Toonami has really been working in overdrive this year, adding new anime like Hunter x Hunter (2011), Dimension W and One-Punch Man, to its growing lineup. Now, one more series is poised to join the Saturday late-night programming bloc: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
The news comes straight from Jason DeMarco, Adult Swim's Vice President and Creative Director On-Air, who on Thursday confirmed via Twitter that the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure television anime series will premiere on Adult Swim's Toonami block beginning October.
Yes starting this October! https://t.co/AODjyddIlv
— SPACE KNIGHT DEMARCO (@Clarknova1) July 21, 2016
To those unfamiliar with JBA, the anime is an adaptation of the manga, which is the brainchild of author Hirohiko Araki. The series, which was first published in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump in 1987 and has since moved on to Ultra Jump, is quite long, spanning eight parts. Outside of one exception, they each tell the same story: a member of the long-running Joestar family finds themselves in possession of supernatural abilities, and must work alongside newly found allies in order to save the world from villains who are also in possession of such powers.
The first six parts of the series, Phantom Blood, Battle Tendency, Stardust Crusaders (which is likely the most popular part of all), Diamond is Unbreakable, Vento Aureo and Stone Ocean, all take place on the same timeline, while the last two parts, Steel Ball Run and JoJolion, which is currently being published, takes place in an alternate dimension.
The series has been immensely popular since its inception, spawning light novels, video games, action figures, a jewelry line as well as several anime television series. And fortunately for those only interested in watching the anime, the English broadcast will start from the very beginning, i.e. Phantom Blood and presumably go up to Diamond is Unbreakable, which is currently airing in Japan.
It should be noted, however, that this isn't the first time the JBA English-dubbed anime has been introduced in the United States. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment released on DVD Part 1 and Part 2 of the series with an English dub on Sept. 22, and Viz Media announced earlier this month that it will release Part 1 of the series on Blu-Ray with an English dub on an unspecified date.
So once again, mark your calendars for October, for that's when you can catch JoJo's Bizarre Adventure on Toonami. In the meantime, you can watch the series with subtitles here.
