And so our journey through JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure comes to an end as we reach the current point of the series. Throughout this past week we’ve directly compared each of its components against each other to see how consistent story structure in a multi-work piece does not mean the stories have to be the same. We’ve seen a wide array of personalities, motivations, and relationship dynamics that may be similar but are never the same. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has proven to be a machine whose parts can be swapped out at will without fear of it breaking. Today I’m honored to cap off our JoJo Week by going from 1890 America to 2011 Japan for the eighth installment of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, titled JoJolion.
JoJolion is perhaps the most confusing and bizarre story yet. A girl by the name of Yasuho Hirose finds a naked man in a sailor’s cap half-buried in the ground. This man reveals himself to be an amnesiac and is soon given the name Josuke Higashikata with his given name being that of Yasuho’s dog and his family name being shared with a family who agrees to take him in. Together with Yasuho, Josuke sets out into the town of Morioh to recover his memories and find out what happened to him.
JoJolion is mostly a retelling of Diamond Is Unbreakable set in the Steel Ball Run universe similar to how Steel Ball Run was a retelling of Phantom Blood. Characters in the two parts share names and roles within the stories, but JoJolion does not borrow too much from Diamond Is Unbreakable aside from that. It is important to note that JoJolion is not introduced as being any sort of direct continuation of Steel Ball Run. The two parts share a common universe and the events of Steel Ball Run are referenced in JoJolion due to the race’s historical significance, but JoJolion does not open similarly to parts three through six where each story is built using a plot device or character from the last.
This Josuke is a very complicated character consisting of a lot of traits and quirks that initially seem to be thrown together at random. Despite not remembering anything about himself, Josuke is polite yet violent with a strong sense of family and a childish side that could be seen as a disregard for social norms. Josuke sleeps under his mattress as opposed to under his blanket, spills food he enjoys while he eats it, and has a vast knowledge of trivial topics such as plants. He also finds it equally easy to restrain himself against enemies or kill them if need be.
What makes JoJolion so bizarre is that its story consists of parts pulled from many different previous parts. Steel Ball Run was set up similarly where the idea behind it was based on Phantom Blood and drew ideas from Battle Tendency, but JoJolion goes a few steps beyond that. JoJolion heavily mirrors Diamond Is Unbreakable but also takes inspiration from Battle Tendency and Stardust Crusaders to help bridge the gap since there are no direct retellings of either part. This is one of the boldest ideas in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and is made to work very well thanks to a meticulous eye for detail that helps keep every reference coherent. Each idea borrowed from a previous plot is given the proper context for it to make sense when put against this new background of an alternate Morioh filled with other ideas treated similarly.
A return to Morioh initially seems like a return to Diamond Is Unbreakable’s use of settings, but JoJolion chooses to not follow that example exactly and varies its settings a bit so as to create yet another new adventure. Morioh is the primary setting for JoJolion but acts more like a home base for the characters to return to should they travel to other places. Despite expanding its settings past Morioh’s city limits, JoJolion does put a lot of emphasis on Morioh by giving the city important context within the story. Not only are the keys to Josuke’s memories centered in Morioh due to being found there and possibly being a resident, but JoJolion’s Morioh features strange landmarks that began appearing after an earthquake prior to the story.
By having an amnesiac protagonist, JoJolion further distances itself from the rest of the series and puts itself in the position to use those connections as revelations to surprise the audience. JoJolion is built on that element of surprise coupled with it existing in a parallel universe to the bulk of the series. While the reader may recognize references and parallels both to the original timeline and Steel Ball Run, those references are given new worth by being introduced in a context unique to JoJolion. References serve as rewards for readers who are able to spot them, and JoJolion continues rewarding those readers by working towards a new, different outcome to keep the reading experience fresh.
Character relationships within JoJolion are much different than most previous parts. Josuke’s amnesia factors into his personality in a way where there is an underlying sense of hostility between him and nearly everybody he meets. Being an amnesiac, Josuke is unsure of who to trust and approaches new and suspicious people with a degree of caution. As such, Josuke does not have the circle of close friends that Jotaro, Giorno, and part four’s Josuke had and also does not have the same extroverted personality as Jolyne. JoJolion’s character bonds are more like Steel Ball Run’s but looser; There are two main characters on the side of good, but in JoJolion’s case there is a clear hierarchy putting Josuke as the main character and Yasuho as the sidekick whereas Steel Ball Run saw Gyro and Johnny on equal ground for most of the story.
JoJolion is currently ongoing so I don’t have much in particular to say about it. Its presentation is a bit similar to Josuke’s body: A seemingly strange mix of parts that work so seamlessly that you hardly know them unless you’re actively looking. By the way, JoJolion Josuke has four testicles and sometimes this part is known as Four Ball Run. That’s a good note to end on. JoJolion is not currently licensed but we stan most fan translators.
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