JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a Japanese anime series, based on the manga series of the same name by Hirohiko Araki. The series, produced by David Production and directed by Kenichi Suzuki, premiered on Tokyo MX in Japan on October 5, 2012. Different art styles have been used for each season of the series.

In North America, Warner Bros. initially licensed the series for North American DVD/Blu Ray release and produced an English dub. The series began streaming on Crunchyroll with English subtitles on April 4, 2014. Viz Media also licensed the series in North America and began streaming the series on its website in April 2014.

The series premiered on Adult Swim's Toonami block on October 15, 2016. After the "Battle Tendency" arc concluded, the series was replaced with Attack on Titan season 2 on April 22, 2017. However, it was announced on July 1, 2017 that the "Stardust Crusaders" arc would begin airing on Toonami on July 29, 2017 at 12:30 AM. Subsequently, it was announced that Toonami would regain the 11:00-11:30 PM time slot and "Stardust Crusaders" would air at 12:00 AM.

Phantom Blood
Phantom Blood follows the life and adventures of Jonathan Joestar as he fights adoptive brother Dio Brando, who after wearing a stone mask has become a vampire with a bloodlust for total world domination in late 19th century Great Britain. Jonathan is joined in the fight by reformed street thug Robert E. O. Speedwagon, Italian Ripple master Will A. Zeppelin, his master Tonpetti and his students Dire and Straizo, and JoJo's beloved Erina Pendolton.

Battle Tendency
Battle Tendency follows the adventures of Joseph Joestar, Jonathan's grandson, in the United States in 1938, as he fights the Pillar Men, a race of near immortal beings who created the stone masks and want to take over the world. JoJo is joined by Caesar Zeppeli, grandson of Will, Venetian Ripple mistress Lisa Lisa, her servants Loggins, Messina, and Suzie Q, and the Nazi major turned cyborg Rudol von Stroheim, as they fight the Pillar Men Kars, Esidisi, Wamuu, and Santana.

Stardust Crusaders
Stardust Crusaders follows the adventures of Jotaro Kujo, Joseph's grandson, in Japan in 1989, as he finishes the fight against Dio (in Jonathan's body) using new psychic powers known as Stands. Jotaro fights to save his mother Holly from a Stand that is slowly killing her, assisted by his grandfather Joseph, the Egyptian soothsayer Mohammed Avdol, fellow student Noriaki Kakyoin, revenge-seeking Frenchman Jean Pierre Polnareff, and Boston terrier Iggy. They fight Dio's many Stand using assassins along the way.

Diamond is Unbreakable
Diamond Is Unbreakable follows the adventures of Josuke Higashikata, Joseph's illegitimate son, in Japan in 1999, as he first works to stop a sudden flood of Stand users in his hometown of Morioh, until he hunts down the serial killer Yoshikage Kira. He is joined by half-nephew Jotaro Kujo, biological father Joseph, former delinquent youth Okuyasu Nijimura, high school friend Koichi Hirose, and world-renowned manga artist Rohan Kishibe.

Phantom Blood
Jonathan Joestar — The main protagonist of this arc. Nicknamed "JoJo" for short, he is the son of George Joestar whose life turns to misery when Dio enters the household. After his father is killed by the vampirified Dio, Jonathan comes to learn the power of Hamon from his master Zeppeli.

Dio Brando — The antagonist of this arc. The son of Dario Brando, he becomes a member of the Joestar household with the intent of inheriting it for himself. When this ultimately fails after Jonathan catches him in the act, he uses the stone mask to transform himself into a vampire.

Battle Tendency
Joseph Joestar — Joseph is the main protagonist of Battle Tendency and the grandson of Phantom Blood protagonist Jonathan Joestar. Having been brought up by his grandmother Erina and Speedwagon, he developed a coarser and more rebellious attitude than that of his gentlemanly grandfather, but he still has a noble heart. Like his grandfather, he can use the Ripple, though he is not initially as skilled in its use as Jonathan was. He initially uses a pair of Ripple-empowered clackers in battle, but he relies more on his wits than brute strength in fights, employing his uncanny ability to predict his opponent's actions down to what they say. He returns as a main character in Stardust Crusaders and as a supporting character in Diamond Is Unbreakable.

Smokey Brown — A young black boy living in New York City who pickpockets Joseph, but Joseph saves him from a pair of racist cops and they become friends. After the end of Battle Tendency, Smokey attends college and studies political science, ultimately becoming the first black mayor of his hometown in Georgia.

Erina Joestar — Joseph's grandmother and the widow of Jonathan Joestar. She was believed to be Joseph's last living relative, until he discovers the whereabouts of his mother.

Robert E. O. Speedwagon — An ally of Joseph, and an old friend of the Joestars. Since the events of Phantom Blood, Speedwagon settled in America where he became an oil tycoon and founded the Speedwagon Foundation in order to deal with paranormal threats such as the Stone Mask and, later, the Pillar Men.

Rudol von Stroheim — Commander of the Nazi forces who discovered Santana in Mexico. He is responsible for not only saving the life of Speedwagon, but also for trying to help Joseph defeat Santana by blowing himself up. He returns later as a cyborg to assist in the fight against Kars, who slices him to pieces. He is rebuilt and leads an army to help Joseph in the fight against Kars and his vampire forces, having been given ultraviolet lamps to stop them.

Caesar Anthonio Zeppeli — A suave ladies' man and the grandson of Jonathan Joestar's Ripple teacher Will A. Zeppeli. He is rather cool and collected, especially compared to Joseph, with whom he is grudgingly paired to fight the Pillar Men. But over time, Joseph starts to grow on him so much that he is able to understand his strange thought patterns and they form an unbeatable duo. He infuses the Ripple into soap bubbles he creates with his specially-made gloves.

Lisa Lisa — A mysterious lady Ripple master and Caesar's Ripple teacher who lives in Venice. She is the last surviving master of the Ripple and as such possesses the Super Aja, a perfectly cut Red Stone of Aja which she guards from the Pillar Men. She is revealed to be Joseph's mother Elisabeth, who went into hiding after killing her husband's murderer, a zombie loyal to Dio who infiltrated the Royal Air Force.

Stardust Crusaders
Jotaro Kujo — The delinquent protagonist. His Stand is Star Platinum whose power is incredible strength and precision and later the ability to stop time.

Joseph Joestar — Jotaro's grandfather, his Stand is Hermit Purple, which allows Joseph to produce thorny purple vines that he can use to perform predictions using electronic equipment such as Polaroid cameras or televisions, swing from as if they were physical vines, or protect himself by empowering the vines with the Ripple.

Mohammed Avdol — An ally of Jotaro, originally from Cairo, his Stand is Magician's Red, which allows him to manipulate fire, usually in the shape of the ankh. Magician's Red's signature move is Crossfire Hurricane, which sends out several fiery ankhs at the target.

Noriaki Kakyoin — An ally of Jotaro, his Stand is Hierophant Green, which he can use to shrink down to enter people and control them from the inside, produce strange tendrils that can thrash people, or perform a long-ranged attack using blasts of green energy known as Emerald Splash.

Jean Pierre Polnareff — An ally of Jotaro, his Stand is Silver Chariot, which takes the form of an armored knight wielding a rapier. Silver Chariot is extremely fast, and can become even faster if it removes its protective armor, producing a series of afterimages when it moves to confuse Polnareff's target.

Iggy — A Boston Terrier ally of Jotaro's who thwarted the New York animal control officers for years until Aldol managed to capture the dog for the Speedwagon Foundation. To keep him calm, the Speedwagon Foundation and anyone handling him must give him coffee-flavored chewing gum as a treat, otherwise he will disobey all orders. He particularly enjoys biting people's hair and while the person is trapped he farts in their face. His Stand, The Fool, which takes the form of a part-biological part-mechanical being with two forelegs and two wheels instead of hindlegs, can even form wings to allow Iggy to glide away from danger. The Fool manipulates sand and dust, being one of the few Stands that can take a physical form visible to others.

Diamond is Unbreakable
Josuke Higashikata — The protagonist of this story arc. A freshman in the town of Morioh, Josuke is the illegitimate son of Joseph Joestar. His Stand is Crazy Diamond, which has the ability to restore objects to their original form; including others people's injuries.

Koichi Hirose — A classmate of Josuke's who meets him when Jotaro is searching for Josuke, resulting in the two becoming quick friends. Koichi is a young freshman in high school, and despite his age, he is very short. Throughout the series, he forms a student-teacher relationship with Jotaro. His Stand is Echoes, which has three distinct forms, or Acts (Koichi can only call upon one at any given time). Echoes Acts 1 and 2 can replicate sound effects and attach them to anything, which result in that happening to the object (i.e. attaching the word "whoosh" causes a gust of wind to blow by) Echoes Act 3 loses the former abilities and gains the ability "Freeze" which causes a target to become very heavy, it can also communicate with Koichi.

Okuyasu Nijimura — One of the two Nijimura brothers who were responsible for creating the majority of Stand users in Morioh via the Bow and Arrow. Okuyasu is overly dependent on his elder brother Keicho to make hard decisions. After his brother died, he sought revenge against the user of Red Hot Chili Pepper, Akira Otoishi, and becomes friends with Josuke and Koichi. His Stand is The Hand, who's right hand is used to temporarily erase the space where it moves, teleporting the objects closer to Okuyasu. While this ability is quite useful, he is rather unintelligent, rarely using it to its potential.

Rohan Kishibe — A famous manga artist who recently moved to Morioh. His Stand Heaven's Door, allows him to read the memories of its target as well as write down commands that they must follow, most commonly "Can not attack Rohan Kishibe." A restriction on his power is that the target must see his artwork, but this can be supplemented by drawing an "image" in the air with his finger. He eventually befriends Koichi, and subsequently helps Josuke's group learn Yoshikage Kira's new identity.

Jotaro Kujo — Protagonist of the previous arc, and technically Josuke's nephew. He goes to Morioh to find Josuke, Joseph Joestar's son, as well as investigate a Stand user. Ten years after the battle with Dio, Jotaro's Stand Star Platinum, has now officially evolved into Star Platinum: The World. However, because of disuse, Star Platinum's Time Stop ability is severely limited.

Joseph Joestar — Protagonist of "Battle Tendency," Josuke's estranged father and Jotaro's grandfather. His age has finally caught up to him, no longer the strong, boisterous trickster from previous seasons. He comes to Morioh to meet Josuke and help the others with the Bow and Arrow situation, but only assists in minor side-stories. He later adopts Shizuka, an abandoned infant and Stand user who he encounters in one of these.

Episodes
The first season of the series covers the first two story arcs of the manga series, "Phantom Blood" and "Battle Tendency," in 26 episodes. A second 48-episode season covering the third arc, "Stardust Crusaders," was broadcast from 2014 to 2015, and a 39 episode season adapting the fourth arc, "Diamond is Unbreakable," was broadcast from April 2016 to December of that same year.

Broadcast History

 * Japan (Tokyo MX) — October 5, 2012 - April 5, 2013; April 4, 2014 - June 19, 2015; April 1, 2016 - December 23, 2016
 * United States (Adult Swim) — October 15, 2016 - April 15, 2017; July 29, 2017  - Present