JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is one of the most popular shonen manga series of all time, having established its fanbase around the world over the last 30 years. One of the eight story arcs began 25 years ago this year – Diamond is Unbreakable, which first debuted in 1992 and ran until its conclusion in 1995.
The story follows Josuke Higashikata, a high schooler in the town of Morioh who is surprised to learn that he is the illegitimate son of Joseph Joestar (Joseph was the primary protagonist of the second arc of JoJo and was also a major character in the third arc). Josuke meets Jotaro Kujo – Joseph’s grandson, so technically Josuke’s nephew – who came to Morioh to see if Josuke had inherited the ability to use a “Stand.” A Stand is a manifestation of energy that is connected to a person’s psyche. It is soon discovered that someone in Morioh has been awakening new Stand users with a mysterious bow and arrow and wreaking havoc around town.
Later in the story, it becomes apparent that a serial killer is on the loose around Morioh – and he happens to be a Stand user as well. Josuke and his friends he’s made along the way must track down the killer before he can strike again. Eventually he’s found, and Morioh returns to some degree of normalcy.
Diamond is Unbreakable was somewhat of a departure from the previous three story arcs in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure; it focused entirely on one small town in Japan, whereas the first three arcs were long journeys across locales such as Egypt. The arc has remained a standout for the JoJo franchise, largely due to series creator Hirohiko Araki making a number of small tie-in books focused on the character Rohan Kishibe. There have been various one-shots and other short stories all focused on Rohan, including Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe, Rohan at the Lourve, and Rohan Kishibe Goes to Gucci.
The most recent season of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure anime series was an adaptation of Diamond is Unbreakable. It ran from April through December of 2016 and was positively received. A Japanese live-action adaptation of the arc is also in the works, scheduled to release sometime later in 2017.
