is an

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...

adaptation of Hirohiko Araki's

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series of the same name. Produced by A.P.P.P. (Another Push Pin Planning), it was adapted from the series' third part, '' Stardust Crusaders''.

Plot

Set in 1987, the series follows Jotaro Kujo and his comrades who have developed mysterious powers known as Stands. Jotaro, his grandfather Joseph Joestar and their allies travel to Egypt in search of the evil and immortal vampire

Dio Brando , later known mononymously as , is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the Japanese manga series '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. He is featured initially as the main antagonist of the series' ...

to save Jotaro's mother Holly, whose Stand has awakened and threatens to consume her in 50 days. Meanwhile, Dio has commissioned a number of assassins with various types of deadly Stands to destroy them before they can reach him which makes them fight and have a lot of troubles along the way.

Release

The first six episodes were originally released by

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese company, established on October 1, 1966, which distributes music, films, home video, and video games. It is affiliated with the Japanese media group Fujisankei Communications Group. Pony Canyo ...

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

and

Laserdisc LaserDisc (LD) is a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. It was developed by Philips, Pioneer Corporation, Pioneer, and the movie studio MCA Inc., MCA. The format was initially marketed in the United State ...

from 1993 to 1994, adapting the latter half of the story arc. This set of episodes begins with Jotaro Kujo and his companions in the middle of their quest to find

, offering very little exposition to the back-story that led to the present events of the OVA. The second series, consisting of seven episodes, were released by Klock Worx on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

and VHS from 2000 to 2002, featuring most of the same cast and character designer, but produced with different directors and writers.. These additional episodes, titled "Adventure 1" through "7", served as a

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

to the earlier-produced episodes, adapting the beginning of the story arc that featured the circumstances that led to Jotaro's quest. The earlier episodes were subsequently re-released as part of this series but renumbered as "Adventure 8" through "13" to take into account their later chronological placement. A DVD box set featuring all 13 episodes was released on May 25, 2007, which included a soundtrack CD and a set of 31

tarot Tarot (, first known as ''trionfi (cards), trionfi'' and later as ''tarocchi'' or ''tarocks'') is a set of playing cards used in tarot games and in fortune-telling or divination. From at least the mid-15th century, the tarot was used to play t ...

cards illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. The series was released in North America by Super Techno Arts. It was released on six DVD volumes from 2003 to 2005, dubbed in English, with all 13 episodes also featured in chronological order. In 2008, distribution for the ''Jojo's Bizarre Adventure'' OVA series was indefinitely suspended following the controversy over the presence of the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

in Episode 6. The same story arc was later adapted for '' JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders'', the second season of the ''Jojo'' TV series which aired from 2014 to 2015.

Episodes

Episodes listed by their English dub titles and in order of their fictional chronology (the second series before the first series, as used in the post-2000 releases of the episodes).

Reception

Critical reception

The first set of OVAs was given three out of five stars by Eric Gaede of THEM Anime Reviews. He praised the fight scenes as more believable than those from other series such as ''

Dragon Ball is a Japanese media franchise created by Akira Toriyama in 1984. The Dragon Ball (manga), initial manga, written and illustrated by Toriyama, was Serial (literature), serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from 1984 to 1995, with the 519 indi ...

'' and the characters' personalities, although felt the villains resorted to clichés when they are about to be defeated. However, he called the story "disjointed" and the animation "drab and colorless".

Controversy

In May 2008, both studio A.P.P.P. and Shueisha halted OVA/manga shipments of ''JoJo's Bizarre Adventure'' after a complaint had been launched against them from

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

Islamic fundamentalists, after noticing a scene in the OVAs that has the villain, Dio Brando, reading a book depicting pages from the

. This recall affected the English-language release of the manga as well, causing Viz Media and Shueisha to cease publication for a year. Additionally, the OVAs were pulled altogether, and there are currently no plans to re-release them anywhere. Even though the manga did not feature that specific scene, Shueisha had Araki redraw scenes that depicted characters fighting on top of, and destroying,

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

Legacy

Satoshi Kon's screenwriting work on the series attracted the attention of Madhouse producer Masao Maruyama, who offered Kon a directing position on the film ''

Perfect Blue is a 1997 Japanese animated psychological thriller film directed by Satoshi Kon. It is loosely based on the novel by Yoshikazu Takeuchi, with a screenplay by Sadayuki Murai. Featuring the voices of Junko Iwao, Rica Matsumoto, Shiho Niiya ...

''. The film would be met with critical acclaim and mark the start of Kon's successful directing career.

References

External links

* {{Hiroyuki Kitakubo OVAs 1993 anime OVAs 2000 anime OVAs Anime and manga controversies OVAs based on manga Religious controversies in animation Films directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo Anime_film_and_television_articles_using_incorrect_naming_style