Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable Chapter 1 is a fantasy-action Japanese film directed by Takashi Miike. Although I have never seen the anime or read the manga by Hirohiko Araki that the film is based on, I am no stranger to Takashi Miike films. Takashi Miike’s films are always weird, wacky and wonderful. Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure is no exception.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure follows Ryunosuke Kamiki’s character Kōichi Hirose as he is transferred to a new school and finds classmate Kento Yamazaki’s character Jōsuke ‘Jojo’ Higashikata mysterious and intriguing. Despite Jojo’s mysterious aura, Kōichi still wants to befriend him.
Jojo is a quiet school boy with a unique fashion sense, is super sensitive about his hairstyle and tends to keep to himself. During the film, his character slowly learns to stand up and fight for others while slowly discovering the true strengths and limits to his special powers. Kento Yamazaki portrayal of Jojo is great with Jojo‘s character appearing strong with his paranormal abilities, yet still youthfully innocent. I loved Jojo’s fight scenes, the animation is superb and Jojo’s cool yet calm disposition during battle is thrilling to watch.
Jojo’s policeman grandfather Ryōhei Higashikata played by Jun Kunimura is Jojo’s legal guardian who is passionate about protecting his town. During the film, townsfolk are mysteriously dying of the same strange cause in Ryōhei Higashikata precinct, which takes a toll on Ryōhei’s ego. He feels responsible even though a supernatural serial killer’s actions are not his fault. Although brief, I loved Jun Kunimura’s portrayal as Jojo’s grandfather. He is strong but vulnerable, and you really feel for his character when he feels sorry for himself and considers himself responsible for all the deaths occurring in his town.
I found Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable Chapter 1 extremely exciting and entertaining. I loved the cinematography, the action-scenes, the costumes and special effects. Although obvious that the film is based on an anime/manga as the characters are very exaggerated, this did not hinder my enjoyment. Takashi Miike is one of my favourite directors and it was great to see his effective directing once again with Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable Chapter 1. Hopefully a sequel will be on its way soon.