Part 4: Diamond is Unbreakable



Part 4 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, subtitled Diamond is Unbreakable, is preceded by Stardust Crusaders and followed by Golden Wind. Josuke Higashikata is JoJo of this part and Yoshikage Kira is the main antagonist. Morioh Stand Users serve as the villainous faction.

This part is set in the fictional town of Morioh, a small local town that hosts many mysterious and bizarre characters. Part 4 is noticeably smaller scale to its predecessor, as it takes place entirely in one town.

Originally published under the title Part IV: Josuke Higashikata, the manga was serialized from 1992 to 1995 in Weekly Shonen Jump. Part 4's name was altered to Diamond is not Crash in the Bunkoban editions and in JOJO A-GO!GO!

Diamond is Unbreakable was adapted into a TV anime as the third season of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The Animation in 2016.

In July of 2017 a film adaptation titled Diamond is Unbreakable Chapter 1 was released. It adapts the first few arcs of Part 4 and ends with a cliffhanger, omitting several characters and plot points. It was officially released with English subtitles in February 2020.

Around the same time as the original theatrical release in August 2017, a movie novelization adapting Diamond is Unbreakable Chapter 1 was released published by Jump Books.

The Part 4 manga was officially released in English from 2019 to 2021.

VIZ Media
''Eleven years have passed since Jotaro Kujo defeated Dio, the Joestar family’s archnemesis. In the year 1999, Jotaro travels to a Japanese town called Morioh to seek out Josuke Higashikata, the secret love child of his grandfather, Joseph Joestar. Upon finding him, Jotaro discovers that Josuke also possesses a Stand. As if drawn by an unknown force, new Stand users begin to appear all across town, threatening the lives of the innocent—including Josuke’s loved ones. Swearing to protect the people living in his hometown, Josuke must now stand against the evil that lurks within Morioh.''

Plot Summary
The fourth part is set in 1999 in the fictional city of Morioh Japan, and follows Joseph Joestar's illegitimate son, Josuke Higashikata. The story revolves around the mysteries of the small town that Josuke and his friends inhabit, as well as discovering the truth about the Stand Arrow and how it tempts the people of Morioh. Josuke and his friends also track down the illusive murderer, and Stand User, Yoshikage Kira. The story ends at Yoshikage Kira's defeat, and the golden heart of Morioh being preserved.

Characters

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Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan (1997 - Ongoing)
Main Article: Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan

Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan is a canon spin-off series to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure that takes place in Morioh, the setting of Diamond is Unbreakable. It is an anthology series featuring Rohan Kishibe as the protagonist/ narrator throughout every chapter. The stories deal with other supernatural abilities besides Stands, including the likes of ghosts, avatars of Greek Gods, and Yokai.

Jump Multi World | 4-Koma (1999)
Araki drew a comic strip for 4-Koma in Jump Multi-World during the serialization of Diamond is Unbreakable. It is an original story made up of four panels featuring "not Josuke," and two delinquents. In the first panel the two school kids are having an argument that causes them to go their separate ways. "Josuke" witnesses this and notices a "crack" in their friendship. The second panel shows Crazy Diamond punch barraging them, with "Josuke" saying he can fix the "crack" in their friendship. The third panel is of "Josuke" realizing that Crazy Diamond is unable to heal people's hearts. The fourth and final panel shows "Josuke" walking away saying that he also forgot that people who have been killed cannot be brought back to life... This is unfortunate, as his kindess was for nothing, and the two delinquents remain on the ground dead. The bottom portion of the strip says that the man featured in this comic strip is not in fact the Josuke Higashikata from Part 4, and he will never be seen again.

Deadman's Questions (1999)
Main Article: Deadman's Questions



A canon sequel to Part 4 written by Hirohiko Araki showing what happens to Yoshikage Kira after his death. He becomes a ghost that lost his memories as he tries to find his true purpose in the ghost world. Three chapters were released in a shonen magazine and later rereleased as part of the Under Execution, Under Jailbreak volume collection along with Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan Episode 16: At a Confessional, the one-shot Under Execution, Under Jailbreak, and another one-shot titled Dolce and his Master.



The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp (2000)
Before The Book: 4th Another Day was written, Otsuichi had planned to write another novel. He got to around 2000 pages before he scrapped the entire thing. A 30-page rough draft was created and released in a magazine to read, but other than that, no official word from the novel exists. Araki created six unique pieces of art for the novel, which included the main character and his Stand. The character, Koaru, apparently was set to live in the apartment that Yoshikage Kira killed the couple in that he followed him. His Stand, while unnamed, had an ability, which was to spawn items under the User's skin that he had to rip out of his own flesh.



The Book: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 4th Another Day (2007)
A non-canon light novel written by Otsuichi in 2007 set one year after the events of Part 4. The novel follows four different perspectives, ranging from Koichi Hirose's perspective, the perspective of Takuma Hasumi the main antagonist of the book, Akari, Takuma's mother, and Chiho Futaba who is Takuma's best friend/sister. The book features two original Stands created by Otsuichi, The Book and Memory of a Jet.

Heaven's Door (2012)
A short story written by Banana Yoshimoto. Heaven's Door is official JoJo media that was published by Shueisha in 2012 in the JOJOmenon mook, which was published to commemorate JoJo's 25th anniversary. Also in the book, Rohan Goes to Gucci was reprinted, as well as many JoJo and Araki interviews. The story is set in the real world, and mentions names and concepts from the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series. The story revolves around the protagonist and her husband, and dark events that plague their life in Sendai, which the protagonist refers to as "Morioh" throughout. The story is named after Rohan Kishibe's Stand, and the cover art shows an embossed silhouette of Reimi Sugimoto, a trace of the scene of her departing at the end of the part.

Diamond is Unbreakable Drama CD Collection (2016)
From 2016 to 2017, two sets of CD drama collections were released in collaboration with JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The Animation Season 3: Diamond is Unbreakable. The two sets tell two original stories set in the town of Morioh during the plot of Part 4, and all of the voice actors from the Part 4 anime return to reprise their roles.

The first of the two sets tell the story of Josuke, Koichi, and Okuyasu investigating a ghost story in their high school, which ends up merely being Toshikazu Hazamada playing a prank on them with his Stand, Surface. The second set is about Koichi and Josuke trying to help Okuyasu build up the nerve to ask out a waitress that he thinks is cute at Café Deux Magots.



Diamond is Unbreakable - Chapter 1 Visual Book (2016)
An official album of photos from the live action Diamond is Unbreakable film that released in August 2017, one month following the original release of the film. It featured interviews with concept art, as well as behind the scenes interviews. It is a retelling of the movie in photo album format, separated into five chapters that go through the whole film arc by arc in an album. It also includes Stand character cards, similar to the ones in between the anime scenes and manga chapters.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Records (2017)
A 3D action gashapon style mobile game featuring content mainly from Diamond is Unbreakable released in February 2017 in Japan. While prominently featuring content from Diamond is Unbreakable, it also included characters from the first five parts of the series. On August 29, 2018, the game received a large update. The title was changed to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Records Reversal, and the main battle system was changed from beat 'em up up style mob battles into a turn-based "Tactical Battle" mode.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Crazy Heartbreakers (2021 - 2023)
Main Article: Crazy Heartbreakers

Crazy Heartbreakers is an official spin-off from the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, the first not to be written by Hirohiko Araki. It is written by Kohei Kodono, the writer behind Purple Haze Feedback, and illustrated by Tasuka Karasuma, who is the artist behind the manga series No Guns Life. It is set between Parts 3 and 4 and focusses on Hol Horse in Morioh still trying to live past DIO's trauma.

Escape From JoJo's Bizarre Amusement Park (2017)
An escape game attraction that was held in many locations in Japan in 1997. It was a collaboration event between Diamond is Unbreakable and Tokyo-based company SCRAP, the "Real escape game" premiered at Tokyo Dome City from July 15 to September 24. The attraction was set in Morioh, where serial killer Yoshikage Kira has been hiding for years. After witnessing his crime, participants were targeted by Kira and forced to traverse the park to solve puzzles and obtain clues. By overcoming the repeated attacks by Sheer Heart Attack and Killer Queen, participants defeated and captured Kira with their own "awakened Stand". Game time was around 2–3 hours. A Rookie Course was available for children in elementary and junior high school. People who bought tickets in advance received a The Hand paper fan. Ticket prices ranged depending if you purchased in advance or the day of as well as the location.

Creation & Development
Diamond is Unbreakable 's title was added later into the series' run. It references the indomitable human spirit that is unable to be broken. It also continues the trend of having part of the protagonist's Stand's name in the title. The part seems to have retroactively been named after the Crazy Diamond is Unbreakable story arc near the end of the part.

Trivia

 * This part has the most supplementary material to its name than any other, with a film adaptation, several one-shot spin-offs, a light novel, a CD drama, and a prequel manga.
 * Part 4 is the longest out of the parts released in Weekly Shonen Jump, with 174 chapters and 18 volumes. Despite this, it shares the same amount of episodes with Golden Wind, and is 9 episodes shorter than Stardust Crusaders even though it outnumbers the both of them by about 20 or so chapters.
 * The third opening song featured in this part, "Great Days," sounds very similar to the protagonist Josuke's catch phrase in Japanese (gureto daze.)
 * While he goes unnamed in the original manga, Keichi and Okuyasu's father is known as Mansaku Nijimura.
 * Part 4 is the first part to take place in an entirely fictional setting.
 * Starting with this part, Stands become named after popular bands and music artists as opposed to tarot cards, like in the previous part.

Iconography
Similar to Part 3, Diamond is Unbreakable uses multiple different pieces of imagery for its iconography. There is a McGuffin in this part, that being the Stand Arrow, which is often used in iconography for this part, but not nearly as prominently as it is used in Part 5. Stand Arrow imagery can be found in the ending sequence for the third season of the anime, "I Want You" by Savage Garden, and in promotional material for the manga in Weekly Shonen Jump.

More prominently than the Arrow, the pins Josuke wears on his school uniform are used interchangeably as icons representing Part 4. The anchor pin and peace sign can be used in conjunction with each other, although since JoJolion, the anchor symbol has been reserved more so for it than Part 4. The peace sign imagery is used for the identifying icon in All-Star Battle and Eyes of Heaven, and in details in promotional material for the anime adaptation.

More recently, imagery of diamonds are used to represent Part 4, most prominent in VIZ Media's English localization for the manga, as well as in the official logo for the Bunkoban edition of the manga.

Continuity

 * The main protagonist of this part, Josuke Higashikata, is revealed to be the bastard son of Joseph Joestar who had an affair with Josuke's mother a few years before the events of Part 3. As a result of this, Josuke was alive for all of the events of Part 3.
 * It is revealed in a flashback that Josuke was afflicted with the same illness as Holly, Jotaro's mother, during the events of Part 3. This was his stand, Crazy Diamond, manifesting in him, but since he was a baby, he was not able to control it and fell ill.
 * In that flashback, Josuke is saved by a third-year student who wears his hair in a pompadour, which is what inspired his current hairstyle. It is incorrectly theorized that Josuke's savior is actually himself travelling back in time as a result of Killer Queen's third type bomb, Bites the Dust. This theory was deconfirmed by Araki long ago during the original serialization of Part 4.
 * The Stand Arrow is properly introduced this part after being alluded to in the anime adaptation of Part 3. It is explained that this is how DIO awakened his Stand, and we know this because Joseph uses Hermit Purple to uncover an image of Enya holding the Stand Arrows.
 * The Stand Arrow is added into the background of a scene in the Stardust Crusaders anime so that this explanation makes more sense.
 * We are shown three different Stand Arrows existing in this world in this part and the one before. The one that belonged to the Nijimura brothers, the one that belonged to Yoshiro Kira, and the one that was in the hands of Enya the Hag.


 * It is revealed that those of DIO's minions who still had a flesh bud inside them when he died were mutated into vampire hybrid monsters. One of the victims of this happened to be Okuyasu and Keicho's father.
 * It is also revealed through Keicho's description of DIO that DIO was using the Stand Arrow to "search for a specific kind of Stand." This is foreshadowing DIO's "heaven plan" that is outlined and achieved during the events of Part 6.
 * Josuke's Joestar birthmark is not originally seen in the original manga for one reason or another, but is added in a couple scenes in the anime adaptation.
 * Jotaro Kujo and Joseph Joestar return in this part after both last appearing in the previous one. Jotaro is now a major ally to the main cast and provides support to them with help from the Speedwagon Foundation, who also reappear.
 * Jotaro's daughter, Jolyne, has canonically been born by this point in time, but no mention of her is made during the canon events of this story.
 * Joseph appears as a decrepit old man, his mind no longer as sharp as it used to be. In this part he adopts an invisible Stand wielding baby named Shizuka.
 * These two are the only characters from previous parts that return physically.
 * It is incorrectly theorized that Killer Queen's third type bomb, Bites the Dust, is actually a Requiem Stand. This cannot be the case due to the fact that it resulted from a completely different phenomenon. In Bites the Dust's case, Kira himself was stabbed with the Arrow for a second time, while Requiem Stands require the Stand itself to be pierced.
 * The final episode of the anime adaptation adds several scenes of the main cast in an epilogue section. One scene of Rohan shows him performing a certain set of stretches that originated in the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan series.

Gallery
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