JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Creator Inks Epic New Phantom Blood Promo

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has found its groove by telling the story of the Joestars in different generations and alternate realities. In recent years, creator Hirohiko Araki has confirmed that he would love nothing more than to work on the manga for the rest of his life, which he has proven with the release of the latest arc, The JOJOLands. In a newly released piece of art, Araki has taken the chance to revisit Jonathan Joestar and Dio Brando from Phantom Blood using his latest art style for the story that kicked the series off.

Hirohiko Araki released the first chapter of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure all the way back in 1987. When Jonathan Joestar and Dio Brando were first introduced, Stands were not a part of the series and would not be introduced until Jotaro Kujo took the reins in Stardust Crusaders. Despite Stands being absent, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure still had plenty of brutal battles and bizarre moments thanks to the fight featuring Jonathan and Dio. With Dio Brando becoming a vampire and Jonathan harnessing the power of the energy known as “the Ripple”, Phantom Blood worked as a solid way to introduce Araki’s strange world to anime fans.

Phantom Blood Returns

Japan hasn’t been shy when it comes to creating live-action stage plays of popular anime franchises, and Phantom Blood will not only have its chance, but a musical stage play to boot. The play itself will hit the Tokyo Imperial Theater on February 6th and will continue giving Jonathan and Dio’s debut a musical twist through April. To help in celebrating the occasion, Araki took the chance to imagine what the Phantom Blood characters would look like had they debuted using his current style.

While Phantom Blood received an anime adaptation from David Production to kick of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s latest anime adaptation, there has been one anime project focusing on Jonathan and Dio that has been lost to the ages. In the year 2007, Phantom Blood received an anime film that arrived in Japanese theaters for a limited time, but never made its way to home video. To this day, the movie is shrouded in mystery and there has yet to be any announcements as to it eventually arriving for anime fans to check out.

What has been your favorite storyline in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s history to date? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of the Joestars.