JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has some incredible ending songs, but not all of them are equally amazing.
Highlights
- Anime endings matter – they set the mood, develop characters, and offer a break before the next episode.
- Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure has a range of unique and memorable ending songs, each adding something special to the series.
- The final moments of a series can be the most powerful, with songs like Great Days UNITS version leaving a lasting impact.
People always talk about how incredible all the openings are for Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, but what about the endings? Sure, they’re usually not nearly as well-animated or as over-the-top as the openings, since they’re not made for pulling the viewer in. But that doesn’t mean they’re not notable or worth talking about.
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Anime endings set the mood, capping off what happened in the episode before viewers move onto the next one. They’re also a fantastic way to give characters an extra bit of characterization, be it with subtext or just plain text. Still, some are better than others, be it from a visual, audio, or other standpoint. So, let’s take a look at all the ending songs in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and rank them from worst to best.
Updated on March 23rd, 2024, by David Heath: To think there was a time when Anglophone fans of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure had little to go on. They had the OVA based on Stardust Crusaders, the fighting game based on Stardust Crusaders, or a 20+ year-old article informing them the PS2 brawler based on Vento Aureo wouldn’t be reaching the West after all.
Now the entire Joestar saga has been animated, from Dio first leaping out of the stagecoach to meet Jonathan in Phantom Blood, to Emporio reconnecting with his lost friends in Stone Ocean. It’s gone through a wide range of tones, each expressed through its EDs, be they evoking the part’s themes, or clashing directly against them. This list has been updated with the ins & outs on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure’s ending songs, alongside ranking a few that missed out on the original lineup.
10
Finding The Truth
Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan
- Artist: Coda
- Album: Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan
- Genre: J-Pop
Finding the Truth takes the wooden spoon by default, as Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan, the spin-off from Diamond is Unbreakable, doesn’t have an ED. The song is just the full version of the OP played over a plain black screen listing the credits. There’s nothing going on visually here that people wouldn’t see on a standard TV show. Unless the viewers needed to know who did what on the show, and knew Japanese well enough to read it, they’d have to become an active viewer to appreciate the song.
The tune is pretty good, sung by Jojo OP singer Coda, with lyrics written in English by fellow Jojo OP singer-songwriter Karen Aoki. They reflect Rohan’s insatiable curiosity, his will to know about anything and everything around him. His Stand, Heaven’s Door, usually makes that simple, but not everything can be solved by turning figures into living manga, as Rohan seemingly knows (“Finding the truth beyond the Heaven’s Door”). This song is just better heard on Spotify than by clicking ‘Watch Credits’ on Netflix.
9
Distant Dreamer
Part 6: Stone Ocean
- Artist: Duffy
- Album: Rockferry
- Genre: Blue-Eyed Soul
Distant Dreamer is a great song by Duffy, and fits Stone Ocean quite well, as its hopeful lyrics work with Jolyne and her character. A lot happened between Part 5 and Part 6, and Jolyne’s relationship with her father, Jotaro, is strained at best. But there’s part of her that still wishes for the best for both him and herself. That said, its visuals are a step-down from prior parts. Obviously, Stone Ocean has a lot to do with the, well…ocean, but this is taking it to a whole new level.
It takes a more subtle direction, as it shows panning shots of the seashore before culminating with a golden hour view of the sea right at the start of the chorus. The last cour throws in more imagery, with a butterfly, an underwater view showing dolphins, and a bird flying over the horizon. Some might prefer this over the bombast of the other EDs, or an alternate one showing all the great Stands in Part 6. Still, there are ways to move viewers while offering more than a beach.
8
Modern Crusaders
Part 5: Vento Aureo, Cour 2
- Artist: Enigma
- Album: The Screen Behind the Mirror
- Genre: New Age Ambient Music
Modern Crusaders is low, mostly because it’s essentially a retread of Season 1’s ED. Visually, that one was essentially just one long panning shot of wall carvings/hieroglyphics about its MacGuffins, and the history between Dio and the Joestars. Vento Aureo‘s second cour does something similar with an upward pan of a carved pillar featuring all of Vento‘s stands. It does add a new Stand for each debut, which spices things up, before ending on Golden Experience, one of the most overpowered Stands in the series.
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The actual composition and detail in this statue are nice, but that’s about all it has going on for it. The song isn’t that bad in a vacuum, and the tonal mismatch of the first cour’s ED with its content could only be funny for so long. Yet it feels fairly generic by comparison, suggesting Giorno and the gang are the ‘modern crusaders’ succeeding the Stardust Crusaders. It didn’t do much for Enigma back in 2000 either, as critics criticized it and the album for being guitar-heavy for an ambient track, with too many samples of ‘O Fortuna‘ from Carmina Burana.
7
Villain Concerto
Part 3: Stardust Crusaders, Special Outros
- Artists: Oingo (Makoto Yasumura), Boingo (Motoko Kumai), Hol Horse (Hidenobi Kiuchi)
- Album: Stardust Crusaders (Destination)
- Genre: Pop
Out of all the ED’s, this might be the most memorable and yet the most unnecessary, as both versions of the Villain Concerto are only around for three episodes, and one of them is a two-parter. That said, it’s just so charming to have the Oingo Boingo Brothers take over their own episode by singing about their plight. They’re some of the best Stardust Crusaders villains (and some of the weakest) so it’s fine for them to get a little extra screentime.
The absolutely hideous art style taken from Oingo’s ‘Tohth’ Stand has its own charm to it, the song is just as scuffed as the brothers themselves are, and that they produced a second version when Boingo returned with his new partner, Hol Horse, is just such a great commitment to the bit. It’s not something viewers would probably like to see on a regular basis, but if there was anyone in Jojo‘s list of comic villains who could make a great gag ED, it would be the Oingo Boingo Brothers (& Hol Horse).
6
Walk Like An Egyptian
Part 3: Stardust Crusaders, Season 1
- Artist: The Bangles
- Album: Different Light
- Genre: New Wave Pop-Rock
As on-the-nose as the song selection is (The gang are heading to Egypt, so add a song about Egypt!), Walk Like An Egyptian is one of the most visually intricate Jojo ED’s, as well as the most well-composed. The Crusaders named their Stands after Tarot cards, so the camera swirls between them holding their representative cards, while being right beside or connected to their titular punch-ghosts and their elements (Magician Red’s fire, Hierophant Green’s emeralds, etc.)
This ED really set the standard for Jojo endings going forward visually. That said, it kind of has the inverse problem ‘Distant Dreamer‘ had, in that it’s a visual tour-de-force with an ill-fitting song. The group isn’t in Egypt yet in Season 1, and as bizarre as their adventures get, they’re not as whimsical as the cigarette-chomping crocodiles and hookah pipe smokers in the lyrics. It’s a pedantic point, as not every ED has to be some moving masterpiece. If people want an ED that’s just fun and evocative, they’ve got it here in ‘Walk Like An Egyptian‘.
5
Freek’n You
Part 5: Vento Aureo, Cour 1
- Artist: Jodeci
- Album: The Show, the After Party, the Hotel
- Genre: R&B
Freek’n You was great for a hearty laugh the first time it debuted at the end of Vento Aureo‘s second episode. Not because it’s a bad song. It’s actually a great piece of R&B. It just created an odd case of emotional whiplash where an episode could end with a life and death struggle, a shocking revelation, or an emotional blow, only to then cut to a sex jam (“Every time I close my eyes, I wake up feeling so horny”). The visuals don’t help either, from the placeholder where everyone looks like they’re posing for bodypillows, to the full one with growing plants.
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They symbolize Giorno’s (literal) life-changing and plant-mancer powers, though they can also seem more suggestive. Then again, given Vento Aureo was where Hirohiko Araki got more mature with his storytelling, ramping up its steamier elements with its own suggestive imagery, ‘Freek’n You‘ might be its perfect match. Jodeci even had a member called Jojo, and another called K-Ci, ala Vento villain King Crimson, and their big song debuted in 1995 just like Vento did. So, perhaps it was fate that brought the two together when the manga finally got animated.
4
Last Train Home
Part 3: Stardust Crusaders, Season 2
- Artist: Pat Metheny Group
- Album: Still Life (Talking)
- Genre: Jazz Fusion
There’s just something about Last Train Home that always gets the viewer emotional. Whether it’s the fact that it’s somber and wistful compared to the upbeat tone of ‘Walk Like An Egyptian‘, or just its beautiful visuals overall, it never fails to move the viewer. At first, it seemed like a surprisingly low-key way to end the second season’s episode. But as its events play out, it fits the show like a glove, as all the crusaders travel together across the Egyptian sands, but not all of them will be making it back home.
That steady locomotion “chuga-chuga” in the background of the song, originally meant to express traveling through the American Midwest, adds to that context in relation to Jojo. The cast have traveled a long way together, been through all sorts of adventures together, and thus will always remember each other long after they’ve parted. It’s all interpretation, as it’s an instrumental piece, but it’s why it’s become one of the most moving EDs in the Jojo series.
3
I Want You
Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable
- Artist: Savage Garden
- Album: Savage Garden
- Genre: Synth-Pop
I Want You has everything that ‘Last Train Home’ has, but with just a bit more synergy. Being the first top single from 90s synth-pop act Savage Garden, the tone of the music so perfectly fits Part 4’s late 90s setting. It’s catchy too, with some pretty fantastic lyrics. In context, it should induce the same about-face as ‘Freek’n You‘, as the original song was also about being physically attracted to someone. But it uses more dreamlike descriptions, which fit Jojo‘s own surreal setting, and the ED’s swirling, physics-defying direction.
Which might be why David Production stuck with it for the anime’s full run (and Savage Garden’s lead singer Darren Hayes liked the show enough to allow them the song’s license). All they did was add more to the visuals as the show went on. The camera takes a journey through Morioh as a whole, adding extra characters and more parts of the town after they’ve debuted. While the ‘Last Train Home’ ED was more conventionally pretty to look at, Part 4’s ED is more experimental and expressive with its colors and visual storytelling.
2
Great Days UNITS Version
Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable, Final Episode
- Artist: JO☆UNITED
- Album: Great Days
- Genre: J-Pop
Hold on, isn’t Great Days one of Diamond is Unbreakable‘s OPs? Yes, the regular version, by Karen Aoki and Daisuke Hasegawa, is the last of Part 4’s OPs. However, the final episode ends with Great Days UNITS version by JO☆UNITED. Which is a shorthand for everyone who performed on the OPs up to Part 4, like Sono Chi no Sadame‘s Hiroaki ‘Tommy’ Tominaga, Bloody Stream‘s Coda, Stand Proud‘s Jin Hashimoto, Crazy Noisy Bizarre Town‘s The DU, Chase‘s Batta, and Aoki & Hasegawa.
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They each perform different lines in the song, with different pairs harmonizing on certain sections, before joining altogether in the chorus. It really cranks the original song up to 11, and causes goosebumps with its final climax. It’s a powerful track, and adds to the happy ending by recapping what happened to the cast after stopping Kira. Still, their dialogue covers much of the song, but it manages to end on that last, triumphant cry of “Great Days!” As a song made specifically for a Jojo finale, it’s the best of the bunch.
1
Roundabout
Parts 1 & 2: Phantom Blood And Battle Tendency, Part 6: Stone Ocean, Final Episode
- Artist: Yes
- Album: Fragile
- Genre: Prog Rock
The catalyst for so many “To Be Continued” memes worldwide, Roundabout is at the top of the list. But it’s not here just for that. The original song is (in)famous for its length which, while not exactly ‘Freebird,‘ would still tire out a Guitar Hero or Moog Hero player. David Production used its different movements for different episodes, from the intro that became the meme, to its softer, gentler parts that played after emotional moments. This way, it didn’t give viewers the mood whiplash ‘Freek’n You’ and ‘Walk Like An Egyptian’ would later on.
That’s not to mention the visuals. They neatly combine the credits for Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency. The former pans across a wall-carving telling the story of the Stone Mask, while the latter pans up, revealing the story of the Pillar Men before ending on the Red Stone of Aja. All the while, images of the Joestars and the figures in their lives pop up. This continuation along the familial line of the Joestars is one of the main reasons the series’ format works so well, and why the song has become iconic to Jojo fans.
The production crew must’ve agreed, as they closed off the story of the Joestars by bringing the song back for Part 6: Stone Ocean‘s finale. From a story about a Victorian gentleman fighting his vampiric foster brother with sunlight-based kung fu, to his great-great-great granddaughter spoiling the plans of that vampire’s disciple with a last-minute sacrifice, the original run of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure was truly a roundabout journey. But there are still new parts in a new continuity to come, which will provide their own EDs to rival ‘Roundabout’ and the rest.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure
ActionFantasy
Release Date
October 6, 2012
Seasons
6
Studio
David Production
Creator
Hirohiko Araki
Japanese Title
JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken
Streaming Service(s)
Crunchyroll
, Hulu
, Netflix
, Tubi
, Amazon Prime Video
See at Hulu
Fuente: successacademy.edu.vn
Categorías: Anime
