JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, also known as JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The Animation, is a Japanese anime television series produced by David Production based on the manga of the same name by Hirohiko Araki. The series focuses on the mysterious adventures of the Joestar family across generations, from the end of the 19th century to modern times. The series was first broadcast on Tokyo MX before entering syndication on 4 JNN stations, BS11, and Animax. The first season, adapting the first two parts, Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency, aired in Japan between October 5, 2012 and April 5, 2013. In the United States, it aired on Adult Swim'sToonami programming block starting on October 15, 2016. A second season covering the third part, Stardust Crusaders, was divided in two parts, the first aired between April 4, 2014 and September 12, 2014, and the second between January 9, 2015 and June 19, 2015. A third season covering the fourth part, Diamond Is Unbreakable, aired from April 1, 2016 to December 23, 2016. A fourth season covering the fifth part, Golden Wind, aired from October 5, 2018 to July 28, 2019. The series is distributed in North America by Warner Home Video and Viz Media, with the former handling the series on DVD and the latter handling the series on Blu-Ray and the merchandising rights.
Premise
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure tells the story of the Joestar family, a family whose various members discover they are destined to take down supernatural foes using powers that they possess. The story is split up into unique parts, each following a member of the Joestar family, who typically have names that can be abbreviated to the titular "JoJo".
Series overview
Release
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 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure was in production and would premiere in October 2012. The 26-episode first season, which covers both the Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency arcs, aired on Tokyo MX between October 5, 2012 and April 5, 2013. Although teased at in the post-credit scenes of the finale, the second season of the anime was officially announced in October 2013 in the November 2013 issue of Ultra Jump and the fifth tankōbon volume of JoJolion. It was broadcast on Tokyo MX in two parts for a total of 48 episodes; the first from April 4 to September 12, 2014, and the second from January 9 to June 19, 2015. The Japanese broadcast censored scenes of underage characters smoking by overlaying black shadows on them. At the "Last Crusaders" event for Stardust Crusaders, an adaptation of Diamond Is Unbreakable was announced. It premiered on April 1, 2016 and ended on December 23, 2016. An OVA adapting the Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe manga spin-offs will be made available to those in Japan who buy every Blu-ray or DVD volume of the Diamond Is Unbreakable anime. An adaptation of Golden Wind was announced at the "Ripples of Adventure" art exhibition on June 21, 2018. The pilot debuted at Anime Expo on July 6, 2018, and formally aired from October 5, 2018 to July 28, 2019 on Tokyo MX. With the 2014 premiere of Stardust Crusaders, American-based website Crunchyroll began streaming the anime series for viewers outside Japan an hour after it aired in Japan. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment released Parts 1 and 2 in a DVD set on September 22, 2015, with an English dub. In July 2016, Viz Media announced they acquired the Blu-ray rights to the series and released it with an English dub in July 2017. On October 15, 2016, American cable block Adult Swim began airing the anime on its Toonami block.
Season 1
The first season aired in Japan between October 5, 2012 and April 5, 2013, with episodes 1-9 covering the Phantom Blood arc, and episodes 10-26 covering the Battle Tendency arc. The first part follows a young man named Jonathan Joestar who becomes involved in a battle against Dio Brando, who uses the power of a mysterious Stone Mask to become a vampire. The second part takes place fifty years later as Jonathan's grandson, Joseph Joestar, faces up against the Stone Mask's creators, the Pillar Men. The opening theme for the Phantom Blood arc is "JoJo by Hiroaki "Tommy" Tominaga, while the opening theme for the Battle Tendency arc is "Bloody Stream" by Coda. The ending theme for both arcs is British progressive rock band Yes' 1972 single "Roundabout". Phantom Blood's score was composed by Hayato Matsuo while Battle Tendency's was performed by Taku Iwasaki. The series was made available for streaming on Crunchyroll on April 4, 2014. Warner Home Video released the complete first season on DVD in North America on September 22, 2015 while Viz Media released the series on Blu-ray Disc. On television, the series began airing on Adult Swim's Toonami programming block on October 15, 2016. Kaze UK licensed the first season in the UK on Blu-ray, with Manga Entertainment handling distribution of the series.
Season 2
The second season, titled JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, adapts the series third story arc, Stardust Crusaders. Set in 1987, the story follows Joseph's grandson, Jotaro Kujo, and his companions as they seek to defeat DIO, who has placed a curse on his mother, using special abilities known as Stands. The series is split into two halves, each lasting 24 episodes. The first half aired in Japan between April 4, 2014 and September 12, 2014, while the second half, subtitled Battle in Egypt, aired between January 9, 2015 and June 19, 2015. For the first half, the opening theme is "Stand Proud" by Jin Hashimoto, while the ending theme is American band The Bangles' 1985 single "Walk Like an Egyptian". For the second half, the opening theme is "JoJo, Sono Chi no Kioku ~end of THE WORLD~" by JO☆STARS ~TOMMY, Coda, JIN~, while the main ending theme is the Pat Metheny Group's "Last Train Home", from their 1987 album Still Life . An alternate ending theme, "Aku-yaku Kyōsōkyoku", is performed by Oingo and Boingo in episode 27, and by Hol Horse and Boingo in episodes 36-37. The score is composed by Yugo Kanno. The series was simulcast by Crunchyroll, with some character names altered to avoid copyright infringement. An English dub of the first three episodes was streamed on July 5, 2014.
Season 3
On October 24, 2015, Warner Bros. Japan announced that production on a third season of the anime to focus on the 4th story arc of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Diamond Is Unbreakable. Set in 1999, eleven years after the events Stardust Crusaders, the series follows Joseph Joestar's illegitimate son Josuke Higashikata as he and his Stand-wielding friends in the town of Morioh in M-Prefecture's capital S-City become wrapped up in a murder mystery. The series is being directed by Naokatsu Tsuda and written by Yasuko Kobayashi with character design by Terumi Nishii and music by Yugo Kanno. The series began airing in Japan on April 1, 2016. The ending theme is Australian pop group Savage Garden's 1996 single "I Want You".
''Diamond Is Unbreakable''
Season 4
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind started airing on October 5, 2018 and follows protagonist Giorno Giovanna through the fifth arc of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. The series ran for 38 episodes as well as one epilogue episode. The story takes place in Italy in 2001 and follows one of DIO's sons, Giorno Giovanna, as he joins a mafia organization to take down the boss, a man called Diavolo who has an alternate personality, a teenager who goes the name of Vinegar Doppio, meaning double vinegar in Italian. The first ending theme is the 1995 track "Freek'n You" by Jodeci, an R&B quartet from North Carolina, and the second ending theme is the 2000 track "Modern Crusaders" by Enigma, an electronic music project from Germany.
''Golden Wind''
Reception
At the 2013 CEDEC Awards, the anime's opening sequence won in the Visual Arts division. The first DVD release of the TV anime was the fourth best-selling animation DVD in Japan for the week of January 28 to February 3, 2013, with 4,510 copies sold. Its Blu-ray version was the fourth best-selling animation Blu-ray for that same week, with 14,860 copies sold. The second volume ranked sixth in both animation DVDs and Blu-rays for the week of February 18–24, with 2,764 and 12,501 copies sold respectively. The anime's third volume was the sixth best-selling animation DVD, with 2,994 copies sold, and the second best-selling animation Blu-ray, with 13,536 copies sold, for the week of March 25–31.
