JoJolion - Chapter 1
Summary
A young woman hides near a cliff from a passing young man. The two had kissed once in the past, but the woman feels no semblance of affection for him. Complaining to herself about how dizzy squatting is making her, the woman suddenly notices a mysterious young man wearing a sailor's hat buried in the ground.
The woman, Yasuho Hirose, introduces the populous and scenic port town of Morioh. Though the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami seriously damaged the town, another problem emerged on the night of the earthquake when mountain-like protuberances rose from a fault line near the coast. These protuberances, dubbed the Wall Eyes by grade schoolers, happen to be the backdrop for Yasuho's first encounter with the young man.
Worried, Yasuho hesitates to approach the sailor, fearing that he may carry a contagious disease or could attempt to assault her if she got too near. However, when she notices deep bite marks around the man's star-shaped birthmark, Yasuho calls the fire department by mistake and reports the details of the situation. After hanging up, Yasuho takes a photo of the bite marks with her phone and worriedly asks the man to say something. The man finally responds by acknowledging Yasuho's name before asking about his own.
Suddenly, the man begins to sink further into the ground. Putting her previous doubts aside, Yasuho grabs the man's arm and pulls him out of the hole. Yasuho then suddenly notices that the photo she had taken earlier had captured a floating invisible bubble above the wound bearing the same star-shaped birthmark. Confused, she examines the man further, only to be horrified by what she sees between his legs.
At that moment, the young man from before finds the two, his name revealed to be Joshu Higashikata. Joshu is enraged by the situation and picks up a nearby rock, furious that the man could lay hands on "his" Yasuho. Yasuho, who hates Joshu and sees him as an idiot, tries to explain the situation to Joshu, who merely pushes her aside and moves toward the sailor. The amnesiac attempts to defend himself, but is knocked down once more. Before Joshu can cave in the man's skull, however, a bubble appears from his birthmark and pops against Joshu's chest. Joshu suddenly finds himself blinded, giving the young man the opportunity to punch him in the chest. Both men collapse to the ground, Joshu falling into a pool of his own vomit. As ambulances finally approach the three youths, Yasuho is left bewildered by the situation, questioning what the mysterious man had done to Joshu.
Yasuho, narrating once more, declares this story to be one about breaking a curse. Though many theories exist as to the origins of a curse, one thing is unmistakable: a curse must be broken, or else one will be overcome by it. Though she is plagued by the many questions surrounding the mysterious man, Yasuho finds herself most disturbed by the man's genital region: when she peered down at his crotch earlier, the young woman had glimpsed four testicles.
Appearances
Author's Comment
Author's NoteGallery
Ultra Jump June 2011
Ultra Jump June 2011 clean artwork
Cover B clean artwork
Ultra Jump page 4, colored
Page 4, colored
JJL Volume 1, Monochrome Tailpiece
JJL Volume 1, Colored Tailpiece
Rough Drafts
Idea notes for meeting with editor (Japanese)
Idea notes for meeting with editor (English)
Outline before panel layout. Dialogue only.
Panel layout, Page 25
Panel layout, Page 26
Panel layout, Page 27
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Manuscripts
Trivia
- The Tohoku earthquake used as a basis for the earthquake that hit Morioh occurred just two months prior to this chapter's publication. Araki lost his ancestral house in Sendai (the town Morioh itself is based on) during the Tohoku earthquake; the house was destroyed by the tsunami following the earthquake, which shocked Araki.[2]
Notes
References
- ↑ Ultra Jump No. 6, 2011
- ↑ Kahoku Shimpo, October 10, 2014. https://twitter.com/TadTwi2011/status/524350047404580864?s=20
