Rare JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Footage Captures Its Creator’s First Public Appearance

Since the 1980s, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has been telling the story of the Joestars thanks to the efforts of its creator, Hirohiko Araki. Despite telling this story for decades, Araki himself doesn’t appear to be moving on from the popular world that he has created, with fans recently discovering a video that may very well be the first time the mangaka made a public appearance, years before Stands, Joestars, or Enemy Stand Users became a part of anime mythology.   

There isn’t quite anything like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure in the world of anime, let alone the world of pop culture, as the series introduces the concept of Stands across numerous generations of Joestar. Though the first two parts of the series, Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency, focused on the battle against creatures of the night using the power of the Ripple, Stardust Crusaders began examining the ethereal beings that give their users amazing abilities. With the Stone Ocean, the series is led by a female protagonist for the first time as Jolyne Cujoh attempts to clear her name while struggling against numerous Stand battles that are facing her thanks to a plan put into motion by series’ villain Dio Brando.

 Reddit User Lasernatoo shared this public appearance by Hirohiko Araki in 1981, following the release of the mangaka’s first published work in Poker In Arms, proving that the artist has been a part of the manga game for quite some time as he continues to work on the story of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure to this day:

Araki's first public appearance at the 20th Tezuka Awards in 1981. His first published one-shot, Poker Under Arms, was selected as a runner-up.
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Though Hirohiko Araki has told the story of the Joestars for decades, it doesn’t seem as though he’ll be stopping any time soon, as he is currently working on the next part of the manga in JoJo Lands. With this month also seeing the arrival of a manga side-story following Josuke of Diamond Is Unbreakable fame and a new one-shot returning to the world of Jolyne Cujoh, the strange franchise is definitely looking to end 2021 with a bang.

What do you think of this early public appearance of Hirohiko Araki? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.