Where does JoJo's Bizarre Adventure get such an inimitable style? (Topic)

All manga authors have their own art styles, but not many become as iconic and unique as Hirohiko Araki's manga style in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. In his nearly 40 years as an artist, Araki has created some of the most recognizable characters, poses, and scenes in anime history - in fact, many other series pay homage to him by making references to JoJo in every way. But how did such crazy images come to Araki's mind? How can you come up with something so pretentious? The answer is simple: museums of antiquity, fashion magazines and fine arts. At AnimeNewsNetwork, analyzed the roots of mangaka imagery. Today we can shed some light on where JoJo's Bizarre Adventure got this style, and what cultural impact it has on the author.

Catchy colors and Gauguin

Since childhood, Araki admired the works of the French artist Paul Gauguin. The artist often ignored reality, preferring to use colors that he thought looked good together, such as soft pink grass to contrast with dark horses. He distorted perspective and human proportions to evoke certain emotions in the viewer. Araki adopted this perspective on reality for his own work, bending the rules of perspective for dramatic effect and immersing his color illustrations in wild hues that left fans forever stumped as to which color should be canon for each character.

Anime adaptations of his work from David Productions translate this into animation, using color changes in the openings and during dramatic moments in the story. For example, Joseph in the anime has brown hair and similar colored clothing, but shines purple in the opening to match the image of Araki on the cover of Volume 11 of the manga. Or when Kakyoin defeats Death 13, he changes his hair color from pink to gray, which underlines his victory.

Renaissance sculptures

Many modern manga characters look like they are on protein, but JoJo's characters have always been even more muscular. It doesn't matter: a 15-year-old boy, a woman, a person with a disability - they are clearly capable of kicking ass without even using their superpowers. Araki's early work was influenced in part by Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star, as well as action heroes from the 80s such as Arnold Schwarzenegger. But the main inspiration for the creation of the characters comes from classical Renaissance sculpture. The clear contours, well-developed muscles and strong facial features of the characters from all eight parts are reminiscent of masterpieces from Italian museums - in particular, Giorno, in particular, seems to have been copied from Michelangelo's David. Despite the fact that Araki's artistic style has changed a lot over the years, his characters always look like they were carved out of marble.

Fashion love

If there is any aspect of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure that every anime fan knows about, it's the grotesque and pretentious poses of the characters. Jotaro, frighteningly pointing with his finger, Killer Queen's crossed arms and or Dio's pose referred to as "Wrrryyyy!" - they all became part of pop culture, and fans organized entire schools and tournaments to pose for Jojo.

The poses in JoJo, along with the characters' cheeky outfits, are so adorable because they bring together the disparate worlds of senen manga and high fashion in a way that no one has ever seen before. Along with his passion for art, Araki deeply loves the fashion industry. He lists Christian Dior and Gianni Versace among his idols, and many of his most iconic characters in the manga are tributes to the work of legendary 80s fashion illustrators.

For example, the moment Dio shows off his birthmark is based on an illustration of a 1985 woman by Tony Viramontes. The same artist and his work inspired Kars' clothes and Kira's hairstyle.

Antonio Lopez is another of Araki's idols - his models often feature detailed patterns and many ornaments that have ended up in JoJo in the form of gold chains, badges and other details on his characters.

Cooperation with well-known brands

Naturally, Araki's love for art and fashion led him to collaborate with well-known brands and publications [and this probably helps to be one of the most beloved manga artists in the world]. Perhaps the most prestigious of these was in 2009, when his work was featured in an exhibition for comic artists at the Louvre in France. For her, he specially drew a one-shot about Rohan visiting the museum and solving the riddle of the cursed painting.

He also collaborated with Gucci and the Japanese fashion magazine Spur, writing a couple of stories for him. On the cover of the first, Rohan stands in an unusual position with a Gucci bag on his shoulder, and on the other, Jolene is depicted, also with things from the famous brand. In addition to the second comic, the manufacturer created a limited edition Jolene outfit from the manga, and sold it separately in Gucci stores for a limited time.

Other apparel and jewelry companies such as Glamb, Jam Home Made and Vans have partnered with Araki to create high quality JoJo products. For the anime debut of Part 5, Bandai Fashion Collection released the Gold Experience ladybug ring, Sticky Fingers zip tie blouse, Bruno and Giorno style sneakers and other accessories. Sometimes anime can sell figures and T-shirts at best, but thanks to Araki's many designs and inspirations, the JoJo fan has a selection of model collections from the biggest brands in Japan and Europe.

JoJo Bizarre Adventure was created with highly unusual ingredients: Renaissance art and sculpture, 80s fashion, horror novels, Western rock music and just a pinch of classic 60s and 70s manga to pay homage to idols Araki. Who knew opposites like Michelangelo's slave statues and Tony Viramontes' illustrations for Nina Ricci could look great together to inspire such a rampant Japanese pop culture?

The Topic of Article: Where does JoJo's Bizarre Adventure get such an inimitable style?.
Author: Jake Pinkman