chapter previews) 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 in the form of 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 legal concerns and censored certain scenes, including scenes of violence against animals 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 continues to publish the series in their own digital and hardcover editions that emulate the JoJonium edition; Diamond Is Unbreakable was published in nine volumes from 2019 to 2021, while Golden Wind began in August 2021. In January 2022, Viz Media began releasing Stone Ocean digitally. Steel Ball Run is set be published in print starting in 2025.

Anime

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.

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; the first from April to September 2014, and the second from January to June 2015, for a total of 48 episodes. 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. At a special event for the anime series on April 4, 2021, an adaptation of Stone Ocean was announced. Unlike the previous seasons, it debuted its first part worldwide on Netflix in December 2021, before receiving a Japanese television broadcast in January 2022. The second part premiered on Netflix in September 2022, and the third and final part premiered in December of that same year. An anime adaptation of Steel Ball Run premiered worldwide on Netflix in March 2026.

An original video animation (OVA) based on the "Millionaire Village" episode of the Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe 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.

Other media

From 1992 to 1993, a drama CD adaptation of Part 3 was released in three volumes, titled JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Volume 1: Jotaro Kujo's Visitation, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Volume 2: The Death of Avdol, and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Volume 3: Dio's World. They starred Kiyoyuki Yanada as Jotaro, Kenji Utsumi (volumes 1 & 3) and Gorō Naya (volume 2) 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 A Ghost Story from Budogaoka High and the second After-school Talk: At Cafe Deux Magots..

Several video games based on JoJo's Bizarre Adventure have been released. 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 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future in 1998, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle for the series' 25th anniversary in 2013, and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven in 2015. Characters from the series have also been featured in various Weekly Shōnen Jump cross-over games, such as Jump Force, J-Stars Victory VS, Jump Ultimate Stars, Famicom Jump: Hero Retsuden, and its sequel, Famicom Jump II: Saikyō no Shichinin.

Several light novels based on the manga have been written, each by a different author, but all including illustrations by Araki. The first novel, written by Mayori Sekijima and Hiroshi Yamaguchi, was based on Part 3 and titled JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and it was released on November 4, 1993. Le Bizzarre Avventure di GioGio II: Golden Heart/Golden Ring, written by Gichi Ōtsuka and Miya Shōtarō and based on Part 5, was released on May 28, 2001. Both novels received Italian translations; the first was released in 2003 with the subtitle The Genesis of Universe, and the second in 2004. In 2000, it was announced that the Japanese writer Otsuichi was writing a novel based on Part 4, which proved difficult to complete; in Kono Mystery ga Sugoi! 2005, Otsuichi claimed to have written over 2000 pages, which he later discarded. 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 Purple Smoke Distortion, 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.

Reception

Sales

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure had over 100 million copies in circulation by December 2016, and over 120 million copies in circulation by August 2023. making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time. The first volume of JoJolion was the second best-selling manga for its debut week; its second volume reached third place, and its third reached second place. 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. According to ICv2, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure was the eighth best-selling manga franchise of the Q4 2021 period (September–December) in the United States.

Critical reception

Reviewing the first volume, IGN named JoJo's Bizarre Adventure a "must read", declaring the artwork of "a standard virtually unseen in most manga produced today." Otaku USA's 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. Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network wrote that the first volume "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, but she criticized the anatomy of characters, saying "bodies are often twisted into impossible positions." Comics & Gaming Magazine's Cole Watson also strongly praised Dio as the highlight character of Part 1, stating that his eyes were glued to the page whenever he appeared, and described him as "the literal embodiment of Satan in manga form." Watson gave Phantom Blood a 7.5 out of 10, writing that while there is a lot to enjoy, it primarily serves as Dio's origin story and there are some moments that are "agonizingly slow".

Silverman described Part 2 as "less urgent" than Part 1, which allows for more humor and insanity, while still letting the reader get attached to the characters. She felt positively about how strikingly different the protagonist Joseph is from Part 1's Jonathan. However, she wrote that Araki's art had gotten even more "physically improbable", making it difficult to distinguish body parts. When discussing his views on having characters die in a series, writer Gen Urobuchi cited Battle Tendency's Caesar Zeppeli as a character who became "immortal" thanks to his death.

Reviewing Stardust Crusaders, Silverman enjoyed seeing Part 2's Joseph team up with the new protagonist, Jotaro Kujo, and was impressed that Araki was able to keep Dio out of Part 2 completely, only to bring him back for Part 3. She initially called the replacement of Hamon with Stands both understandable and a bit of a disappointment, since the "insane physical abilities and contortions" caused by the former were a large source of the fun in the first two parts. Silverman later described Stand battles as exciting and creative in subsequent reviews.

Anime News Network had both Silverman and Faye Hopper review the first volume of Part 4. Silverman called the beginning slower and not as instantly engrossing as the previous parts, but felt this allowed Josuke, whom she and Hopper both described as kinder than the previous protagonists, to develop as a character. Hopper stated that Diamond Is Unbreakable is sometimes criticized for a "lack of a strong narrative throughline" in comparison to other parts, but argued that this is one of its greatest strengths, as it allows the main characters to "simply be, lending them an amiable humanity that none of the over-the-top archetypes in the first 3 Parts ever had."

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 tenth in a 2009 survey by Oricon on what manga series people wanted to see receive a live-action adaptation of. The 2013 edition of Kono Manga ga Sugoi!, which surveys people in the manga and publishing industry, named JoJolion the twelfth best manga series for male readers. JoJolion won the grand prize for manga at the 2013 Japan Media Arts Festival. In November 2014, readers of Da Vinci magazine voted JoJo's Bizarre Adventure as the fifth greatest Weekly Shōnen Jump manga series of all time. On TV Asahi's Manga Sōsenkyo 2021 poll, in which 150,000 people voted for their top 100 manga series, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure ranked tenth.

Controversy

In May 2008, both Shueisha and studio A.P.P.P. halted manga and OVA shipments of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure after a complaint had been launched against them from anonymous online Egyptian Islamic fundamentalists, who noticed a scene in the Stardust Crusaders OVA in which Dio Brando reads a book depicting pages from the Quran while he orders a mercenary, Hol Horse, to kill the protagonists. According to Japan Today and Islamist Watch, some Muslims feared this scene could spark a backlash not seen since the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. Sheikh Abdul Hamid Attrash, chairman of the Fatwa Committee at Al-Azhar, claimed that the scene depicted Muslims as terrorists and that Shueisha would be considered enemies of Islam. 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. The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs addressed the issue in an official report about this incident, stating that Shueisha and A.P.P.P. had no blasphemic intentions.

Viz resumed publication a year later, with the eleventh volume being published on April 7, 2009, but distribution of the OVA was permanently discontinued. Jason Thompson later included Shueisha's changes to the manga in 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 works, such as 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 was one of five artists featured in the Louvre's Le Louvre invite la bande dessinée ("The Louvre Invites Comic-Strip Art") exhibition for his artwork of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. To commemorate this honor, he wrote "Rohan au 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, Golden Wind, and to promote the release of two games, JoJo's 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 Fighter's Guile and Tekken's Paul Phoenix, were inspired by JoJo's 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 Meets 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 numerous 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 resemble the "Owson" store that appears in Diamond Is Unbreakable and JoJolion. The store was open 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 livery.