OH MY GODDDD! It’s time for a giveaway, and not just any giveaway – Manga UK is releasing the iconic JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Season 1 on Blu-ray on 2 April. Whether or not you’ve watched the series before or simply just want to know what all the fuss is about, here’s your chance to win the boxset! All you have to do is follow Manga UK on Twitter and retweet this tweet.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has been serialised as a manga since 1987 by Hirohiko Araki and is one of the best-selling manga series in history. The series follows the various descendants of the Joestar family and their fight against various forces of evil – most notably Dio Brando.
Season 1 is where it all began, and spans the first two manga series – Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency. Set in 1880s England, the aristocratic Joestar family adopts Dio Brando, the son of a drunkard who supposedly saved the head of the family years ago. The only person who recognises Dio’s true evil intentions is Jonathan Joestar. When Dio gains the powers of a mysterious mask in the Joestar family’s possessions, the disastrous consequences pass down through the Joestar generation like a curse.
Skip forward to 1930’s New York and we’re introduced to Joseph Joestar, Jonathan’s grandson. When ghosts from his grandfather’s past reappear, Joseph must learn to master mysterious ‘hamon’ abilities to defeat ancient super-beings known as the Pillar Men.
In a word, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is bizarre (aren’t I original?). And that’s really not doing it justice. This series is bursting full of western pop culture references, with characters being named after bands like Led Zepellin and others being modelled on Clint Eastwood. Not only does JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure lovingly absorb other pop culture elements like a sponge, it’s had a big impact on other iconic Japanese series – from Street Fighter character designs to other anime series simply adopting ‘those’ iconic battle poses. Search ‘JoJo reference’ on Youtube and you’ll be there for a while…
When I first saw clips from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure I thought ‘this just looks like a really daft and generic fighting series’. How wrong I was! Yes, there is plenty stereotypical about the series but JoJo’s is arguably the embodiment of that ‘manly yet camp’ genre that’s been so long-running in anime and manga.
So far, there are eight ‘parts’ to JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure manga, each with a different member of the Joestar family as the protagonist, and the series shows no signs of ending. It wasn’t until 2012 that the series got a ‘full’ anime adaption and it was around this point when it really kicked off in the west, and started the dreaded trend of people exclaiming ‘is that a JoJo reference?’ at every given opportunity. I recently finished watching the fourth and most recent anime series, Diamond is Unbreakable, and it honestly took me a while to get through 100+ episodes. Joining the JoJo’s fandom is a bit like being sucked into a black hole – you really can’t get out once you’ve started on the journey.
I bloody love JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure and want to use every opportunity possible to introduce more people to the series. So, get entering! If you just can’t wait, you can pre-order the series now.
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❤ Jojo!
WRYYYY!