JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 (Jojo no kimyōna bōken)
Demographic	Shōnen (Part 1-6), Seinen (Part 7)
Genre	Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Supernatural
Manga
Author	Hirohiko Araki
Publisher	Shueisha Star Comics Comics House Shonen Jump Tonkam
Serialized in	Weekly Shonen Jump (1987-2004) Ultra Jump (2005-current)
Original run	August 4, 1987 –
Volumes	92 (still running)
OVA
Director	Hideki Futamura Hiroyuki Kitakubo Kazufumi Nomura Noboru Furuse
Studio	Studio A.P.P.P.
Episodes	6
Released	19 November 1993
OVA: Prequel
Director	Hideki Futamura Hiroyuki Kitakubo Kazufumi Nomura Noboru Furuse
Studio	Studio A.P.P.P
Episodes	7
Released	2001
Movie: Phantom Blood
Released	February 17, 2007
Runtime	minutes

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険, Jojo no Kimyōna Bōken^?, alternatively translated as JoJo's Venture) is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It is famous for its original art style (complete with over-the-top violence), intricate plot, and numerous Western rock music references. Every main character's name in each series can be read as JoJo. The manga, published by Shueisha in their magazine Weekly Shonen Jump, started in 1987 and went on to 2004. The latest part was initially published in Weekly Shonen Jump, but was moved to Ultra Jump in 2005. It's currently Shonen Jump's 2nd longest running manga with 92 and counting volumes (including Steel Ball Run) (only Kochi-Kame, with 150+ volumes, has more.) It is the longest manga not to have a TV anime adaptation. The manga is published in English by Viz Media, starting from part 3. Eight volumes have been published. Despite the fact that Jojo's Bizarre Adventure has been unable to achieve the same success in other countries as in Japan, non-Japanese fans have received the series very positively. Fans praise it for its use of innovation of its fights by indicating strategy and intuition playing a part rather than just brutal violence (despite the graphic nature).

Manga

There have been seven series of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure manga, each featuring a different cast of characters.

Main article: Phantom Blood

Volumes 1-5 (Chapters 1-44)

Main article: Battle Tendency

Volumes 5-12 (Chapters 45-113)

Main article: Stardust Crusaders

Volumes 12-28 (Chapters 114-265)

Main article: Diamond is Unbreakable

Volumes 29-47 (Chapters 266-439)

Main article: Golden Wind

Volumes 47-63 (Chapters 440-594)

Main article: Stone Ocean

Volumes 64-80 (Chapters 595-752)

Main article: Steel Ball Run

Volumes 81- onward (Chapters 753-current)

The third arc is currently being published by Viz. Originally released every other month, possible low sale have forced the company to cut it down to a quarterly release, which will likely delay its conclusion to 2009.

Anime

Main article: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (OVA)

Two OVA series have been adapted from series 3 of the manga by A.P.P.P. (Another Push Pin Planning) Company in Japan. The original six-episode series in 1993 began with Joseph, Jotaro, Polnareff, Abdul and Kakyoin in the Egyptian desert on their quest to find Dio (volume 20 in the manga). The series offered very little exposition, assuming the viewer already knew the backstory. A prequel seven-episode series was released in 2001, offering an explanation for those unfamiliar with the story in the previous series. It started with Joseph coming to Japan to explain Jotaro's strange behavior (volume 12 in the manga). The entire 6-volume (13-episode) anime series has been released in English in chronological order by Super Techno Arts. It was originally intended to be released here as early as 2000, but because the STA deal with Broccoli fell through, the first volume didn't arrive domestically until 2003, while the last volume was released in 2005. Without a partner, STA had to rely on E-tailers for the bulk of their business. Further hindering the anime's profitability in the U.S. was Viz's choice to wait to publish the manga until after the OVA was completed. Also, due to legal reasons, names which referenced certain bands or singers had to be changed to their romanized variations in the American translation. Fortunately, like Manga's release of Street Fighter II V, the names are retained in the Japanese dialogue, and the American translations aren't so far off as they are in Bastard!!. Phantom Blood, a theatrical film based on Series 1 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, was released February 17, 2007 in Japan. A.P.P.P. and several of the original crew members for the OVA returned to produce the film. The theme song was composed by the Japanese group SOUL'd OUT with their single "Voodoo Kingdom".

Novel

In 2000, it was announced that Otsu-ichi would be writing a novel set in Jojo's part 4. The novel proved difficult to complete; in Kono Mystery ga Sugoi 2004, Otsu-ichi claimed to have written over 2000 pages, but thrown them all out.^[1] Intent on writing a novel that lived up to the manga, it took him until 2007 to complete it.^[2]

• Jojo's Bizarre Adventure The Book: 4th Another Day.

Video games

Main article: List of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure video games

Cover of the Sony PlayStation version (U.S. version), featuring the face of Jotaro Kujo.

Several video games have been adapted from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. The first was an RPG, based on series 3, that was released in 1993 for the Super Famicom. Later, two fighting games were also adapted from series 3 by Capcom, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (a.k.a. JoJo's Venture) and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future, both in 1999. The success of the fighting games is one of the factors that led to the series' growing popularity in North America. A third Capcom game was based on series 5 titled JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Whirlwind (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険: 黄金の旋風) and released for the PlayStation 2 in 2002. This game was supposed to be released in Europe as GioGio's Bizarre Adventure, but this didn't come through because of the heavy references to band names, and Araki is unwilling to compromise in the change of names to avoid lawsuits. Capcom originally intended to release the game in the United States, even showing a playable version at E3 2002, but no further plans or official release date has been announced since then. A new game by Bandai, titled JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood, was released on October 26, 2006 for the PlayStation 2. The story is based on series 1 and features action/adventure gameplay, similar to Golden Whirlwind's. Araki has personally checked the quality of the game and its faithfulness to the original. The release of the game coincides with the release of the new movie and the 25th anniversary of Araki Hirohiko's manga career. The game itself includes a bonus disc celebrating 20 years of the JoJo franchise.

Other Video Game Appearances

Before a JoJo game was released, Bandai released a multi-Jump crossover adventure game titled Famicom Jump: Hero Retsuden in 1989. Part 2 Joseph Joestar was one of the playable characters, while Santana and Speedwagon made cameo appearances. Its sequel Famicom Jump II: The Strongest Seven (known in Japan as Famikon Janpu Tsū Saikyō no Shichinin), released in 1991, featured Jotaro as a selectable character. Joseph, Avdol, Kakyoin, and Polnareff also made appearances in this game. Both games were available on the Nintendo Famicom. Characters from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure were also featured in the Shonen Jump crossover game Jump Superstars and its sequel Jump Ultimate Stars, including Jotaro Kujo and Dio Brando as playable characters.

Stand powers

Main article: Stand (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

A stand (スタンド sutando) is a supernatural power in the manga and anime JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. When first presented in Part 3, Joseph Joestar referred it as a "ghostly ripple" (幽波紋（スタンド）, sutando^?, but without ruby text would be pronounced yū hamon); it could conjecturally be said to be a semi-physical manifestation of one's hamon (ripple) powers as seen in Part 1 and Part 2. The exact requirements for a person to obtain a stand are unclear, although the series hints that it can be linked to bloodline, rigorous spiritual/hamon training, and/or exceptionally strong willpower. However, a stand may never manifest itself in one's life until it is amplified by certain conditions/factors. One of the known and most commonly used amplifying factors, is to pierce oneself with "stand arrows" created from a mysterious meteorite. However, it is often a gamble, as it would easily kill an unqualified person, and there is no apparent way to know if a person is qualified ahead of time; the Arrows do, however, tend to seek out qualified people on their own if there is someone to guide them. Another amplifying condition is done by simply being around powerful stand users, such as the case of Trisha Una's Spice Girl from Part 5 - (Golden Wind). A qualified existing stand user may also have their stand "upgraded" by piercing the arrow through the stand--this results in the Stand becoming a "Requiem" form of its previous self. However, this is also a gamble, as an unqualified stand user may render their new stand uncontrollable, and he or she may actually kill himself or herself in the process. Enrico Pucci of Part 6 - Stone Ocean, was able to produce artificial stand users with his stand, White Snake, by stealing others' stands and "inserting" them into regular people. It is unclear as to whether or not these artificial stand users were capable of having stands of their own, but Enrico does claim that only certain individuals are qualified to have stands inserted. It is still unclear for the condition that one person can possess two stands. In Golden wind there are examples of a single person possessing two stands because of the ability of an extraordinary stand also. In Part 7, Steel Ball Run, a third amplifying factor is introduced by fusing parts of oneself with "The Saint"'s body parts. However, stands generated by this factor disappear as soon as the body parts defuse from one another.

In popular culture

• In the NBC drama, Heroes, a fictional Japanese salaryman named Hiro Nakamura is a fan of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. In his blog, he states that he wants to "be like Jojo and Vaan and go on adventures". One of his powers includes time manipulation, a gift shared with Jojo characters Jotaro Kujo and Dio Brando (fitting, since series 3 seems to be his favorite). Hiro's future self even signed a blog entry as "Jotaro Kujo". He even at one point uses Dio's battle cry (mudah), in the second episode in the second season.
• In "Taizo Mote King Saga", an Araki-esque character appears. A Jolyne lookalike fawns over how well done the drawing is. Jotaro also makes an appearance in chapter 59.
• Stroheim, a character from series 2, is said by many to have influenced Capcom when they created Guile (though Dire from series 1 also looks similar to him). CAPCOM has also stated the character Rose from Street Fighter was based, both on looks and fighting style, on Lisa Lisa from series 2.
• SNK Playmore admitted that they based Benimaru Nikaido, a character from their KoF series, on Jean Pierre Polnareff, one of the characters from series 3. They continue referring to the former by the latter's name to this day.

Reference to popular culture

• Often the names of the abilities or stands the characters in the manga possess are references to popular bands or their songs. Queen's songs appear most oftenly, including Killer Queen, (Another one) Bites the Dust, Bohemian Rhapsody etc. Made in Heaven, the name of the CD released after Freddie Mercury's death, also appear as a name of ability in the manga. Other examples of references to bands include Sex Pistol and Spice girl.

External links

• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure at the Killer List of Videogames
• The JoJo FAQ, with plot and character summaries
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY flash animation
• The World of JOJO Flash movie presentations that quickly summarize each arc in Jojo (in Japanese).
• Flash movie showing the original 'Za Warudo' from the video game.
• Evidence of JoJo's spelling errors (Japanese)

External Links to Anime Websites

• Super Techno Arts American licensed company
• Official JoJo OVA Site available in both Japanese and English
• Movie blog for Phantom Blood (Japanese)

External Links to Video Game Websites (Japanese)

• Jojo's Bizarre Adventure by Capcom
• Heritage to the Future by Capcom
• Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Whirlwind by Capcom
• Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood by Bandai
• Jump Superstars Shonen Jump super brawl. Features JoJo characters.