JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken Part 4: Diamond wa Kudakenai
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable

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JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is, as of writing, 28 years old, and save for a gap year between Stone Ocean and Steel Ball Run it has been running the entire time. As such, this is one of the most enduring franchises in the entirety of manga. In a big way, it owes this to the way it is split up into parts - each new part introducing a new JoJo, a new main cast, and a new setting - but perhaps both the least obvious thing AND the most important thing that changes is the genre. Whilst it remains a battle shonen manga throughout, it merges ... the JoJo formula with a different genre each time, giving each arc its own firm identity.

In no other part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is this more apparent than in Diamond is Unbreakable.

Here, the series takes on elements of a slice-of-life series, and the sheer creative freedom afforded to Araki by this battle shonen/SoL fusion made way for some of the most inspired results possible (the fact that Araki would revisit the setting of Part 4 in Part 8, albeit with a new twist on the genre, is a testament to this).

It's a simple, but brilliant twist on things - everyday events, but with SUPERPOWERS. It's far more interesting to watch than the battles were in Stardust Crusaders, simply because all the enemies in Stardust Crusaders (Dio notwithstanding) were one of three things: A hired mercenary, a brainwashed puppet, or a Dio worshipper. In Diamond is Unbreakable, they can be anything from a manga-ka looking for inspiration, to a crazy stalker, to a beautician using their stand for cosmetic surgery. What other action manga could possibly make eating Italian food into a tense and thrilling viewing experience?

Interestingly, despite being hailed by most as one of the best parts nowadays, Diamond is Unbreakable used to be one of the most maligned JoJo parts - at least in the English-speaking parts of the fandom. This is due to the DUWANG scans, which for the longest time were the only way to read Part 4 in English - and which are legendarily, hilariously bad (they're worth a read in their own right - they transform DiU into something akin to The Room). That it was once hated, even though we all understood how bad the scans were, is a testament to just how much better the writing in Diamond is Unbreakable is than it was in the previous parts.

The same can be said of its protagonist, Josuke Higashikata, who was also once the most hated JoJo by most fans. Where Jonathan was noble, Joseph was outrageous and trickstery, and Jotaro was stoic, Josuke is simply an average guy. That's not to say he's boring, or an average protagonist - it's just that Josuke is very much your everyday regular dude. He's the kind of guy you'd want to be friends with (which explains why he befriends half the stand users he meets). He is defined by his jokes, his banter with his friends, and his witty dialogue... and also by his goofy pompadour, which he is very defensive of. Unfortunately, a lot of this was lost in the terrible translation we once had to rely on.

Part 4 has one of the best supporting casts of any JoJo arc as well. Rohan Kishibe, who is often considered an author avatar for Araki himself, is an assshole, but he's very entertaining at being an asshole, and his hatred of Josuke is always fun to watch. Okuyasu Nijimura is l̶i̶t̶e̶r̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶k̶u̶w̶a̶b̶a̶r̶a̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶Y̶u̶ ̶Y̶u̶ ̶H̶a̶k̶u̶s̶h̶o one of the most beloved JoJo teammates - he has the goofy idiocy of Polnareff and then some, and has great chemistry with Josuke. The only downside is that, unlike Polnareff, he's as stupid in combat as he is in general, winning only one battle in his own right (and that was mostly luck). That he is as popular as he is in spite of this speaks volumes about how fun he is. The only weak link in the main cast is Koichi, but he's not bad so much as he is just uninteresting.

We also have an excellent set of recurring minor characters, including a returning Jotaro Kujo and Joseph Joestar (although the latter isn't quite what he used to be - him now being an adulterer and slightly senile damages what was once the best JoJo). The real standout character, though, is the main villain of Diamond is Unbreakable: Yoshikage Kira. Kira is a sociopathic serial killer who only wants two things out of life: Some peace & quiet, and women's hands. ONLY the hands. The two desires obviously clash with one another, leading to a cat-and-mouse chase as the main cast try to hunt him down, with Kira wanting nothing to do with them whatsoever.

As with the battles and the characters, the stands benefitted from the creative freedom of the setting. While they're an iconic part of the series now, Part 3 ddidn't really use stands to the best of their ability. But because not everybody had to have a combat stand any more, the stands became more interesting and varied as a result, so we have stands that can make food, stands that gather items, and the aforementioned cosmetic surgery stand, amongst others.

Part 4 isn't perfect, mind you. I already mentioned that Joseph Joestar suffers from this arc, but there's also some lost potential when it comes to the final battle. Josuke has very little chemistry with Kira, and on the other hand, Rohan DOES have a reason to want to fight Kira, which is completely forgotten about by the time the final battle rolls around. And while the monster of the week formula works MUCH better for Diamond is Unbreakable than it did for Stardust Crusaders, this is because there is no clear end goal set for most of the series. Once an end goal IS set, it begins to suffer from the same problem as Stardust Crusaders, though not as badly - but there are a couple of fights that are below the standard of the rest of the series and could very easily have been cut.

But these ARE nitpicks. Overall, part 4 is one of the best parts of JJBA, and a very entertaining manga in its own right (which makes sense, as it is a fairly self-contained arc).


Final Words: Y̶o̶u̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶a̶g̶r̶e̶e̶?̶ ̶W̶H̶A̶T̶ ̶T̶H̶E̶ ̶F̶U̶C̶K̶ ̶D̶I̶D̶ ̶Y̶O̶U̶ ̶S̶A̶Y̶ ̶A̶B̶O̶U̶T̶ ̶M̶Y̶ ̶F̶A̶V̶O̶U̶R̶I̶T̶E̶ ̶M̶A̶N̶G̶A̶?̶ ̶D̶O̶R̶A̶R̶A̶R̶A̶R̶A̶R̶A̶R̶A̶R̶A̶R̶A̶R̶A̶

Story/Plot: 6/10.
Characters: 9/10.
Art: 9/10.

Overall: 9/10.

For fans of: Yu Yu Hakusho, Persona 4

Part 4 of one of manga's longest running series gets off to a rocky start but with each volume gets better, funnier, more creative with battles and character abilities and culminating in re-establishing JoJo's Bizarre Adventure as one of, if not the, greatest shonen manga franchise ever.

Diamond Is Unbreakable's story begins with a few missteps, that of focusing on an illegitimate son thus almost rendering Joseph Joestar's courageous mission in the previous volume moot and making him look like a jerk (although this is played for laughs), and also more importantly slightly retconning the evil granny character of Enya by having her be a source ... of more trouble for the worlds citizens by going around with a mystical bow and arrow and randomly shooting people, giving them randomly assigned 'stand' powers.

Author Hirohiko Araki goes full on with crazy stand powers this time, emboldened with what he achieved in part 3 and the introduction of the crazy powers and their potential, you'll see a full range of quirky abilities that cause as many laughs as they do terror.

The main character of Josuke is thankfully livelier than the stoic and bland Jotaro of part 3, and with a more funky wardrobe courtesy of Araki's brilliant fashion sense. In fact the stylistic choices throughout the saga continue to get more and more inspired in their lunacy, it really is a joy to read and appreciate the unique art on display.

Josuke is surrounded by a motley crew of friends, family, enemies, enemies turned friends, friends turned enemies, random ghosts, aliens, and animals with attitude. They all fit one genre trope or another, but they're all very entertaining and very distinct.

Part 4 has awesome battles and abilities as usual for the franchise, and is almost worth it just for an action scene towards the latter half involving a motorcycle, a baby carriage and an unstoppable 'stand'. Araki's battles rarely ever rely on what today's staple shonen bestsellers always use: the old 'allies appear from nowhere and save the day' routine. Araki's characters get pushed and pushed into tight corners and work their way out using brain power, or if their allies do appear, it’s because of planned out teamwork, not mere coincidence or luck.

And even though there are a lot of 'standalone' stories in part 4 as opposed to a big mission, they're for the most part well thought-out and have plenty of great payoffs. They all thankfully advance the plot or character relations in some manner too, which is essential for good storytelling using a standalone format.

Especially the last story arc of Part 4 which is excellent indeed, with our plucky good guys facing-off against the saga's best villain. Yes better than Dio and his generic world-domination plans, Part 4's villain's threat is much more terrifying for its relation to reality. It’s easier to be threatened by a sociopath who avoids fights and attention (knowing full well he can silence anyone he pleases easily) and preys on the weak for his own satisfaction.

Despite its flaws and rocky beginning, part 4 sustains JoJo's tendency for making readers laugh out loud at the surreal humour and quickly turn pages in anticipation of the next outstanding battle and all the twists and turns it entails. Even Joseph's playa ways, which I cited as an unnecessary misstep, gets a humorous payoff at the end.

I can barely think of anything negative to say about this manga after all. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is probably the greatest shonen ever, its amazingly long publishing run and popularity proves it.

I don't quite get the love for this manga. Josuke was so annoying I wanted to punch him. At first he was whatever but from chapter 9 he started to get on my nerves. I was so annoyed when the evil guy choked his little friend and Josuke was taking his time to help him like nothing is happening with his cold face. Not just that, the other evil guy hit his friend's neck with an arrow, and still Josuke's response to help him was very slow which made me more frustrated. This scene alone made me dislike Josuke's character and that's why I dropped ... the manga very early

There is another reason for me to drop it, I couldn't take it seriously. They LOVE to have long conversations even at the heat of the moment and I roll my eyes whenever this happen. Due to this, the manga became more childish than anything. I will bring up the events in chapter 9 to chapter 11 once again. His friend like I said before was severely injured with an arrow in his neck. So what's the right move here for Josuke? hurry up and save your friend. Instead these chapters were just a long conversation after a long conversation. Like damn Jouske's friend was dying and Jouske just stands there like an idiot and listens to their conversations. I know I sound like a nitpicky guy here but these things just frustrate me a lot.