JOJO
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Japanese: ジョジョの奇妙な冒険, Hepburn: JoJo no Kimyō na
Bōken) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It was serialized
in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1987 to 2004, and was transferred to the
monthly seinen manga magazine Ultra Jump in 2005. The series is divided into eight story arcs,
each following the adventures of a new protagonist bearing the "JoJo" nickname; the
eighth, JoJolion, began its ongoing serialization in May 2011. JoJo's Bizarre
Adventure is Shueisha's second largest manga by volume count, with its chapters collected in
127 tankōbon volumes as of April 2020.
A 13-episode original video animation series adapting the manga's third part, Stardust
Crusaders, was produced by A.P.P.P. and released from 1993 to 2002. The studio later
produced an anime film adapting the first part, Phantom Blood, which was released in theaters in
Japan in 2007. In October 2012, an anime television series produced by David
Production adapting Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency began broadcast on Tokyo MX. As of
July 2019, the studio has produced four seasons adapting through the manga's fifth part, Golden
Wind. A live-action film based on the fourth part, Diamond Is Unbreakable, was released in
Japan in 2017.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is well-known for its iconic art style and poses, frequent references to
Western popular music and fashion, and creative battles centered around Stands, psychospiritual manifestations with unique supernatural abilities. The series has sold over 100 million
copies in print to date, making it one of the best-selling manga series in history, and it has
spawned a media franchise including one-shot manga, light novels, and video games. The
manga, TV anime, and live-action film are licensed in North America by Viz Media, which has
produced various English-language releases of the series since 2005.