JoJo ~Sono Chi no Sadame~

"JoJo ~Sono Chi no Sadame~" (ジョジョ ～そのの～) is the first opening theme song of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The Animation. It is performed by Hiroaki "TOMMY" Tominaga and was his debut solo release. Kamikaze Douga produced the opening animation sequence. It is used throughout the adaptation of the first part of the series, Phantom Blood, and as an insert song in the final episode of the season, which adapted Battle Tendency.

"JoJo ~Sono Chi no Sadame~ was written by Shoko Fujibayashi, composed by, and arranged by . Fujibayashi and Tanaka are notable for contributing to various popular opening theme songs, and they previously worked together on the first opening theme song of , "We Are!".

The single was released in Japan on November 21, 2012.

Opening Animation
The opening depicts the major highlights of Phantom Blood from the childhoods of Jonathan Joestar and Dio Brando up to their climactic battle in adulthood.

It begins with a quick montage of manga panels of Jonathan's descendants shown in reverse order (Jolyne, Giorno, Josuke, Jotaro, and Joseph), each having at least two animated panels of their iconic scenes. Jonathan then appears in a monochrome panel recreating the pose from Volume 4. After color fills his body, he swipes downward with his fist causing the title to appear.

The logo flashes and zooms in as the camera moves through a tunnel towards a door, which slams open into a stylized version of the Joestar Mansion. Jonathan stands on the stairway framed like a portrait. The scene pans to Dio jumping out of a painting of a carriage, like he did when arriving at the mansion, and the two stare each other down. It shifts over to a rotating Statue of the Goddess of Love. A sudden spin of the statue turns it into an arm holding the Stone Mask and another spin turns it into Jonathan's arm holding a knife, carving his and Erina's name into a tree. Erina is shown blushing and attempts to move in for a kiss from Jonathan, but is surprised and horrified when Dio kisses her instead. The scene then changes to Dio's perspective, as an enraged Jonathan appears and punches the camera, causing its gaze to shift onto the Stone Mask as blood splatters on it. The Stone Mask's eyes glow and the camera rotates behind it, as tendrils emerge from the mask and pull the camera in.

The scene changes to when the police attempt to shoot Dio after he has put on the Stone Mask. Dio flies back after being shot and the window shatters. One of the broken pieces of glass shows the reflection of Jonathan holding his dying father. A moment later, Jonathan's arm points toward the sun. Dio, after gaining his new vampire abilities, walks up the wall of the burning Joestar mansion. The room spins and Dio appears up close holding the Stone Mask. He stabs a knife into the camera and another montage of scenes from the manga, featuring him as a child to an adult, commences.

After a quick worried glance from Erina, the scene blinks to Jonathan staring at the darkness at the top of a stairwell. Swinging his arm, the Ripple shoots through his body. Jonathan then proceeds to walk up the stairs. He gradually picks up speed and starts running until his eyes are close up with his pupils filled with the flames of rage. At the top of the stairs, Dio sits on a throne, holding the Stone Mask in front of his face. A quick zoom into a reverse montage of scenes from the manga starts up, including one featuring Zeppeli at his last moments with Jonathan, which starts with the confrontation before their fight and ends with Dio and Jonathan meeting as children. Jonathan charges his Ripple overdrive and punches Dio, who attempts to block it. The camera rotates and zooms out from the battle up a long flight of spiral stairs. A moment later, the Stone Mask is seen falling into the ocean and slowly sinks to the bottom.

In the U.S. airing of Phantom Blood on Toonami, the opening was edited down to less than 30 seconds to fit American television guidelines for several more commercials than Japanese television broadcasts.

Tracklist
For the "Archetype MIX" versions, see the album JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The Anthology Songs 1.

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Reception
"JoJo ~Sono Chi no Sadame~" did moderately well in the charts, peaking at 14th place on the 's Weekly Album Charts. On 's, it debuted at 52nd place and peaked at 19th. On Billboard Japan's Hot Animation chart, it debuted and peaked at 5th place. On their Top Singles Sales it debuted and peaked at 10th place, and left the charts after the week of February 25, 2013, after a 12-week run. When the subsequent theme song, "BLOODY STREAM," by Coda entered the charts, "JoJo (Sono Chi no Sadame)" jumped from a ranking of 65th to 41st in one week on Oricon.

Jun Yamamoto from Billboard stated that TOMMY's vocals and the accompanying brass band were said to be heart-pounding and reminiscent of classic anime theme songs. The lyrics resonate with the story of Phantom Blood, hinting at the fate of Jonathan Joestar in his fight against Dio Brando, and he believed the song would be loved by JoJo fans.

Video Games
The TV broadcast version of the song is included in the limited edition "Anison" version of the Weekly Shonen Jump crossover fighting game, J-Stars Victory VS. It is one of the 21 anime theme songs included in the edition and can be used as background music during battles.