Describing what JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is about is much harder than describing its pedigree. It’s one of the most famous and influential mangas ever, which was finally adapted into an anime in 2012, and will soon enter its fifth season. Many of the character concepts, images and ideas—like “Stands,” a physical manifestation of a psychic power—have become frequently-used tropes in other anime, manga, and even games. The seminal manga group CLAMP began their careers making fan comics based on JoJo characters, and the Persona series in particular owes a lot JoJo’s, as the titular personas are just Stands by another name. Hirohiko Araki, JoJo’s writer and artist, is so renown that his work has been shown at the Louvre. That last fact alone was enough for me to give the show a try, but I had no idea what I was actually in for.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is the story of the Joestar family, starting with Jonathan, a mild mannered Englishman who strikes up a rivalry with Dio Brando, his adopted brother. Because of a cursed mask, Dio becomes a powerful vampire, and Jonathan swears to stop him. After learning a fighting move called the “Ripple,” which allows Jonathan to kill vampires by punching the sun into them, he goes on a quest to defeat Dio for good. How does this already weird concept get weirder, you ask? Well, you’re in for a ride.

The Comedy and Memes:

Amidst the fighting and epic music to go with it, JoJo doesn’t mind cracking a joke every so often. In fact, Part 2, starring Joseph Joestar frequently makes Jokes throughout Part 2. He acts just like the class clown would, which makes Joseph a great character. He isn’t all serious like other Characters, which makes him one of my favorite characters In the series.

As such, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has lent itself well to memes on the internet. You're bound to run into a few JoJo's memes in your lifetime, without realizing its bizarre origins. From "It was me, Dio!" to "Is that a JoJo's reference?!", there's a sizeable portion of the internet just dedicated to populating the online world with the beauty of JoJo's off-beat humour.

Brace yourself, because this is where is gets crazy. Dio finds a stone mask that turns him into a vampire, thus gaining immortality. He then takes the body of his brother, Jonathan Joestar, by replacing Jonathan's head with his own. He hides in Egypt for decades where he slowly amasses an army of villains. It's then up to Jonathan's descendants, Joseph Joestar and Jotaro Kujo, to put an end to Dio. If we go further into each part, you'll also find serial killers, aliens, the mafia, and time travel... Yep.

The Plot:

JoJo’s whole plot constantly changes from part to part. For Example, Part 1 takes place in 19th century England in 1880, but it skips to 1887 where the rest of the series happens. At first it’s for Jonathan (Part 1) to defeat Dio, as he made Jonathan’s Dad hate Jonathan, stuck his finger in Jonathan’s eye during a boxing match, made him an outcast, kissed JoJo’s girlfriend, and through his dog in an Incinerator. And That’s Episode 1. This ignited the Joestar Lineage’s fight against the forces of evil. Also, Please enjoy this picture of Danny. I’m still sad…

However, what makes Stands so unique isn't just their great designs, but the names given to them. Creator Hirohiko Araki is a big fan of music, so most Stands in the show are named after bands, singers, or songs, or slight variations of them. Along your journey, you'll encounter Stands named Vanilla Ice, AC/DC, Killer Queen, Gold Experience, King Crimson, Cream, Whitesnake, and more. Each Stand being named after music gives them unique appearances and abilities, sometimes reflecting the name itself. They're memorable by association, which is a stroke of genius on Araki's part.

Bold Art Style:

Araki's style for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is undoubtedly one of the most unique in all of anime and manga. Araki employs a boldness to his art that accentuates character designs and action. His characters are expressive by their designs alone. One look at a JoJo's character, and you'll almost immediately be able to discern their personality and/or skills. This is a sign of Araki's phenomenal character design, where they don't have to utter a single word for you to get a good idea of who they are and what their personality type is. As the series progressed, Araki's designs became increasingly over-the-top, yet still retained that trademark JoJo's style throughout.

The "Cool" Factor:

As previously mentioned, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure isn't a series that everyone will latch onto. By nature, it's absurd premise is enough to completely put you off the show, but one thing it seems to effortlessly excel at is the "cool" factor. In pop culture, this was something spearheaded by The Matrix, where the "rule of cool" was a driving factor behind the appeal of the movie. In JoJo's case, it's applicable too, consisting of stoic Clint Eastwood-like characters delivering fan-pleasing moments, and on the other end, zany and colourful characters bringing the comedic heat or standing out in their own "cool" ways.

The stories, despite the series' notoriety for being ridiculous, are all surprisingly coherent, well-written, and capable of crafting gut-punching moments of drama. It's this fine balancing act that makes JoJo's Bizarre Adventure unlike any piece of fictional media you've seen.