Hirohiko Araki's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is one of the longest ongoing animanga series. It's been published in Shonen Jump since the late 1980s. The series is a generational tale that constantly reinvents itself, inspiring several other anime and manga along the way.
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Its vast popularity has resulted in loads of anime sneaking in hilarious references. At this point, anything could be a JoJo's reference, whether it's the "menacing" kanji or even the country of Italy. It's even become a meme for diehard fans to point at any random thing they saw in the series and ask, "Is this a JoJo's reference?"
Updated on September 4th, 2022 by Sarah Martin: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure has become an indisputable cultural phenomenon since its debut in 1987. It's common for fiction to reference other works, but no series is as universally called upon as JoJo's. Since this list was last updated in 2020, we've added a few more series that have called back to Hirohiko Araki's iconic story.
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15 Hachiman Referenced Stands In My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU
Though avid anime fans would primarily expect action-packed shonen and seinen series to reference JoJo's, plenty of romantic comedies and slice-of-life series have called back to the series as well. For example, in My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU, Hachiman referenced Stands.
He thought about how two loners became friends and likened it to how Stand users are attracted to each other in JoJo's. It's actually a pretty good analogy, and fans were excited to see a great protagonist referencing one of the best series of all time.
14 Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War Recalled A Visual From Stardust Crusaders' First Opening
Kaguya-Sama: Love Is War is a critically acclaimed romantic seinen series about the titular Kaguya, a wealthy high school girl, and her crush, Miyuki. They're both in love with each other, but they'd rather play mind games than confess. The first side to confess loses. It's a hilarious, slapstick comedy series with a ridiculous sense of humor.
It referenced JoJo's Bizarre Adventure with a very specific visual. The opening for Stardust Crusaders showed five shooting stars flying across the night sky, with a sixth one rushing to join them. The second ending for Kaguya-Sama has an uncannily similar visual.
13 Mob Psycho 100's Tenga Onigawara Looks Similar To Josuke Higashikata
Mob Psycho 100 has referenced JoJo's Bizarre Adventure a few times. However, none of the references are as glaringly obvious as Tenga Onigawara. He clearly resembles the protagonist of Diamond Is Unbreakable, Josuke Higashikata.
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He has the same pompadour hairstyle and even throws the same rapid-fire barrage of punches as Josuke. Plus, each member of the Body Improvement Club also received statistic boards that resembled the Stand stats from JoJo's. Instead of listing practical percentages like strength, endurance, or power, they are graded on random things like their love lives.
12 Eren Recreated DIO's "WRYYYYY!" Pose In Attack On Titan
.jpg "The 15 Best JoJo's Bizarre Adventure References In Other Anime (4)")
Fans wouldn't necessarily expect to find pop culture references in Attack On Titan, but there are still a few references to JoJo's. Though this didn't make the cut in the anime, Eren approached Reiner with DIO's pose during his fight against Jotaro. Eren also yelled "WRYYYYY!" like DIO before charging toward Reiner.
Meanwhile, Reiner recreated DIO's stance during the iconic "Oh? You're approaching me?" scene before he started duking it out with Jotaro during Stardust Crusaders' finale. This once again proves that no series is immune to incorporating JoJo's references, no matter how subtle.
11 Narumi Recreated Esidisi's Meltdown In Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku
It's no surprise that Wotakoi: Love Is Hard For Otaku has referenced JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, since it's also referenced several other iconic series. In Episode 8, Narumi compared Hirotaka to Tusk ACT4, Johnny Joestar's Stand in Steel Ball Run.
In Episode 9, Narumi and Hirotaka head to an amusement park for a date. Hirotaka put a rule in place, stating that each time either referred to anime or video games, it would cost a fine. Narumi complained about the rule while recreating Esidisi's meltdown from Battle Tendency.
10 Gintama Has Made Several References To JoJo's Throughout Its Runtime
Gintama is a long-running comedy and action series. It has nearly as many pop culture references as JoJo's. In fact, it's even parodied the series a few times in the series. Gintama also has a special connection with JoJo's, since Gintoki is voiced by Tomokazu Sugita, who also voiced Joseph Joestar in Battle Tendency.
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Gintama has made several references to JoJo's. However, the one that stands out the most took place during the Ghost Ryokan arc. The gang stayed at a haunted hotel. Gintoki is terrified of ghosts, so he coped by referring to them as Stands.
9 No-Rin Quoted JoJo's Characters & Even Recreated An Iconic Scene
No-Rin is a slapstick comedy series about a student obsessed with idols. Unfortunately, he's devastated to find out that his favorite idol retired. However, it turns out that she actually transferred to his school and that she's in the same class that him.
The fifth episode of the series has a few JoJo's references, including a sudden art style change that looks uncannily familiar. It also included Avdol's infamous declaration, "Yes! I am!" along with a recreation of the iconic scene in which Dio stole Erina's first kiss from Jonathan.
8 My Hero Academia Quoted Star Platinum's Battle Cry
My Hero Academia is one of the most popular shonen series, and for good reason. It's a great series following the adventures of students at a superhero school, and there are a few JoJo's references sprinkled throughout.
During the Final Exams Arc, when Kirishima and Sato are up against Cementoss, the two students need to break through a line of cement walls with a hail of fists that resembles a Stand slugfest from JoJo's. While they destroyed the walls, Kirishima started yelling, "ORA! ORA! ORA!," which is Star Platinum's battle cry. Plus, fans like to joke that Tokoyami's Dark Shadow is just a Stand.
7 A Few Characters In Kiss Him, Not Me Posed Like JoJo's Characters
It seems like no anime genre is immune from incorporating JoJo's references into the story. Kiss Him, Not Me is a boy's love romantic comedy about a high school fujoshi who's obsessed with yaoi manga. She's always at the center of the four boys' attention, but she'd prefer that they fall in love with each other instead of her.
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The series referenced JoJo's a few times. The characters often strike dynamic poses, many of which are iconic JoJo's character poses. The series has also referenced and parodied DIO a few times.
6 OreShura Is Packed With JoJo's References
OreShura is a pretty standard harem romantic comedy, but it's become infamous for its constant stream of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure references. Somebody could blindly throw a dart at Oreshura and likely hit a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure reference.
Masuzu Natsukawa, one of the main characters, is a huge fan of the series and constantly quotes it. The "menacing" kanji is a recurring visual effect, and Masuzu always references the series. She even says that reading JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a surefire way to become popular at school.
5 Some Of The Characters In Binbo-gami Ga! Dress Like Iconic Heroes From JoJo's
Some anime like to put in small references to JoJo's that are blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments, while others are so obvious about it that viewers will know it's a JoJo's reference even if they've never seen a second of JoJo's. Binbo-gami ga! went the second route.
There's one character who is basically a walking JoJo's reference and is usually seen wearing a similar hat and coat as Jotaro Kujo. There's also a scene where the protagonist, Ichiko Sakura, transforms into Josuke Higashikata by putting a pompadour over his normal hair and wearing an exact replica of his school uniform.
4 Kill La Kill Referenced Jotaro Kujo With A Snazzy Goku Uniform
Kill la Kill is basically what happens after someone injects an excessive amount of caffeine into an anime and lets it loose in the world. The iconic comedy action series is about a transfer student named Ryuko who is looking for her father's killer. It's definitely worth a watch. Of course, it's full of great JoJo's references.
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When Mako briefly turned against Ryuko, she was given a Goku Uniform that gave her superhuman powers and also turned her into a JoJo's reference. Mako's Goku Uniform is similar to Jotaro Kujo's outfit with a long, black coat and hat with a frayed end that inexplicably looks like hair.
3 Even Pokémon's Meowth Is A Fan Of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Even the most beloved childhood favorites aren't safe from JoJo's references, and there are a few in Pokémon. The long-running series remains hugely popular globally, and for it to make a reference to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is proof of the series' popularity in Japan.
The reference can be found in the Pokémon XY episode "Vanipeti Panic! Left Cold by a Whiteout!!" where Meowth is seen striking several poses that fans have noticed are Dio's "WRYYYY!" pose, a pose Jotaro does on the cover of one of the manga volumes, and Jonathan Joestar's signature pose. Plus, in the original Japanese, Meowth even quotes Dio's signature battle cry, "MUDA! MUDA! MUDA!"
2 Food Wars! Turns Culinary Competitions Into High-Stakes Stand Battles
Food Wars! is a high-energy anime about a young chef attending an ultra-elite culinary school where students face off in intense cooking showdowns to see who is the better chef. These showdowns can get so intense that it channels JoJo's fabulous intensity.
In the second episode of the second season, Megumi and Ryo go toe-to-toe to test their culinary skills, but their battle becomes so intense that it spawns shrimp and lobster Stands that attack each other with a barrage of fists.
1 No Game No Life Referenced A Few Iconic JoJo's Characters & Used The "Menacing" Kanji
No Game No Life is a rather surreal comedy anime about shut-in siblings obsessed with gaming. They are transported to a strange world where all forms of conflict are settled with high-stakes games. There are several JoJo's references peppered throughout the series that are easy to notice and usually hilarious.
To name a few, there's a character who once shouted, "WRYYYYY!", like DIO. One of the protagonists refuses a request with the same dramatic flair as Rohan Kishibe. The series also creatively used King Crimson's ability to skip time to go pet an adorable cat girl.
NEXT: The 10 Best Manga Volumes Of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure (According To Goodreads)