How The Structure of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Avoids The Pitfalls of Shonen Cliche

Hirohiko Araki's legendary manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has been in constant publication for over 30 years, and in that time it hasn't lost one ounce of its unique appeal. Even though all eight parts are drastically different from one another, they somehow manage to work together as a cohesive whole. Many other famous long-running shounen manga like Dragon Ball, Bleach, and Fairy Tail have faltered over time, so how has JoJo ridden so high for so long?

Today, we'll explore how the “parts” structure of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure allows Araki to engage his readers with a moment-to-moment narrative that adapts and changes when it needs to, while staying rooted in good storytelling practices and keeping the overarching themes consistent throughout the whole series. We'll also talk about how other long-running manga can take inspiration from Araki's methods. Let's get started!

This article was written for Anime News Network, so please read it on their site.