Interview – Yusuke Sasaki (JoJo`s Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle)

Click: What exactly is it that makes JoJo’s Adventure so bizarre?

Tue, 22 Apr, 2014 - 01:00

YS: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is based on a manga series that started in 1987 and has been publishing continuously since then. One of the characteristics of the manga series is that the characters have these mystic entities called “Stands” which are these extra characters that are located right next to them and can be called upon to activate all sorts of mystical powers like stopping time or fixing things.Click: Is that what we see represented in the game’s promotional art, which shows a bunch of faces imposed on top of another character?YS: One of the things about JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle is that there are multiple story arcs and so when a storyline wraps up, the game switches to a different main character in the same universe. One of the aspect’s that’s really unique about the game is that it encompasses the entire series with all eight main characters featured, and so the faces on the promotional artwork actually represent the eight main characters.Beginning with part one of the story in 1987, the manga series has just recently finished up part seven. So even though they are all separate characters, what they all share in common is that their names are all derived from “JoJo”.Click: Is this the first time that the series is coming to North American audiences or has there been English versions of the material available before now?YS: There was another game based on the series from a different publisher, I believe for the PlayStation 2, and also one of the story arcs was translated into English by Viz Manga a little while back, but this is the first real big push for it in English speaking territories.So in addition to the game coming out, there’s also an anime just starting in Japan. Even though the manga has been going since 1987, this is the first time that it’s being made into an anime. The anime will be available in English on Crunchyroll for anybody who’s interested in checking it out.