Lucky Land Communications

Lucky Land Communications (ラッキーランドコミュニケーションズ, Rakkī Rando Komyunikēshonzu) is the personal company and manga studio of Hirohiko Araki. Based in Tokyo, Japan, it is where he and his assistants work on creating the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga series.

Lucky Land Communications is usually listed as the copyright holder on any published works, media, and merchandise relating to the series.

Summary

 
Lucky Land Communications Emblem

As creators of the source material, Hirohiko Araki & LUCKY LAND COMMUNICATIONS own the rights to the series and will often negotiate with other companies, such as Shueisha to mass produce and publicly distribute the manga, as well as various other merchandise. Other companies and organizations will often collaborate with Shueisha or directly with Araki's team to produce a wide variety of goods ranging from clothing lines, video games, and printed material, including their localized versions in other countries.

Company

Hirohiko Araki created the logo around April 1990 as a symbol for his business card, realizing he would need one while working. He designed the hand to have a big callus on its finger as it is considered a badge of honor for a manga artist, and he believed it would allow people to somewhat understand his profession even if he traveled abroad for research.[1] Araki began using the term "Lucky Land" and "LUCKY LAND COMMUNICATIONS" in around July 1991, with it appearing on the cover of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Chapter 225 and in the copyright page of Volume 22. LUCKY LAND COMMUNICATIONS continued to be part of the copyright notices in all of the following volumes, merchandise, and other media such as the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure OVA's covers. However, the company was officially incorporated on October 5, 2015.[2]

Starting with Steel Ball Run in 2004, the inside covers of the volumes include "ARAKI HIROHIKO & LUCKY LAND COMMUNICATIONS" rather than just Araki's name alone. The volumes of JoJolion and The JOJOLands continue to display it that way, with slight variations in how the logo appears for each part.

Studio

Araki's manga studio is located on the upper floor of a luxurious five-story apartment complex in Tokyo, which was first constructed in 1990. Araki moved into the studio sometime during Steel Ball Run, with it first appearing in an August 2007 interview titled "I Want to Receive the World's Best JoJo's Bizarre Lessons" with Shoko Nakagawa.

Entering the apartment is a small hallway which leads directly into the main workspace, kitchen area, and corridor. On the right side of the hallway are manga awards and trophies that Araki has won over the decades for his series, as well as items that were brought back from his trips aboard. From the hallway to the main workspace is a large spacious living area that leads out to a balcony. In the center of the room are four large drawings desks for both Araki and his assistants, so that they can work together in close proximity.

At the corners of the workspace are various shelves and drawers stock full of all the essential tools and equipment that Araki needs to draw, including fountain pens, pencils, inks, blank manuscript paper, and a large collection of screentones. On the right side of the workspace there's a large bookshelf full of encyclopedias, art books, model cars, and fashion catalogs that are used for reference when drawing. Araki also keeps various manga series from other authors on his reference shelf, including Monster, Vagabond, Gunnm, Fist of the North Star, Fullmetal Alchemist, KochiKame, Dragon Ball, I Am a Hero, AKIRA, Hitomi no Catoblepas, and Yushun no Mon.[3]

Separated away from the main workspace is an additional room mainly used by two of Araki's assistants, which includes personal computers, drawing tablets, and a photo copier machine.

Studio

Founder

Founder

Editors

Former/Current Editors

Assistants

Gallery

StudioLogos

Trivia

  • The name "Lucky Land Communications" and its logo are often brought up randomly in the series as Easter eggs.
    • The logo for Lucky Land Communications strongly resembles the symbol on one of the badges that can be seen on several of Jotaro Kujo's hats. A hand resembling the logo also appears in Josuke Higashikata's initial design on the hearts on his collar.
    • "Lucky Land" can be seen on all of the tarot cards drawn by Araki, with the exception of The World.
    • "Lucky Land Milk" is the name of Morioh's milk delivery service.
    • When Koichi is kidnapped in the "Yukako Yamagishi Falls in Love" story arc, his shirt features the Lucky Land brand and logo. In the "Let's Go to the Manga Artist's House" story arc, his boxer shorts also feature the logo.
    • The Lucky Land logo appears alongside various other symbols in the fireworks shown when Josuke and Okuyasu are celebrating the winning lottery ticket they find in the Shigechi's Harvest story arc.
    • A close-up of Shinobu Kawajiri's sandal features the Lucky Land logo on a button.
    • The design of Vitamin C's face appears to be designed after the Lucky Land logo upside down. Other hands resembling the logo are visible on its horns.
    • "Lucky Land" is a boutique in the Capcom fighting games, featured in the Suburbs stage.
    • "Lucky Land" can be spotted on a flag when Jotaro is playing Oh! That's a Baseball! against Telence T. D'Arby in the anime.
    • In the opening for "STAND PROUD", a globe with "Lucky Land" on it and a heart with the logo can be seen in the background during a scene where the crusaders are attacking.
    • "Lucky Land" is written on a sign in the ending for "Last Train Home".
    • A crop circle of "Lucky Land" can be seen in the opening of "Great Days".
    • "Lucky Land" is written along the side of the transfer bus in the opening of "STONE OCEAN".
    • In many covers and illustrations, Araki includes the brand or logo as part of the background or clothing designs.
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See also

References

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