JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 JoJo no Kimyō na Bōken?) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1987 to 2002, before being transferred to the monthly seinen magazine Ultra Jump in 2004. The current story arc, JoJolion, started in 2011. It is currently Shueisha's second longest running manga series with 106 volumes and counting (only Kochira Katsushika-ku Kameari Kōen-mae Hashutsujo, with over 170 volumes, has more). It was previously the longest manga not to have a TV anime adaptation.[1]

A six-volume Original Video Animation adaptation of the later half of the series' third story arc, Stardust Crusaders, was released from 1993 to 1994 by Studio APPP. Six years later, they produced a seven-volume series adapting the arc's first half from 2000 to 2002. Studio APPP also produced a theatrical film of the first arc, Phantom Blood, in 2007. From 2003 to 2005, Super Techno Arts released an English dub of both OVA series as one on DVD in North America. Only the third story arc of the manga, which is the most popular and well-known,[1] received an English release in North America by Viz Media from 2005 to 2010. A TV anime, produced by David Production and beginning from the first arc, will begin airing in October 2012.

The September 1, 2011, issue of the magazine Weekly Bunshun reported that a live-action film and multiple animated films based on the series are currently in development from different studios; stating that a "super-popular idol" will star in the live-action film and that formal release dates for the projects aren't expected until Summer 2012, at the earliest.[2] However, JoJo's publisher Shueshia downplayed the report, saying "We don't know where that story came from, but nothing has been decided at this time."[3]

Plot
See also: List of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure charactersThe story of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure centers around the misadventures of the Joestars, a powerful family with English roots. Each member of the bloodline has a star shaped birthmark above their left shoulder blade – Dio Brando, the original nemesis of the Joestar family, and his descendants have this distinguishable mark also, a result from Dio's 'theft' of Jonathan Joestar's body and inheriting the Joestar genes as well. The series spans several generations, with each part featuring a descendent of the Joestars as the main protagonist along with a large cast of characters.

The series' title is a reference to the fact that each part's main character's name can be read as JoJo. A nickname derived by putting together the letters "J" and "O" from their first and last names. Later installments have additional variations on the JoJo wordplay. For example, in the name Josuke, the Japanese character representing "suke" can also be read as "Jo", likewise in the Italian name Giorno, "Gio" is pronounced very similar to "Jo".
 * Part 1
 * Phantom Blood (ファントムブラッド Fantomu Buraddo?)
 * JoJo's Bizarre Adventure volumes 1 to 5. Takes place in 1880s Britain. The main protagonist is Jonathan Joestar.


 * Part 2
 * Battle Tendency (戦闘潮流 Sentō Chōryū?)
 * JoJo's Bizarre Adventure volumes 5 to 12. Begins in New York City, moves briefly to Mexico, then to Italy, and finally it ends in Switzerland, during the year 1938. The main protagonist is Joseph Joestar, grandson of Jonathan Joestar.


 * Part 3
 * Stardust Crusaders (スターダストクルセイダース Sutādasuto Kuruseidāsu?)
 * JoJo's Bizarre Adventure volumes 12 to 28. Begins in Japan and involves the main characters traveling across Asia to Egypt. Takes place in the year 1989. The main protagonist is Jotaro Kujo, grandson of Joseph Joestar.


 * Part 4
 * Diamond Is Not Crash (ダイヤモンドは砕けない Daiyamondo wa Kudakenai?)
 * JoJo's Bizarre Adventure volumes 29 to 47. Takes place in the fictional Japanese town of Moriō in the year 1999. The main protagonist is Josuke Higashikata, illegitimate son of Joseph Joestar.


 * Part 5
 * Vento Aureo (黄金の風 Ōgon no Kaze?)
 * Le Bizzarre Avventure di GioGio volumes 47 to 63. Takes place in Italy in the year 2001. The main protagonist is Giorno Giovanna, son of villain Dio Brando.


 * Part 6
 * Stone Ocean (ストーンオーシャン Sutōn Ōshan?)
 * Stone Ocean volumes 1 (64) to 17 (80). Takes place in Florida from 2011 to 2012. The main protagonist is Jolyne Kujo, daughter of Jotaro Kujo.


 * Part 7
 * Steel Ball Run (スティール・ボール・ラン Sutīru Bōru Ran?)
 * Steel Ball Run volumes 1 (81) to 24 (104). Begins in California and involves the main characters traveling across the United States to New York. Takes place in the years 1890 and 1891, in an alternate timeline from the previous parts. The main protagonists are Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli.


 * Part 8
 * JoJolion (ジョジョリオン Jojorion?)
 * Once again takes place in the fictional Japanese town of Moriō, this time after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake, in the same alternate timeline as Part 7. The main protagonist is a man who assumes the name Josuke Higashikata, the same as Part 4's protagonist, although his first name is written with a different kanji, 定助 instead of 仗助.

Ripple and Stand powers
Introduced in Part 1, the Ripple (波紋 Hamon?) is basically a martial arts technique that allows the user to focus bodily energy into other kinds of energy via proper breathing. As the series originally deals with vampires, the characters most commonly focus it into sunlight.

Part 3 begins by introducing the supernatural power of Stands (スタンド sutando?). When first presented, Joseph Joestar referred to it as "ghostly ripple" (幽波紋(スタンド) sutando?, but without furigana it would be pronounced yū hamon) ; it could conjecturally be said to be a semi-physical manifestation of one's ripple powers.

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/ripple 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. However, not everyone able to manifest a Stand has the ability to control it; despite her father Joseph Joestar and her son Jotaro Kujo being powerful Stand users, Holly Kujo, due to her lack of physical strength and resolve, is brought to the brink of death by her Stand, sapping away her lifeforce in an attempt to manifest itself.

One of the known and most commonly used ways to create a Stand is to pierce oneself with arrows created from a mysterious meteorite, which were retroactively introduced in Part 4. 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 from Part 5. 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 themselves in the process.

In Part 5 there are examples of a single person possessing two Stands because of the ability of an extraordinary Stand. Enrico Pucci of Part 6 was able to produce artificial Stand users with his own, 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. In Part 7 a third surging factor is introduced by fusing oneself with body parts of Jesus Christ. However, Stands generated by this factor disappear as soon as the body parts defuse from the user.

Manga
Main article: List of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure volumesWritten and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure began serialization in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1987. The chapters are collected and published into tankōbon volumes by Shueisha, with the first released on August 10, 1987.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-3">[4] The series is broken into arcs or parts, each of which stars a descendant of the Joestar family. During Part 5, which takes place in Italy, the series' title was written in Italian as Le Bizzarre Avventure di GioGio. After volume 63, each parts' tankōbon have started the number count back at one. The series was switched to the magazine Ultra Jump in 2004, during Part 7, with the chapters published monthly. The current arc began on May 19, 2011.

In the early 1990's Viz Media had planned to release an English-language version of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure in North America as "The Strange Adventures of Jojo", evident by an ad in their newsletter at the time, Viz-In.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1000manga_0-2">[1] It is suspected the plans were canned after Baoh, another series by Hirohiko Araki, sold poorly. The series was brought up again for talks in 2002, for release as individual monthly chapters.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1000manga_0-3">[1] However by this time, that publication format for manga was on its way-out in North America.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure finally received a North American release in 2005, in the graphic novel format, similar to its Japanese tankōbons. However, it is only of the series' third part, Stardust Crusaders, which is the most well-known. Originally published bimonthly, the volumes were later reduced to a quarterly release. The first volume was released on November 8, 2005 and the last on December 7, 2010.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-4">[5] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-5">[6] Viz's release changed the names of several characters and included some censorship; scenes of animal violence were redrawn by Araki himself.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1000manga_0-4">[1] JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has also seen domestic releases in Italy by Star Comics,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-6">[7] in France by J'ai Lu and Tonkam,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7">[8] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8">[9] Taiwan by Da Ran Culture Enterprise and Tong Li Publishing, and in Malaysia by Comics House.

Original video animations and film
Main article: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (OVA)Two OVA adaptations of Part 3 Stardust Crusaders were produced by Studio APPP. The original six-volume series begins during the middle of the arc and was released from November 19, 1993 to November 18, 1994. A seven-volume prequel series, titled JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Adventure (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 ADVENTURE<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), was released from May 25, 2000 to October 25, 2002 and adapted the beginning of the arc.

Super Techno Arts produced an English adaptation of both, the original series and the prequel series, releasing all thirteen episodes in North America as a six-volume DVD series between 2003 and 2005, with the episodes in order of its fictional chronology. Due to legal reasons, names which referenced certain bands or singers had to be changed in the English translation.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood, a feature film adaptation of the original first story arc, was released theatrically on February 17, 2007 in Japan. The film was produced to commemorate 25th anniversary of creator Hirohiko Araki's career as a manga artist. The theme song was "Voodoo Kingdom", a single by the group Soul'd Out. This film has yet to be released on any form of home video.

Anime
At a July 5, 2012, press conference celebrating the 25th anniversary of the series and promoting an upcoming Hirohiko Araki art exhibition, Araki and his people announced that an anime adaptation titled JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The Animation was in production and will premiere in October 2012.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-animePS3_9-0">[10] A piece of promotional art was published in the August issue of Ultra Jump, depicting Jonathan Joestar and Dio Brando,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10">[11] suggesting that the anime will begin with Part 1 Phantom Blood. The September issue of Ultra Jump announced the cast and staff; it is being produced by David Production and directed by Kenichi Suzuki, with Kazuyuki Okitsu starring as Jonathon and Takehito Koyasu voicing Dio.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-animestaff_11-0">[12]

Novels
Several light novels based on the JoJo series have been written, each by a different author, but all including illustrations by Hirohiko 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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12">[13] GioGio's Bizarre Adventure II: Golden Heart/Golden Ring (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 II ゴールデンハート/ゴールデンリング<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) written by Gichi Ōtsuka and Miya Shōtarō, was released on May 28, 2001 and based on Part 5. Both of these novels received Italian translations and releases; the first in 2003,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13">[14] often with the added subtitle of The Genesis of Universe, and the second in 2004.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14">[15]

In 2000, it was announced that Otsuichi would be writing a novel based on Part 4. The novel proved difficult to complete; in Kono Mystery ga Sugoi 2004, Otsuichi claimed to have written over 2000 pages, but thrown them all out.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15">[16] Intent on writing a novel that lived up to the manga, it took him until 2007 to complete The Book: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 4th Another Day.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16">[17]

In April 2011, it was announced that Nisio Isin, Kouhei Kadono and Ōtarō Maijō are each writing novel adaptations of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure in celebration of the series' 25th anniversary.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17">[18] Kadono's, titled Shameless Purple Haze: Purple Haze Feedback (はじしらずのぱーぷるへいず –じょじょのきみょうなぼうけんより-、Purple Haze feedback<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), was released on September 16, 2011 and is based on Part 5. Isin's was released on December 16, 2011, based on Part 3 and titled JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Over Heaven. The title of Otaro Maijo's novel, "Jorge Joestar," was revealed in July and is scheduled for release in 2012.

Drama CDs
From 1992 to 1993, a drama CD adaptation of Part 3 was released in three volumes, titled JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Volume 1: Meet Jotaro Kujo (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険第1巻 空条承太郎見参の巻<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?), JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Volume 2: The Death of Avdol (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険第2巻 アヴドゥル死すの巻<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Volume 3: The World of Dio (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険第3巻 DIOの世界の巻<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="color: #00e; font: bold 80% sans-serif; text-decoration: none; padding: 0 .1em;">?) .<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-18">[19] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-19">[20] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20">[21] They starred Kiyoyuki Yanada as Jotaro, Kenji Utsumi (volumes 1-2) and Gorō Naya (volume 3) 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.

Video games
Main article: List of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure video gamesCover of the PlayStation version (US version) of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.Several video games based on JoJo's Bizarre Adventure have been created. The first was a titular role-playing video game, based on the third story arc, which was released in 1993 for the Super Famicom. A fighting game for the arcade was also adapted from the third arc by Capcom in 1998, and also titled simply JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (released as JoJo's Venture in the west), with an updated version retitled JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future released later that year. The arcade game was ported to both the PlayStation and Dreamcast in 1999, and a high-definition version was released for PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade in August 2012.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-21">[22] These fighting games were the first pieces of JoJo related media released in North America, exposing the characters to many western players. A third Capcom game was based on Part 5, titled Le Bizzarre Avventure di GioGio: Vento Aureo and released for the PlayStation 2 in 2002. This game was scheduled for release in Europe as GioGio's Bizarre Adventure, but this did not 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 the 2002 Electronic Entertainment Expo, but no further plans or official release date has been announced since then.

A 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 the first arc and features action/adventure gameplay, similar to Le Bizzarre Avventure di GioGio: Vento Aureo. Araki has personally checked the quality of the game and its faithfulness to the original. The release of the game coincided with the release of the theatrical film and the 25th anniversary of Hirohiko Araki's manga career. The game itself includes a bonus disc celebrating 20 years of the JoJo franchise.

At a July 5, 2012 press conference celebrating the 25th anniversary of JoJo, Araki himself announced JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle, produced by CyberConnect2 and published by Bandai Namco Games, it will be released for the PlayStation 3.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-animePS3_9-1">[10]

Before the first JoJo's Bizarre Adventure game was released, Bandai released a Weekly Shōnen Jump crossover adventure game titled Famicom Jump: Hero Retsuden in 1989. Joseph Joestar from the second arc is one of the playable characters, while Santana and Speedwagon made cameo appearances. Its sequel Famicom Jump II: The Strongest Seven, released in 1991, features Jotaro as a selectable character. Joseph, Avdol, Kakyoin and Polnareff also appear in this game. Both games were available on the Famicom. Characters from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure were also featured in the 2005 Nintendo DS Weekly Shōnen Jump crossover game Jump Super Stars and its sequel Jump Ultimate Stars, including Jotaro Kujo and Dio Brando as playable characters.

Controversy
In May 2008, both Shueisha and Studio APPP halted manga/OVA shipments of JoJo after a complaint had been launched against them from Egyptian Islamic fundamentalists, after noticing a scene in the OVAs that has the villain, Dio Brando, reading a book depicting pages from the Qur'an.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1000manga_0-5">[1] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-22">[23] 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.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1000manga_0-6">[1] Viz resumed publication a year later, with the eleventh volume being published on April 7, 2009.