STAND PROUD
"STAND PROUD" is the name of the first opening of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders and the third overall opening in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. Animated by Studio Kamikaze Douga, the song is performed by Jin Hashimoto, with lyrics by Shoko Fujibayashi, composition by Takatuku Wakabayashi, and arrangement (and guitars) by ZENTA. The single was released for sale on April 23rd 2014.
On the Oricon's Weekly Singles Charts, "Stand Proud" peaked at number 13 after being on the charts for 2 weeks.[1] On Billboard's Japan Hot 100, the song debuted and peaked at 11[2]. On Billboard's other charts in Japan, the song also performed well: number 3 on the Hot Animation[3] and Top Independent Albums and Singles charts[4], and 2 on the Hot Singles Sales charts[5].
Opening Animation
The opening scene shows Jonathan and the younger Joseph, before showing Jotaro, initially turning his back on the screen, then turning around, pointing at the screen and summoning Star Platinum, who then unleashes his blazing fists. The Katakana characters "Jo" can be seen popping out at the screen as Star Platinum punches repeatedly, before the logo is seen entirely.
The next scene after the logo shows 5 shooting stars zooming into the skyline, before crashing into the ground. A 6th shooting star is seen at the far right, speculated to represent Iggy, who is yet to be introduced.
After the shooting stars come down crashing, the scene zooms into the darkness of DIO's mansion, briefly showing the bug that pinpointed his current location, zooming next to his shady figure, emphasizing his Joestar birthmark, courtesy of Jonathan's body. The scene changes as DIO swipes his hands onto the screen, zooming out from the eyes of Star Platinum, Jotaro keenly observing a Polaroid picture of DIO along with Avdol and Joseph.
The scene changes as the party quintet (with Kakyoin and Polnareff) walks, reflecting the many places they'll be traveling. Hol Horse is seen briefly.
The same quintet is seen riding a camel in the desert, then in the night sky, Polnareff jumping excitedly and then all of them converging in a fire camp.
A montage of Holy and other characters is seen with it, namely, George I and II, Erina, Lisa Lisa, Jonathan and Dio, the youthful Joseph, the Stone Mask, until showing Jotaro, crouching, who then stands up sharply, with his Stand emerging from him.
A brief sketchy illustration of DIO is seen, in white over red, showing his shoulders and his neck with stitches and seen briefly is an x-ray view of the neck, emphasizing the break from his neck bone and spine that states the obvious: the head grafting using DIO's head, onto Jonathan's body. The view ends with zooming into his eyes.
The quintet then demonstrates their Stands, starting with Joseph, Avdol, Kakyoin, and Polnareff. Jotaro then travels into a 3D-rendered scene with many writings, Katakana and English characters revolving around, namely ORA, JoJo, LUCKY LAND and others. As Jotaro zooms in, Joseph emerges from the other end, using his Stand to travel, while Avdol, Polnareff and Kakyoin demonstrate their Stand's powers one after the other.
A brief view of Jonathan closing his eyes (presumably from his death scene at the burning boat), Joseph tying the bandanna that came from his fallen friend Caesar, and Jotaro looking up, is then seen, while the song chants "JOJO!" 3 times, presumably counting the 3.
The next scene has the tarots revolve around, with Star Platinum and Jotaro emerging, and a heavily obscured DIO. The scene changes with Jotaro posing, then clutching his Gakuran hat, and sharply tweaking it at the tip, with Star Platinum emerging from him. The final scene shows Star Platinum punching a mirror that briefly reflects DIO. Afterwards, Jotaro walks towards it while Star Platinum repeatedly punching the glass pane until eventually smashing it, the perspective actively changing. Finally, the fist of Star Platinum emerges from the cracked and shattered glass.
The intro has obvious 3DCG elements in use that are comparable to Sono Chi no Sadame, especially in the last parts, where the animation of Star Platinum and Jotaro is remarkably near-realistic.
Lyrics
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Notes
- Any parenthesis in the English translation are added words meant to complement the existing lyrics, to fill up the bars of the song. By itself, the raw translated words cannot be sung along.
Song
Tracklist
- STAND PROUD
Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi / Composition: Takatugu Wakabayashi / Arrangement: ZENTA - STAND PROUD ~ ORIGINAL KARAOKE ~
Trivia
- The cover art resembles a scene from the 1989 OVA, Baoh.
- In regards to the full-length version, STAND PROUD is the longest opening in the anime series to date.
- The opening has some nods to the events of Part 3, such as having Strength, the cart where Yellow Temperance absorbs the dog and The Sun being in the background behind Joseph, Avdol and Polnareff. Additionally, during the travelling montage, different locations from Part 3 can be seen, such as the fields where the battle with Judgement took place as well as a quick glimpse of Hol Horse walking past them.
- In addition, Polnareff and Kakyoin are shown in the intro before they join the Crusaders.
- Due to joining the team only after they finally arrive in Egypt. Iggy isn't seen anywhere in the opening. However, during the opening there are shooting stars representing the main characters with one being far away from the others, most likely being a reference to Iggy not yet joining the team at that time. In the final episode before the Egypt arc, Iggy's allusion was confirmed by adding a distant dog howl as the stars descend. Afterwards, Iggy has since been properly represented in the following opening sequence, Sono Chi no Kioku.
- A softer, more sentimental version of the song was also performed by Jin Hashimoto and appropriately called "STAND PROUD Dramatic Ver.". It was included on the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The Anthology Songs 3 album.
References
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