JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 5- Golden Wind, Volume 1 is by mangaka Hirohiko Araki, translated to English by Nathan A. Collins and published by Viz Media. After the events of Diamond is Unbreakable, Araki is back with a whole new main cast and crew in a whole different country. Taking place in Naples, Italy, readers follow a new bizarre adventure with Golden Wind Volume 1.

Instantly, this part feels different from all of its predecessors. Araki’s art style has shifted once again and features much slimmer and refined bodies that mimic the feel of supermodels. There is intense intricacy in character designs ranging from twisted bob cuts to donut-ringed golden tressels and high fashion on every character, making it feel like they’re wearing Gucci and Versace. Visually, Golden Wind Volume 1 stuns right from the start. Following Jotaro Kujo and Koichi Hirose, they are on a mission to find a potentially dangerous 15-year-old boy. There are mystery elements immediately in place as opposed to going straight for action, and it works so well.

Along the way, readers discover what is so important about Giorno Giovanna and his connections to the Joestar lineage. For first-time readers, the news is delivered in a wonderful flashback that blends and honors the Joestar family. For returning fans, it’s wonderful to see how the manga delivers such key information. The story revolves around Giorno infiltrating the crime organization in Naples, harming children while instantly framing our big bad of the series as a mystery. Readers do not know who the main antagonist is; not even gang members of Passione know who their boss is. Araki is going for a long-haul action mystery in Golden Wind Volume One, and the setup is phenomenally written. Readers get only a few members of Passione introduced to them, the main “Jojo crew” hasn’t been established yet, and there are only two stand fights present within this volume, but it builds intrigue and keeps you wanting more.



The best part of Golden Wind Volume One has to be the use of more space and dimension bending stands. Araki toys withstand users being able to physically alter the state of life with energy through Giorno. It makes for interesting combat as Giorno doesn’t need to physically harm others. He can provide a person too much life force to the point where their mind is thinking faster than their body can react, causing his opponent not to be able to pack punches. Another stand user readers meet in this volume can create physical pockets of space and meld them together. It sounds a little wild, and seeing Araki be able to clearly depict his ideas of space manipulation is breathtaking. My favorite instance of this is when Giorno is fighting his opponent Bruno Bucciarati. Bruno uses his stand to hide from Giorno by taking a zipper to the wall, climbing in, and zipping himself in that place. It’s mind-boggling how concise and non-confusing this action is because Araki’s artwork is so detailed, nuanced, and crisp that readers can follow along.

Golden Wind Volume 1 is the by-product of all the great changes and explorations of Araki from Diamond is Unbreakable. The art style shifts and the narrative’s mystery makes following Giorno as he navigates the crime-ridden streets of Naples, Italy, a joy read and a fun one at that. New readers will be able to pick up Golden Wind Volume 1 regardless of if they have seen the anime or read any other parts, and fans of the anime should pick this up as well.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure certainly lives up to its name and this storyline is equally bizarre, taking the action from Japan to Italy to find the son of the series' most iconic antagonist: Dio. You'll find all the weird classic-rock based attacks, quirky personalities, and anatomically improbable poses you were expecting.

Recommended for fans of weird, infinitely long running shonen series with plenty of fight scenes and special moves.

Thanks to Netgalley and VIZ Media for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It’s that time again, time to go on another Bizarre Adventure! This time we’re going to the beautiful country of Italy, Two Years have passed since the battle between the Joestars and Yoshikage Kira, now Koichi Hirose arrives in Naples, Italy to find Haruno Shiobana, a mysterious young man who was confirmed to be the estranged son of DIO, who was conceived with Jonathan Joestar’s Stolen Body. One of the things that will grab the reader immediately is that Hirohiko Araki moves away from the muscular physiques to slimmer and refined bodies, more of a Supermodel type of physique. The fashion is on par for its era, especially with the character designs from twisted bob cuts to donut-ringed golden tressels and high fashion on every character, making it feel like they’re wearing Gucci and Versace.

For fans returning to this series, it offers fans a clever and fascinating flashback sequence that blends in and honors the Joestar Legacy. The story begins with Giorno Giovanna, as mentioned before has a connection to the Joestars due to DIO but has inherited traits from both DIO and Jonathan Joestar, we learn after his battle with Bruno Bucciarati that he wants to infiltrate the Mafia and defeat the boss of Passione, who is a complete mystery at this time and not even Bucciarati nor his men know anything about their boss and become a Gang-Star, With the aid of a capo and his men, and fueled by his resolve, Giorno sets out to fulfill his goal of absolving the mafia of its corruption.

Araki prepared the reader for a long-action-filled mystery, one that fans were desperately craving at the time and immediately got their wish with this volume, it contained four arcs to help fans get into the Bizarre World of Giorno Giovanna and the Passione Crew. One of the best moments of this Manga would have to be going into detail on Stands, with Stardust Crusaders we were introduced to the concept of a Stand and the capabilities of one and it moved us into the idea of what kind it could be depending on one’s self. Diamond is Unbreakable took the concept even further where this time it could take on the paranormal side and even introduced the idea of a stand that creates a temporal loop, rewinding time by roughly an hour. With Golden Wind, however, moves into space and dimension bending. We’re introduced to a Stand that could Physically Alter One’s the State of Energy or a Stand that could create pockets of space and meld them together, introducing us to state manipulation. Overall this was a great way to create new challenges and explore how creating a story can be with the right creator, Golden Wind Volume One is a safe and perfect way to introduce a new reader to, regardless of the reader if they only watched the Anime or read any other parts of the series.

Come, Show Me Your Stand! – JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken Part 5: Ougon no Kaze (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 5, Golden Wind) Vol. 1 [Manga]

Just Wait Until I Reach My Overdrive!

Mangaka: Araki, Hirohiko
Publisher: VIZ Media
Genre: Action, Adventure, Shounen
Published: August 2021 - Ongoing

From Japan to Italy, Koichi Hirose was tasked to search for an aspiring gangster named Giorno Giovanna to confirm his intentions and whether he is a Stand user. Why? He is the secret son of Dio Brando. This fifth arc occurs in the mafia world, with Giorno as one of the main characters.

--- Spoilers Ahead ---

Discussion Time

Rejoice, JoJo fans, as we have now arrived in Italy and see all kinds of tourist sites and hope to god that we don’t get robbed. Instead of JoJo, the story will be focusing on Giorno instead. The art is filled with a high intensity, ready to battle with style. The character designs align with their personalities and Stands. The amount of background story content is decently solid to appreciate the characters even more than ever.
Why You Should Read JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken Part 5: Ougon no Kaze (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 5, Golden Wind)

1. It Is More Than Just Plot

Giorno’s end goal can be considered simple, but the journey and the battles made the reading experience worthwhile. Stand users and himself made use of their abilities to the fullest while adapting to their environments. The characters’ background stories felt just right to shape their personalities along with their Stand’s powers.
Each Stand’s power was designed and conveyed in the story to make the battles draw your breath at certain moments. The practicality and creativity the characters showed felt well strategised and tactical.

2. Character Designs

It is difficult to ignore the fashion sense they have throughout the story. They carry a unique sense of self to represent the characters, and the poses they exhibit during battles and conversations are held like they made their arrival to the stage after making their catwalk.
Why You Should Skip JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken Part 5: Ougon no Kaze (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 5, Golden Wind)

1. Anime

If you have watched the anime adaptation of this series and expected missing content that wasn’t shown in the anime itself, we wouldn’t recommend reading this volume. However, if you want to purchase this manga and read it to support the original mangaka, Araki Hirohiko, we won’t stop you.

Final Thoughts

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 5: Golden Wind is a whole different experience compared to the previous arcs where the story focuses on the secret son of Dio Brando in a mafia world. The character designs are remarkable and memorable as they provided a unique brand to the characters and their personalities are respectable. Their objective may be straight forward, but the journey to get to that point can’t be said as easy because you can expect many Stand Battles and character background stories to help us appreciate the characters a little more as we go. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much additional content that isn’t being shown in the anime adaptation, but if you want to purchase this volume as a means to support its creator, go ahead.

By. Nobodies17

I never followed the Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure hype back when it was gaining traction a few years back, but I started reading the manga back in 2019 and now I understand why it’s so darn loved by many. It’s dripping with hypermasculine action that’s flashy and has pretty inventive battles, and I’m glad we’re getting a Stone Ocean anime soon. In the meantime, VIZ Media’s been re-releasing the manga in the west for the first time with the deluxe versions of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure hardcovers, with Part 5 chronicling the Golden Wind arc. The only part of the series we’ve had in manga form was Stardust Crusaders, so it’s refreshing to see these oversized deluxe versions grace the shelves.

Giorno Giovanna has a dream: To become the most infamous mafioso in Italy. Not the most noble of goals, but this volume shows that he has a moral compass guiding his decisions, similar to the rest of the Joestar clan. Unlike his ancestors, however, Giorno is a bit more harsh as this volume chronicles his journey to infiltrate Passione, a seedy Mafia group.

Oh right. He’s the descendant of DIO BRANDO, the series antagonist and generally bad person.
Thankfully, he’s got his trusty Stand, Golden Wind, to help him out of a bind. These first few chapters highlight a few introductory (but still flashy) fight scenes between him and fellow Stand user Bruno Bucciarati. It can get a bit nauseating and claustrophobic with the fight between him and Bruno, but overall it’s a great debut. (You also get that signature scene with Bruno’s tongue. You know the one.)

While all the parts are pretty standalone, I feel like Golden Wind is the first one where you need to read previous parts, to the point where Diamond is Unbreakable’s Koichi Hirose is a focal character for the beginning and the end of this volume. (His Stand, Reverb, has some pretty cool scenes here as well.) I would recommend picking up the Stardust Crusaders and Diamond is Unbreakable hardcovers first if you want to make sense of the deeper narratives here, but if this is your first JoJo adventure, you’re in for a bizarrely fun time.

The fifth installment in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Golden Wind, begins in Italy. While the series has always been decidedly global, this new part shifts by focusing on protagonist Giorno Giovanna's quest to become a top mafioso. Yet, his goal is driven by his desire to drive drugs away from children and Giorno's sense of justice permeates his every decision in this first volume. Araki's art is top notch, something I've enjoyed over this series is seeing his style evolve over the decades spent writing them. The character design and style of this volume really stands out. And of course, the poses!

JJBA is perfect for fans of shonen action/adventure manga and I'd say Golden Wind in particular even makes for a solid first foray into the series for readers who haven't read the previous parts. Warning for violence, language and references to drug use.

All the action and over the top storylines we expect, with the usual flamboyant outfits and bizarre special abilities. Not for the faint hearted....content warning for violence and occasional bad language. But if you've read any of these volumes you will already be aware of that.

I received this arc from netgalley and VIZ Media in exchange for my honest review.