JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Why fans shouldn't speed-read JoJoLion to catch up to JoJoLands

This week saw the premiere of the ninth part of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure franchise, titled JoJoLands. The series is the successor to the incredibly successful JoJoLion, the eighth part of the franchise. With its predecessor being serialized over a period of 10 years, the ninth and presumably final part of the franchise certainly has big shoes to fill.

The hype around JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: JoJoLands is some of the biggest the franchise has seen, surpassing even the excitement around JoJoLion. This may be because, for many fans of the franchise, the ninth part will be the first one they read as it serializes over the next few years. However, while this excitement is understandable, it’s causing some fans to skip or even speedread prior parts in the franchise to catch up to the current one.

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As franchise’s most mysterious entry, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: JoJoLion deserves a proper read before starting JoJoLands

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has always been the one series that punished its readers and watchers for skipping previous parts in both the original and current universes of the series. This was true well before JoJoLion and JoJoLands controversy arose following the official announcement of the latter’s release date.

This is because the franchise is always building upon the world that came before it, both in a lore and style perspective. For example, once Stands were introduced in the series’ third part, they became the golden standard of power systems in the series, phasing out Hamon.

Alternatively, the new universe’s Steel Ball Run saw both Stands and the Spin, which is equivalent to Hamon, play a major role in combat. While JoJoLion included both in the powers of the series’ main cast members, JoJoLands is expected to do the same despite having released only one issue as of yet.

Suppose fans were to skip Steel Ball Run, where the Spin is explained and utilized in great depth, they would be clueless upon its reveal in the series’ subsequent parts. Likewise, if fans skip the third part of the series’ original universe, they won't understand the concept of a Stand, how it manifests, and what its abilities are.

Furthermore, the generational plot points of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure are lost in translation when parts are skipped. This is true for both the series’ original and new universes, with each following the Joestar bloodline in great detail and depth. Missing out on one part creates a lack of knowledge for the next, which only increases as the reading progress is made throughout the series.

This is especially true for the new universe, with the Joestar family tree playing a major role in JoJoLion and JoJoLands as it develops from Johnny Joestar in Steel Ball Run. The first issue of the ninth part has further exacerbated this, as it set up part 9 protagonist Jodio Joestar to meet part 8 protagonist Josuke “Gappy” Higashikata in the upcoming installments.

While this suggests what fans will be missing out on by skipping or speedreading through JoJoLion to get into JoJoLands, there’s one more reason not to do so. The eighth part of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is one of the most bizarre installments in the series, being chock full of mystery, new types and functions of Stands, and more.

The core plot follows protagonist Josuke “Gappy” Higashikata as he tries to discover who he is, having been discovered buried alive following the Tohoku Earthquake. He is also mysteriously found to have four testicles, which is certainly not the norm for human biology as it’s currently known.

However, this creates an initial mystery that is only intensified as one reads through JoJoLion. The suspense surrounding Josuke's identity and who he can trust is further exacerbated by more dwelling questions, which makes the eighth part in the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure franchise a fun and engaging read.

JoJoLion is full of twists, turns, and second guesses. However, if fans are to speedread this part to get to JoJoLands, they will miss the subtle details, such as Josefumi Kujo’s relationship to the Joestar bloodline and how the bloodline branches off. Moreover, by speedreading or ignoring the other parts of the franchise, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure fans will do themselves an greater disservice.