Opinion Editorial: Jojo’s Bizzare Adventure

By: Omar A., Grade 11

Hirohiko Araki is likely my favorite artist. Not only does he write incredible comics, but so much of the heart and style in those comics are so dependent on his over-the-top, stylized, and incredibly detailed artwork, and, if colored, the composition and unset — changing — color schemes for all of his characters — experimentation with depicting all sorts of backgrounds and peoples with different colors. While that is almost a complete oversimplification of everything that makes his art and stories so unique, I always implore those who don’t even read comics or enjoy manga to just look up his artwork to see his exhibition pieces (some of which were featured in the Louvre !! ) and really see the style and originality, even if it could be at worst a bit ridiculous or downright physically impossible. 

But what also adds quite a punch to that progression is the fact that that artwork of his was inspired by fashion magazines and modelling, but the art before it was quite…basic. Not bad, but it is worlds away from what remains to be Araki’s bread and butter in the modern day. But while that progression mainly occurred before he started his almost three-decade running series, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, many changes in his artwork are just as evident between the separate parts of this series (parts are, in essence, seasons of the manga, with each following a different Jojo, an shared abbreviation for the name of each of the series’s main characters). So that, while none of the parts are bad, some certainly evoke that “Jojo-style” way more than others. For example, the first three parts (of the nine currently published) feature immensely muscled characters, following a trend in ‘80s  Japanese comics featuring unrealistically strong male characters. So while the sense of fashion that Jojo’s is known for is present somewhat in those parts, each part demonstrates more of that style, along with refining the story beats and writing quality more than the one prior to it — this often leads to the opinion that part 1 (Phantom Blood) is the weakest of Jojo’s, even if it is still a fun, enjoyable comic, which I agree with.  

Really, if anything, the series really embraced its style in the late ‘90s, when Araki opted for really slim characters and more exaggerated fashion starting with part 4, called Diamond is Unbreakable, which underwent the change from muscular to slim a quarter or so into its weekly publishing run. However, it still wouldn’t be hard to argue that the real fashion of Jojo’s made itself present in part 5, dubbed Golden Wind. I wouldn’t disagree with that as it is, in my opinion, the most stylized Jojo part. It was when Araki let loose in a sense and allowed himself to use everything that he wanted to use from his research into modeling and high fashion. 

What’s even more baffling is that those incredibly detailed images and portraits were drawn in a week and targeted shonen — teens. But in the early 2000s, Jojo’s underwent a fundamental change with the release of its seemingly most beloved part (however it is common to see people prefer part 4 or 5 or 8 more, not mentioning the minority of fans who like parts other than those), part 7. Accurately titled Steel Ball Run, it details a wild west adventure in late 1880s America of two competitors in a massive cross-country (from California to New York) horse race competition named, well, the Steel Ball Run. While it also began weekly, the series quickly changed into a monthly seinen publication — targeting adults, with a higher emphasis on art with the added time. This led to a story so beloved with art that I will not hesitate to say is among my all time favorite art of all time, classical or modern, realistic or stylized, drawn or photographed, I am including everything. In other words, the art is gorgeous, realistic, deep, and complex. It is a shame that over a decade since its ending, we are only now getting it in English. In fact, my excitement in reading Steel Ball Run encouraged me to learn Japanese, for which I am now at a solid level, not fluent, but quite close actually. 

Now, after all of that, I feel like I should also talk about what the series is even about. The series follows the Joestar family and its descendents, from 1800s England’s Johnation, to his grandson, Joseph during World War 2, and his grandson, an 80’s Japanese high school student, Jotaro Kujo, and then Joseph's illegitimate son, Josuke Higashikata, and so on, even if it doesn’t following that grandson, son pattern all the time. It follows their generational quest to defeat evil, with each part being mainly self-centered, but the context of other parts is immensely helpful. That is until, again, Steel Ball Run, which takes place in a parallel universe, however the names take a lot of inspiration from those in the main timeline (parts 1-6). And other than family connection, their names can all be Jojo, as well, and is a common nickname by acquaintances for all of them. Jonathan Joestar, Jotaro Kujo, Jolyne Kujo (Jotaro’s daughter and the main Jojo of part 6), etc. (The only slightly different one is Josuke Higashikata, who is the protagonist of part 4, whose name requires a particular nuance in the Japanese language to be understood. The symbol for Josuke’s “suke” can be read in a different manner depending on the word, which can become Jo, making it a pun of sorts.). While each part typically has one villain associated with it, the main villain of the series, despite only appearing in part 1 and 3 as the main villain of those, he does have plenty of ramifications on all of the others parts of the series in its original timeline. That villain’s name is Dio Brando, and he is the ultimate evil for the Joestar family, the one guy who’s essentially hunting them down even after his passing. 

In conclusion, I believe that Jojo's Bizarre Adventure is an incredible series and I highly recommend it, even if I didn’t get much into the specifics here such as with “Stands,” the main power system of the series. Or, if not, I highly recommend looking up some Araki art because he is simply unbeatable at his game.