25th Anniversary
The JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series celebrated its 25th anniversary of publication on January 1, 2012. The anniversary was a promoted milestone for the series which resulted in the occurrence of many promotional events as well as the release of promotional materials, most notably JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The Animation.
Description
The 25th Anniversary of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure was a year-long promotional event occurring during 2011, the entirety of 2012 and continuing into 2013 during which the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series and its author Hirohiko Araki's success was celebrated. It was also a widespread promotional event in Japan which has been a key factor for the (re)popularization of the franchise within Japan and overseas.
Hirohiko Araki JoJo Exhibition 2012
The Hirohiko Araki JoJo Exhibition 2012 was a special event first held in Sendai, Japan from July 28 to August 14, where JoJo's Bizarre Adventure creator, Hirohiko Araki, presented various works of art to celebrate the 25th anniversary of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. In the press conference of this event held on July 5, a new PS3 game and anime adaptation were revealed.
VS JOJO
As a tie-in between Araki's 30th year as a mangaka and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's 25th birthday, JUMP j-Book announced the VS JOJO Project for which several authors would adapt the universe of the series into three light novels.[1]
25 Years With JoJo
A booklet titled 25 Years With JoJo was bundled with the October issue of Shueisha's Ultra Jump magazine. In it several mangakas, notably from Shueisha or CLAMP, made a collective tribute to the series in the form of a drawing and a complimentary note.[2]
JoJo Royale
An online tournament named JoJo Royale was held on Google+. Replicating the organization of the Steel Ball Run race, nine stages with different rules and different separate prizes as well as a prize for the winner were made. The first stage was a written quiz about the series, and had for prizes a drawing of Rohan Kishibe by Araki; the second stage was a contest for whoever uploaded the best photograph of a woman making a pose, and the prize was a replica of the Stone Mask.[3]
Chronology
- End of 2011: Announcement of 25th birthday.
- August 17: Announcement of the VS JOJO project.[1]
- September 16: Publication of Purple Haze Feedback[4]
- December 16: Publication of JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE OVER HEAVEN[5]
- December 28 - January 14: Anniversary billboards featured each the eigth JoJo and an add for OVER HEAVEN are put on the commercial building Q-Front's front window in Shibuya. It was promoted as the opening of the anniversary.[6]
- February 10: A special reedition of Vento Aureo assembled in 10 volumes has begun publication.[7]
- March 4: During the Banpresto Expo held at Mahukami Messe International Exhibition Center held at Chiba, a special exposition of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure figures with a life-sized Bruno Bucciarati was presented.[8] In Tokyo, a live stream of the exhibition could be attended thanks to the Stand Remote Romance.[9]
- April 17: Publication of JoJo's Bizarre Words[10]
- April 18: The Lives of Eccentrics six short stories published in a bunko format.
- June: Creation of the Google+ JoJo+ fan page.[11]
- July 5: Hirohiko Araki participated to a press conference
- July 5: First announcement of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle[12]
- July 6: Da Vinci feature issue "JOJO = JAPAN" with Araki.[13]
- July 6: A special reedition of Stone Ocean has begun.[14]
- July 8: At the Shueisha booth of the Tokyo International Book Fair is presented a commemorative JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Stand for works of literature related to the series of Araki, and current artbooks.[15]
- July 28 - August 14 (Sendai)/ October 6 - November 4 (Tokyo): Hirohiko Araki JoJo Exhibition 2012. In Sendai, a limited series of sesame dumplings originating from JoJolion were sold.[16]
- August: A limited edition of 15,000 L-06D smartphones made in collaboration with Hirohiko Araki were released.[17][18] Special features include:
- six custom themes inspired by the series
- rear with a sketch and a signature from Hirohiko Araki
- 12 re-installed colored volumes from the manga with option to buy more
- exclusive wallpaper
- F-Mega app
- a camera app able to insert effects related to the series into pictures
- a Trish Una's outfit themed calculator
- a Heaven's Door themed memo pad
- a Weather Report themed widget
- predictive text input dictionary includes quotes from the series
- September 19: Publication of JORGE JOESTAR
- October: Release of the 25 Years With JoJo booklet alongside the October issue of Ultra Jump.
- October 5: Publication of JOJOmenon
- November 6: The first airing of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The Animation, Episode 1.
- November 22: a commemorative collection of Hirohiko Araki's early works such as Gorgeous Irene or Poker Under Arms was published.
- December 7, 2012 and January 5, 2013: The first and second volumes of a special reedition of Battle Tendency at magazine size assembled in two volumes were published.
Gallery
Celebratory mural for the 25th anniversary in Shibuya
Mural announcing Over Heaven in Shibuya
Poster for the JoJo Exhibition
"25 Years with JoJo" anniversary booklet
Special 25th anniversary smartphone
Life-size Bucciarati figure at Banpresto EXPO 2012
