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. Its first season adapts Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency, the first and second parts of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series.

Summary
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 first season of the anime was announced on July 5, 2012 in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, and unveiled during the Hirohiko Araki JoJo Exhibition 2012 press conference, alongside JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle. The teaser presented a countdown video, starting with JoJolion to Phantom Blood, each number appearing on their respective JoJo protagonist's star birthmark. The first episode of Season 1 was broadcast in Japan on October 5, 2012, ending after 26 episodes on April 5, 2013. Season 1 covered the entirety of Part 1 and 2, encompassing 113 manga chapters. A second season, covering Stardust Crusaders, aired in Japan from 2014 to 2015. A third season, covering Diamond is Unbreakable, aired in Japan in 2016. A fourth season, covering Vento Aureo, aired in Japan from 2018 to 2019. A fifth season covering Stone Ocean began airing in 2022.

The media distribution service Crunchyroll obtained the streaming licenses for seasons 1-4 of the anime, with the fifth season streaming exclusively on Netflix. On July 21, 2016, it was revealed that the English dub had been scheduled to air on Adult Swim's Toonami block in October. The season premiered on October 15, 2016 and ended its run on April 15, 2017.

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

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 the first volume of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure  manga. The cover was also used for the series debut in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine.
 * Compared to future seasons, the Blu-Ray Disc versions of only season 1 are streamed on Crunchyroll. This is likely due to the website obtaining the license well after the anime finished airing, contrasting with the hour-delay upload schedules of succeeding parts.
 * Producer Hisataka Kasama appointed two directors for the series: Naokatsu Tsuda and Kenichi Suzuki, which is unusual for an anime. It is because Kasama felt that it would be difficult for one person to adapt Hirohiko Araki's work and so he chose Tsuda because he was "a good comedic director" and Suzuki was 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.