Ant's request; sourced from an earlier JoJo blog I made talking about JoJo's history. This blog simply talks about that and only its history as a series. No major spoilers for JoJo will be mentioned in this blog.
Background[]
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is written by Hirohiko Araki, a 56 year old mangaka who is joked to be immortal from how young he looks. His inspiration for JoJo in its beginnings was based off of the MANga/MANime of its time (ex. Hokuto no Ken) and a lot of Western media, mostly songs and fashion. Soon, JoJo would become a source of inspiration of its own, going across many other anime/manga series through references and even its own GUCCI line of fashion.
JoJo was on Shonen Jump since its original publishing in 1987 until 2004, 23 chapters into Part 7, when it was finally confirmed to be a JoJo Part (I'll talk about that later), when it then moved into Shueisha's Ultra Jump and still remains there to this day. There are eight parts to JoJo, each with a different protagonist and a different story revolving around the Joestar bloodline. This is how I can summarize the eight parts in two sentences: The first six parts revolve around the choices of Dio Brando and how they affect the history of the Joestars for generations to come. The seventh and eighth parts talk about Johnny Joestar's journey to get back to "zero" with the help of the Holy Corpse, a divine being that would soon affect the world years later.
Part I: Phantom Blood[]
Phantom Blood ran for 44 chapters from January 1, 1987, to October 27, 1987. The setting takes place in Britain in the timespan of 1880, 1887, and 1889 separately.
The story focuses around how after the accidental meeting of Dario Brando and George Joestar, there is a debt given to Dario where his son, Dio Brando, must move in with the Joestars after his death of supposed illness in 1880. Dio is a cynical boy who's true plan is to obtain and inherit the family fortune of the wealthy Joestar family. When he moves in, he meets the son of George Joestar: Jonathan Joestar.
Dio rivals Jonathan Joestar and attempts to ruin his life, but his plan changes when Jonathan fights back and actually overcomes him. It is in a fight against him when they both see an ancient relic owned by the Joestars activate by complete accident. This was the Stone Mask. Seven years pass as Dio and Jonathan supposedly become friends, when in reality Dio plots against Jonathan and his research on the Stone Mask after their fight. It is revealed that Dio has poisoned his father to death, and he plans to do the same with Jonathan's father and inherit the Joestar fortune.
After realizing the true powers of the Stone Mask in an "experiment", Dio uses this power on himself after being confronted by Jonathan for his past crimes. After the horrific results, Jonathan tasks himself with stopping the monser Dio had become and his new goal to take over the world itself. This requires the martial art known as Hamon, a new skill that will help him as taught by Hamon Master William Anthonio Zeppeli and the cheerful assistance of Robert E.O. Speedwagon.
Part II: Battle Tendency[]
Battle Tendency ran for 69 chapters from November 2, 1987, to March 27, 1989. The setting takes place in New York, Mexico, and Italy in the years 1938 and 1939.
Fifty years after the final fight against Jonathan and Dio, Jonathan's grandson moves to New York. His name is Joseph Joestar. Not long after moving, he is confronted by a previous Hamon Master influenced by the powers of the Stone Mask. It is in their fight that he learns of the research in Mexico and Italy done by Nazi Germany on the species known as the Pillar Men. He learns more about this through the German Admiral Rudolph Von Stroheim and his new hostage: Speedwagon.
In order to combat these newfound beings, Speedwagon guides him to the grandson of William Zeppeli: Caesar Zeppeli. The trio go together to find a new discovery of three Pillar Men: Esidisi, Wamuu, and Kars. They awaken when they arrive, and Wamuu fights Caesar and Joseph. They lose, but Joseph manages to let Wamuu keep him alive in the agreement that they meet again in one month to fight again. To assure that Joseph would come, he and Esidisi plant objects into Joseph that would dissolve and kill him in the exact amount of time.
Joseph must train and master Hamon with Caesar's Hamon coach, Lisa Lisa, and stop the Pillar Men from their true goal: obtaining the Super variant of the Red Stone of Aja to evolve themselves even further to become the Ultimate being. There is only one of these kinds of stones left, and it is guarded by Lisa Lisa.
Part III: Stardust Crusaders[]
Stardust Crusaders ran for 152 chapters from April 3, 1989, to April 27, 1992. The setting takes place in Japan and Egypt in the year 1989.
Jotaro Kujo, the grandson of Joseph Joestar, is found by his mother to be in a jail cell. He claims that he put himself in prison under the account of him having an uncontrollable, evil spirit. Joseph is called to find Jotaro alongside his Egyptian friend, Muhammad Avdol, to set him straight. It is in their confrontation that his "evil spirit" is actually a psychic power known as a Stand. When Avdol manages to get Jotaro out of his cell, the four have a discussion about how they come about their mysterious powers. Joseph uses his own Stand that he gained in the last year to show psychic photography of the culprit: DIO, and his head attached to the body of Jonathan Joestar. His appearance had awakened a Stand unlocking spree within the Joestar bloodline, unlocking their new abilities (this also goes for the protagonists of the two later parts).
Jotaro's mother suddenly becomes ill when her Stand is unlocked, but due to her poor willpower and mental strength, she is unable to control her Stand as it slowly begins to kill her. Avdol diagnoses that if her Stand's effect isn't neutralized in fifty days, she will die. This motivates Jotaro and his party to travel to Egypt and defeat DIO once and for all, making some formidable allies on the way. The fear of DIO's Stand abilities are consumed by the crew as time goes on and as they fight Stand Users loyal to DIO.
Part IV: Diamond is Unbreakable[]
Diamond is Unbreakable ran for 174 chapters from May 4, 1992, to December 4, 1995. The setting takes place in a fictional town in Japan called Morioh in the year 1999.
Jotaro Kujo travels to Morioh, Japan to locate the result of a one-night stand with Joseph Joestar: Josuke Higashikata. With the aid of Koichi Hirose, they locate him and Jotaro alerts him of his place in the Joestar family tree and the Stand that Josuke was not aware that he had. In conjunction, he also shows him a psyhic picture from Joseph that shows a serial killer loose in Morioh: Angelo. Despite caution, they confront him when Angelo indirectly triggers Josuke by mocking his hairstyle, something he takes great pride in due to an incident in his childhood during the same time that DIO had awakened the Stands in the Joestar family.
It is through the fight with Angelo that they discover that he gained his Stand through a Stand Arrow, something used by DIO back in the 1980s to gain Stand Users. It was now in the possession of a Keicho Nijimura, who had been using the Stand Arrow on live subjects, which includes the previously mentioned Koichi Hirose. The attack on Koichi causes Josuke to go after him, but before he could completely get the situation under control, a new Stand User awakened by Keicho attacks him and takes the Stand Arrow, creating a roundabout path that would cause many Stand Users to meet with each other under the principle that Stand Users are attracted by other Stand Users. This would eventually lead to the discover of a rampant serial killer in possession of one of the Arrows. Driven by justice, Josuke does as he can to stop the threats from harming the small town of Morioh.
Part V: Golden Wind[]
Golden Wind, usually translated as Vento Aureo for its Italian name and in the North American translations, ran for 155 chapters from December 11, 1995 to April 15, 1999. The setting takes place in Italy in the year 2001.
Prior to the events of Stardust Crusaders, DIO had many women hold his children. One of these children happened to be Giorno Giovanna, born in Japan as Haruno Shiobana. Jotaro Kujo sends out Koichi Hirose to find him somewhere in Italy to check if he had turned to a side similar to his father. Koichi finds him on accident, but it devolves into a fight where he loses to his Stand. Koichi gives up, but tells Jotaro that he is no necessary threat with a good heart.
Giorno becomes interested in the Neopolitian Gang, Passione, but not in the hopes of becoming a criminal. He wants to fight against Passione and become its new leader due to the corrupt side of the Gang. While in the public eye, Passione seems to be eliminating drugs from the street, they've been the ones selling the drugs in the first place. He encounters and fights one of the sub-gang leaders: Bruno Buccellati. After defeating him, he tells Giorno to go to someone to pass a test in order to join the gang completely, and he does so.
Not a day in, the Gang is tasked with protecting the daughter of the Boss of Passione, Trish Una, and delivering her safely to him. The group seeks to do so, but is constantly challenged by traitors of the gang who wish to take Trish and overthrow the Boss. The Boss is also responsible for the excavation of the six Stand Arrows DIO obtains.
Part VI: Stone Ocean[]
Stone Ocean ran for 158 chapters from January 1, 2000, to April 21, 2003. The setting takes place in the US State of Florida. It is also the final Part that takes place in the original JoJo universe.
Jolyne Kujo, the daughter of Jotaro Kujo, is framed for murder and is taken to the Green Dolphin St. Jail. Before Jolyne is sent to jail, she is sent a "gift" that pricks her in the finger: a tiny fragment of what's left of a Stand Arrow. This gift was sent by Jotaro to help Jolyne unlock her Stand for her own safety. Her arrest was under the works of DIO's final ally and best friend: Enrico Pucci. When Jotaro visits the prison to visit Jolyne, she is warned by a young boy named Emporio that this was a trap, a trap to kill her and Jotaro for the revenge of DIO's death.
Pucci wishes to finalize and complete DIO's plan to obtain "Heaven", which took many years to begin to take action. With this "Heaven", Pucci wishes to reset the universe and reshape it in the image of DIO. Jolyne, Emporio, and a gang of prisoners she had befriended seek to stop Pucci and his Agents from succeeding in this plan.
Part VII: Steel Ball Run[]
Steel Ball Run ran for 95 chapters from February 2, 2004 to April 19, 2011. The setting takes place in a cross-country race across North America in 1890. This is the beginning of the new universe, referred to as the SBR-universe. This originally wasn't a JoJo part when it first began, only a homage, but later on in Volume 5 he slapped the label on there, and at the same time it moved JoJo from a Shonen Jump comic to an Ultra Jump comic. This allowed Araki to place more realism in his art, making it considered to be one of the best looking parts in the series.
A race is set up in 1890 called the Steel Ball Run. The race is set to be across the country from San Diego, California to New York City, New York with a grand prize of $50,000,000. Gyro Zeppeli is a mysterious man who is known for carrying around his mystical Steel Balls. With his entry in Steel Ball Run, he hopes to receive amnesty for an innocent child who is set for an execution in Italy. Johnny Joestar is an ex-jockey superstar that lost his fame when he is injured and left a paraplegic. When he confronts Gyro and touches his Steel Ball, his legs move and make him move from his wheelchair, making him constantly chase after Gyro for more information on how he made him do such a thing. He illegally registers for the Steel Ball Run only in the hopes of chasing down Gyro and learning more about him.
Gyro finally indulges Johnny in his Steel Balls and begins to teach him in the Spin. However, only one act into the race, they both become heavily involved in the search of the nine parts of the Holy Corpse, someone who is said to be a "sacred Saint" from many years ago. Johnny wants to obtain the Corpse Parts to better himself, Gyro wants to obtain the Corpse Parts and send it to Italy, and the main antagonist, the President of the United States, wants to use it to better his country. The search for the corpse parts only gets worse as time goes on and more race contenders are involved in the search for their own gain.
Part VIII: JoJolion[]
JoJolion is currently running with (as of writing this) 65 chapters, starting from May 19, 2011 to the present day. It takes place once again in the town of Morioh, Japan in the year 2011. If you want to catch up on JoJolion, Ultra Jump releases monthly on the 19th (Japan Time) of each month with new chapters.
Prior to the events of JoJolion, the Tohoku earthquake of 2011 in Morioh causes various "Wall Eyes" to suddenly emerge from the ground. One day, a girl named Yasuho Hirose hides from a boy following her, but at the same time discovers a man buried underneath the ground. He wakes up, but has no memories of who he is or was whatsoever. After learning a little bit of his past, he learns that he is more than just one person, but a fusion of two people. In the meantime, he had been adopted by the Higashikata family until he learns about himself completely.
He later realizes that he is being hunted down by an odd species of humans called Rock Humans. These Rock Humans are a part of a gang that smuggle in mystical fruit from New Guinea that can heal almost any wound at a cost: the Rokakaka. Josuke is confronted with defeating the Rock Humans while learning more about his past and the Rokakaka in order to heal his deathy ill mother. But at the same time, the eldest son and the Dawn of the Higashikata family pose as suspicious threats. Josuke is now racing against the two to find a special, grafted Rokakaka exclusively planted somewhere in the Wall Eyes of Morioh.