JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 4--Diamond Is Unbreakable, Vol. 9

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] #9

by Hirohiko Araki

Solo in fumetteria! Lo scostante mangaka Rohan Kishibe scopre un nuovo Stand: si tratta del terribile Highway Star, capace di raggiungere una velocità di 60 km/h e prosciugare le proprie vittime risucchiandone l’energia! Dopo aver intrappolato il fumettista, il nemico si mette sulle tracce di Josuke...

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Comics, Action, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Adventure

458 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 16, 2004

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

[Des Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wowser, this volume is probably my favorite out of them all so far. It surely contains Araki's best writing, with a final confrontation more than worthy of Dio's legacy. The darkest before dawn moments are plentiful, with fate truly appearing to favor Kira throughout the volume. The themes of weakness become clear and we get proper resolution for just about the entire cast, including important secondary figures. The final fight is a long, bombastic, cerebral affair that rewards the attention of the reader with a great climax. I loved it and will miss these characters.

Onward to Golder Wind!

[maddie ౨ৎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

favourite part! kira has been my favourite villain thus far

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

A solid ending to Jojo’s Part 4! Overall, I liked the direction Araki is taking the series with making it more personal and slice of life, but I think Part 3 was just way more enjoyable. I’m excited to continue the series because I think this is the peak of Araki’s creativity so far and I can’t wait to see it taken to even further extremes!

[Johnny Bahama · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maaan why the fuck do we have fraternal orders of police? We should investing in more teenagers who have ghosts that like to punch shit.

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

A perfectly satisfying conclusion.

[Radwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

- this part ends with a lot of unanswered questions, which is weird to me.
- the first chapter here is really confusing
- I didn't expect for him to be the main villain of the story when we were first introduced to him
- a groundhog day is one of my favorite plot points
- I find it hard to believe that the fight was that quiet and the others couldn't hear them!
- also a lot of plotholes by the end, but I won't bother myself with them
- this has to be the part with the happiest ending so far

[India♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S ALREADY OVER!!☹☹☹ This is my favorite cover art from this part. Diamond Is Unbreakable is the best Jojo's part in my opinion. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the other parts, but Diamond Is Unbreakable just hits different. I feel like Josuke is a much more relatable main character than Jotaro. Jotaro's cool, but he's very reserved and standoffish while Josuke at first isn't as friendly either, but once he sees you're not a threat he's your best friend. He's also goofy and overall more fleshed out. I love that! I'm not sure if I mentioned it in a previous review but I really admire Josuke and Okuyasu's friendship. Love the good enemies-to-besties trope. Anyways, and then there's Kira! I feel like he was a much better villain than Dio. We got to see more of him and just the way his story was written was so intriguing and suspenseful. Him killing and taking the identity of a random man then having to live in that man's house with his wife and skeptic son was genius of Araki. Plus, Kira's ending was sooo much more satisfying than Dio's. Killer Queen is best Stand design! Mikitaka was such a cool character. I'll miss him, Josuke, and the others so much. Diamond Is Unbreakable finally made me understand the Jojo's hype.

[Miriam García · Rating 5 out of 5]

De los 9 volúmenes de esta parte de Jojos, el volumen 9 es el mejor. Todos son muy buenos, pero el final es un extraordinario cierre. Kira es un villano aterrador y complejo, de una profundidad pocas veces vista en la literatura, es narcisista y cruel pero sus motivaciones son muy particulares. Sin embargo, Araki nos estrega un villano que bajo todas esas capas de poder y egoísmo, sigue siendo humano y como tal es propenso al miedo, la desesperación y eso lo hace aún peor, porque no se detendrá ante nada para sobrevivir y ganar.
Josuke, por otro lado, es su perfecta contra parte. Cuando Kira destruye, Josuke puede reconstruir y sanar. Tiene un corazón noble, sabe que debe pelear por sus amigos y por cada persona de Morioh, es un Jojo memorable. Su enfrentamiento contra Kira es impactante. Me mantuvo en suspenso todo el tiempo, se arriesgó mucho por Okuyasu.
Pero Hayato me conmovió, su arco de personaje deja un lindo mensaje de que no se necesita tener poderes para ser valiente. Hacer lo correcto requiere fuerza.
El final del manga es satisfactorio, lloré mucho de felicidad, tristeza, nostalgia. Sin duda fue el cierre perfecto.

[Index Purga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Edición argentina, tomo 9 de 12 de la Part IV, núm. 26 en total.
ÍNDICE
Soy un extraterrestre 6
Highway Star 1
Highway Star 2
Highway Star 3
Highway Star 4
Highway Star 5
Highway Star 6
Highway Star 7
Highway Star 8
Al gato le gusta Yoshikage Kira 1
Al gato le gusta Yoshikage Kira 2
Al gato le gusta Yoshikage Kira 3
Al gato le gusta Yoshikage Kira 4
Al gato le gusta Yoshikage Kira 5
Al gato le gusta Yoshikage Kira 6
Al gato le gusta Yoshikage Kira 7
Bocetos (1o páginas)

[Lady Isabelle Jarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love to think about the amount of downtime that wasn’t shown in the series for Jotaro to research enough about starfish whilst he was there - everyone, be like Jotaro, have a life outside of the plot

[Hoch Hech · Rating 3 out of 5]

El tomo con las patas más rápidas del Oriente contra Rohan y Josuke.

[Liv · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got legitimately choked up. I'm gonna miss my boys.

[Sebastian Rodríguez Rivera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dos de los Arcos más icónicos de DiU, si señor.

[Gigi Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

morioh you are so dear to me

[Ferran]

Al puño villano casi lo gana un puto gato y a los protagonistas casi los gana una rata. Por estas cosas amo Jojo.

[Lksreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, if there’s anything to be said about Jojo’s conclusions: it’s that they come out of nowhere and bang harder than your daddy’s modded 12g.

This final volume sets in motion the dramatic conclusion to Part 4 from the first pages with Another One Bites the Dust, which was an *incredibly* well done time travel?/recurring dream? storyline. Hayato ends up being the catalyst for the climax, just two volumes after I said Hayato being suspicious of Kira was going nowhere. Araki 1, Luke 0.

Every page carries suspense and explores “fate,” which was a very fun additional layer to the madness of Josuke v Kira. Josuke is more of the fighter than Shining Diamond here. He didn’t feel like a lead character, but when he gets his moments, he is pure guts, gumption and gusto. Killer Queen is sick, the variety of abilities keeps you guessing and provides the frenetic battle you expect from Jojo’s… and Stray Cat gets involved, who I also said was a waste of an arc. Araki 2, Luke 0. Kira and Josuke’s “put your dukes up” dialogue back and forth heighten everything.

Everybody gets a small role in the end, making good on their being there. The ending is out of place and oddly fitting. P4 had its own charm and it knew it.

Didn’t rise to P3 for me, but wasn’t far off. Had a blast with P4, and even my usual criticism of “this story is taking the long way to get to the finish line” is crumbling under the *fun* that Jojo’s is, and how much of these “wasted” arcs actually contribute to the story overall. Each part is another layer unraveled on the layered storytelling of Jojo’s. Got more tiers than a wedding cake.

Goodbye, Morioh 💜

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's no secret that I have not been overly impressed with Part 4 of the Jojo saga but just as it started strong it finished strong as well.
This final volumes brings everything together nicely and even brought in some random plot points from earlier volumes that I completely forgot about. What this part of the saga did well was giving us a villain that although has supernaturalish powers is still evil in a very human sense. We saw this in the first volume and throughout with Kira. These two villains would have been evil and doing what they did whether they had a Stand ability or not. We find out about Kira's motivation in this volume which was interesting and also a very human. He's just a sick SOB.
One of the big downsides of Part 4 is that the Stands can evolve. This isn't always a bad idea but it was used in such a way that whenever the writer had a problem he would just give the Stand a new ability that fixed it. Some of them makes sense and you could see how the power could evolve to that but most seemed to come completely out of left field.
Finishing strong is probably going to bump this up in my mind when I think back on it but it is not my favourite part of the saga. Let's see what Part 5 brings.

[Nora Suntken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genuinely having a hard time figuring out what to put here because I had forgotten how well-crafted the finale of this part is. Like each character's motivations feel so apparent in the climax and drive the story in an incredibly compelling way. Kira as a villain is easily my favorite in all of Jojo's because he is just so simple yet so effective at creating an overwhelming feeling of dread. Nothing he does is truly shocking despite being insidious because it just is such a natural progression of his character. Hayato is maybe the most tragic character ever written in the series with the culmination of his efforts ending in his father still being dead. Josuke's repeated dedication to his friends is also always heartwarming and makes the stakes feel higher. Also the way Kira's death was legitamately just a freak accident for someone whose whole life was meticulously planned out and his eventual suffering coming from the literal hands of the dead was really poetic and fitting. Other than the obvious stands and ghosts, this part just feels very grounded in reality. Maybe I'm reading way too much into this but I just think it's a story that is very good at being a story, for lack of better words.

[Kristina Mlinarić · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm glad that the Jojo formula was freshened up with a villain focused not on world dominance but solely on his own private life with no stress, completely unbothered by people or job promotions. Final confrontation with him is long and challenging, spanning one thick volume. The fight did not disappoint but Araki did say that he thinks Kira should have won due to his powerful Stand. Even so, I liked how the villain was punished, an interesting parallel with the Orpheus myth.

Few manga can blend the ridiculous element with clever writing and unique artwork but Jojo does it effortlessly, can't wait to continue with Vento Aureo.

[Harrison Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

PART 4 : This is my second favourite JoJo part and reading it physically after having watched the anime at least 5 times only made me love it more. It improves SO much on the previous parts. Morioh as a town feels more like a character itself and it genuinely made me emotional leaving it at the end of the final volume even though I know ill definitely return again soon :) I absolutely adore Josuke and the whole cast of characters, its genuinely funny and yet manages to tell a really interesting story with the final few words really leaving a lasting impact on me. I just love JoJo if you can’t tell already and this is some of the best Araki has ever written!

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Diamond Is Unbreakable just hits different. Phantom Blood is classic, Battle Tendency is nostalgic, and Stardust Crusaders is entertaining, but JoJo really feels like it’s hitting its stride by the time we reach the Diamond Arc. It has an emotional resonance that the previous arcs had yet to develop, and the stakes were far more personal and immediate than the stakes in Stardust Crusaders. I’m desperate to pick up the first art book now (JoJo 6251), as it covers the first four arcs of the series. About to start on Golden Wind!

[ComicNerdSam · Rating 5 out of 5]

The absolute best this series has to offer, all densely packed right at the end. One cool twist after another, building and building until an extremely satisfying ending. Stylistically, this is the best Araki has ever been. The art is so slick and stylish, and he keeps the action clear but dynamic. Diamond Is Unbreakable balances emotion and violence so well. Definitely my second favorite storyline from this series, maybe even first.

[Daniel Tooby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly fantastic, part 4 is my favourite part of Jojo, and I think it’s clear why. The smaller scale works so well, and the murder mystery elements keep you engaged the whole way through. I love the fact we see things from Kiras perspective, and even more how Josuke never directly kills anyone. It’s just so good.

[Kurt Sabatini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josuke posing after saying goodbye to Jotaro and Joseph, then a birds eye shot of Morioh as the final pages is the perfect way to end.
Devastated I’ve finished it, absolutely adore part 4.

Top 3 Favourite Stands:
🥉Shining Diamond
🥈Highway Go Go
🥇Killer Queen

Top 3 Favourite Characters:
🥉Morioh Town
🥈Josuke
🥇Kira

[natty · Rating 5 out of 5]

a number greater than infinity x infinity / i may be a psychopath for not crying while reading books, but i am so not normal about okuyasu and josuke so the happy tears i experience when reading and re-reading this series is overwhelming. i’m in a state of disarray and hysteria knowing i finished this re-read .. forever thinking abt this series 😛😛🥹🪷🤍♾️🫧💤

[Jakub Szameto · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect ending to a perfect part of Jojo’s. The main villain was so enjoyable in all these volumes. Araki ended it in a way that suits this part so well. I wouldn’t change anything, to be honest. It was definitely a memorable ride with Josuke and the cast. Amazing volume.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t think this was my favourite Jojo part, but it did show how wild of a storyteller Araki is. This had a lot of heart and built up a sizeable cast in really unique and creative ways. I never saw anything in this part coming at all.

[Guido]

Tomo 9 de 11, que también tiene en portada a Josuke junto a varios stands. Podrían haber aprovechado mejor la variedad de ilustraciones de las tapas de tankoubon.

[-moonprismpower- · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series but is it weird that I was hoping for an ending with a twist? Or a hint of what’s to come????

[Pinky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yoshikage Kira finally bites the dust and gets what he deserves.