Fans of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure just received the best New Year’s present with an official sneak peek at the protagonist of the next part of Hiroiko Araki’s acclaimed manga, JOJOLands. An illustration released by the mangaka to celebrate 2023 teases the upcoming start of Part 9 of his generational saga, due to begin on February 17, and it includes a first look at the new protagonist.
It is a tradition for manga artists to release illustrations to celebrate the beginning of a new year. Hiroiko Araki took this chance to hype up his fans about the upcoming Part 9 of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, JOJOLands. The illustration features a rabbit (as 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit according to the Chinese Calendar), but on the cute animal’s body, Araki drew the profile of an enigmatic man who is very likely to be the protagonist of JOJOLands. The only distinguishable feature is a star-shaped hairpin, which confirms what Araki previously stated: the protagonist of JOJOLands will be a descendant of the Joestar family.
At the end of the final chapter of Part 8, JoJolion, Araki already announced the title of Part 9, with the official release date being revealed in the Winter issue of the JOJO Magazine. The Joestar family has been conspicuously absent from JoJolion, making a return only in the final chapters with the brief appearance of Joseph Joestar, the grandson of Johnny Joestar from Steel Ball Run. During an interview with Kono Mystery ga Sugoi (a Japanese annual mystery fiction guidebook), Araki revealed that Joseph Joestar’s descendant would be the protagonist of Part 9, and that’s the character who appears in the New Year’s illustration.
The Joestar Bloodline Comes Back For JOJOLands
![JoJo’s New Hero Gets Official First Look in New Year’s Art](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/araki-illustration-new-year-2023-jojolands.jpg)
Another interesting detail drawn by Araki is two palm trees, which could be a hint for the setting of the new series. However, back in 2016, the author teased that he would like to set one of his future stories in Northern Europe or in the Scottish Highlands, where palms are certainly a rare sight. Regardless, fans are currently going wild with excitement, as the (well-deserved) break that Araki took after the end of Part 8 is the longest so far in JoJo‘s 35 years of history. JOJOLands will also follow the “new timeline” that began with Steel Ball Run and continued in JoJolion.
After Part 8 brought the JoJo story back in Japan to focus on the Higashikata, Kira, and Kujo families, the Joestar bloodline takes center stage again, and it will be interesting to see if Part 9 will bring their centuries-long feud with Dio Brando back in the new timeline. With JOJOLands set to begin serialization on Ultra Jump in February 2023, fans received the most unexpected New Year’s gift in the form of a sneak peek at the look of the protagonist of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 9.