What is JJBA?
JJBA is a classic shounen manga that has been running for 40+ years and a bit of a social phenomenon. It was a cultural phenomenon in Japan since it first appeared in the pages of Shounen Jump, but starting 2012, serialization into an anime began, something that had been left oddly undone before (though some OVAs were made).
The anime’s popularity made JJBA as popular internationally as it always had been in its domestic market. In some areas online it’s assumed a person does know about JJBA already; I don’t like to make those assumptions.
Why I Love It
I initially started watching the show a few years into its run (likely around 2016?) and was charmed by the ‘Bizarre’ part of the Bizarre Adventure. The series is in fact as strange as promised. It’s a bit of a comfort watch for me; I’ve either watched or read just about all of the story now, though I go back and forth on whether I’m reading the original manga or watching the anime adaption. For some parts I’ve done both. It depends.
JJBA’s strongest suit, in my opinion, is its (as-advertised) off-the-wall cast, a motley crew that switches up every season and is always comprised of just the oddest individuals, stuffed to the brim with strange phobias, quirks, goals, kinks, and otherwise unclassified idiosyncrasies. This cast is what has me turning to fanfiction on occasion. I’ve skipped around the series a little with my fiction, but I keep coming back to the most popular part of the series, part three, which syndicated in the 80s.
Sometimes, something is popular because it’s good. This is one of those times.
