JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - Part 4 Diamond is Unbreakable 01

ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 Part4 ダイヤモンドは砕けない 文庫版 [Jojo no Kimyō na Bōken Part 4: Diamond wa Kudakenai bunkoban] #1

by Hirohiko Araki, Sascha Mandler (Übersetzer)

Im Jahre 1999 reist der Meeresbiologe Jotaro Kujo in die Küstenstadt Morioh. Er ist auf der Suche nach Josuke Higashikata, seines Zeichens friedfertiger Oberschüler – und Joseph Joestars unehelicher Sohn. Jotaro ist gekommen, um Josuke zu warnen, denn etwas Gefährliches hat sich in Morioh niedergelassen. Und dieses Wesen hat es auf Josuke und seine Familie abgesehen …
Vorhang auf für die neue Generation!

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Comics, Action, Fiction, Shonen, Supernatural

302 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Hirohiko Araki ( 荒木飛呂彦) is a Japanese manga artist. He left school before graduation from Miyagi University of Education.

He enjoys the baseball manga Kyojin No Hoshii (Star of the Giants); the video games Mario Kart and Bomberman; and likes Prince and other African-American singers, as well as jazz, rock, and rap.

He is a recipient the Tezuka Award for manga.

Reviews

[Diz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a big JoJo fan. This part of the story shifts the setting to Japan and focuses on the high school son of Joseph Joestar. It has everything that you expect from a JoJo story: stands (spiritual manifestations of characters' powers), mysterious artifacts, a hidden villain, and of course JoJo style. Good times.

[Aurora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Off to a brand new part. The Jojo of this season is Josuke. Who is from Japan in 1999. Already a big change from the art style from the previous part. I already love the character designs.

I love the reintroduction of Jotaro. He is for sure one of my favorite all time characters in JoJo and I’m glad to see him again. Also I appreciate the references of part three such as Dio and enya. It really does tie the whole series together as a whole.

The only thing I don’t like is Josuke’s introduction in the story. The cheating trope is disappointing as Joseph would cheat on Suzy Q like that. I also feel like author was sort of running out of ideas at the time and it feels like a bit of cop out. I think Josuke is a fun character but I’m disappointed in that direction.

Anyways see you in volume two.

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 3 out of 5]

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has always been ridiculous but Diamond Is Unbreakable takes it to new heights and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I can say that I like the characters in Stardust Crusaders much better, so far at least.

[♡ Chera ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josuke is baby. It is confirmed.

[Alex Richey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Josuke is a breath of fresh air compared to Jotaro. Joseph is still the best, though.

[Des Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOT DAMN! Araki takes it to a whole new level with Diamond is Unbreakable, and I am so about it. the stands are more interesting than ever, Josuke is a great character, his interactions with Jotaro are wonderful, and the small town mystery vibe is totally compelling. This part is inventive in new and exciting ways, and the fights are better than ever. Very thankful I stayed on board long enough for these to get their western release. I'll be reading them all!

[damjan · Rating 5 out of 5]

very excited to continue with the story :)
i love josuke and koichi and im already loving this part hehe

[Fede]

Quando David Bowie decide di vivere una vita tranquilla.

La mia saga preferita, inizia come uno slice of Life e poi si fa molto seria a metà della serie

[Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Diamond is Unbreakable is the 4th part of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and while it is far from being the best Jojo arch, it starts off really well with some really solid characters and the artstyle is a nice change of pace from Part 3 Stardust Crusaders. Jojo is my favorite manga, but there is a lot of filler in this arch. Nonetheless I look forward to reading the rest of it.

[Jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've only had Josuke for one volume but if anything happens to him I'm killing everyone in the room and then myself

[maddie ౨ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

excited!!! this was my favourite part although araki just can’t help himself by introducing a character i want to drown and then giving them the most quality time

[Adam]

Utterly deranged in a way only Jojo’s can be. It’s gratifying to see a battle Shonen with invention in the fights, as well as the guts to actually kill characters. Josuke and his town make for a much more promising focus than everything in Stardust Crusaders - bright, virtuous (well, as virtuous as a Jojo’s character can be) and outlandish to the extreme. Thrilled to see Jotaro being a more interesting character in someone else’s story than he was in his own. Only downside really is that you don’t get the killer music that you do with the series!

[Kurt Sabatini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poor Okuyasu 😣

Characters and Stands:

Jotaro Kujo + Star Platinum 🌟

Josuke Higashikata + Crazy Diamond 💎

Koichi Hirose + Egg 🥚

Ryohei Higashikata + (Grandpa) 👴🏼

Tomoko Higashikata (Mum) 👩🏻

Angelo + Aqua Necklace 🌬️

Okuyasu Nijimura + The Hand ✋🏼

Keicho Nijimura + Bad Company 🔫

Father Nijimura 🧟‍♂️

??? + Chilli Pepper 🌶️

[Jon Lim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the different direction Part 4 took. After the small hints that the one-off stories slowly give, we're given way to more details about the mysterious stands and where they come from, along with a murder mystery. Part 4 brings back a few familiar faces and some lovable new ones; also introducing some neutral stand users (e.g. Tonio). The antagonist of Part 4 is one of my favourites and Araki brings it to a whole new level with the musical references in Part 4 with references to Queen and other popular artists like Pink Floyd.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

What's the secret of this addition?
I wonder if it's Josuke, Jotaro... Ok I am glad there's a Rohan's spin off ahead... They look amazing and makes me obsessed but it is definitely not only about their beautiful eyes 😍 (and weird poses). It's about the strategy in their battles that always surprise me and.... I don't know. I want JoJo's shirts in my wardrobe. I want to take a stroll with a Dare Dare Daze T-shirt wondering if I am the only one out dare fangirling about it.

[Blake the Book Eater · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great start to Part IV of Jojo’s! It feels like a natural extension, with a new central mystery and a fun new protagonist! I love how Jotaro is still in the story, and I’m excited to see more of what Josuke can do.

[Alicja Przydryga · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5⭐

[vanni · Rating 5 out of 5]

happy pride🩷🧡💛💚💙🩵💜🤎🖤

[Wren]

This is where I finally drop the series. It's just not for me

[Rolando Marono · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arranca una nueva saga de Jojos y debo de decir que es el mejor comienzo hasta ahora. No hay reparos, la acción arranca desde el primer momento y creo que la dupla de Jotaro y el nuevo protagonista, Josuke, es excelente.
Primero, el protagonista. Josuke canaliza lo mejor de ambos mundos, por un lado tenemos la bondad y caballerosidad de Jonathan y la ferocidad e ira de Joseph y Jotaro. Me gusta la personalidad de Josuke mucho y creo que como protagonista funciona bastante bien. La historia de su pasado y la relación con su mamá es bastante importante y es diferente a lo que hemos visto. Parece que el maestro Araki se está concentrando en construir mejor a sus personajes ya que en las sagas anteriores, teníamos a los protagonistas moverse de pelea a pelea sin reflexionar sobre lo que estaban viviendo o sin que eso tuviera una afectación directa en sus personalidades, no había un crecimiento real.
En este primer tomo Jotaro y Josuke se enfrentan y ambos comparan sus stands. El nuevo modo de combate es una combinación entre las batallas puramente estratégicas de Battle Tendency y las habilidades de los stands de Stardust Crusaders. Los stands en esta saga se comportan un tanto diferentes, son más como poderes que pueden usar de distintas maneras, ya que en Stardust Crusaders, sólo los usaban para pelear.
En este primer tomo también tenemos un poco de explicación o misterio sobre cómo Dio obtuvo su stand en la saga anterior. Parece que hay un arco y una flecha que puede darle stands a las personas y que con eso le dieron a Dio su stand, pero eso lleva a la pregunta ¿Quién le dio su stand a Dio? ¿Habrá un villano más grande detrás de todo esto? Me parece un punto muy importante donde se quedó la saga y responder a estas preguntas es sumamente interesante, además que me agradó mucho que las introdujera en el primer tomo de la nueva saga.
También se enfrentan a tres usuarios de stand pero estos combates se sienten diferentes a los que vimos en Stardust Crusaders, a pesar de haber tres villanos menores en el tomo, sentí cada pelea diferente y que de verdad requería una estrategia diferente para derrotarlos. En el tomo anterior sucedía pero no del todo. Había personajes que si retaban a nuestros protagonistas pero la gran mayoría derivaba en combates genéricos con poderes, aquí, al menos estos tres se sienten muy diferentes.
También la tragedia azota a los protagonistas en este tomo. Por eso me dio la impresión que este tomo está muy completo y tiene demasiadas cosas sucediendo. Era común que nos encontráramos con un ritmo más mesurado, más teniendo en cuenta que esta parte de la historia son 12 tomos dobles y este apenas es el primero, pero me agrada mucho este comienzo agresivo y fuerte. Espero que el maestro Araki pueda sostener el ritmo.
De las cuatro sagas, definitivamente este es mi primer tomo favorito, hace muy bien en introducir la historia, poner el ambiente en el que se desarrollarán los combates y conectar las sagas anteriores con la actual. Un gran trabajo narrativo definitivamente.

[Radwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

let's goooo!

- jotaro is older now and he bacome an oceanographer? feels random and out of the blue
- we meet the new joestar: josuke higashikata
- animal cruelty from the get go? why?
- i don't like that to introduce this new jojo, jospeh has to become an asshole
- this guy's red line is his.... hair?
- josuke's stand is actually useful
- i was waiting for the dio connection
- love me some evil\good bonding
- i like that cretivity of his in creating stands
- the cruelty is intense in this volume

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great start to the next Jojo in line. The Jojo for Part 4 is the illegitimate son of Joseph which came as a bit of a shock (poor Suzi Q). It seems with every generation their tempers get even shorter with our new Jojo going completely psycho on anyone who insults his hair. I have to admit in the first few chapters I was a bit concerned where the story was going and I didn't think I was going to like the new cast of characters. Thankfully as the volume went a long it got much better and we get a lot of connections to the previous parts of the Jojo saga.
The first bad guy we come a long is Angelo and I have to say he is probably the worst we have seen in the entire saga so far. He is not as powerful and supernatural as say Dio but his crimes are much worse. He is a murderer and rapist and shows no remorse for his crimes. As he does all this before he gets his Stand it makes him much worse in my view as he has not been manipulated by a supernatural being he is just plain evil.
The art is as fantastic as always but I have to say that some of the action scenes are a little hard to follow what is happening. Hopefully this will improve as the volumes go on.

2022 Goals – #MangaMonday wk45

[Guido · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arranque de la cuarta saga, protagonizada por Josuke Higashikata, hijo de Joseph Joestar, bisnieto de Jonathan Joestar, tío de Jotaro Kujo. También es hijo de Tomoko Higashikata, nieto de Ryohei Higashikata y de personalidad -en principio- bipolar. También se hace amigo de Koichi Hirose y, en el tomo que sigue, de Okuyasu Nijimura.

[Mackeda(islandgyalreads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the JoJo series so far and being introduced to all these different stand users . I however took a really long time finishing this one, something about Josuke just didn't sit right with me and that made it hard for me to work through it. As Jamaicans we like to say 'mi spirit just nuh tek him' and I guess it was just a case of that. A great read none the less.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite part of the series, I've read and watched it all online and it was incredible, love how the series constantly changes in every single part and this part vibed with me the most out of the 4 parts that have been released in English so far.

[Diana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very good, but the cover design change is jarring, it doesn’t fit with the previous volumes and makes it feel inconsistent

[William DiGena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Araki knows what he's doing.

[Jamie Ponto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gorgeous art, not for me story/character wise 🤷🏼‍♀️

[Aidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.25 stars)

I watched the anime adaptation of diamond is unbreakable when it was airing and I fell in love with it instantly. I enjoyed the first three parts but that’s all it was I simply enjoyed them. Diamond is unbreakable felt different to me. I loved the new art style, the characters were so lovable and intriguing and felt different from one another. I never had the pleasure of reading the manga for part 4 until now and it really holds up. This first volume set up our main trio of Josuke, Koichi and Okuyasu so well and I like how these initial few chapters ties itself back to part 3. Dio is such an iconic villain in Jojo so the fact that his legacy lives on part part 1 through 3 is so important.

I had kind of forgotten all about the Angelo fight but honestly it’s a really really solid battle and gives a good introduction to Josukes limitations. I think it’s pretty important to show early on that even tho Josuke can heal wounds he can’t bring the dead back to live, and adding in the fact he can’t heal his own wounds it gives this fight a lot of tension. Araki handles this fight really well I think. Setting it inside the house puts the two in some really confined and claustrophobic situations and the little traps Angelo sets up around the house allows for some really cool solutions. Angelos stand is great too honestly I think it shows how much Araki has grown since just Stardust Crusaders, moving away from the battles of brute strength and really flexing his creative muscles with what he can do with these stand abilities besides just punching one another. I also really love the “Morioh places of interest” that Araki does throughout the part. The town of Morioh is as much as a character as anyone else in this part and adding in these silly little landmarks makes the town feel so much more alive I love it.

The fight with the Nijimura brothers is a lot of fun too. I love the set up to it with Koichi bleeding out and Josuke needing to close the distance to heal him. The Hand is one of my favourite stands in Part 4, its ability is so simple but so so neat. If it wasn’t attached to someone like Okuyasu who has maybe three brain cells on a good day (no hate, I adore him) it would easily be one of the most fearsome stands in the part so I guess Araki felt the need to nerf it.

“Forced teleportation…that really is a powerful and terrifying ability. If this guy weren’t so stupid, I’d be dead right now.”

Josuke really stands out as his own Jojo, he has such a unique personality to me compared to his predecessors. He wears his heart on his sleeve and this shows itself in the kindness he shows to Okuyasu in this fight. He doesn’t have to heal him, hell he’s his enemy why would he? But he does and in the end this benefits him massively and leads to the forming of my second favourite duo in this part.

“There’s not much to it. I just thought there was no reason for you to die.”

Josuke’s no idiot however, he picks up on little things so quickly even in the heat of battle like noticing that Okuyasu is specifically targetting him with his right hand. I really love how emotional Josuke can be, it’s a fun contrast to the previous parts Jotaro who can come across very one note in his part due to how calm and collected he is at all times. I haven’t even mentioned yet how peak Josukes design is. Basing it on the look of Prince is so inspired and I love how Arakis obsessed with fashion really starts shining through more in this part, although this obsession doesn’t fully emerge until part 5.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Part 4 is easily one of my favorite parts of the manga and the first volume is a great introduction to the characters, both old and new, as well as Morioh, Japan. I read this volume of the manga because I loved Stardust Crusaders and wanted to see what Diamond is Unbreakable had in store. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. The story takes place 11 years after the events of Part 3 in the Japanese city of Morioh. Our new Jojo is named Josuke Higashikata, the result of an affair between Joseph Joestar and Josuke’s mother. The show immediately does a great job in showing that Josuke is a kind person, as he often doesn’t start confrontations, and even spares his enemies, the only person who he really hurt being a serial killer who killed his grandpa. This is also reflected in his ability which allows him to restore things to a previous state, including wounds which allows him to heal people from non lethal wounds almost instantly. But when someone insults Josuke’s hair, he gets VERY angry and attacks them without question, whether they’re friend or foe. The story also expands upon the power system of “Stands” that was introduced back in Part 3. There is now a way that allows people to gain stands if they have a strong will. If one of these strong willed people is shot by a special arrow, they will gain a stand, if they are not strong willed, they die. This ties back into part 3, explaining how DIO was able to get so many stand users on his side. Due to the show’s smaller setting compared to the other parts, it makes the city much more fleshed out than the other parts locations. One thing that this story does well is creating a constant sense of danger in the viewer. The very first thing shown in the part is someone going through their daily routine, only to reveal that they have a severed hand. This is important later in the story but at the moment just raises many questions that get you interested in the story. One of the characters mentions that even though Morioh is a small city, it’s annual number of disappearances is 8 times the national average which only increases the idea that anyone could be an enemy. I would recommend this story to anyone who has read or watched Part 3. Unlike Stardust Crusaders, this story is one that you would need to see the previous part to fully understand and appreciate. But if you have seen Part 3, this is a great continuation of the Jojo story and something very worthwhile to watch.