Breaking Down The Art and Fashion of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure may be known the most for creating amazing and idiosyncratic “Stands” that sometimes take the names of famous rock bands, singers, and songs, but what also must be taken into account when viewing the series is the fashion and the art that is displayed throughout the franchise. It’s in the presentation of the characters and the strange events that happen throughout that the love of Hirohiko Araki for the franchise clearly shines through. We here at Comicbook.com are big fans of the series, so when we see a deep dive exploring certain aspects, we can’t help but shine a spotlight onto it.

Anime News Network put together an extensive breakdown of Araki’s love of fashion and art that bleeds into every panel and animation created for the Bizarre Adventures of the Joestar family line:

One of the most prominent influences for the franchise overall include the French artist Paul Gauguin. As stated in the write-up, the artist would discount reality in creating his artwork, and create images that used color and distortions of form in order to present the best possible style that he could think of. This of course may sound familiar as the characters in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has outfits, hair styles, and poses that we would never experience in the real world. If you could find someone walking down the street who looked like Dio Brando for example, we’d love to see it.

Araki also used Renaissance statues in order to depict some of his more muscular characters. Specifically, you can see this in the earlier seasons of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, specifically Phantom Blood, Battle Tendency, and Stardust Crusaders. In these first three seasons, the characters muscles and pecs were so gigantic, that its almost became distracting but these designs, though not realistic, created iconic interpretations of the Ripple and Stand Users.

What do you think of this amazing write-up that shines a light on the bizarre fashion and art within the JoJo series? What’s your favorite character design from the franchise? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and JoJo!

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure was originally created by Hirohiko Araki for Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1987. Currently the second longest running series in the magazine with over 100 volumes collected, the series tells the story of the Joestar family, who are each entwined in a destiny battling outrageous foes. The series has been split up into eight parts, with each part following a different generation of the Joestar family.