JoJolion

"This is a story about breaking a curse.[...] This mysterious boy buried in the ground, who in the world is he?"

- Yasuho Hirose about Josuke, JJL Chapter 1

JoJolion (ジョジョリオン) is the award-winning eighth part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, published in Ultra Jump from May 2011.

The story begins in 2011 and follows Josuke Higashikata, a young man afflicted by retrograde amnesia, on his search to uncover his identity in Morioh Town, a coastal Japanese town affected by the Tohoku earthquake.

JoJolion represents the second part of the series set in the "Steel Ball Run Universe".

Welcome to Morioh Town
Yasuho Hirose, hiding from Joshu Higashikata near Morioh Town's Wall Eyes, discovers a naked man in a sailor cap half buried underground.

In narration, Yasuho explains how the Wall Eyes rose concurrent with a version of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. Massive, rocky protrusions marked with long, vertical holes, they rise between the coastline and the mainland, blocking highways, waterways, gas and power lines.

Yasuho calls an ambulance. She notices a star-shaped birthmark on his shoulder, surrounded by the fresh mark of a human's bite. The man asks Yasuho whether she knows who he is, before beginning to sink into the ground, prompting her to pull him out, revealing a deep hole. She notices that he has four testicles.

Joshu finds Yasuho and the man, jealously launching a lethal attack; inciting him to initiate a power in the form of a bubble emerging from his birthmark that turns Joshu blind. The man faints, before they are all taken to hospital.

Soft & Wet
The protagonist reveals that he is knowledgeable, but that he has no memory whatsoever as to his own history.

Yasuho offers to help him to discover his identity, first by taking him to the manufacturer of his hat, a shop called "SBR". Seeing them leave from his window, Joshu feels jealous and notices the bite marks on his knees before collapsing from a fever.

The shopkeeper claims that the man bought his hat there three days prior, before revealing a record of the sale to one "Yoshikage Kira", as well as his address. Yasuho opines that "Yoshikage" does not suit him, and nicknames him Josuke, after her childhood dog.

In Kira's apartment, the pair discover a female hostage in the bathroom, and a photo album displaying her in various sordid states of bondage, along with a man that looks like Josuke. Yasuho flees the apartment in disgust, leaving the two in the bathroom.

Josuke demands explanation of the hostage, which she gives as that Josuke was a prisoner in the same apartment before escaping three days prior, and that she assumed he had returned to help her escape. She mentions that their captor is a Stand user residing on the floor above them, whose powers only come when his victim is directly underneath him.

Revealing his Stand, Soft & Wet, Josuke is violently forced to overcome a plot agreed between the Stand user above and the hostage.

Apprehending and interrogating him, the attacker identifies as Ojiro Sasame, a surfer seeking revenge against Yoshikage Kira, whom Josuke closely resembles (in dress as well as in body). Sasame tells of a psychopathic Kira, who in the past by an obscure power and for little reason convinced Sasame to consume his own fingers. Finished, Josuke identifies a Wall Eye in a photo of Kira.

Travelling to the site of Kira's self-portrait, buried deeper, they discover the body of another man. Narrated after the fact, an autopsy reveals that the body belonged to Yoshikage Kira, who had died of cardiac arrest three days prior.

The Higashikata Family
Josuke and Yasuho are taken in by the head of the Higahikata family, Norisuke Higashikata IV; owner of a substantial estate built with a fruit importation business inherited from his grandfather; Norisuke Higashikata (of Part 7).

Lent the Higashikata name, Josuke Higashikata is welcomed into Norisuke's home and provided with Joshu's bedroom, to Joshu's chagrin.

Norisuke tells Josuke to consider his word "law" in his house, and forbids him from exploring his study, before appointing him the duty of guarding his youngest daughter, Daiya.

Yasuho is escorted out of the house by the family's maid Nijimura, and warned not to return.

California King Bed
Daiya engages Josuke with her Stand, California King Bed; beginning a contest for segments of his memory.

Yasuho, meanwhile, having ordered a DNA test, receives the information that Josuke and Kira, "to within 95.8% accuracy", represent "the same person".

Defeating and befriending Daiya, who appears was operating of her own accord, Josuke elicits her assistance in researching her family as they enter Norisuke's study together.

Family Tree
A book in the study contains a family tree, revealing that Yoshikage Kira and the Higashikatas are directly related; referencing the Steel Ball Run race and a link between Johnny Joestar and Norisuke Higashikata.

"Paisley Park" &amp; "Born This Way"
After reading the family tree book, Josuke makes a plan to find Kira's mother, Holy Joestar-Kira, whom Daiya mentions that she resides in Morioh hospital.

Utilizing his phone's GPS on the way, which seems to communicate contradictory instructions, Josuke is trailed and attacked by a dark motorcycle rider. Josuke manages to kick off the rider's helmet, revealing a Stand composed of both bike and rider.

Josuke deduces that mysteriously, his GPS is actually directing him in escape of his pursuer. Reaching the hospital, almost defeated, Josuke finds and defeats Kyo Nijimura, the Higashikata family's maid.

Josuke asks Nijimura whether she attacked him under Norisuke's orders. She reacts with distaste and insists on killing him if he approaches Holy, who she reveals to be both her and Yoshikage Kira's mother. Thus, Josuke resolves to find another way to conduct his research.

The Lemon and the Tangerine
As Josuke leaves, she asks him to show her his tongue. She confirms and explains to Josuke that he has two tongues (fused as one) and four eyes (as two), before revealing that he must be a fusion of Kira and another person, having emerged from the ground near the Wall Eyes, which is known to fuse together objects that are buried there.

At the hospital, after being kicked out, Yasuho's Stand, Paisley Park, activates subconsciously, leading her to Holy Joestar-Kira. She watches as doctors perform several tests, noting a compromise in Holy's ability to discern people from objects, and that she is missing several vital organs without negative repercussions, as well as several perfectly spherical portions of her brain, all without any evidence of surgical removal.

"Shakedown Road"
Josuke asks Norisuke for a cell phone, as well as the chance to go to school. Norisuke agrees, but orders Joshu to escort him. Joshu asks Josuke to walk with him to a different high school as a favor. They travel to Shakedown Road, known for its kleptomaniacal community, where Joshu hopes to record himself being robbed in order to complain with evidence to the police for an earlier crime.

Arriving, Joshu unknowingly breaks a child's "compact" toy before her mother demands compensation; as does Josuke a turtle tank in a nearby store window, apparently killing the turtles inside; upon which the owner exorts Josuke for ¥20,000 and a plan to pay off ¥330,000. Joshu captures the event with his phone; discovering that Josuke had stepped on leaves, rushed almost instantly to the tank, and then back, unawares.

Continuing, Josuke is confronted by three men; again drawn into an accidental slight, before coerced into delivering illegal goods to a girl nearby; for which the pair are arrested by two police officers observing.

Joshu infers a power belonging to the ginkgo leaves spread on the ground of the whole Road; fleeing after intercepting an exchange of money between the men and the girl. While Josuke is pinned, the gangsters chase Joshu, easily catching up using the leaves. During their confrontation, Joshu's Stand, Nut King Call, is revealed.

Josuke reveals he had also deduced the power of the gingko leaves, and during its exchange had taken the money for himself with his Stand, which with he repays the pet shop owner in full.

Josuke makes a call to Yasuho while she is in class. Seeing Joshu's caller ID, she doesn't answer; but noticing the origin of the call on her phone's map, Yasuho takes interest in a nearby landmark named Joestar Jizō. Searching the term, she is reminded of Holy and the Higashikata/Joestar family tree. Subconsciously employing Paisley Park, she continues on her phone to research the subject.

Morioh Town: Year 1901
Yasuho learns that the Jizo was built as a memorial to Johnny Joestar, half a year after his ominous death at that location around 110 years prior.

A famous American jockey, Johnny had come to Japan on invitation by their government to assist in a horsemanship program, as well as in importing foreign fruits. On the evening of the 11th of November 1901, while passing through the main road near Mutsukabe Shrine in S City, Morioh Town, Johnny was bludgeoned and died; his body discovered the following morning with his head under a boulder. Ruled a homicide, his wife Rina Higashikata was a prime suspect, before the cause of death was changed to an accident, the boulder falling from the hill of the Mutsukabe Shrine.

Spurred by this new knowledge, Yasuho leaves her class in search of Josuke.

Meanwhile, Josuke also comes across the Jizo, before the pet shop owner approaches for conversation. They agree that Josuke and the Jizo wear the same hat, which the pet shop owner explains was donated by the SBR shop salesman; and he mentions that the American who died there wore a similar hat; before explaining about the legend of Johnny Joestar.

According to the pet shop owner, Johnny came to Japan primarily to marry Rina, having met on a passenger ship departing New York for Europe after the Steel Ball Run Race. The two lived together in America on a ranch, but after several years, Rina was struck by a mysterious disease. She would intermittently lose memories, and later, as the disease threatened her life, her skin began to crease into rigid, origami-like folds. Johnny decided to take his wife to Japan, better that she spend her final days in her hometown. However, in his anguish, Johnny decided to retrieve the holy Corpse from New York City, hoping to use it to cure Rina. Chased by U.S. government agents, Johnny brought Rina and the corpse to Morioh Town, by the meditation pine. He cures her of her disease, hoping it would be sent to a stranger. When it rests on their young son George, Johnny takes him away, and (in pictures rather than narration) uses Tusk along with the Corpse to take the disease onto himself. He falls off his horse onto several gingko leaves, which transport a boulder atop his head. The pet shop owner states that his is only one of many versions of the story, but Josuke believes it, and that it may have something to do with Holy's memory loss.

Yasuho has navigated to the Meditation Pine at the rear of the Higashikata estate by photos in the news stories she has researched. She reads there of a baby washed up nearby on November 13, 1901, wearing a necklace of gemstones. She notes that she can see the Higashikata house, when she is grabbed by a hand from inside the tree and momentarily groped in the darkness.

Paper Moon Deception
Yasuho finds herself with Tsurugi Higashikata, playing with some origami in what Tsurugi describes as an earthquake shelter.

Yasuho realizes that Tsurugi is male; when he reveals that like his father Jobin, his grandfather Norisuke, and others several generations back, as the first-born son of his generation, he will live as a female until he is 12 years old; in a traditional method to ward off certain "evil spirits".

Paisley Park inspires Josuke to send Yasuho a coded message on Joshu's cellphone. Yasuho, unnerved and preparing to leave, realizes her phone is missing when it sounds off. When she finds it, it has been folded into an origami frog that leaps at her eyes, causing her face to split and contort. This effect subsides, and Tsurugi notes that she must have seen his Stand, which she does not quite comprehend.

Leaving the room, phone in hand, she spots another room. Looking in the window, it is small and austere, containing a set of clothes similar to that worn by Kira, and a collection of objects including an Enter the Dragon poster and Ultraman figurine, among others.

Yasuho heads back into town, trailed by Tsurugi. She speaks with a woman with a particular, angular face, who asks for directions. Another woman passes with the same face, as well as a window cleaner, the mannequins in the window, and everyone around her, except for Tsurugi.

Yasuho embarks on an unhappy adventure through a commercial center of Morioh Town, during which she is antagonized by the distorted visages of her mother, Joshu, and a criminal group attempting to kidnap her who she mistakes for police; as she tries unsuccessfully to meet again with Josuke.

When Tsurugi lasts reveals himself, Yasuho concedes, following him back to his playroom. Elsewhere, Josuke deduces that he is no longer afflicted by Tsurugi's Stand because he has fallen out of its range, and that Yasuho was its main target.

Through the slot in the door of the second underground room, somebody spies on Tsurugi and Yasuho's return.

Tsurugi's Goal & the Architect
Yasuho calms in Tsurugi's playroom. He apologizes, admitting that he targeted her with his Stand, Paper Moon King. He states that anyone who comes near the Wall Eyes will awaken a Stand, and that the Higashikatas do not appear to discuss the subject among themselves.

Asking again the purpose of the underground complex, Tsurugi explains that it is a space dedicated to treating the mysterious illness that turns the skin hard like stone befalling all Higashikata firstborns. Yasuho is reminded of Holy's condition, whose brain is becoming hard and smooth, memories fragmenting, and that Kira tried to save her.

Falling asleep, a figure emerges from behind a jacket hanging on the wall. Uttering obscurities, mentioning Soft & Wet and an opinion that Josuke need not exist, the man pulls a sheet of clear material from his eyes, pinning it around Yasuho's wrists and face. Taking a pitcher of water, he appears to begin to waterboard Yasuho, waking her to a gasping panic. Emptying it, he tells her that he has been observing her for a long time, and explicitly to reveal her Stand. Breaking a glass and failing to cut the material, Yasuho reveals her Stand, shooting from her feet across the floor, before the man pins its leg with his foot, catching its head as it rises from the ground, shocking Yasuho. The man is able to accurately deduce aspects of the Stand's limitation, before it escapes his grasp through the hatch in the ceiling. Touching Josuke, Paisley Park reminds him of Tsurugi's implication in the earlier Stand attack, inspiring him to return to the Higashikata estate.

Telling Yasuho that he has been watching "all of them" up to now, the man introduces himself as Yotsuyu Yagiyama, a 28 year old architect, who most of all desires social status, for which purpose he intends to ensure that Josuke's memories do not return, when Josuke "dies again".

Slipping on an origami banana skin Yasuho had been folding, and falling, she is freed, just as he disappears. Afraid, Yasuho concludes that the Higashikatas must not be aware of Yotsuyu.

Norisuke, Tsurugi & Yotsuyu
In the morning, Josuke awakens in his bedroom, seeing from his window Tsurugi leaving from the back of the house, carrying bags full of food. Asking Daiya what there is on the far side of the yard, she mentions the Wall Eyes, some woods, and the debris of a ruined shed.

Norisuke asks Josuke about his experience at school, when Joshu interjects with a nonsensical, fictional account of the day, implied to be a result of damage inflicted by Yasuho by a large lump on his head.

From the balcony at the house's rear, Josuke identifies the shed, by the pine, and the spring where he emerged; all lined up with the Wall Eyes. Spotting Tsurugi, he gives chase, resolving to interrogate each member of the family.

Norisuke confronts Josuke; prompting Josuke to say outright that he is following Tsurugi, and that he finds the Higashikatas highly suspicious, wishing to ask them all certain things directly; embarking on an interrogation.

He settles to ask Norisuke whether he killed Yoshikage Kira, which he says he did not, and in three parts: First, that he knows of the power of the Wall Eyes to combine two objects, and argues that if he wished Kira dead, he should wish the same of Josuke. Second, that he is sympathetic to Kira's family, including Holy, being that theirs shares its fate with his, with respect to the curse of their disease; and third, that he actually needed Kira, believing that he had a clue as to their cure.

Norisuke says that he adopted Josuke in the hope that he has retained these memories; reaffirms his wish for his family's happiness, and that he does not know the identity of the other person composing Josuke, suggesting that he consider himself the individual currently searching for his identity.

Asking Norisuke, a firstborn, how he himself was cured, Norisuke limits his answer to that his parents traded their lives to cure him. Josuke asks Norisuke's permission to question Tsurugi, and the request encourages Norisuke to accompany him as a form of compromise.

On the way Josuke decides to inquire about the nature of Norisuke's Stand - even going as far as to ask if he can observe it after having deduced everyone in his family should possess one, and his awareness of Tsurugi's ability. Although he admits to being aware that Tsurugi possesses a Stand he informs Josuke that he had no idea his grandson had attacked him and opts to momentarily reveal his Stand's hand in order to satisfy Josuke while keeping it's full nature private.

Distracted, Norisuke notices the hatch to the basement open, describing the destroyed shed above it being designed a rest stop; and in the past, the basement below to store and research their fruit trees.

Moments later Josuke feels something touch his shoe and theorizes it to have been Tsurugi's accomplice Yotsuyu although he cannot determine how he managed to sneak up on them without him noticing. These strange occurrences prompt him to warn Norisuke that something strange appears to be happening on the Higashikata property even it's patriarch is unaware of, given the bizarre nature of Kira's death.

It is at that moment that an odd sound alerts them to the approach of heavy, rolling pots which appear to be converging on their location from all directions. They are in such great numbers that the duo assume them to be from all over Morioh and wonder if this is the affect of their enemy's Stand.

Breaking the pots with Soft & Wet proves ineffective when the shards begin to dig into Josuke's flesh, ever gravitating towards his 'core'. It is only through the combined effort of a now free Norisuke dragging him out of the Pot's reach and Josuke utilizing soap bubbles to steal the weight of the shards attached to him does he escape death.

The two take this brief moment to plan their next movie; either progress towards the hatch and risk a trap or flee and abandon the unconscious Yasuho which Josuke refuses to do. While analyzing the enemy's Stand Josuke and Norisuke both feel the sensation of being touched again, and just as before cannot pinpoint the location of the culprit. This time hundreds of chestnuts advance on the pair and threaten to pierce their skin with sharp pines until Josuke robs them of their moisture and cause them to collapse, giving Norisuke enough time to force the hatch open and break the chained inner handle with a rock. Once the two enter and seal the bunker they find themselves out of their opponent's effective radius and indulge in a temporary calm.

King Nothing
In the bunker, Norisuke compels Tsurugi to reveal that Yotsuyu approached him with the promise of a cure for the Rock Disease that affects the family, demonstrating its potency by feeding it to a dog transformed into rock and seemingly healing it. However the exact nature of the cure wasn't revealed to him.

Josuke, who earlier made sure that Yasuho was safe in a nearby bedroom, checks the room again when Tsurugi mentions that there is another hidden entrance. When he sees that Yasuho disappears, he immediately gives chase to Yotsuyu. Norisuke reveals his Stand King Nothing which tracks objects and people by their scents, and both follow the scent of Yasuho, aware that they are going into a trap.

While following the scent, Norisuke chooses to reveal some of the Higashikata's secrets, namely the Rock Disease which affects the eldest child but which was "healed" by having one member of the family perform an equivalent exchange in the ground of their property with the child.

King Nothing leads Josuke and Norisuke to the coast in which they find Yasuho between some rocks. At the same time, Josuke spots Yotsuyu transformed into rock, who manages to touch him before being pummeled away and hide among the rocks. Threatened again by Yotsuyu's power, Josuke suggests Norisuke to track the mysterious man who can transform into rocks.

"I Am a Rock"
Using Yotsuyu's scent from Yasuho, Norisuke manages to find the architect in his rock form. Scratching the rock skin with a boulder, and seeing it bleed, Josuke and Norisuke are puzzled by Yotsuyu's true nature. Yotsuyu uses their momentary distraction from observing the canisters of pesticide converging toward Josuke, Yotsuyu appears before them and declares that he will obtain the Higashikata's wealth and that Josuke is checkmate before disappearing again when Soft and Wet punches him away.

Knowing that Yotsuyu will use Yasuho against him, Josuke chooses to go on the offensive and foregoes defending himself against the canisters. Spotting Yotsuyu from the bleeding scratch, Josuke imprisons him in a bubble and begins to transport him to the coast. Yotsuyu reveals his Stand I Am a Rock and pops the bubble with converging rocks as the canisters of pesticide reach Josuke.

Covered in pesticide, Josuke nonetheless pushes Yotsuyu off the cliff with him and both fall into the sea. Communicating underwater with his bubbles, Josuke envelops Yotsuyu who changed into his rock form to protect himself in several fishnets thrown by Norisuke at his request. Josuke gives Yotsuyu a choice, either revealing him who he is, or face lingering underwater forever in his rock form for fear of drowning. Enraged, Yotsuyu only reveals that he killed Josuke earlier and that Kira saved him. Attacking Josuke again, but beaten, Yotsuyu starts breaking down and dies, only saying that Josuke will be betrayed by the Higashikatas in his dying breath. At the same time Josuke spots a mysterious fruit sinking in the water from the architect's bag.

Pulling Yotsuyu's remains off the water, Josuke and Norisuke inspects them, still baffled by Yotsuyu's rock physiology. In the bunker, Tsurugi sees his grandfather and Josuke come back with Yasuho and take her to the bedroom, and reveals that after investigating Yotsuyu, he couldn't find any address or bank account despite his qualifications as an architect, raising the question of where does Yotsuyu come from and how was he raised and educated. Tsurugi then asks if they have seen the cure for the disease, which first being denied its existence by Norisuke, is then confirmed by Josuke when he reveals that he saw a fruit sinking down the sea. Linking that fruit to a possible motive for his presence in Morioh, Josuke decides to investigate the fruit to uncover his past. In the bedroom, Yasuho discovers a piece of the mysterious fruit in her pocket, and goes back to sleep.

Josuke! Go to the Higashikata Fruit Parlor
Later, Norisuke and Tsurugi try to bait the dog Tsurugi saw earlier with a trap, but the dog doesn't appear. Having bought some Sesame Honey Dumplings, Josuke hopes to surprise Yasuho with them but discovers that Yasuho is gone again, having been sent away by Norisuke. Having checked Yotsuyu's family register, Norisuke reveals that Yotsuyu has been impersonating the real Yotsuyu Yagiyama who died years ago.

The mysterious dog appears out of a wall of the bedroom, and begins to chew on the mysterious fruit Yasuho had. The dog is docile and quickly abandons the fruit to play with Tsurugi and eat Josuke's dumplings. Norisuke examines the fruit but doesn't recognize it, only deducing from his freshness and Yotsuyu not having any record of traveling overseas that it is a fruit recently gathered. Norisuke also keeps the scent of the fruit with King Nothing in order to track the tree. Tsurugi dubs the dog Iwasuke.

Deciding to check a record of every known fruit variety he keeps in the Higashikata fruit parlor, Norisuke brings Josuke to his fruit parlor, describing his business and his idea of recycling unsold fruit into desserts for the customers. Josuke spills some of his fruit parfait on someone's shoe, revealed to be Norisuke's eldest son who came back from overseas: Jobin Higashikata.

Being the first time Jobin properly meets Josuke, Jobin gives him several gifts, notably a Dorcus Titanus Palawanicus stag beetle. Overjoyed to see his eldest son again, Norisuke decides to accompany him back home, and unbeknownst to him, King Nothing detects the mysterious fruit's scent on the tissue Jobin used to wipe the parfait off his shoes. The event is nonetheless seen by Josuke.

Every Day Is a Summer Vacation
At the Higashikata, the family members are having fun showing each other the strange gifts Jobin got for them. Josuke asks if he can go to Jobin's room, saying he needs advice for raising his stag beetle. Accompanied by Joshu, Josuke is accepted in Jobin's room, where he sees a wall full of exposed beetles, entomology books, and a rearing room for Jobin's collection of live beetles.

A flashback narrates how Josuke went to Tsurugi asking him to tell him what is Jobin's Stand ability. Tsurugi was reluctant at the idea of going against a family member, but Josuke pressured him, telling Tsurugi that his father was keeping the source of the cure for his disease a secret to his family, and that Norisuke would prefer preserving his eldest son over his grandchild. Tsurugi finally revealed that Jobin could be manipulated with his obsession with beetles and beetle fights.

Josuke inspects the live beetles, and pointing at one Palawanicus, nonchalantly mentions that his Palawanicus could beat it in a straight fight. Interested, Jobin then challenges Josuke in a beetle fight, as Tsurugi predicted; Josuke uses the opportunity to raise the stacks with a bet. Setting a fighting arena made of cork circled with soft rush plant, Jobin explains the rules of a beetle fight: according to the 45-seconds memory of the beetles, during which their eagerness to fight, a determining factor in a fight can be raised by brushing them with female beetle pheromones, the contestant make the beetle fight for a period of 45 seconds. The beetle who is killed, is lifted up for 10 seconds or gets out of the ring loses. He then demonstrates the fighting proficiency of his own Palawanicus by making it kill a Japanese hornet and proposes that the loser shaves his eyebrow, which Josuke accepts.

The first round begins between the two Palawanicus, at first Jobin's beetle gets the upper hand thanks to sharpened mandibles and panted female pheromones from a brush, thus pushing Josuke's beetle at the border of the arena. The tables are turned when Josuke releases the pheromones he planted in the soft rush plants and his beetle makes Jobin's beetle flee out of the arena. A frustrated Jobin shaves off his left eyebrow.

Meanwhile, Yasuho begins to master her Stand Paisley Park, when Tsurugi rings the bell and ask her to follow him. Despite his loss, Jobin is enjoying himself and challenges Josuke again to a beetle fught, which Josuke accepts. Josuke then proposes his true goal, the Lamborghini Jobin owns if he wins, so he can check the event data recorder in secret, which Jobin accepts. In the Higashikata house, Tsurugi tells Yasuho that Paisley Park's power will be crucial in investigating it. The second opponent is a golden stag beetle, or Rosenbergi. As the match begins, Jobin tells Josuke that if he wins, he'll lick Josuke's eyeball.

The Palawanicus' superior size and weight enables it to push the Rosenbergi to the border of the ring. However the Rosenbergi suddenly moves in an unnatural precise manner, knocking the Palawanicus over and chopping off one leg. The Palawanicus is almost pushed over the border as Josuke reads from an encyclopedia that stag beetles instinctively play dead when feeling strong vibration at their legs. Intrigued that the Rosenbergi could exploit these weakness, Josuke secretly deduce that Jobin could in fact remotely command it. As the Rosenbergi cuts off another leg, Josuke notices a liquid oozing from its head. The Palawanicus falls from the ring but since the clock went over 45 seconds, Josuke hasn't lost yet.

Before the second bout, Josuke secretly plunders from Jobin's paintbrush and then inquires about the liquid. Jobin reveals that it's wax, which when melted will cause convulsions to the beetle and eventually kill it, but not before Jobin wins. As the second bout begins, Josuke pops the bubbles which plundered the air around the paintbrush, and is baffled to discover that the paintbrush has exuded a temperature as high as 60 °C. The Rosenbergi slowly overwhelms the Palawanicus with its precise movement, and Josuke witness a faint apparition of Jobin's Stand. Josuke then realizes that the beetle fight has been a front for a Stand battle. Suddenly Joshu knocks his foot on the tank where the hornet was killed and asks where the lower half with the stinger went. It is shown to be near Josuke who is now showing confidence as the Rosenbergi goes mad and convulses. Josuke planted some of the hornet's poison in Jobin's brush, which eventually killed it, making Josuke the winner.

As Josuke takes the Lamborghini's keys with him and leaves the room, Jobin stops him, having realized that Josuke came here for an ulterior motive. The keys are transported anyway to Tsurugi with a bubble, who goes on the investigate the car in the garage.

Jobin Higashikata Is a Stand User
When Yasuho and Tsurugi enter the garage, Yasuho's phone gives her a choice between two items, and Yasuho chooses the flashlight. When they open the Lamborghini's door, Paisley Park appears, gives Yasuho the flashlight and shows the Lamborghini's itinerary in Morioh.

In Jobin's room, Jobin offers Josuke a box of tissue to wipe off his sweat, which Josuke does. Jobin keeps asking about Josuke, his goals and his past, becoming more and more inquisitive in the process. Josuke suddenly gets a severe nosebleed, and understand at Jobin's insistance at giving him the tissue that it is linked to his Stand ability. Activating the fire sprinklers in the rearing room as a distraction, Josuke flees the room. Jobin, understanding that the match was a setup, and moreover suspecting that someone from the family was helping him, decides to check on the Lamborghini with Joshu.

Yasuho and Tsurugi check the Lamborghini's itinerary through Morioh by having Paisley Park hijacking the camera surveillance system. Almost spotted by Jobin, they still successfully hide in Norisuke's minivan, whose keys were spotted by Yasuho thanks to the flashlight. Continuing to check videos footage, Yasuho finally spots a suspicious man holding the mysterious fruit's tree approaching Jobin.

Doobie Wah
Watching the place where Jobin met the man from a roof, whom Yasuho identified as Aisho Dainenjiyama, security guard at the baseball stadium nearby. Yasuho and Tsurugi uncover a link between Aisho and Yotsuyu who oversaw the renovation of the stadium. The see Aisho at the same place heading to a nearby park and decide to tail with Yasuho's phone folded into a frog. They witness a man who after eating the fruit regrows his missing legs while his eyes shatter into stone. As the phone is sent investigating the remains of the fruit, it is spotted by Aisho who crushes it under his feet.

Affected by the damage, Yasuho and Tsurugi are nearly killed, but Aisho stops his attack when he kicks the phone away and attempts to phone Yotsuyu. Startled by the lack of answer, Aisho attempt to crush the phone again, but is distracted by a banana peel Paisley Park placed under his feet, allowing Tsurugi to use his Paper Moon King. Aisho is unable to recognize the phone and it subsequently escape. Having checked Aisho's access card, Yasuho determines that the fruit comes from inside the stadium. As they both go down the stairs, they are assailed by Aisho's Stand Doobie Wah! hiding in a deadly wind vortex. Escaping the building by a window, they realize that Doobie Wah! is materializing via their breath, forcing them not to breathe as they try to flee.

Aisho realizes that they are two Stand users tracking him and vows to kill them, following Doobie Wah!'s trail. At the same time, Yasuho and Tsurugi go on a bus, hoping to get out of the Stand's range, but Doobie Wah! materializes inside the bus, trapping them. Holding their breath to stay undetected by Doobie Wah!, the two are soon forced to inspire. When Aisho calls Jobin and reveals him that someone was investigating him, Jobin immediately links that with Josuke's strange behavior, and stays silent, unknowingly agreeing that Aisho kills his pursuers, one of whom is Jobin's own son.

A flashback details Aisho's past: he used to live in a house with a girlfriend, but when he revealed his true nature as a rock man, his girlfriend used a period of sleep to sell the house, nearly killing him in the process when it was demolished. In the present day, Yasuho and Tsurugi leave the bus near the Motoyagura train station, and Tsurugi releases a car origami.

Continuing the flashback, Aisho was saved when Yotsuyu woke him up and lamented the loss of his house. Still following his Stand, Aisho spots Jobin Higashikata wandering in the streets. Soon after both meet a cornered Yasuho and Tsurugi. Recognizing Jobin's son, Aisho demands that Jobin allows him to kill him, but Jobin remains silent. The car origami Tsurugi released comes back to his hand, and Tsurugi explains that he made Aisho confuse any bus with his father. When the bus starts up, it runs over the confused Aisho who is killed and breaks down into dust.

Love Love Deluxe
The next day, Yasuho, Tsurugi analyze the video feed of Aisho's death, realizing the strange nature of the people they are going after and determined to investigate the stadium. They meet Josuke and since Yasuho and Josuke are too happy to see each other to continue the investigation, it is paused for the time being.

Josuke and Yasuho stroll on the beach, sharing a tender moment, however Josuke is signaled by another girl, calling for a meeting later. Josuke follows her, intrigued since the woman acts as if she knows him, calling him "Secchan". His suspicions are confirmed when she mentions Yoshikage Kira, but finding something unfamiliar, she flees. Using Soft & Wet to learn her name, Karera Sakunami, Josuke calms her worries about him, and opts to fake knowing her until the moment she tells him his real name.

As Josuke follows Karera, he is dismayed at Karera's flighty behavior, going to random places and conning people with her Stand ability. She eventually show Josuke a photo of all three, and reveals his name: Josefumi Kujo. Josuke catches a glimpse of her Stand Love Love Deluxe and continues to follow her. Meanwhile a pair of twins playing football, the A. Phex Brothers, track Karera.

Karera then goes to Kira's apartment, but upon being announced Kira's death, freaks out, asking for the circumstances of his death, Josuke mentions the heart attack, but doesn't mention he was present at the crime scene. Karera reveals that she saw Kira hide a Rokakaka tree in his apartment, Josuke being clueless of what she's talking about but suspecting a link with the mysterious fruit.

Karera is suddenly held by one of the A. Phex Brothers, who uses his Stand Schott Key No.1 to doze Karera with gas, which he ignites. Josuke saves Karera, who flees, and the Brothers opt to kill Josuke first.

Two double pages disclose many details about the Rock People, their physiology, their habits, and their manners.

A fight ensues between Josuke and the A. Phex Brothers. Josuke manages to block Schott Key No.2's poison gas, when the elder brother grapples him and shifts some poison gas from his left hand to his right hand, Josuke plunders the poison gas and takes him hostage with the bubbles around his head. When the elder, soaked with gas, is ignited by Karera, his brother runs toward him, forgetting the bubbles which pop and envelop him in poison gas. Both Rock men are consequently killed. Karera finally understanding that Kira and Josuke performed an equivalent exchange, goes away before Josuke can ask her anything else.

Hato Brought Her Boyfriend Home
The legendary Rokakaka Tree is introduced, being a plant from New Guinea formally discovered by an Australian expedition in 1938. The Rokakaka was already very rare for the native New Guinean, who occasionally used the fruit to cure various ailments. During World War II, all reports of the fruit disappeared and it became a mere legend. Yasuho and Tsurugi are sitting in Yasuho's family room and are having a telephonic conversation with Josuke. Yasuho has done some research about Josefumi Kujo and asks why Josuke is interested in him, to which Josuke answers that Josefumi might be his original identity. He then plans to go at Josefumi's house for further investigations and asks Yasuho if he can find a picture of him.

Josuke's conversation is interrupted when he sees Hato coming back. Daiya and Joshu become incredibly excited, as Hato has brought her first boyfriend home. Daiya explains the situation to Josuke and enthusiastically asks how handsome is Hato's boyfriend. However, he and Norisuke are flabbergasted to see that the man in question is rather ugly, being short, overweight, adorning a horseshoe mustache and wearing a tracksuit. He introduces himself as Tamaki Damo, manager of a cleaning store and 23 years old. Joshu finds the situation hilarious and openly mocks Damo, which infuriates Hato. Damo offers Norisuke some youkan; it is at that time that Kyo Nijimura and Norisuke notice separately strange fingerprints on the family room's door handle and the youkan box, Kyo trying to clean the fingerprints on the handle.

Norisuke tries to change to subject of conversation and asks how Hato and Tamaki got acquainted with each other, wiping some handprints on the window. Meanwhile Josuke resumes his conversation with Yasuho on the phone and tells her to fax the photo of Josefumi she's found; Yasuho is rather skeptical as she comments that Josefumi doesn't look like Josuke. Hato then narrates that when she was doing a photo shoot in a studio next to Damo's shop, one of the necklace broke. Damo picked up all the pieces and repaired it, offering the necklace to Hato. Moreover Damo managed to write the sentence "I Love You" on the necklace, and Hato was seduced by the incredibly romantic gesture.

Josuke then announces that he'll go out for a bit, and Norisuke asks him before that to get Kyo, who's gone to the foyer and isn't answering. In the foyer, Josuke spots Kyo's dish towel on the floor then traces of Kyo, as if she's slipped into the walls. Meanwhile Damo enters the room on the left instead and gets out, which Joshu notices. Meanwhile the fax has finally printed and it is revealed that the man on the photo is none other than Tamaki Damo, using the name Josefumi Kujo. Daiya notices the fax while Joshu opens the locker door to look further inside it, but his hands slip inside the handles. Joshu then trips when he tries to free himself and hits his head on a nearby faucet it opens and the tap water goes through his head; Joshu is powerless as he and his Nut King Call are melted and drained into the faucet. Meanwhile Daiya, who is near blind, can only read the name on the fax and doesn't let the others see what is on the document. However Hato notices Damo's photo and asks to examine the sheet, to Daiya's refusal. Daiya runs to the next room to give Josuke his fax, but when Josuke looks at her, she's collapsed and is melting on the floor.

As Josuke is stunned to see Daiya melting on the floor, Tamaki Damo approaches Hato and kindly asks her to go to the foyer and get back the fax. When Norisuke drinks his champagne, the bubbles distort his skin greatly and as he melts, Damo reveals his true self. Switching his behavior for a dominative one, Damo reveals that he's come to the Higashikata estate to solve "three" problems. Revealing his Stand Vitamin C, Damo explains that he's firstly investigating the disappearance of an architect, two twin brothers and a security guard, eliminating the responsible party if necessary. While Damo proceeds to toy with the softened Norisuke, he asks him about Yoshikage Kira; Norisuke tries to play dumb, to no avail. Damo then tells Norisuke about the beginning of the whole affair.

Two years ago, Yoshikage Kira, 27 years old and ship doctor by profession, is called on the deck to save a man who's fallen from the upper deck. After a short examination, Kira asks about the second victim, as there is another blood trace on the ground. Kira then discovers that the blood comes from one of the Rocks stored inside a container which was burst open, and notices the human form of Aisho Dainenjiyama in the rock. Curious, Kira inquires about the container and learns that it's from Port Moresby in New Guinea, that its cargo is listed as perfectly legal, and that the Higashikata Fruit Parlor is he client. Back in Morioh, Kira is watching over the docks. He surprises Ojiro Sasame eating noodles in a nearby restaurant and bullies him, prompting the surfer to flee. Meanwhile Kira finally sees Aisho getting out of the hangar where the Rocks were stored, and deducing that he is part of a strange fruit trade, decides to tail Aisho and eventually steal the fruit. When the client in question manages to extract the pepper from the soup, Kira recognizes the man as Josefumi Kujo.

In the present, Josuke warns Hato, who's entered the foyer, not to touch anything and tells her that Tamaki Damo is attacking the family right now. Josuke tries to escape by breaking the glass door with a flower pot, but it slips back at Josuke, who is now under the effect of Vitamin C as well. Unknowingly to Hato, the enemy Stand lurks right behind her.

Vitamin C and Killer Queen
Back when Josefumi was a little child, he once almost drowned at the beach when his neglectful mother Kiyomi hesitated saving her son from a failed relationship. Fortunately for the young Josefumi, Kiyomi's conscience pushed her to save him, but he was already unconscious from lack of oxygen and hitting his head against the rocks. Brought to the hospital, Josefumi was saved by Holy Joestar-Kira and her son Yoshikage, who performed surgery with his Stand.

Back to around two years ago, Aisho Dainenjiyama is conducting a trade of the Rokakaka for 200,000,000 yen with star baseball player Atsunori Iwakiri. Both are spied on by Yoshikage and Josefumi, who see first hand the potential of the Rokakaka when the baseball pitcher fully recover from his shoulder injury and greatly performs during the baseball match. Kira pretends to only wanting to steal the fruit for the money, but Josefumi tells him that he knows that Holy is ill and needs the fruit. Out of respect for both, Josefumi accepts cooperating with Kira in order to steal the fruit. Moreover, he demonstrates that they can reduce the risks by only stealing several branches and grafting them to harvest the future fruit at their leisure.

As Aisho leaves the stadium, Kira and Josefumi trail him. By distracting Aisho with the help of an eye medicine and an engineered motorcycle accident, Josefumi manages to open the briefcase where the Rokakaka is, take several branches and graft decoys in their place. The heist is a success.

In the present, Tamaki Damo interrogates Norisuke Higashikata IV, and asks him who killed Yotsuyu Yagiyama. Damo has to cut off Norisuke's arm in order to make him confess that he killed Yotsuyu, but Damo correctly guesses that someone else was helping him.

A flashback demonstrates how Holy's condition has worsened, and that she has trouble remembering her son. The narration goes to August 19th 2011. In Yoshikage's boat, the two young man discuss the grafted branches' condition, with Josefumi announcing that the fruits are almost ripe. As they approach the harbour, they see Karera Sakunami who has been stalking Josefumi for quite some time. However Yoshikage sees that Damo and Yotsuyu have boarded his sailing boat. As Damo reveals how he noticed the theft and traced it back to them, Vitamin C easily disables Josefumi and Yoshikage while overpowering Killer Queen. Damo vents off some frustration on the powerless Kira, cutting off his liver, and then announces that he will spare one of them. Sensing a kind of responsibility for failing to protect the secret of the Rokakaka, Damo decides that whoever tells him first about where the grafted branches are will live. He pushes Josefumi to reveal it, who almost confess, but Kira interrupts him, announcing that allies will come help them. Damo doesn't believe the surgeon at first, but see Karera approach the boat. Yotsuyu sends I Am a Rock to pinch Karera on the ground, but it is too late for the Rock Men to stop Kira's attack. Having hidden Sheer Heart Attack inside Karera's hair, Kira manages to make them explode, destroying a good part of the harbour and sending everyone into the water.

Josefumi and Kira drift along the coast up to the grafted branches' location where Josefumi drags the already unconscious Kira to the branches and plans to feed him one of the fruits. At the harbor, Damo sends Yotsuyu and the A. Phex Brothers after Josefumi, wanting his subordinate to sweep the coast. At the same time, Karera is hiding behind some of the debris. Josefumi tries to feed Kira one of thr fruits, but Kira doesn't react, his empty gaze indicating that he most certainly is dead. Josefumi eventually uses Soft & Wet to forcefeed Kira.

In the present, Josuke reveals to Hato that Damo is an enemy and that they must fight him. Back to the past, Kira is seemingly healed, but Josuke's face begins to crumble away, making Josefumi that the Rokakaka he cultivated are different. While the Rockmen sweep the coast, wary of the incoming tsunami, Josefumi notices that Kira also has metal piece embedded into his skull. Josefumi weeps as he realizes Kira also protected him from the blast. When the A. Phex Brothers meet and confront Josefumi, he promptly defeats them both and sends them into the cliff. Having no other choice, Josefumi confess to the dead Kira that he secretl thinks that he should have died on the beach the day they met. Happy to have lived this long thanks to Holy, Josefumi sacrifices himself and takes the last fruit from the branches, hoping that Kira will be able to harvest them, and destroys the Rokakaka, feeds it to Kira, and performs an equivalent exchange with him. Norisuke and Tsurugi are seen going back to their home to protect themselves, and a piece of the Rokakaka is picked up by Iwasuke. At the same time, the earth opens under Josefumi and Kira, and both fall into a fissure.

Walking Heart
Back to the present, Damo tortures Norisuke IV or order to find Josefumi Kujo whom he suspects is working with Norisuke. When the old man denies knowing Josefumi, Damo calls Hato to him in order to make an example of her. While in the foyer, Hato cannot believe that her boyfriend is an enemy, Norisuke is forced to confess that he suspects Josuke of being Josefumi.

Damo then moltens Hato, and looks at Josuke. Confirming his suspicions, he tries to kill Josuke, but Hato, who had been transported out of the house and Damo's range, attack him with her own Stand.

Conclusion, and...
Damo cannot reach Hato, and Josuke uses Soft & Wet's bubble to alert her of Damo's position through the roof, allowing her to defeat him. Everyone returns to their normal state, and Josuke pursues Damo in order to kill him for good. The murder is witnessed by Jobin.

Meanwhile, Norisuke's wife, Kaato, has finished her sentence and prepares to leave prison, and contacts her son Jobin in order to plot against Norisuke.

The Milagro Man
Josuke Higashikata finally discovers that he is the amalgamation of Yoshikage Kira and Josefumi Kujo.

The story returns two weeks prior to Kaato Higashikata's release. At the Higashikata's, Joshu asks money from his father Norisuke, as he wishes to buy idol items. After the meet-and-greet, Joshu spends time choosing the goodies he wants to buy, only to be cut off by a fellow fan who already chose what he wanted. Upset, Joshu realizes that this man left his wallet on the counter and steals it just as the man returns to find his wallet. In the restroom, Joshu steals all the cash inside the wallet and the cash card, withdrawing 500,000 yen from his victim's bank account after guessing the code. Happy to have outsmarted his victim, Joshu indulges himself in a shopping spree, trying to buy an expensive wristwatch, several movie tickets for one showing, and eating in a luxurious restaurant. At the same time, due to many coincidence, Joshu doesn't actually lose his money, but accumulates more and more as he tries to spend it. At first merely thinking that he is lucky, Joshu doesn't pay attention to it.

However, when he tries to spend his money in a bar, the manager and several security guards interrogate him about the money. To Joshu's surprise, the owner is furious that he is trying to give him the money and mentions a "Milagro Man". For unknown reasons, the owner forces more money into Joshu's pocket and tries to beat him up. Joshu uses Nut King Call to fight back and flees. Joshu eventually notices that the staff put even more money inside his bag and Joshu becomes suspicious.

Nervous to have so much money and realizing that whenever he tries to spend his money, he instead receives more, Joshu examines the bills but sees nothing unusual. He decides to gamble in a boat race and wins 3.1 million yen. At first happy, Joshu then notices that the money inside his bag has somehow increased, making it impossible to close. Anxious that someone could discover his money, Joshu tries to hide it inside a coin locker. As he pushes the money inside, Joshu sees that the immatriculation of the bills all finish with "13R". The locker breaks down, letting some of the money fly away, but all the bystander then return the money without asking questions. Joshu then tries to take a taxi home, but the taxi driver then tries to return the money. Joshu insists that he keeps the cash, and the two eventually struggle to have the other one take the money. Joshu accidentally burns one of the bills and sees it multiplying at high speed and to his horror, the money begins to cover him.

Joshu wakes up on his home's couch, thinking that he's merely dreamed the past events. However when he returns to his room, it is flooded with money which falls into him. Joshu tracks down his victim, named Zaihei Nigatake, and blames him for what's happening to him. Zaihei, grateful toward Joshu for taking his "curse", explains everything to him. This cursed money which never goes away from its owner is said to have belonged to an arms dealer named the Milagro Man. The Milagro Man lost a lawsuit and went mad, killing his whole family and setting his mansion on fire, burning everything except a single scorched bill. The curse remained inside the money and two years ago, Zaihei unwittingly took the curse in Europe and returned to Japan, living hell waiting for someone to take the curse. Zaihei advises Joshu to have someone take the money and try to destroy it to pass the curse completely.

When Zaihei takes a bottle of juice and opens it, Joshu reveals that he planted some of the money inside the wrapping. When Zaihei opened it, he unwittingly tore the bills inside, and he sees the money appearing around him and burying him. Zaihei begs Joshu, but the latter departs, cleared of the curse. On his way home, Joshu melancholically ponders his true worth in the world.

Meeting the Mother
Josuke confirms his second identity, then finally sees Holy Joestar-Kira for the first time. Holy's condition has deteriorated drastically and Josuke is appalled that the hospital staff doesn't take care of her. Feeling attachment toward her, he swears to find the cure and pay for Holy's treatment in the meantime.

Afterward, the Higashikata family notices that Kaato, their mother has returned home although Joshu and Dayia don't remember her. Norisuke and Hato are wary of her because she's murdered a child, and Joshu tries to humiliate her publicly. Kaato furiously leaves the house, while Jobin confirms that he was the one letting her in, making Norisuke suspicious of his son's intentions.

Chapters
JoJolion currently consists of 59 chapters, compiled into Volume 1 to 15 of the Jump Comics collected editions. The left column consists of the titles from the volumes. The right column consists of the titles from the Ultra Jump release of Part 8.

Chapters not yet in tankōbon format
From the November 2016 (October 19, 2016) issue of Ultra Jump onward.      TBA  TBA  TBA  TBA  TBA 

Trivia

 * According to a note by Araki in volume 2, the -lion in JoJolion's title is derived from the Ancient Greek εὐαγγέλιον (evangelion), in reference to the Gospels. "By combining this word with "JoJo", I've meant for the title to signify the existence of the protagonist "Josuke" in this world".
 * It won the Grand Prize for manga at the 2013 Japan Media Arts Festival.