Hirohiko Araki

Hirohiko Araki (荒木飛呂彦, Araki Hirohiko) is a mangaka and author of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, on which this wikia project is based.

Biography

Hirohiko Araki was born on June 7 1960 in Sendai, Japan. Araki left school before graduation from Miyagi University of Education.

Araki is best known for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, published in Weekly Shonen Jump from 1987 to 2002, before the series transferred to the seinen magazine Ultra Jump in 2004.

Araki's Buso Poker was a "Selected Work" at the Tezuka Award in 1980.^[1]

In 2012, Araki celebrates his 30th year as a manga artist and the 25th anniversary of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

The course of the story in JoJo takes the protagonists and the reader through many countries and the experience of many cultures. Through various means and at various degrees of factual accuracy and fictionalization, the history and cultures of Britain, the U.S., Japan and Italy in particular are explored and annotated.

Various names, titles, symbols, forms and segments of story originating with extant music, film, literature, fashion, television, comics/manga and modern art can be read throughout JoJo in the characterization of protagonists and antagonists. Likewise, selections of scientific theory, technology, myths, belief systems and news inform the functions of JoJo's multitude of unique Stand powers.

The series spans a range of genres including Science Fiction, Paranormal and the Supernatural, Mystery, Thriller, Action, and Adventure. Recurrent themes include social Class; Ethics; Justice; Health, Psychology and Memory; Fortune, Fate, Religion and Redemption; physical concepts or principles including Gravity, Time and Energy; and Evolution, Family, and lineage.

The character Rohan Kishibe may be considered a vehicle for the most self-conscious events and topics in the story, whilst the situations described in the fictional town of Morioh, the base of Part IV: Diamond is Unbreakable and the ongoing Part VIII: Jojolion may represent the most up-to-date aspects of Araki's personal interests or most personally relevant events and trends in contemporary culture (notably the 2011 Tohoku earthquake).

Amongst a range of motifs, JoJo maintains a number of special icons, symbols and shapes with vague or unspecified meanings, commonly used to adorn or accessorise characters. A (five-pointed) Star, a Heart, an Anchor, a Ladybird, an Arrowtip, the Peace symbol, and the Palm of a hand are amongst the most recurrent.

Style and Influences

Araki has named Paul Gauguin and his approach and contribution to color theory as a key influence.

A consistent element of Araki's drawing is a highly dynamic treatment of the picture plane. In terms of cartooning, a comparison can be drawn between JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part I, II and III (1987 - '92) and Tetsuo Hara's physiological ideals as exhibited in Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star). Part IV ('92 - '96) exhibits a transition to a more androgynous description of human characters; Part V ('95 - '99) amends an element of haute couture; and Part VI (2000 - '03) returns to sexual dimorphism through romantic interactions.

Illustrations of the protagonists in Part VII: Steel Ball Run ('04 - '11) are powerfully reminiscent of the photographic conventions of fashion magazines and the stylings of certain celebrity personalities of the 2000s. Combination of layout with depth of field, perspective and landscape lends Part VII a particularly cinematic presentation.

Publication

Many of Araki's creations including JoJo's Bizarre Adventure have been translated and released in Europe, but so far only JoJo and Baoh have been released in the U.S., one theory being that Araki's frequent references to Western music, film and others violate U.S. copyright law. Publications by Viz Media replace certain references within the copy of the manga with thematically comparable alternatives. The American localization of Capcom's fighting games based on JoJo follow the same procedure.