Event Report: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Overtakes Shibuya!

Just over a decade ago, the anime world was graced with an adaptation of one of the most artistically beautiful shonen manga series: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. Following the Joestar family through six, depending on how you view the family tree, an array of stories across multiple locales. So, what better way to celebrate the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure franchise than turn Shibuya into one giant celebratory area for JOJODAY? Anime News Network explored the area around JR Shibuya Station to see what the JoJo collaboration has to offer.

Authors Note: I will be referring to different JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime story arcs throughout this write-up. The arcs in order are: Phantom Blood, Battle Tendency, Stardust Crusaders, Diamond Is Unbreakable, Golden Wind, Stone Ocean, and Steel Ball Run.

There are six primary JoJo's Bizarre Adventure sites around Shibuya, but some are a bit more hidden than others. For instance, two of the easiest JoJo sites to spot are the giant Iggy (from Stardust Crusaders) just outside the Shibuya 109 building and the giant billboard on the Magnet by Shibuya 109 building.

The other Shibuya JoJo spots, though, require a bit of exploration around JR Shibuya Station. While there is a handy information guide online, you'll have to explore the buildings to their fullest to find where they are tucked away. For instance, the JoJo spot in the Shibuya Sakura Stage is hard to locate because the building layout itself is a bit confusing. But once you find it, you feel a sense of accomplishment.

The Shibuya Hikarie JoJo location is also a bit tough to find. The online guide says the “South show window.” But without a good sense of direction and familiarity of Shibuya, it's like looking for DIO in his secret layer in Cairo, Egypt.

JoJo spots aren't the only JoJo's Bizarre Adventure collaboration taking place in Shibuya. Several restaurants are participating in the collaboration, and one features a JoJo-themed menu. Shibuya Excel Hotel Tokyu is hosting a limited menu; fans who visit will also receive a coaster and sticker. You'll want to get their early, as the menu items can sell out.

Although we missed our chance to fill up on JoJo's Bizarre Adventure-themed food, it wasn't long before our soul was filled with Hamon and Stand energy from the JOJODAY stage event. Taking place at the Yoyogi 2nd National Gymnasium, there was a long line of JoJo fans waiting to enter.

Fans slowly found their way to their seat when the doors opened at 5 p.m. with others exploring the venue, looking for any hints of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. For many, it didn't take long, as JOJODAY was also handing out mouillettes, or smelling strips, of the reissued JoJo's Bizarre Adventure perfume.

As the JOJODAY's start time drew near, the atmosphere in the Yoyogi 2nd National Gymnasium grew heavy with anticipation. As the lights dimmed, the chatter of JoJo fans died down only for the crowd to erupt with cheers as the opening riff of “Jojo (Sono Chi no Sadame)”, the opening to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure first season, rang throughout the venue. Fans were then greeted with a live performance by Hiroaki “Tommy” Tominaga. Playing into the fans' excitement, Tommy had the crowd join in a call-and-response for the song's line, “Sono Chi no Sadame, Jojo,” all three times it's heard in the song.

As the final riff of “Jojo (Sono Chi no Sadame)” played, Tommy called four JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's cast members, three of who were the titular Jojo, on to the stage. Yelling “JOJODAY Stage guest, COME ON!”, Kazuyuki Okitsu (voice of Phantom Blood's Jonathan Joestar), Daisuke Ono (Stardust Crusaders' Jotaro Kujo), Junichi Suwabe (Golden Wind's Leone Abbacchio), and Fairouz Ai (Stone Ocean's Jolyne Cujoh) appeared on stage to wild applause.

Hosts Kendō Kobayashi and Atsuko Uchida asked the cast to introduce themselves. In exemplary fashion, each cast member quoted their character from the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure franchise. However, Okitsu and Ono had a little fun with their introductions, with Ono calling Okitsu “Grandpa's grandpa” and Okitsu responding “Grandson's grandson.”

Of course, Ono didn't disappoint either. Starting with some Jotaro poses, Ono then asked the fans if they loved JoJo. With a healthy response from fans, Ono then asked just the men in the audience, followed by the women, the same question. As the women in attendance let Ono know their love for the franchise, he let out one of Jotaro's iconic introductory lines, “Shut the hell up! You're so damn annoying, you bitch!” to the fan's elation.

With the fanservice-heavy introduction concluded, the cast members shared their introduction to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. The four voice actors were introduced to the series at a young age or during their formative years. Ono and Ai added that the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga series inspired them to pursue a career in voice acting. Ai further said when she auditioned for Stone Ocean, she wanted to play Emporio Alniño or F.F. However, when Ai learned she got the part of Jolyne she was happy to get the lead role, but a bit upset she didn't get the part she wanted.

The discussion moved to what Okitsu, Ono, Suwabe, and Ai what they love about the series. Suwabe quickly responded that he loves the onomatopoeias and joked about what the sound “Memetaa!” even is, referencing the frog from Phantom Blood. He then further elaborated that he thinks the introduction of the Stands in Stardust Crusaders was innovative, especially since Stands are preternatural powers that have a visible form. As the conversation progressed Ono noted that the JoJo anime is just like the manga. Agreeing with Ono, Suwabe said the number of “muda” in the scripts were the same as the manga series.

Ai also spoke about her experiences with the line “Ora,” saying that by the time she joined the series, the directors had become more forgiving and didn't require the phrase to be uttered the same number of times as in the manga. Ai then recalled during her final audition after reading a series of “Ora,” she was told she got the part. It was her first time reading a series of “ora,” and the staff had caught it on film. While unreleased to the public, Ai watches the footage to cheer herself up.

Following Ai's heartwarming story, Uchida steered the conversation to some special video messages from Tomokazu Sugita (Battle Tendency's Joseph Joestar), Yūki Ono (Diamond Is Unbreakable's Josuke Higashigata), and Kenshō Ono (Golden Wind's Giorno Giovanna). Like the cast in attendance, Sugita, Yūki Ono, and Kenshō Ono were asked how they were introduced to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, if they had any stories about being influenced by the series, and what their feelings were when they were cast in their respective roles in the franchise. Adding some fun to the messages, though, Okitsu, Daisuke Ono, Suwabe, and Ai were given a multiple-choice quiz regarding the answers in the video messages. But to give Okitsu, Daisuke Ono, Suwabe, and Ai a slight edge, they were allowed to ask the audience, remove half the answers, or call a mystery person using a multiple-use phone call, akin to a popular 2000s-era game show.

The hosts first quizzed Okitsu, Ono, Suwabe, and Ai on which character Sugita found charming between Stardust Crusaders' Hol Horse, Alessi, N'Doul, and Anubis. After calling the mystery person and asking the audience, the four cast members settled on Alessi, the correct answer. When it was Yūki Ono's turn, the question was who he would like to be reborn as between Diamond Is Unbreakable characters Josuke Higashigata, Akira Otoishi, Stray Cat, and the Angelo rock. Once again calling the mystery person and removing half the answers the cast settled on the Angelo rock. The cast laughed and joked how it was the craziest answer.

Finally, it was Kenshō Ono's turn. With the question "Which JoJo's Bizarre Adventure quote do you get the most courage from?", the choices were certainly bizarre. The options were Dio's “I'm throwing away my humanity” from Phantom Blood, Rohan Kishibe's “I refuse” from Diamond Is Unbreakable, Diavolo's “This is a test” from Golden Wind, or Bruno Bucciarati's “Are you prepared? I am.” from Golden Wind.

The cast once again phoned the mystery person. To Okitsu, Daisuke Ono, Suwabe, Ai, and everyone in attendance's surprise, the mystery person revealed themselves as none other than Kenta Miyake (Stardust Crusaders' Mohammed Avdol). Joining the four other cast members on stage, Miyake gave a hint that pointed to the Dio quote. And as it turns out Kenshō Ono gets the most courage from throwing away his humanity and following Dio.

With Miyake introduced as a fifth guest at JOJODAY, the guests turned to the topic of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure video games. As a special treat, the organizers brought out a console with the 1998 fighting game of the same name, ready for play. But, with certain time constraints only Okitsu played the game. The rest of the cast wasn't left out of the fun, though. Rather than commenting on the game, the voice actors were tasked with voicing the characters and narration for the “greatest arcade experience,” according to Okitsu.

After some hemming and hawing by Okitsu, he finally settled on playing as Jotaro in Story Mode. His first opponent was none other than Avdol. Ono had the work cut out for him, as Okitsu let a torrent of “ora” attacks on Avdol. Ono feigned annoyance at saying “ora” so much, but Okitsu quickly responded that he would see how many times he could get Ono to say the line. Miyake, on his part, had to react and improvise lines on his feet, making it a battle for the ages. While the skirmish was close, Okitsu managed to escape the first fight and continue. Despite having a good time, sadly the cast had to move on.

As Ono and Miyake caught their breath after an intense live voice-acting session, the hosts presented the cast and audience with the results of the JoJo Anime Series Episode Poll.

Okitsu, Ono, Suwabe, Ai, and Miyake were given a short interlude as several Jojo's Bizarre Adventures announcements were made. There was only one announcement on the fan's minds: a new anime series. As new information about figures, the JoJo collaboration perfume, and new mobile game came and went, there was a palpable tension in the air for the adaptation of Steel Ball Run, the seventh part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, but no announcement was made.

Thankfully it didn't cause a riot. Instead, the fans had one more special event waiting for them. A short concert started, featuring singers Coda, Jin Hashimoto, and Tommy performing “Fighting Gold” from Golden Wind, “Bloody Stream” from Battle Tendency, “Stand Proud” from Stardust Crusaders, and “Jojo Sono Chi no Kioku ~End of the World~” from Stardust Crusaders Battle in Egypt Arc, respectively.

As the mini-concert ended, the cast came on stage once again for their final statements. Just as fans in attendance at JOJODAY thought the event was over, though, the lights cut for one final movie. Flashing 1888, 1938, 1988, 1999, 2001, and 2011, with respective events occurring in the world of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, the clock raced forward to the end of time, then to a new universe's 1890. The captions “Total Distance: Roughly 6,000 km”, “Prize money: 50 million dollars”, and “Humanity's first horse race across America” appeared on screen. The assembled crowd sat in pure silence as two visuals of men on horseback and the words “STEEL BALL RUN JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, anime in production” appeared on screen. That was all it took to get every JoJo's Bizarre Adventure's fan in attendance off their feet and cheering. It was the perfect ending to the night's events.

The night wasn't quite over for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fans watching the JOJODAY live stream. Following the main show, Okitsu, Ono, Suwabe, Ai, and Miyake were joined backstage by Uchida once again for just over 20 minutes. One of the first topics was the announcement of the Steel Ball Run anime. Suwabe apologized to fans who were waiting with bated breath for the main JOJODAY show's announcements, noting they had been asked not to discuss it.

To the cast and Uchida's shock and awe, it was revealed that JoJo's Bizarre Adventure creator Hirohiko Araki had posted an original celebratory image to his official X (formerly Twitter) account. Cooling down from their excitement over the new Araki illustration, Okitsu, Ono, Suwabe, Ai, and Miyake spoke about their thoughts and what they're looking forward to in Steel Ball Run. Ono noted that each cast member spoke about how they started reading JoJo's Bizarre Adventure somewhere in the middle of the series and then went back to the beginning. Thus, Ono thought it would be fantastic if people got into JoJo through Steel Ball Run, then went back to the start, as they did.

A few more announcements later, particularly for the JoJo Caravan exhibition taking place in the Shibuya SACS between April 13 to 24, the JOJODAY aftershow concluded.

Although the whole JOJODAY event, including the aftershow, ran for about three hours, the time flew by. The fun anecdotes, stories, and games, along with the concerts, were truly something any JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fan would want to see in person. But the clincher for the event was undoubtedly the announcement of Steel Ball Run. While the excitement of JOJODAY has died down, fans of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure can still explore the area around JR Shibuya Station to find all the JoJo spots until April 28.