The Appeal of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

I know that I am still considered a new comer to this series and I don’t have the money, space, or time to read the manga version of this series, but from the anime stand point alone I love this series.  I look forward to it every week and wonder what kind of unique blend of bizarreness happens.  JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure truly lives up to its name, but there are some other reasons why to explore this show too.  It’s a great wealth of knowledge for a lot of things.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is a long running and ongoing series that started in the 1980’s.  Along with creating trends that other shows follow, it also has borrowed some things from other series that have occurred around it.  JJBA is a great thing to watch, learn, and study to see have shonen battle anime has changed.  The first part of JoJos borrowed some powers and character designs from First of the North Star.  Harmonis very similar to Kenshiro’s ability that it puts energy in people’s bodies.  Jotaro looks like Kenshiro when he takes his hat off.  There are more things, but Koichi’s stand came out of an egg and looks like Cell in part four.  Also,I know that this is very questionable, but I feel like JoJo’s Egypt episodes and Yu Yu Hakusho’s Chapter Black feel the same to me.  It’s all speculation though.  Somehow, I think it all connects because everything influences everything else in some way.

Hirohiko Araki, the mangaka behind JoJo loves his references to western culture.  The endings of each part are taken from a band that was around during the time it was a manga Also, rock groups, album titles, and song titles are made into characters and stands.  It’s a fun time just to see what band will be referenced in what way, even though the subtitles can’t officially translate the names.  The names are very audio in the engrish though, which adds a little more uniqueness to the experience of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

The absurdity of the series itself is another large selling point of JoJo’s.  How many series have games in which a character bets their group’s souls in a poker game without even looking at their cards?  What about a character puts himself back together after being chopped in half right down the middle?  Or a dog has the same stand level capabilities as the human parts or the team.  Then finally, for this example but for the show, a killer turned into a statue that later becomes a popular spot for people who date?  If you haven’t noticed by all these things yet, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is truly bizarre…but yet it’s wonderful kind of experience you can’t get anywhere else.  Evan Minto from Crunchyroll has said something along the lines of you can makes a game from what happens in JoJo versus what doesn’t and he’s completely right.  Despite all this, the shenanigins that happen are oddly grounded compared to some shonen series that fight against space aliens.

Finally, the characters are what make the show what it is.  From the gentlemen Jonathon Joestar, in part 1 to Josuke Higashikata’s street thuggish ways in part four and all the side characters in between.  These characters may not seem the largest amount of character development in the history of anime, but their characterization is consistent and enjoyable.  You will definitely miss then when they are not a part of the next part of Jojo’s yet or when they die.  That’s right, characters can die.  Considering how each part has a new cast of characters, the series can kill off characters whenever it feels like and keep the JoJo’s feeling fresh every time.  There is just so much to love.

I still feel like I cannot completely explain why Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is so wonderful, but I have tried my best.  It’s a unique kind of anime experience that many series have tried to acquire, but never fully get.  There is so much love, passion, and creativity behind JJBA that it’s simply infectious.  I’m not saying this series is for everybody, but please give it a chance if you haven’t yet and maybe you will find something you like about it too.

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I am going to do a quest through some shoujo series at some point, some if you have some suggestions you can either post some here or on that blog post.  Myanimelist of stuff I’ve watched just encase.