Figured it would make for an interesting theme this month: trying to explain a few popular, but still somewhat out there manga and anime series for those who aren't familiar with the medium. We're going to going into a bit of spoiler territory, so please keep that in mind.
First up is a series that I've started getting into recently: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure!
(One Big Dysfunctional Family)
Oh boy, where do we begin? Okay, the series was created by Hirohiko Araki back in the 1986 that was part of Shonen Jump until 2004, when it was soon published by seinen magazine Ultra Jump. For anyone unfamiliar with the terms, 'Shonen' refers to younger readers between 8 and 18 (give or take), while 'Seinen' refers to an older audience. Considering how much stuff you can get away with Shonen manga, it says a lot of what Seinen manga is capable of.
Anyway, the series is considered an action adventure with elements of the supernatural, horror and thriller tossed in. It is a generational story, focusing on the members of the Joestar family as they fight against evil. The earliest part of the story takes place in the 1880s and stretches onward into the 2000s and even alternate realities. We're just getting started here, so please hold on to your seats.
As you can no doubt tell by the above picture, a lot of the characters can be rather...flamboyant. It is part of Araki's way of parodying manga like 'Fist of the North Star', which features a more serious and manly protagonist treated as a 'man's man'. Hence, what we got here is a but of equally manly-men (and women) who tend to pose in outrageous ways from time to time. Humor is also tossed in, which helps set the series as truly 'bizarre'.
I will give in with a few details of the first couple of story arcs (for lack of a better word) of this massive series.
It all starts in the 'Phantom Blood' arc, taking place in the 1880s with an English nobleman named Jonathan Joestar. His life changed when his father adopted a street urchin named Dio Brando. With nothing but pain and suffering to inflict on the world, Dio utilized an ancient Aztec mask to become a vampire and try to take over the world. Jon himself steps in to try and stop him, learning the ways of 'Hamon' martial arts to fight him. Here, 'Hamon' is utilizing hot blood cells in the body for attacks, making it an excellent counter against the cold heart of vampires like Dio.
The next story, 'Battle Tendency', picks up in 1938 during World War 2. Jonathan's grandson, Joseph Joestar, ends up wrapped up in the story to stop a group called the 'Pillar Men'. As it turns out, this group was ressurected by the Nazi occultists to try and win the war, but end up going their own to try and conquer the world. They were also the ones who originally created the Aztec mask from the previous story. 'Hamon' is once again brought up and utilized to combat the 'Pillar Men', though utilized in a different form through the clever Joseph.
The third story is 'Stardust Crusaders', taking place in the 1980s, with Jotaro Kujo. The grandson to Joseph Joestar, he must track down and defeat an evil that has corrupted his mother in order to save her life. He ends up traveling halfway around the world and must combat dangerous enemies alongside new allies. Here, the combat changes from the 'Hamon' style into the more psionic/spiritual manifestation of 'Stands'. These are created by an intense force from a person, often manifesting in different forms depending on their abilities. The names for these 'Stands' range from Tarot cards to Egyptian gods to even musicians and bands.
I will give in with a few details of the first couple of story arcs (for lack of a better word) of this massive series.
It all starts in the 'Phantom Blood' arc, taking place in the 1880s with an English nobleman named Jonathan Joestar. His life changed when his father adopted a street urchin named Dio Brando. With nothing but pain and suffering to inflict on the world, Dio utilized an ancient Aztec mask to become a vampire and try to take over the world. Jon himself steps in to try and stop him, learning the ways of 'Hamon' martial arts to fight him. Here, 'Hamon' is utilizing hot blood cells in the body for attacks, making it an excellent counter against the cold heart of vampires like Dio.
The next story, 'Battle Tendency', picks up in 1938 during World War 2. Jonathan's grandson, Joseph Joestar, ends up wrapped up in the story to stop a group called the 'Pillar Men'. As it turns out, this group was ressurected by the Nazi occultists to try and win the war, but end up going their own to try and conquer the world. They were also the ones who originally created the Aztec mask from the previous story. 'Hamon' is once again brought up and utilized to combat the 'Pillar Men', though utilized in a different form through the clever Joseph.
The third story is 'Stardust Crusaders', taking place in the 1980s, with Jotaro Kujo. The grandson to Joseph Joestar, he must track down and defeat an evil that has corrupted his mother in order to save her life. He ends up traveling halfway around the world and must combat dangerous enemies alongside new allies. Here, the combat changes from the 'Hamon' style into the more psionic/spiritual manifestation of 'Stands'. These are created by an intense force from a person, often manifesting in different forms depending on their abilities. The names for these 'Stands' range from Tarot cards to Egyptian gods to even musicians and bands.
(Plus it helps that the first three actually have their stories adapted to anime)
Speaking of musicians, Hirohiko Araki enjoys a lot of Western music, particularly the rock genre. Hence, if you look at a lot of the characters and stands, you can point out the different references they make to music. For example, the villain of the first arc, Dio Brando, is named after rock metal legend Ronnie James Dio. Also in the first arc is Robert Edwards O. Speedwagon (after the group REO Speedwagon) and Will A. Zeppeli (named after the band Led Zeppelin). Other references are dotted throughout the series, such as :
- The 'Pillar Men' are named Santana (after the rock band of the same name), Esidisi (after the rock band AD/DC), Wammu (after the band Wham!), and Kars (the new wave rock band The Cars).
- Mohammed Avdol from 'Stardust Crusaders' is named after the musician Paula Abdul.
- Jean Pierre Polnareff from the same series is named after french musician Michel Polnareff.
- A villain from 'Stardust Crusaders' was named Steely Dan (like the musician, of course), but translation changes made him into 'Dan of Steel'.
Judging by that last name, you can see how the translation meanings have shifted from East to West. Copyright laws a bit different in Japan than in the US, enabling Hirohiko Araki to get away with naming much of his characters after musicians without needed to worry about royalty fees or the like. When it came time to translate the series into the West, that was when the fees hit and it has become a bit of a problem for a few decades. They figured away around it by altering some of the more noticeable names into different ones, like the 'Steely Dan' name from before and others, like a character named Vanilla Ice (after the white rapper of the same name) became Cool Ice. It worked out, especially since we've gotten the aforementioned anime series recently.
The series itself is more fascinating than meets the eye. Even after all these years of being unable to be properly brought to the West, 'Jojo's Bizarre Adventure' has managed to gain and sustain an audience to last through several volumes of stories. From action to drama, supernatural to comedy, the story managed to jump through genres like it was no big issue. Really, I don't blame people for having such a hard time getting into it. Hopefully now, you'll have a better understand once you get through the first few stories.
I recommend starting in the beginning of each story arc, of course, as a jumping on point. Whether it be 'Phantom Blood' or 'Stardust Crusaders', the earlier arcs are a good way to understand just what is going on in that universe.
Until next time...
The series itself is more fascinating than meets the eye. Even after all these years of being unable to be properly brought to the West, 'Jojo's Bizarre Adventure' has managed to gain and sustain an audience to last through several volumes of stories. From action to drama, supernatural to comedy, the story managed to jump through genres like it was no big issue. Really, I don't blame people for having such a hard time getting into it. Hopefully now, you'll have a better understand once you get through the first few stories.
I recommend starting in the beginning of each story arc, of course, as a jumping on point. Whether it be 'Phantom Blood' or 'Stardust Crusaders', the earlier arcs are a good way to understand just what is going on in that universe.
Until next time...
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