JoJo’s Bizarre Adventureis a masterclass series of animethat are renowned and praised for their sheer absurdity. And, to be fair, these stories are off-the-wall wacky in just about every sense. But, paired with that oddity are amazing battles, interesting new takes on the concept of special abilities, and a whole lot of amazing poses/expressions that have influenced tons of anime/manga going forward.
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And, nothing encapsulates the vibe and feeling ofJoJomore than its openings, the rankings of which have always been a topic of hot debate in the community. So, let’s go through them all, from worst to best, and see whichJoJoOP “Stands” supreme.
10Part 4: Chase
First up is a controversial take, which is puttingChase, the secondDiamond Is UnbreakableOP, at the very bottom of this list. Now, let’s just be clear, none of these openings are “bad” in any sense of the word, and even the “bottom of the barrel"JoJoOP is better than a lot of other anime openings.
But,Chasejust doesn’t feel very….JoJo. The muted colors, the music, the lack of ingenuity, it all just pales in comparison to both the audio and visuals of almost every other opening. It makes sense, of course, that this OP is a bit more serious in tone, given what is happening in Morioh at the time of this OP, but it feels more like an opening for a more “standard” Shonen likeNarutoorMy Hero Academiathan it does forJoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
9Part 4: Great Days
Another Part 4 pick,Great Daysis the final OP forDiamond is Unbreakable. This opening is undoubtedly one of the best in terms of its usage of visual language, but those visuals are relatively basic compared to the inventive colored silhouettes, colors, and 3D work a lot of the other openings use.
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Yes, it’s one of the onlyJoJoopenings to feature the villain so prominently throughout, and its integration of the time loop aspect of Killer Queen: Bites The Dust is incredible, butGreat Daysfalls a bit short in every other department.
8Part 2: Bloody Stream
SomeJoJofans might argue thatBloody Stream, the OP forBattle Tendency, deserves to be much higher on this list. And, even more fans will argue it deserves to be near the bottom. Ultimately, it is one of the best OPs in the series, but to be fair to everyone, it lands about here. No otherJoJoopening nails this sort of atmosphere like artist Coda does withBloody Stream.
And, when used in combination with the psychedelic visuals of Casar and Joseph’s silhouettes and the beautiful hand-animated snippets of the Pillar Men, it all comes together fantastically.
7Part 4: Crazy Noisy Bizarre Town
The first OP ofPart 4: Diamond is Unbreakablerubbed people the wrong way at first. It’s a much more lighthearted OP thanEnd of The World, the final OP of Part 3, and the 3D elements are entirely gone. That said, this OP has a habit of growing on people, which causes it to slowly work its way up the list.
Crazy Noisy Bizarre Town’sfun atmosphere, amazing colorwork, and overall composition just work, and it’s such a perfect anthem for introducing viewers to the weird little town that is Morioh.
6Part 3: End Of The World
Speaking ofEnd of the World, let’s take a look at this one next. This is the penultimate opening forPart 3: Stardust Crusaders, and boy does it really feel like it. The creeping and harrowing buildup at the start of the song as they slowly make their way up to Dio is great, then the bombastic middle that shows off all the members of Jotaro’s group is a visual spectacle, and finally, Jotaro himselfbreaking through using his “psychic energy” Standto fight Dio is as hype as it gets! It really feels like a “finale” type of song which makes sense,given the sacrifices it takes to get to the end.
This is all the first example of aJoJoopening where the villain literally interrupts the OP, with Dio using his The World Stand to stop time and walk behind Jotaro, quite literally throwing a wrench into the flow of the song.
5Part 5: Traitor’s Requiem
Ah, the penultimate version of “the villain takes over the opening” that builds off of Dio’s interruption inEnd of The World. First of all,Traitor’s Requiemis just a fantastic song in its own right. It starts out so muted and slow and even seems comparable toBloody Stream, but then it steadily builds more and more energy until finally, it gets to the Giorno vs Diavolo part and really kicks off. Fans might have forgotten by now, but there are actually three separate versions of this opening!
It’s an incredibly inventive approach to an anime opening. The only thing that lowers this OP from the peaks of the rankings is that the actual visuals are pretty basic and reuse footage from the episodes.
4Part 6: Stone Ocean
Who thought thatStone Ocean’sopeningwas going to immediately go this high? But, as it turns out, they really nailed it with the newest season’s OP by bringing back the 3D elements that were so prevalent in theStardust CrusadersOpenings. And, it’s only fitting that this is the character they bring them back for since Jolyne is Jotaro’s daughter (there’s a lot that happens between Part 5 and 6).
And, with that in mind, there’s a ton in this OP that references bothEnd of the WorldandStand Proud, both in the music and visuals. But, in general, it’s just a fantastically memorable song and the 3D has never looked better,especially on all those Stands.
3Part 5: Fighting Gold
It might seem odd that a Part 5 opening is making it into the top three, considering how the fanbase regards Part 5’s narrative overall, butFighting Goldis just so good!
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It’s an OP that really does use just about everything that has made the JoJo openings incredible up to this point. It has:
It’s a shame it doesn’t rely on the 3D more, but in every other respectFighting Goldis a masterclass.
2Part 1: Sono Chi No Sadame
Finally, here is theJoJoOP that started it all,Sono Chi No Sadame,the OP forPart 1: Phantom Blood. This was back in the days before Stands, before “Gang-stars”, and before barely clothed Pillar Men; back then,it was just Jonathan Joestar vs his adopted brother Dio Brando.
This opening has it all, but then again it sort of invented it all. Out of all of them, it’s the opening that feels the most like a manga “come to life”, with its masterful integration of panels from the source material mixing with the 3D elements. Plus, it manages to tell the entire story of Jonathan and Dio clearly by using little flashes of all their most important moments. And, that song! NoJoJoOP going forward, or maybe ever, will be able to capture the pure “energy” in this song, especially in that final elongated “JoJo” right at the end.
1Part 3: Stand Proud
Was there really ever even a choice as to which opening gets the number one spot? Of course, it’sStand Proud! This is the first OP forStardust Crusaders, and it’s hard to imagine any other anime OP in general managing to beat this one. Everything that was said about Part 1’s opening, Stand Proud does as well, if not ever-so-slightly better. Arguably, the song itself isn’t quite as good asSono Chi No Sadame, but it’s about as close as it can get.
WhereStand Proudjust eeks ahead is with the visuals, as this is still the best the 3D elements have ever looked.
