Jojolion has always had a reputation of being the “ugly duckling” of Jojo parts but I see it as a more bizarre installation in the Jojo franchise. A protagonist with 4 balls, villains who can turn into rocks and a family that runs a fruit shop: we can tell Araki is trying something new here and it worked out wonderfully. The story started off with a mystery on who Josuke exactly is and where he came from. Throughout the story, things are not explained right off the bat and it took a good chunk of chapters to fully grasp the situation and have a clear picture of the objective of each of the main actors: rock humans, Josuke, and the Higashikata family.

We return to the humble neighborhood of Morioh but unlike DIU, the geography town has a greater significance as the wall eyes and the pine tree play a crucial role in the story. Keeping to a small cast, there was a lesser emphasis on the people of the town than DIU had. However, there was some mystery and a cat and mouse chase like DIU. The story was more a domestic type but it was nothing short of excitement. It had links to Steel Ball Run as well which I found interesting. After all, family trees are important in the JJBA series. It does get a bit complicated here so there are times where you’d need to re-read.

Josuke was a unique protagonist. He had a “ the boy next door” personality but, like all JoJo protagonists, possessed bravery and courage, making the most unexpected moves in the most intense situations. The heroine, Yasuho, was given more importance in this story, turning the term “Jobro” to “Josis”. The main villain reminded me of Diavolo, elusive for the whole story and only appears in the end. His stand even gets introduced before him, similar to how King Crimson had more screen time than Diavolo himself. The build up and suspense to this reveal was very well done. We spend a good 5 chapters or so figuring out the type of stand attack and how it works. Personally, I'm not a fan of Wonder of U and how it works because it only seems to work in specific situations. However, it is pretty much unstoppable. The philosophy about calamity seemed rather complex and it took me some re-reads to fully understand it. The members of the Higashikata family weren’t given much attention, some were given one arc to display their stands but the more prominent characters were Jobin, Norisuke and Tsurugi. Joshu was great for comedy and Mitsuaba was nowhere in the picture until the end. I felt more attention could have been given to Kei, given her relationship to Kira but she seemed to get brushed aside.

The drawings were incredible. I liked that panels were dedicated to one whole panel and the fight scenes were well done. They really helped to bring out the family drama aspect of the manga. The covers were also creatively done, using primary colors to bring out the retro theme of morioh.

Major themes [spoilers ahead]:

Family

This theme was not explored in other jojo parts as they focused on the adventure. Here in Jojolion, Araki made family the center of the story. The Higashikata family is like any ordinary family: while being influential in Morioh, the family members do keep their secrets and when it comes to business, a conflict between father and son. The generational gap between Norisuke and Jobin causes them to have different visions for the business. Jobin is more progressive and will go by any means to bring the fruit parlor on top. Whereas Norisuke is more traditional and sticks to more ethical practices. Both are not wrong. However, Jobin turned out to be the villain after the surfer’s death and he did not choose the “right path”. Norisuke was also mistaken to shun Caato from the family as her intentions were right and only did what she did to protect her children. I felt this outcome was sudden and the surfer came out of nowhere into the race for the locacaca. Norisuke’s death was also a little rushed. However, the drama at the end when the whole family congregated in Jobin’s room and Jobin’s death were all very well executed.

Josuke and Yasuho were initially part of the family but after Josuke realized he is Holly’s son their motives soon diverged from the family and they became a party on their own. Josuke’s character is actually philosophical as despite not having any memories of Kira and Josefumi, their goals became his and he tried his best to save Holly. Overall, the family tensions in the Higashikata household as well as their playful attitude was what I enjoyed most about the manga. The camaraderie between Josuke and Mamezuki were also enjoyable to see.

Technological advancement

Technology plays a big role in the story and way the characters solve problems. Yasuho’s stand, Paisley Park, embodied the usefulness of technology. It definitely has a different mechanism than other stands that we have seen so far. It is abstract so Araki does not give proper explanation for how it works, it is just left to our interpretation. The illustrations for the stand were very well done as we see Paisley Park move in and out of phones, searching for information. I found it fascinating since the beginning when they used the location tracker on Jobin’s car.

The locacaca, one of the main characters, was also a creative addition to the story. Its power and evolution created some mystery. There is also some philosophy in the way it works. The equivalent exchange shows that all great things come with some sacrifice. It also hints at how immortality is not yet fully achievable without costs.

Humanity

Another aspect of the manga which I like apart from the family drama is the concept of rock humans. People find them similar to the Pillar Men from Battle Tendency but I feel they are really different. I think they were more well written than Pillar Men as we were provided with a full explanation of how they reproduce, how they are born and their strengths and limitations. Araki literally created a new species. One line that stood out to me in the manga was that rock humans served as a “fallback” on humanity. They are a plan B if all carbon life forms become extinct. After seeing the full nature of rock humans, their goals, personalities and emotions, i find this very interesting as stealing the locacaca is a way for them to already start dominating humans. By monopolizing the fruit that makes humans immortal and can cure any disease, the rock human can gain significant power over us. The fact that 95% of rock humans are stand users further supports this claim. The rock humans, despite their different personalities, are all terrifying and would do anything by their means to get their hands on the locacaca. Hence, despite being called humans, they lack humanity.

Jojolion has its quirks and that is the speciality of the manga. It stood out from the rest of the Jojo parts and that's what i liked about it. I also liked the science-y element to it that made it realistic but fictional at the same time.All characters were given a lot of thought to them and they all had a role to play in this story.