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57-538: Preceded by: Steel Ball Run Followed by: The JoJoLands JoJolion ( Japanese : ジョジョリオン , Hepburn : Jojorion ) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki , and is the eighth part of the larger JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series. Set in Japan in 2011, it follows Josuke Higashikata, a young man afflicted by retrograde amnesia , in his search to uncover his identity in Morioh Town,
114-527: A ligase represented as one of his Stands. In 2008, Araki drew the cover art for a collection featuring Yasunari Kawabata 's short story " The Dancing Girl of Izu ". He drew the cover for the limited edition of Base Ball Bear 's "Breeeeze Girl" single, which actually takes an image from the JoJo manga. Also in 2009, Hirohiko Araki was one of five artists selected by the Musée du Louvre to create original works set at
171-457: A vampire . Jonathan then learns a breathing technique named Hamon, which grants JoJo various powers to combat Dio. Subsequent arcs of JoJo follow the descendants of the Joestar family, and many are set in different parts of the world. The third and most popular arc, Stardust Crusaders , downplays the vampire story and Hamon technique, instead introducing a new power known as Stands , which remain
228-495: A $ 50 million grand prize, but find themselves targeted after discovering the hidden agenda of the race's sponsor. The first 23 chapters were serialized in Shueisha 's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump in 2004 under the title of Steel Ball Run , seemingly without any connection to the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series. However, when the series moved to seinen manga magazine Ultra Jump in 2005, Steel Ball Run
285-450: A coastal Japanese town affected by the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami . However, his digging pulls him and his adoptive family into the unfinished business between his previous life and an impending inhuman threat. It was serialized by Shueisha in the seinen manga magazine Ultra Jump from May 2011 until August 2021, and has been collected in 27 tankōbon volumes. In the aftermath of
342-458: A family curse that petrifies each of their first children. Kira had been involved with a fruit named the Locacaca, which can heal one part of its consumer's body by weakening another. Norisuke remains unaware that his oldest son Jobin has been illegally obtaining and selling Locacaca in coordination with a group of mysterious stone-based beings called Rock Humans, who seek to eliminate Josuke and ascend
399-432: A fifty-million dollar grand prize. A paraplegic named Johnny Joestar enters the race to learn about the mysterious Spin ability of a former Neapolitan executioner named Gyro Zeppeli, who temporarily restored Johnny's mobility. Though they begin the race as rivals, Johnny and Gyro become friends as they travel through the wilderness while fending off various assassins, terrorists, outlaws, and other violent competitors. Although
456-468: A greater interest in the motivations for people who do bad things. He noted that Valentine's patriotism and goals seemed just and might line up with leaders in the real world, and that it is his sacrifice of powerless people to reach his goals that make him evil and completely unsuitable as a protagonist. The concept of having the United States president fighting the main characters came from when Araki saw
513-411: A loving family and a new life. JoJolion is written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki . It premiered in Shueisha 's Ultra Jump on May 19, 2011, and ended on August 19, 2021, making it the longest running part of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series overall. In the first volume, Araki described the story of JoJolion as being the solving of a "curse" ( 呪い , noroi ) . Curses, he goes on, are
570-573: A plant appraiser named Rai Mamezuku, who he leads to the Higashikata orchard to identify the Locacaca branch. At the same time, Jobin's alliance with the Rock Humans falters, eventually forcing him to set the orchard ablaze to keep Josuke and the Rock Humans from obtaining the branch. Ultimately, two Rock Humans in an ambulance appear to seize the new Locacaca branch, unaware that Tsurugi has misled both them and Josuke's group using his own Stand; in reality,
627-461: A reboot of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, and appreciated how its move to the monthly seinen magazine Ultra Jump enabled Araki to write longer stories and depict things that would have been difficult to do in a shōnen manga magazine. Erkael of Manga-News called the manga one of the best in the series, and said that it does not disappoint the reader at any point. Anime News Network called Steel Ball Run an interesting take on
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#1732876214597684-588: Is a Japanese manga artist . He is best known for his long-running series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure , which began publication in Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1987 and has over 120 million copies in circulation, making it one of the best-selling manga series in history. Araki grew up in Sendai , Japan with his parents and younger identical twin sisters. He cites his sisters' annoyances as the reason he spent time alone in his room reading manga, naming Ai to Makoto as
741-460: Is an alternate instance of Diego Brando taken from a parallel dimension by Valentine, wielding a time-stopping Stand known as The World. Johnny attempts to engage the alternate Diego, who defeats him with his own attack and easily takes first place in the race. The alternate Diego brings the Corpse to Trinity Church, only to run into Lucy, who annihilates him by forcing him to merge with the severed head of
798-399: Is forced to split up, with Josuke managing to bait the hospital director into pursuing him and Mamezuku. Meanwhile, Yasuho investigates the Higashikata household, eventually revealing the branch to the family by accident. Norisuke confronts Jobin, who incapacitates him; Jobin himself is killed shortly afterward by the force of a calamity as Toru arrives at the scene. Yasuho realizes that Toru is
855-471: Is the seventh story arc of the Japanese manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure , written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki . Set in the United States in 1890, it stars Johnny Joestar, a paraplegic former jockey who desires to regain the use of his legs, and Gyro Zeppeli, a disgraced former executioner who seeks to win amnesty for a child on death row. They compete in the titular cross-country horse race for
912-587: The Hamon abilities featured in the first part in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Phantom Blood ; they still enjoyed the shift in focus to Stand abilities later in the story, calling them "original and surprising". Kono Manga ga Sugoi! liked the depiction of the landscapes Johnny and Gyro travel through, calling them "beautiful". Hirohiko Araki Toshiyuki Araki ( Japanese : 荒木 利之 , Hepburn : Araki Toshiyuki , born June 7, 1960) , better known as Hirohiko Araki ( 荒木 飛呂彦 , Araki Hirohiko ) ,
969-551: The 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami , strange structures known colloquially as the Wall Eyes appear near the coast of the town of Morioh, with the ground beneath them gaining the ability to swap traits of objects buried within it. A local college student named Yasuho Hirose finds a mysterious amnesiac youth buried under one of the Wall Eyes, who she decides to temporarily name "Josuke," and the two set out to recover his memories and identity. Yasuho conducts her investigation while leaving
1026-449: The wild west one-shot Poker Under Arms , which was a "Selected Work" at that year's Tezuka Award. His first serialization was Cool Shock B.T. in 1983, about a young magician who solves mysteries. But the first series to display his signature amount of gore was 1984's Baoh . It tells the story of a man who is implanted with a parasite by an evil organization, giving him superhuman powers, and follows as he fights against them. Baoh
1083-471: The Best Comic category in 2022. The first volume of JoJolion was the second best-selling manga for its debut week of December 19–25, 2011 with 237,374 copies sold. The second volume ranked third, with 204,791 copies, for the week of April 16–22, 2012. Its third volume debuted at number two for the week of September 17–23, selling 260,080 copies. All three were some of the best-selling manga of 2012; volume one
1140-491: The Corpse's head. Diego and Hot Pants ally against and fight Valentine on a moving train, but are overpowered and killed by the president. Lucy begins to fully merge with the completed Corpse, enhancing Valentine's stand with a new misfortune-redirecting ability known as D4C Love Train. Johnny and Gyro arrive and attempt to battle the seemingly-invulnerable Valentine, only for Valentine to overpower them both and kill Gyro. Mourning his mentor and friend, Johnny realizes how to achieve
1197-544: The Corpse's heart. After Johnny and Gyro encounter another piece of the Holy Corpse, it is absorbed into Johnny's body and he develops the evolving Stand Tusk, allowing him to fend off one of Valentine's subordinates. Later, they meet the spiteful and ambitious racer Diego Brando who obtains one of the Corpse's two eyes, while Gyro gains the other. Johnny and Gyro continue the race, encountering other racers, gaining and losing Corpse parts, and enhancing their Spin techniques along
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#17328762145971254-454: The Grand Prize for Manga Division at the 17th Japan Media Arts Festival in 2013. On Takarajimasha 's Kono Manga ga Sugoi! list, which surveys people in the manga and publishing industry, named JoJolion the 12th best manga series for male readers in 2013. The manga has been nominated for the 26th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2022. JoJolion was nominated for the 53rd Seiun Award in
1311-532: The Stand User of the calamity-controlling Stand Wonder of U, who Mamezuku and Josuke identify as Akefu himself. Mamezuku and Josuke unsuccessfully attempt to set a trap for Satoru Akefu; Mamezuku is fatally wounded by Akefu, but reveals the latent Spin within Josuke's ability as he dies. Yasuho then calls Josuke and informs him of her findings. Though Akefu escapes Josuke's attack, he and Yasuho combine their abilities with
1368-483: The Steel Ball Run is organized by the eccentric oil tycoon Steven Steel, United States President Funny Valentine has engineered the race to serve as a front for collecting the scattered pieces of a 1900-year-old corpse known as the Holy Corpse (heavily implied to be the body of Jesus Christ ). Valentine intends to reassemble the Corpse and gain limitless power through it on behalf of his nation, having already obtained
1425-508: The album cover for Sayuri Ishikawa 's 2012 album X -Cross- , where she performs one of the series' iconic poses and is drawn wearing jewelry from the manga, the cover of the 2012 reprint of Tamaki Saitō 's Lacan for Surviving , and the cover of the 2015 compilation album for composer Akira Senju . A book explaining Araki's methodology on creating manga, titled Manga in Theory and Practice ( 荒木飛呂彦の漫画術 , Araki Hirohiko no Manga Jutsu ) ,
1482-549: The battle manga genre due to its positive portrayal of a hero with a disability, and found it, along with JoJolion , to represent a big shift in the evolution of Araki's art, following his earlier shift from muscle men to thinner characters and fashion. K. Thor Jensen of Geek.com called the portrayal of Johnny and Gyro's relationship one of the best platonic friendships in comics, citing their transition from rivals to close allies who make sacrifices for one another and help each other with their respective abilities. Erkael liked
1539-491: The branch remains in Jobin's possession. After defeating one of the Rock Humans posing as a doctor, the three heroes plan to hunt down the hospital's director. The group encounters an intern at the hospital named Toru, who points them in the direction of hospital director Satoru Akefu. While attempting to pursue him, the three are attacked by Akefu's ability, which manipulates the laws of nature to attack those who pursue him. The group
1596-461: The brand's own 2011-2012 fall/winter collection and his own original fashion designs. For Spur , Araki drew Kishibe Rohan meets Gucci. , a full-color one-shot featuring Rohan Kishibe that ran in its October 2011 issue. Spur once again ran a JoJo spinoff by Araki, Jolyne, Fly High with Gucci starring Jolyne Cujoh from Part 6, in their February 2013 issue. A free English translation is available on Gucci's Facebook page. To raise awareness of
1653-439: The entire series), following the trend set by the previous part, Stone Ocean , of starting over the volume count. Several chapters were adapted into a "vomic" series, which has voice actors act over the manga pages as they are shown on screen. In September 1890, racing jockeys from all over the world flock to the United States to take part in the Steel Ball Run, a cross-country horse race from San Diego to New York City with
1710-563: The famous museum. His piece Rohan at the Louvre starred JoJo's Rohan Kishibe and was shown at the exhibit titled Le Louvre invite la bande dessinée ("The Louvre Invites Comic-Strip Art"), which was created to show the diversity of comics, from January 19 to April 13. Rohan at the Louvre was highly praised. The following year, Rohan at the Louvre was published in France and ran in Japan's Ultra Jump . It
1767-515: The film Independence Day , and liked the idea of a president who fights. The first chapter title of each pair is the title that is used in the volumization of Steel Ball Run . The second title is the title used in the original serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump and Ultra Jump . Kono Manga ga Sugoi! recommended Steel Ball Run as a good place to start for people who have not read previous parts, due to how it effectively serves as
JoJolion - Misplaced Pages Continue
1824-468: The focus of the series today. Still being serialized over 30 years later, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has been adapted into numerous other forms of media and the manga had 120 million collected volumes in print by 2022. From 2011 to 2021, Araki produced JoJolion , the eighth story arc of the series, serialized in Ultra Jump magazine. The September 2007 issue of Cell had a cover drawn by Araki with
1881-472: The future Wall Eyes. Realizing that he is a fusion of Josefumi and Kira, Josuke resolves to retrieve the new Locacaca fruit and use it to cure Holy, just as Kira and Josefumi intended to. Meanwhile, Jobin's mother, Kaato, leaves prison after a 15-year sentence for killing a child to save Jobin's life. Even as Jobin reunites with his mother, he keeps his plot to use the Locacaca branch to cure his own son, Tsurugi, to himself. At Norisuke's behest, Josuke meets with
1938-442: The high speed and intensity of the story, saying that it was as if Araki wanted the reader to feel like they were part of the race themselves, and how the story eventually opens up to follow several different characters whose paths at times intersect, leading to a world that feels "rich and dense". They wrote that the lack of Stands early in the story, with Gyro instead using steel balls, was surprising but refreshing, and reminiscent of
1995-580: The inside cover of volume 2, Araki explained that the "-lion" ending in the title comes from both the Christian concept of blessing and the gospels ("evangelion" in Greek ), and the Ancient Greek myth of Pygmalion . The first chapter title of each pair is the title that is used in the volumization of JoJolion . The second title is the title used in the original serialization in Ultra Jump . JoJolion won
2052-420: The manga's theme as "seeking for satisfaction". Like with other parts of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure , Araki also used "an affirmation that humanity is wonderful" as a theme, which he explained as a description for humanity's ability to grow and overcome hardships through one's strength and spirit, portrayed through people succeeding in fights through their own actions, without relying on machines or gods. Because
2109-485: The most important one to him. He supposes that his father's art books were his motive for drawing manga; he was particularly influenced by the work of French artist Paul Gauguin . After a school friend praised his manga, he began secretly drawing manga behind his parents' backs. He submitted his first work to a magazine in his first year of high school. All his submissions were rejected while other artists his age or younger were making successful debuts. He decided to go to
2166-670: The ongoing reconstruction efforts of the Hiraizumi ruins , that were damaged by the March 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in June, Araki drew artwork depicting the ruins. A "Hirohiko Araki JoJo Exhibition" opened in Araki's native Sendai at the end of July 2012 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure , it then moved to Tokyo in October. He drew
2223-413: The open landscape would have meant that he could not have escaped due to a lack of places to hide, an experience he found useful when drawing the manga. Like other protagonists in the series, Johnny was designed to symbolize the part's story and setting, and to stand out among the previous protagonists in terms of appearance, clothing, and silhouette. He was not specifically planned to have a disability at
2280-419: The original Diego. As the race ends, first place is awarded to the carefree Pocoloco, who had slept through the start of the race and only caught up by sheer luck, while Steven Steel arrives to save Johnny. Valentine's death is covered up as retirement from public life, with concerns over the race placated by the donation of the prize money to charitable causes. Johnny, having regained his ability to walk through
2337-401: The parking lot, Josuke decides not to introduce himself to her, as he has accepted being neither Josefumi nor Kira. The two meet with what remains of the Higashikata family at a cake shop, as the family tries to decide on a cake to celebrate Norisuke's release from the hospital. The family eventually decides to leave the decision to Josuke as Yasuho takes her leave, satisfied that Josuke has found
JoJolion - Misplaced Pages Continue
2394-464: The perfect form of the Spin technique, enhances his Stand, and overwhelms Valentine with his new power. Valentine attempts to fake his surrender, but Johnny kills him, avenging his companion but putting an end to any hope of his return. The Holy Corpse separates from Lucy, only to be stolen by an unknown antagonist. Pursuing the thief into the final stage of the Steel Ball Run, Johnny is shocked to find that it
2451-457: The power of his Stand and the Spin, leaves America to return Gyro's body to his family. On the boat, he meets the Japanese runner-up racer Norisuke Higashikata. Johnny later marries Norisuke's daughter Rina, leading to the events of Part 8, JoJolion . Written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki , Steel Ball Run was originally serialized in Shueisha 's shōnen manga anthology Weekly Shōnen Jump from January 19 to October 16, 2004. It
2508-472: The power of the Spin to attack Toru with a transient bubble. A gravely-wounded Toru eats a ripening fruit from the branch and attempts to initiate an exchange, only to be pinned to the ground by Kaato. Kaato forces Toru to exchange with Tsurugi and receive his curse, killing both Toru and herself. The last of the new Locacaca branch is destroyed in the process. Josuke and Yasuho visit Holy in the hospital after reuniting. Though Yasuho glimpses Josefumi's mother in
2565-495: The publishers' offices in Tokyo in person to find out why, taking a manga, Poker Under Arms , that he stayed up all-night to finish. The Shueisha editor he met highly criticized the work, but said it had potential and told Araki to clean it up for the upcoming Tezuka Awards . Araki left Miyagi University of Education before graduating, and made his debut under the name Toshiyuki Araki ( 荒木 利之 , Araki Toshiyuki ) in 1980 with
2622-460: The ranks of society. Josuke later learns that prior to his awakening, Kira and a certain Josefumi Kujo had grafted a Locacaca branch to a tree in the Higashikata orchard, creating a new type of Locacaca that uses another person as collateral for the healing process. After Kira was fatally injured by the Rock Humans, Josefumi used the new Locacaca to cure him as the two of them fell into the site of
2679-702: The series follows a race across America, Araki had to split his research into three trips: one from the West Coast to the deserts, one from the Great Plains to the Mississippi River and Chicago , and one to New York . He said that it would have been impossible to get an understanding for the vast scale without having gone there personally, describing the scenery of the Midwest as endless and unchanging. The feeling of distance made him think that if an enemy had approached,
2736-404: The sins of the ancestors and this makes people "unclean" ( 穢れ , kegare ) , and if this curse continues it will only turn into "resentment" ( 恨み , urami ) . Another theme is that from birth we see things as black and white, but this produces a "friction" ( 摩擦 , masatsu ) from what humanity really experiences. From these, the "curse" is lifted, this being the goal of the story. On
2793-422: The start of the production; rather, his disability was the result of the series' focus on protagonists growing through overcoming hardships, and Araki wanting to create a character who was forced to rely on people and horses during the race and had room to grow both mentally and physically. Valentine was created as part of Araki noticing more and more that good and evil is not always easily distinguishable and taking
2850-435: The way. Eventually, Valentine succeeds in taking Johnny and Gyro's corpse parts, seizing Diego's eye soon afterward with the aid of his dimension-traversing Stand, Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap. Meanwhile, Steven's wife Lucy tries to uncover and foil Valentine's plan with later assistance from another racer, Hot Pants. However, Valentine discovers Lucy and takes her captive after she fuses with the Corpse and becomes pregnant with
2907-442: The youth in the care of the Higashikata family, hypothesizing that Josuke is connected to a missing doctor named Yoshikage Kira. As Yasuho visits Kira's terminally-ill mother, Holy Joestar-Kira, Josuke learns that he is a fusion of Kira and someone else. When Josuke later confronts the patriarch of the family, Norisuke Higashikata IV, over his reasons for taking him in, he learns that the Higashikata family needs Kira's memories to end
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#17328762145972964-418: Was 46th with 534,996 copies, volume two was 53rd with 516,040, and volume 3 sold 457,791 copies for 69th. Volume four was number two for the week of May 12–18, 2013, selling 224,551 copies in its first week. Steel Ball Run Preceded by: Stone Ocean Followed by: JoJolion Steel Ball Run ( Japanese : スティール・ボール・ラン , Hepburn : Sutīru Bōru Ran ) (stylized in all caps when romanized)
3021-799: Was adapted into an OVA in 1989; the manga was released in the US by Viz Media in 1990 (in tankōbon form in 1995), but the OVA didn't get a stateside release until 2002. It wasn't until The Gorgeous Irene in 1985, that his signature art style of buff, muscular characters came into its own, though it would later become more flamboyant. His next series would become his magnum opus , 1987's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure . The series begins in 1880s England and follows Jonathan Joestar (nicknamed JoJo) and his adopted brother Dio Brando , who eventually tries to kill their father in order to obtain his share of inheritance. When confronted, Dio puts on an ancient mask that turns him into
3078-429: Was later moved to Shueisha's monthly seinen magazine Ultra Jump on March 19, 2005, and ran until April 19, 2011. Araki found that the new, monthly schedule with longer chapters suited him better, as he was not as restricted in what he could draw and no longer had to write stories with momentum building up excitement for the next week's chapter, and had more flexibility to draw at his own pace. Araki described
3135-746: Was officially announced to be the seventh arc of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure , albeit one set in a separate continuity from all the prior arcs. The new continuity that began in Steel Ball Run also serves as the setting for the following arcs of the series, JoJolion and The JoJoLands . Viz Media has licensed the manga for English release in North America, with the first volume set to be released in Q3 2025. Steel Ball Run has been universally acclaimed for its art, characters, and story. Its 95 chapters were combined into 24 tankōbon volumes (volumes 81–104 of
3192-695: Was released in the US by NBM Publishing in February 2012. From September 17 to October 6, 2011, the Gucci store in Shinjuku hosted the Gucci x Hirohiko Araki x Spur "Rohan Kishibe Goes to Gucci" Exhibition, a collaboration between the luxury Italian clothing brand, JoJo's creator, and the fashion magazine Spur . The exhibit celebrated the 90th anniversary of Gucci and featured a life-size figure of Rohan Kishibe, as well as numerous illustrations by Araki; including actual pieces of
3249-574: Was released on April 17, 2015, in Japan; an English translation was later released on June 6, 2017. A stage adaptation of Araki's 1994 one-shot Under Execution, Under Jailbreak ran from November 20 to 29, 2015, at the Galaxy Theatre, then touring the country in December. The play also included elements of his 1996 one-shot Dolce, and His Master. Araki created an official poster for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics , titled The Sky above The Great Wave off
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