Hirohiko Araki

"I'd say living with a positive outlook is the theme of JoJo. It's a celebration of humanity."

- Hirohiko Araki

Hirohiko Araki (荒木 飛呂彦), real name Toshiyuki Araki (荒木 利之), is a Japanese and the author of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Born on June 7, 1960, he made his debut in 1980 with his one-shot Poker Under Arms, and began his professional career with the short series Cool Shock B.T., Baoh the Visitor, and Gorgeous Irene.

His work on JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is divided into several parts and continues to be serialized for over 30 years, totaling 131 volumes (as of September 2021), circulating over 120 million copies (January 2022). His style has been described as an "experimental, but definitive approach. "

Biography
Araki grew up in Sendai, Japan with his parents and younger identical twin sisters. He cites his sisters' annoyances as the reason he spent time alone in his room reading classic manga from the '70s, such as , and his father's collection of art books, which Araki assumes informed his motive for drawing manga. He was particularly influenced by the work of French artist.

In middle school, Araki first tried to practice baseball. However, he says he failed to perform anything correctly on the pitch and felt he wasn't cut out for collective sports. He switched to practicing kendo for different reasons, stating that he was influenced by the manga "Ore wa Teppei" and out of frustration from his bad experience at the baseball club. His experience at kendo seems to have been lukewarm, as he says nobody praised him whether he won or lost a match.

Araki drew his very first manga while he was in fourth grade. He attended a prep school through junior high and high school, which was where a friend complimented him on a manga he drew for the first time. Ever since, he began to draw manga in secret of his parents. He began submitting work to publishers during his first year at Tohoku Gakuin Tsutsujigaoka High School; however, all of his submissions were rejected. Araki also applied his works to the Tezuka Awards, having at one point been nominated in the 14th edition in 1977 for a one-shot named "The Bottle" then submitted under the name Toshi Arakino (荒木之利). At the same time, other artists who were around his age continued to make big splashes with their debuts (Ex:, ). Araki could not understand why he was being rejected, so one day in 1979, he decided to pay a visit to an editorial department in Tokyo for direct feedback on his most recently finished work. At first, he intended to visit, which published , but was intimidated by the size of their building, and decided to take his submission into the smaller Shueisha (Publishers of Weekly Shonen Jump) building next door. It was noon when he visited, but one rookie editor named Ryosuke Kabashima happened to be there. Kabashima, after reading the first page, promptly quipped "your white-out's leaked (You haven't fixed it)": he was criticized every time the editor flipped through each page. Araki, exhausted from having been up all night, felt like he was going to pass out, but was told to fix it up for the Tezuka Awards. Months later, Araki would submit a one-shot by the name of "Poker Under Arms", which won the runner up prize at the Tezuka Awards.

Araki left before graduating, and made his debut in 1980 with the aforementioned one-shot Poker Under Arms. He did graduate from the. His first serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump was Cool Shock B.T. in 1983, with his works Baoh the Visitor (1984) and Gorgeous Irene (1984) following soon after. His next series would become his, 1986's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

On November 30, 2016, Araki won the 45th Annual Best Dresser Awards in Tokyo in the "Academic and Cultural Arts" division. When questioned about his youthful appearance, Araki said that he washes his face every morning with Tokyo's tap water.

Araki was given an art award for the year 2018 by the Agency for Cultural Affairs for his art exhibition Ripples of Adventure.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Published in Weekly Shonen Jump between 1987 and 2004 and from 2004 to the present in Ultra Jump, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure represents Hirohiko Araki's primary brand and body of work.

The JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series brought fame to Araki as its popularity skyrocketed during the publication of Stardust Crusaders and Araki kept working on the series even after the end of the third part, which was the end of what he had planned for the stories beforehand.

The dust jacket of every volume of JoJo contains a note to the reader; a relatively great source of Araki's direct opinions.

In 2012, Araki celebrated his 30th year as a manga artist and the 25th anniversary of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. A special exhibition was held in Sendai, Japan, which included the announcement for the TV Anime and All-Star Battle.

Personal Life
Araki is often commented on for his unchanging youthful demeanor over the years. He cites training and swimming at the gym and Hitomebore rice as methods for staying fit while over the age of 50. In his 2007 Eureka Interview, he is complimented by Japanese psychologist and critic, Tamaki Saito, but states that the main reason he switched to a monthly serialization was from no longer being able to handle the weekly schedule. Araki has revealed that after he was operated for gastroenteritis, Araki realized that he could no longer completely devote himself to his manga and sought to enjoy life more and practice other activities such as travelling or cooking.

Araki is well known for his position on staying healthy. He enjoys going on walks and riding a bike, particularly to Japanese shrines, and has commended it as his coping mechanism when exhausted from work. He considers exercise as a great way to discipline one's self and that carrying too many things can be a burden; Araki will typically only carry a coat, water, and an iPod when going out.

Araki lost his ancestral house in Sendai during the. The house was destroyed by the tsunami following the earthquake, which shocked Araki.

Family
Married to Asami Araki (荒木麻美), Araki is the father of two girls. A couple years after his debut, Araki met Asami in a group meet-up, and the two got married three months later.

Manga

 * The Bottle (ザ・ボトル)
 * Sandstorm (砂嵐)
 * Poker Under Arms (武装ポーカー)
 * Say Hi to Virginia (バージニアによろしく)
 * Outlaw Man (アウトロー・マン)
 * Cool Shock B.T. (魔少年ビーティー)
 * Baoh the Visitor (バオー来訪者)
 * Gorgeous Irene (ゴージャス☆アイリン)
 * JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険)
 * The Lives of Eccentrics (変人偏屈列伝)
 * Under Execution Under Jailbreak (死刑執行中脱獄進行中)
 * Dolce and His Master (ドルチ ～ダイ・ハード・ザ・キャット～)
 * Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan (岸辺露伴は動かない)
 * Deadman's Questions (デッドマンズQ)
 * Oingo Boingo Brothers Adventure (オインゴとボインゴ兄弟 大冒険)
 * Rohan au Louvre (岸辺露伴 ルーヴルへ行く)
 * Kishibe Rohan Meets Gucci (岸辺露伴 グッチへ行く)
 * Jolyne, Fly High with GUCCI (徐倫、GUCCIで飛ぶ)

Novels

 * Hirohiko Araki's Super-Favorites! Rules of Movies (荒木飛呂彦の超偏愛! 映画の掟)
 * Hirohiko Araki's Bizarre Horror Movie Analysis (荒木飛呂彦の奇妙なホラー映画論)
 * Hirohiko Araki's Manga Techniques (荒木飛呂彦の漫画術)
 * Continued - Hirohiko Araki's Manga Techniques (続・荒木飛呂彦の漫画術)

Other Illustrations

 * Famicom Jump II: Saikyo no Shichinin (February 1991, seventh boss monster design)
 * Kamedas (1993, an alternate story of , an illustration)
 * JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (Novel) (November 4, 1993, novel written by Mayori Sekijima and Hiroshi Yamaguchi, illustrated by Araki)
 * JoJo6251 (December 10, 1993, art and guidebook)
 * JOJO A-GO!GO! (February 25, 2000, artbook)
 * Music is the Key of Life (December 13, 2000, album by Sugiurumn, cover illustration)
 * GioGio's Bizarre Adventure II: Golden Heart, Golden Ring (May 28, 2001, novel written by Gichi Ōtsuka and Miya Shōtarō, supervised and illustrated by Araki)
 * Life Ground Music (February 27, 2002, album by Sugiurumn, cover illustration)
 * Alex Rider Series (女王陛下の少年スパイ!アレックス) (2002-2007, cover illustration)
 *  (novel, illustrations for )
 *  (2006, 30th anniversary special illustration)
 * "Catwalk" (April 26, 2006, single by, cover illustration)
 * (2006, T-shirt design)
 * ' (January 8, 2007, special tribute illustration in ')
 *  (September 7, 2007, front cover illustration)
 * The Book: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 4th Another Day (November 26, 2007, novel written by, supervised and illustrated by Araki)
 *  (2008, cover illustration)
 * "Breeeeze Girl" (June 24, 2009, a single by, cover illustration of the limited edition)
 *  (2009, 10th anniversary special illustration)


 * Purple Haze Feedback (September 16, 2011, novel written by Kouhei Kadono, illustrated by Araki)
 * JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Over Heaven (December 16, 2011, novel written by Nisio Isin, cover illustration)
 * Lacan for Survival (生き延びるためのラカン)
 * JORGE JOESTAR (September 19, 2012, novel written by Otaro Maijo, cover illustrated by Araki)
 * X-Cross (September 19, 2012, an album by, cover illustration)
 * HIROHIKO ARAKI WORKS 1981-2012 (2012, artbook)
 * JOJOmenon (October 5, 2012, artbook)
 * JOJOVELLER (September 19, 2013, artbook set)
 * JoJonium (December 4, 2013 - March 4, 2015, covers of the large format re-release of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)
 * Main Themes (February 25, 2015, an album by, cover illustration)
 * JOJO magazine (March 19, 2022 - Ongoing, cover illustrations)
 * La extraña aventura de JoJo: rey infinito (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 無限の王) (March 19, 2022 - Ongoing, cover illustrations)
 * Iggy the Stray Dog (野良犬イギー) (March 19, 2022, cover illustration
 * JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Crazy Heartbreakers (クレイジーの悪霊的失恋 －ジョジョの奇妙な冒険より－) (June 19, 2023, cover illustration)

Style and Influences
Araki's drawing commonly involves idealized figures in broad, expressive poses at adventurous scales and angles; with sharply inked lines and scattered, blackened planes; lending them a sculptural effect. In color illustrations and pages, Araki varies roughly complementary color juxtapositions. In terms of cartooning, a comparison can be drawn between Phantom Blood, Battle Tendency, and Stardust Crusaders (1987 - '92) and the hypermasculine (and highly dimorphic) anatomical ideals applied by Tetsuo Hara in, and referenced by Araki in relation to action heroes of the 1980s. Diamond is Unbreakable ('92 - '96) marks a transition to a more intersexual model; while Steel Ball Run (2004 - '11) sees greater realism, along with further incorporation of ideals of beauty consistent with the mode in fashion design. When he started JoJolion (2011 – '21), Araki expressed a will to draw in a looser style and things he never drew before. Hence, he says, he bust shots and increased the amount of white panels and included more white elements in his drawings, in contrast to the darkness of his style present in previous works.

Reference to illustrations by artists including and  informs a number of individual illustrations and character poses in Araki's work from 1987 - 1992; decreasing from then along with increased use of photographic references. Limited examples of costumes borrowed from contemporary fashion design have been identified.

As a film fan, in the 1980s Araki noted the popularity of action movies and the muscular physiques characteristic of their stars (such as and ). By this example, Araki would ponder; "Who is the strongest person in the world?". Subjects such as immortality and justice occurred to him as things that humans innately value and seek. Araki had also been on a trip to Italy two years prior to the creation of Part 1: Phantom Blood, where he identified the exaltation of overt human beauty characteristic of renaissance art. Araki was particularly struck by the aesthetic of the sculpture by Italian sculptor. The baroque sculpture's striking figures and realistic yet idealized bodies stuck in remarkable poses inspired Araki to heavily incorporate poses in his art and develop his own style. Araki would combine these examples in the formulation of the basic plot and visual style of Phantom Blood.

Araki has named and his approach to  as an influence.

Araki has described his drawing method as "classical". He has indicated admiration for in the text of the manga and otherwise; and in a video feature in JOJOVELLER, he is seen making visual reference to a book of 's work during the construction of a piece.

Manga that Araki has named as admirable or having had particular influence on him include Ai to Makoto by Ikki Kajiwara and Takumi Nagayasu, the most significant of his youth; Ore wa Teppei by Tetsuya Chiba, which inspired him while in middle school to join the kendo club; and  by, particularly influential for the concept of combat defined by special rules or laws.

Araki has authored a book on the subject of Horror film and its influence on his work.

Araki has described his habit of naming characters and Stands after musicians and their works as "a simple hobby", and has indicated a strong preference for Western popular music.

On October 2011, Araki was deemed one of the 100 most influential people in Japan by the business magazine "Nikkei Business", in the category "creator".

Araki's Lists
Characters= Hirohiko Araki's Best 10 Characters - Author's Popularity Contest (作者人気投票キャラクターベスト10) from JOJO A-GO!GO! (2000) - Araki Hirohiko, p. 75

Illustrations= "Hirohiko Araki's Favorite Illustrations Best 20" from JOJO A-GO!GO! (2000) - Araki Hirohiko, pp. 52–57