JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The Animation

Manga (PB)

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The Animation (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険) is a 2012 animated by David Production and produced by Warner Bros. Japan. The anime was first announced on July 5, 2012 in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and later unveiled during the Hirohiko Araki JoJo Exhibition 2012 press conference alongside All-Star Battle.

The first season of the anime adapts Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency, Parts 1 and 2 of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series. The season was broadcast in Japan on October 5, 2012, ending after 26 episodes on April 5, 2013. Following the success of the first season, as well as a second season adapting Part 3 of the manga, the anime has received three additional seasons, with the fifth and latest season airing from 2021 to 2022.

Production
Although JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is one of the largest manga series in Japan, it'd be quite some time before it received a full TV anime adaption. When Hiroyuki Omori, a producer at Warner Brothers Japan, was approached about making an anime for the series, he initially thought it was too difficult of a task for any one studio to pull off. However, after getting planning permission from Shueisha, Omori set out on finding a suitable studio for the project. Omori chose David Production as the studio to animate the show because of their work on the series, which "showed powerful linework and careful animation", and therefore convinced him they could adapt a series like JoJo. All three parts of the anime, including Phantom Blood, Battle Tendency and Stardust Crusaders, were greenlit simultaneously in 2011. However, pre-production for the first season wouldn't start until as late as March 2012.

The media distribution service Crunchyroll obtained the streaming license for the anime after its initial airing, releasing the Blu-ray edition of the anime with English subtitles on their website. On July 21, 2016, it was revealed that the English dub was scheduled to begin airing on Adult Swim's Toonami block in October The dub premiered on October 15, 2016 and concluded on April 15, 2017.

Several events were announced on April 4, 2022 in commemoration of the anime's tenth anniversary.

Re-Edited
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Re-Edited (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 総集編) is a highlight compilation of the first season that condenses all 26 episodes into three movie-like features. The first volume (approx. 105 minutes) highlights the events of Phantom Blood, while the last two contain Battle Tendency.

This re-telling of the TV anime omits several scenes but includes newly-recorded narration to help piece together the story. Several sound effects have also been replaced or updated. The collection also includes multiple discs containing all 35 interviews of JOJOraDIO, a web radio program hosted by Yoji Ueda.

Trivia



 * The key art used for the first part of the anime, featuring Jonathan Joestar and Dio Brando, is based on the cover used for both the series' debut in Weekly Shonen Jump and its first volume.
 * Producer Hisataka Kasama appointed two directors for the series: Naokatsu Tsuda and Kenichi Suzuki, which is unusual for an anime. Kasama, feeling that it would be difficult for one person to adapt Hirohiko Araki's work, chose Tsuda for being "a good comedic director" and Suzuki for being a "good action director". Naokatsu Tsuda says that if he had been asked to direct the anime by himself, then he might have refused, but he felt reassured to have a partner for this role.