Retronauts Episode 515: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Chapter 1

Will there be a second episode? YES! YES! YES! YES! YES!

Japanese manga differs from American comic books in a lot of ways: The characters often age and mature over time, major retcons and reboots are rare, and creators tend to retain sole authorship of their work. If a book hits it big, that manga can become an artist’s life’s work.

And then there’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Hirohiko Araki’s manga that started in 1987 and shows no signs of ending anytime soon (indeed, the latest arc just kicked off a few days ago). Araki began with a horror tale of two youths in Victorian England but by year’s end, the story shifted focus to the original hero’s grandson and became an international jaunt to fight ancient superbeings. A pattern formed, and every few years one JoJo’s story would end and another’s would begin, in another time and another place, all of them connected to one of those original British boys by blood.

In the decades since its debut, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has been adapted into animation, live-action, novels, action figures, and of course, video games. But more than that, JoJo‘s popularity in Japan has inspired an uncountable number of creative works, making it a massive topic for any podcast to cover in just one episode.

So join host Jeremy Parish, co-host Diamond Feit, and guests Jess O’Brien and Chris Person as they gleefully share their enthusiasm for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, its influences and influencees, and Hirohiko Araki’s many eccentricities. We hardly had any time to cover the actual JoJo video games, but don’t worry, this conversation will be continued…

Description: Jeremy Parish, Diamond Feit, Voidburger, and Chris Person summon their Stands to talk about the history, themes, and video game connections of one of the most influential manga series of all time: Hirohiko Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. GO GO GO GO GO!

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MP3, 54 MB | 1:51:33 Direct download Retronauts on iTunes Retronauts at Audioboom

Artwork for this episode by Shaan Khan and editing thanks go to Greg Leahy.