The source of countless internet memes like “But I refuse” and “Think of it the other way around,” the score that fans call the “execution BGM” that plays once the heroes' victory is sealed, and the sepia-toned “To be continued” gag that went viral on TikTok—JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is never short on things to talk about.

By the way, troublesome fans like me tend to grumble, “You don't even know the original” and “If you don't know where it came from, you've got no right to use it.” But that's understandable. After all, the original began in 1986, and Part 1 wasn't animated until 2012—a gap of a full 26 years before it got an anime. So plenty of new fans came on board at that point.

JoJo originally had a cult following and ran as a fairly long-serialized work in Weekly Shonen Jump, but with many people saying “the art style isn't for me, so I haven't read it” or “I read it as a kid and the gore traumatized me,” there was a sense it wasn't the sort of work that would get a TV anime (it had gotten media-mix treatment through OVAs and games). Even when I heard it was being animated, I worried—despite being nothing more than a fan myself—whether that peculiar energy and worldview would actually land with the casual crowd who only follow works through anime. But when the curtain rose, the anime was a huge success. It preserved the original's distinctive atmosphere while boldly fixing the confusing, under-explained parts, becoming a fine anime that clearly conveys it was made by staff who love JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. I want to talk about that wonderful JoJo score.


Execution BGM

As I touched on at the start, the execution BGM for each Part that became especially talked-about works like this: in Parts 1 and 2, set in the modern-historical era, the music evokes humanity's progress from the medieval to the modern age, along with a slightly eerie yet grand ancient atmosphere and the passage of vast spans of time. Part 3 onward, set in the present day (well, the late '80s), brings stylish jazz-piano sound and rhythms with a hint of Latin—a track where the refreshing, cool feel of rock coexists, just like the rock that kept fusing with all kinds of music and evolving in the West back then, combining electric guitar and drums into rock and hard rock. In Part 4, set further ahead (in fin-de-siècle Japan), the music turns into a groovy fusion of the hip-hop and jazz that had been gradually rising since the '90s. Part 5, whose BGM is especially beloved (set in early-21st-century Italy), runs from a prickly, about-to-burst tension that captures the weight and menace of the Italian mafia in its first half to a slightly unhinged vibe in the breakbeat section of the second half—which overlaps with the feelings of the protagonist's crew, mere boys who had no choice but to live as gangsters (and who, but for one irreversible mistake, would have been ordinary people). Part 6 (set in 2011 America) has a future-jazz feel that takes the best of everything so far—the refreshing rock of Part 3, the groove of Parts 4 and 5—and even the guitar solos are played with great freedom. The female voice that enters the chorus is a nice touch, as if to represent JoJo's first female protagonist.

A Fusion of Horror-Movie Techniques and Shonen-Manga Exhilaration!


And throughout, that “dojaaan!” feeling when the final note sounds is just too satisfying. No wonder it goes viral.

Because this is a work where grudges and fates between people swirl across time, there's a great deal of score built using techniques found in horror films, and the parts shared no matter where you start watching sound so satisfying that I'd be happy if anime keeps winning JoJo new fans going forward. I think it was a masterpiece anime with many pieces that have exactly that kind of power. I sincerely hope Part 7, “Steel Ball Run,” gets animated too. A Western-style score would surely suit it, and it's bound to captivate longtime fans and newcomers alike with a coolness no one sees coming.

From the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure portal site