"chase" is the second opening of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable and the sixth overall opening of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime. The song is performed and arranged by the group batta,[1] consisting of Tatsu Hoshino, Tomomori Mano, Asato Shinohara, and Takeshi Hoshino, with lyrics by Tatsu Hoshino. The single was released on July 27, 2016.
The opening begins on a grey, drab visual of a heart with an anchor in the middle bearing the name "JoJo". Thorns from Hermit Purple wrap around the heart as a purple pulse monitor flashes across the screen. The pulse monitor then becomes erratic as if a heart attack, turning into electricity as the scene transitions into a cul-de-sac with the main cast standing in the middle while the camera rotates around them. The scene flashes to cans of soup in a freezer bearing the hands of several women while a superimposed "JoJo" is plastered across the image. The scene flashes back to the cast, zooming in on Josuke as he strikes a pose before rotating to feature Okuyasu also posing. The scene then flashes to an image of several suitcases with destination stickers of countries from around the world, beneath them a puddle of blood and behind them a cracked door with light shining through. The scene then rotates to feature Joseph Joestar holding baby Shizuka before rotating again to feature Jotaro Kujo posing.
The scene swiftly transitions to a photograph of Koichi happily sitting next to all of his friends, along with Yukako, Toshikazu, Rohan Kishibe, Tamami and Shigechi--all striking poses and pointing at the sky. The camera zooms out to feature several other Polaroid photos all lying on the ground, tire marks covering them. The Killer's hand suddenly appears on all of the photos at once and smashes down on them before distorting into a skull. The photographs all erupt into flames and disintegrate as the main title appears from the fire. The scene transitions through multiple hiragana letters into a field with Okuyasu and Toshikazu looking at Shigechi admiring a flock of pigeons. Suddenly, a finger appears on screen as the Killer clips the nail off; with the reflections of Aya Tsuji, Shigechi and Reimi Sugimoto appearing in the fingernail's reflection. The scene quickly shifts back to Shigechi and the others as the pigeons become spooked and fly off.
After a transition, Rohan Kishibe appears as he sketches the birds flying off into the distance and near electrical pillars from the sanctity of his home. Rohan then looks up from his notebook and out the window with a solemn gaze. A single pigeon transitions the next scene, as the focus shifts to Toshikazu and Tamami arguing on the sidewalk while Josuke and Koichi chat with Okuyasu. On the screen, Bug-Eaten and the other rats appear above them before slowly panning to the anchor within the heart from earlier. The heart takes up the scene as everything else fades into black. Suddenly, a decrepit hand with long fingernails reaches out and clutches the heart in its hand, causing the thorns surrounding it to shatter as the background turns red. Out of nowhere, the skull of Sheer Heart Attack appears and eats the heart and hand with a single chomp; causing the thorns to spurt blood as if they were arteries. Out of darkness appears the newly evolved Echoes ACT3; shrouded in darkness with its eyes illuminating the silhouettes of Koichi and Hazamada changed into books in the background. Several green soundwaves appear from Echoes' body as this transitions into Love Deluxe and Cinderella side-by-side. Several bizarre arrows shoot down from above as both Stands each transform into their respective users, Yukako and Aya.
The camera zooms out on the two sitting women as Aya clutches Yukako's face, a thin line of white rectangles separating them while blue lights shine from above. The camera unexpectedly zooms back in, now showing the white rectangles as windows with Reimi Sugimoto holding hands with a young Rohan. The hands disappear as the scene distorts into several windows which now show the Killer holding one of the severed hands of his "girlfriends". The hands phase away as an old man holding a single bleeding arrow menacingly appears inside pictures, simply motionless. The man disappears as the camera zooms into where he once was, now traveling through Ghost Alley as the spirits of Arnold and Reimi appear, crying out in apparent pain. The camera zooms behind her as thick, sketchy lines depict the skull of Killer Queen briefly transforming into several Arrows.
The Arrows all fire out at Jotaro, Okuyasu, Koichi and their Stands, barely missing them as they prepare for battle. The scene pans slowly over to Josuke, who with a furious look on his face, summons Crazy Diamond and shatters the Arrows into several pieces. As Crazy Diamond lets out a roar, shattering the remaining Arrows, Josuke breaks through as he desperately reaches out to catch the murderous silhouette of the Killer. The camera zooms in to reveal the Killer's face as he merely turns his head towards Josuke, revealing a cold, blue feline-esque eye.
Lyrics
Japanese Kanji
Japanese Rōmaji
English Translation
大切なモノ奪われそう
taisetsu na mono ubawaresou
My most precious things seem about to be stolen,
日常に紛れ込んだ悪魔
nichijou ni magirekonda akuma
By a demon that's burrowed into my everyday life;
平穏ならとっくに崩れ去ってる
heion nara tokkuni kuzuresatteru
My peaceful moments have already collapsed
何気ない そして、さり気ない
nanigenai soshite, sarigenai
Being unconcerned, so nonchalant,
気付がないうちに奪われていた
kizu ga nai uchi ni ubawareteita
Before I even noticed, it'd been torn away...
取り返しに行くなら今さ
torikaeshi ni iku nara ima sa
If I'm gonna get it back, I have to act right away !
So far, chase is the shortest opening song in the series, with the full version being only slightly over two minutes.
While the lyrics of the song seem to imply Josuke and his friends chasing Yoshikage Kira to put an end to his murders, they could also be reversed to implicate the song's meaning as Yoshikage chasing Josuke and his friends to kill them so he can regain his peaceful life.
The cul-de-sac features several rotating arrows on it, reminiscent of a roundabout. This could be a callback to the original ending theme of the anime series.
The flames burning up the photos of Josuke and his friends are implied to be Killer Queen symbolically erasing any evidence they existed.
Though she has a prominent appearance later in the opening with Yukako Yamagishi, Aya Tsuji first appears in the reflection of Kira's fingernail with both Reimi Sugimoto and the focused Shigekiyo Yangu, foreshadowing her death alongside his.
The silhouette on the cover of the single pursuing Josuke is implied to be Yoshikage Kira.
In addition, the civilians surrounding Josuke take on a blueish-white form, making them appear like ghosts. This most likely is a reference to Morioh's history of strong spiritual activity.
