Review: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable – Chapter 1

For Takashi Miike’s 101st film, he has once again dipped into the fertile territory of manga and anime adaptations. Miike is no stranger to this world, mixing up his rampant bloodletting such as Blade of the Immortal with family fare like Ninja Kids!!! throughout his prolific filmography. If you were to chart the trajectory of his career, it might resemble the firing neurons that give him his creative energy. 

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure comes with its own rich history. At over 30 years in publication, it’s one of Japan’s longest running serials. With multiple anime and video game adaptations already in the wild, the epically titled JOJO’s BIZARRE ADVENTURE: DIAMOND IS UNBREAKABLE – CHAPTER 1 (ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 ダイヤモンドは砕けない　第一章) is the first live action version of Hirohiko Araki’s stories. Based on the fourth arc of the manga, the film follows the ornately quaffed Josuke ‘JoJo’ Higashikata (Kento Yamazaki) in the fictional town of Moriou. With the appearance of his nephew Jotaro Yujo (Yusuke Iseya), he learns to master his supernatural powers known a a ‘Stand.’ However, the mysterious threat of Keicho Nijimura (Masaki Okada) and his bow and arrow cause havoc in the the idyllic town, and JoJo must reluctantly embrace his role as a protector.

Miike had a seemingly impossible task with bringing a beloved story to live action, balancing fandom against the need to include introductory elements for new audiences. While fan expectation and entitlement has become more apparent to western audiences through a slew of superhero films, Japan has been playing with that delicate dichotomy for decades. It’s always difficult to know whether a highly stylised work like this will please the existing fanbase or not, but Miike has unquestionably managed to marry his own stylistic leanings with the source material. Itaru Era’s screenplay might be peppered with exposition-filled dialogue, but it also serves as a jumping-on point for new initiates. 

Structured partly around the slightly inept high school student Koichi Hirose (Your Name‘s Ryunosuke Kamiki), the narrative is also a voyage of self-discovery for JoJo himself. While the first encounter of the two characters seemingly shows that JoJo is already a master of his powers, a series of villainous stand-offs show a hero still working on his JoJo mojo. Although episodic in nature, the effects are surprisingly top-notch. A literal ‘Stand-off’ between JoJo and Jotaro introduces the slick simplicity of the effects. It builds to a dizzyingly inventive climactic battle featuring a tiny army controlled by Keicho Nijimura.

There’s a fair bit of fanservice as one might expect. Bookshelves are lined with copies of Pink Dark Boy, the fictional in-universe manga by Rohan Kishibe, a nod to the Diamond Is Unbreakable arc that inspired the script. Side character and ally Yukako Yamagishi (played by Thrill! star Nan Komatsu) appears to do not much more than stare at the leads with enigmatic creepiness, although her expanded role is hinted at in back half of the film. Veteran Jun Kunimura turns up as JoJo’s grandfather Ryohei Higashikata to add a bit of gravitas to proceedings, and it’s always a pleasure to watch him on screen. 

JOJO’s BIZARRE ADVENTURE wholeheartedly embraces chaos, and this is a double-edged sword. The constant pinging about makes this a less than linear experience, bringing the style more in line with a series of sequential panels than a traditional three-act structure. Yet as the elongated title suggests, this was only ever intended as an introductory chapter, and Miike enthusiastically invites us to explore this world a little deeper. After all, surely the cinematic public deserves to meet Robert E.O. Speedwagon.

2017 | Japan | DIRECTOR: Takashi Miike | WRITERS: Itaru Era | CAST: Kento Yamazaki, Ryunosuke Kamiki, Nana Komatsu, Masaki Okada, Mackenyu, Takayuki Yamada, Yusuke Iseya, Jun Kunimura | DISTRIBUTOR: Madman Films (AUS) | RUNNING TIME: 119 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 1 March 2018 (AUS)