As I’ve written before, one of the great things about anime is that it’s not a single genre, but is instead a “big tent” that’s filled with thousands of smaller subculture universes, and as fans we can move easily from one to the next without leaving the wider family of anime. Getting tired of the isekai genre? Check out some of the “post-modern” magical girl shows that have come along in recent years. Not a fan of harem or reverse harem shows? How about a bold story about a treasure hunt in Meiji Era Hokkaido, or the most dramatic anime I’ve ever seen? Or if you want to get into the deepest subculture world this side of Touhou Project, give into temptation and embrace Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.
I’d known about Jojo for decades, of course — the manga started way back in 1987, making it a Showa Era work — and we carried some of the early toys on the site back in the late 1990s, which was way, way ahead of the Jojo curve. As its popularity rose over the past few years, I still held out, because a) I’ve historically not been a fan of anime centered around battles, and b) I didn’t want to get into a fandom that’s older than J-List.
But then my son told me he was a huge Jojo fan, even visiting the “holy lands” (the locations from the manga and anime) in Venice and Rome where the characters from the 5th series do battle. I started watching the current arc (Golden Wind), and even got Mrs. J-List into the show. When your non-otaku wife is nagging you to watch the latest Jojo episode, you know it’s a quality anime.
When I playfully asked her to choose a Jojo Stand name — these are unique avatars who fight on behalf of characters, which are always named after bands or albums from classic rock songs — she went with Guns and Roses. I chose Hooray for Boobies, being a Bloodhound Gang fans. What’s your Jojo Stand name?
In a recent Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure episode, fans got a treat when every major character exchanged bodies with other characters so that you could only tell which character was speaking was by listening closely to how they spoke. The Japanese language in general, and anime specifically, is filled with unique audible ticks that provide information like senpai/kohai ranking, whether a character is male or female, and how each character perceives themselves, whether a character is humble or boastful and so on. Having every character change bodies (and hence, voice actors) with other characters was great fun, since no one knew which character had exchanged bodies without listening carefully.
How should Jojo curious fans get into the series? I’d say it’s not unlike Doctor Who, the longest running fandom I can think of. Basically, just start at any point you like, such as the beginning of the current series, and watch a bunch of episodes in succession to see if you like the incredibly stylized world and characters. If you do, keep watching!
What do you think about Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure? And what’s your Jojo Stand name? Tell us on Twitter!
In addition to a huge Steam sale going on right now, where you can get huge discounts on the English-translated visual novels you love, J-List has awesome eroge, hentai RPGs and other titles in stock in physical form, and we’re having a huge sale this weekend on all titles. Whether you want to help Sonico reach her dream of becoming the top idol or want to experience School Days and Shiny Days, we’ve got tons of great titles on sale this weekend. Browse them all here.
