The creator of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures has spent decades weaving the story of the Joestars across alternate realities, with the latest anime adaptation, Stone Ocean, being the last time that the main series has covered the universe that started it all. While the series will give fans a very different story in both Steelball Run and JoJolion, Araki has taken the opportunity to celebrate the series as a whole with a video message to fans, explaining how his characters have changed over the years.
In the video from Anime Expo, Araki discussed the series that he considers to be his masterpiece while sharing a new piece of art for Jolyne and her Stand, Stone Free, exploring how his characters have changed over the decades:
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“JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s anime adaptation is celebrating its tenth year. It’s also my thirty-fifth year writing the manga. The protagonists in Parts 1, 2, 3, and beyond connect across generations all, so to speak, descending from a single family as part of a single bloodline. The first protagonist, the hero of Part 1, is muscular, and then gradually, by around Part 5 with Giorno, we see a slim, more realistic, true-to-life young man. In Part 6, of course, the hero is a young woman.
I wanted her to be strong. Now looking back, over the past thirty-five years, the heroes, the way I drew them, kept changing. That might be part of the appeal of the series, or at least I think so. I hope people will continue to watch, read, and enjoy JoJo. Last but not least, my best wishes to everyone.”
You can watch the full video from Araki below via the Official Viz Media Twitter Account:
This year’s Anime Expo didn’t just give us video messages from Hirohiko Araki, it also gave us a new trailer for Netflix’s Stone Ocean while also confirming that new episodes were set to arrive on September 1st of this year. When last we left Jolyne, she was struggling to survive Stand attacks while also working to free her father and clear her name. Rest assured, these new episodes will have plenty of surprises for fans following the anime adaptation.
What do you think of Hirohiko Araki’s special message to fans? Which character design from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure did you like the most? 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 the Joestars.