For over three decades, Hirohiko Araki’s exploration into the Joestar family in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has enthralled audiences. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure applies a creative and unconventional take to the standard shonen anime structure with how each season shifts its perspective to look at another piece of this larger narrative.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure features some of the medium’s most thrilling action sequences and lovable characters. That said, the anime can be overwhelming to an outsider who doesn’t know how to break into the long-running series’ many Parts.
Updated on May 8th, 2023 by Xandalee Joseph: Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure has stood the test of time with 8 parts spanning over 3 decades. With Part 9 underway, the series might seem overwhelming to viewers and readers that want to dive into the popular series. To make things a bit easier, we’ve updated this with more information on JJBA’s most asked questions.
13 What’s The Best Order Do You Watch JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure In?
The Series Begins With Phantom Blood
What’s particularly interesting about JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is that each major chapter in the series’ saga is broken down into different arcs, rather than a standard approach where each progressive season is numbered. As a result, the anime’s start may be unclear to some.
The best viewing order for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is Phantom Blood, Battle Tendency, Stardust Crusaders (which has two seasons), Diamond is Unbreakable, Golden Wind, and the most recent season, Stone Ocean. Stone Ocean functions as an end of sorts to JoJo’s “original” timeline, but there are even more adventures in the manga with Steel Ball Run and beyond.
12 Where To Start JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure?
Phantom Blood, Steel Ball Run, Or JoJolion
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is a unique series in the sense that several points in the franchise make for suitable moments for newcomers to jump in. Naturally, Part 1, Phantom Blood, is the most natural beginning since it’s when the series begins.
However, a reset universe begins in Part 7, Steel Ball Run, which is quite understandable to any JoJo beginners. The same is true for the following story, JoJolion, which makes references to the past, but is largely a new narrative that’s been continued in the events of Part 9. Fans can start here if they don’t want to watch all 8 seasons as all of these are fitting places for where to start JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
11 What Anime Genre Is JJBA?
JoJo’s Begins As A Shonen Series
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure fits into the overcrowded shonen genre, but its classification as shonen undersells the originality on display. JoJo does appeal to a younger male demographic and is filled with fights, like other shonen anime, but it approaches it in an unconventional way that tells a generational story across the Joestar lineage.
Each season of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has its own distinct flavor, which indulges other genres. For instance, Diamond is Unbreakable features a lot of smaller slice-of-life content, while Steel Ball Run turns the narrative into a racing seinen.
10 How Many Episodes Does JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Have?
190 Episodes, As Of Stone Ocean
Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency accumulate 26 episodes together, Stardust Crusaders is 48, Diamond is Unbreakable, and Golden Wind are 39 episodes apiece.
Stone Ocean, the latest anime season, totals 38, released in three batches. Altogether, that’s 190 episodes, which is still quite digestible for anime fans with limited time on their hands.
9 Where Can You Watch JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure?
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Can Be Streamed On Netflix, Tubi, Hulu, Adult Swim, And More
It’s frustrating to get excited over an anime series and then learn that it’s not available to stream anywhere or only available on some subscription services. There has been a great boon in anime streaming options, and thankfully JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is one of the shows available in many different places.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure can be comfortably streamed in its entirety on Netflix, which also became the exclusive destination for its Stone Ocean season. However, the bulk of JoJo can also be watched on Crunchyroll, Hulu, Tubi, Amazon Prime Video, and Pluto TV. Additionally, select JoJo seasons like Golden Wind have aired on Adult Swim’s Toonami block, which means it can be watched on broadcast television, too.
8 Does JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Have A Dub?
Yes, Every Season Has Been Dubbed
Dubs are not an essential viewing experience for an anime, but they can be helpful for more reluctant audiences. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure doesn’t have a mediocre dub; it’s very high-quality that absolutely does the material justice.
Bang Zoom Entertainment has dubbed the entirety of JoJo’s anime, rewarding longtime fans with consistency across all six of its separate anime installments. Fans should listen to JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure in its original language with subtitles, but a well-produced dub never hurts.
7 What’s The Most Recently Finished Manga Part?
Part 8, JoJolion, Is The Latest Finished Manga Part
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s manga started in 1987, and the series is still going strong. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is broken into different sub-series, and JoJolion, the eighth installment, is the most recently finished manga story. Curiously, JoJolion produced 110 chapters over the course of a decade, which is longer than some original series, let alone a new installment in an ongoing saga.
JoJolion is the longest story in the growing JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure saga, and it speaks to how each new story arc seems to grow bigger and more out of control. That being said, Part 9, The JOJOLands, has recently started in the wake of JoJolion’s conclusion. These two stories feed into each other, but it’s going to be quite some time until The JOJOLands concludes.
6 Which Animation Studio Is Responsible For JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure?
David Production Animates JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
It’s always exciting when it’s announced that a popular manga will be turned into an anime series, but what’s become an increasingly crucial factor in the adaptation process is the responsible anime studio. An inexperienced studio or one spread too thin can ruin a promising series.
Fortunately, David Production has done exceptional work with JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure,and they’ve been with the anime since the very start. David Production has also been able to properly capture how Araki’s art style and character models have progressively changed over time. There’s an evident love for the source material.
5 Does JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Have Any Movies, Spin-Offs, Or OVAs?
Yes, There Are Multiple OVAs & Spin-Offs
Interestingly enough, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure was first adapted with an OVA that adapts Stardust Crusaders, but the proper anime has remained fairly focused and hasn’t resorted to extraneous material or compilation films to sum up the anime’s events.
The one exception to this is that Diamond is Unbreakable has several episodes of an OVA series, Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe, that are isolated stories where fan-favorite manga artist and Stand user, Rohan, is the central figure. There are even live-action adaptations of Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan, and Hirohirko Araki has also announced additional manga chapters. There are even more supplemental side stories in the form of light novels and non-canonical manga.
4 Are There Any Filler Episodes?
No, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Has No Filler
A major problem that plagues a lot of shonen anime is that they need to create a ton of filler material to allow the manga to get further ahead. So much of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure was finished before the anime started that this isn’t a problem. As a result, JoJo is an impressively filler-less anime.
Some episodes may seem less important or could possibly be skipped without consequence, but none are designed to be throwaway installments. The fact that Stardust Crusaders has two seasons to itself feels a little gratuitous, but none of it is an anime-exclusive creation. This is a major selling point for JoJo, and it helps each series feel tight and focused.
3 Is The JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Anime Or Manga Finished?
No, The Manga Is Still Running, And There Are More Parts To Adapt
All of JoJo’s current anime are complete, and while a Steel Ball Run season hasn’t been confirmed, many fans remain optimistic. The most recent Part in the JoJo’s manga, JoJolion, concluded its run in 2021, and there were rumors that Part 8 would act as the series’ swan song.
Fortunately, this is not the case, and Hirohiko Araki’s Part 9, The JOJOLands, has finally arrived. It’s unclear if Part 9 will take a decade to tell like JoJolion, but it’s possible. At least in the meantime, there’s a sense of finality felt in the endings of the Stone Ocean anime and Steel Ball Run manga.
2 Is There Going To Be A Steel Ball Run Anime?
Not Necessarily
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure fans recently got to enjoy the masterful adaptation of Part 6’s Stone Ocean, but the anime’s future isn’t as secure as some may think. David Production has become increasingly busy and any Steel Ball Run adaptation would need to be several years away from premiering at the earliest. Additionally, Netflix’s batch drop release schedule killed most of Stone Ocean’s momentum.
Steel Ball Run is one of the most popular JoJo parts, but the plot revolves around a cross-country horse race, and running horses are very expensive to do right in animation. Stone Ocean also wraps up the “original” JoJo timeline and functions as a satisfying conclusion if David Productions choose not to pursue a Steel Ball Run series.
1 What Is Part 9, The JOJOLands, About?
A Boy’s Journey To Become A Millionaire
Part 8 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, JoJolion, released its final chapter back in August of 2021. Fans have waited for a year-and-a-half for Hirohiko Araki to rest and put together the next saga in the series, The JOJOLands. The JOJOLands begins publication in February 2023, and Araki has revealed that it will follow a descendant of the Joseph Joestar who’s teased during JoJolion’s ending.
Details are otherwise sparse, but Araki has shown off imagery evocative of boat voyages across the sea. This is certainly unexplored territory for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and a Joestar who’s a pirate or intrepid explorer would be a lot of fun.
