JoJo ~Sono Chi no Sadame~

"**JoJo ~Sono Chi no Sadame~**" (ジョジョ ～その血の～?, lit. JoJo ~ Destiny of That Blood ~) is the name of the first opening of the *JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: The Animation*. Associated with the first arc of the series, *Phantom Blood*, the song is the debut solo release of *Hiroaki "TOMMY" Tominaga*.

The song is written by Shoko Fujibayashi, composed by Kohei Tanaka, and arranged by Kow Otani. Both Fujibayashi and Tanaka are noted for their contributions to theme songs, having previously worked together on "We Are!" for *One Piece*[1]. Tominaga's vocals and the accompanying brass band were said to make the whole song an "anime song groove" that harkens back to much older and love-theme songs. The lyrics resonated well with the story of *Phantom Blood*, and Jun Yamamoto for*Billboard* said he "could almost feel the passion and ambition that Jonathan Joestar had in his fight against Dio Brando"[2].

"JoJo ~Sono Chi no Sadame~" did moderately well in the charts, peaking at 14 on the Oricon's Weekly Album Charts[3]. On*Billboard's* Japan Hot 100, it debuted at 52[4] and peaked at 19;[5]on the Japan Hot Animation chart, it debuted and peaked at 5;[6][7] and on the Japan Hot Singles Sales it debuted and peaked at 10,[8] but as of February 25, 2013, it remains on the chart, having done so for 12 weeks.[9] When subsequent theme song "Bloody Stream" by Coda entered the charts, "JoJo (Sono Chi no Sadame)" was seen on the Oricon to jump from a ranking of 65 to 41 in one week[10]

## OPENING ANIMATIONEDIT

The opening consists of the main events in the first few episodes of Phantom Blood. It begins with a quick montage of manga scenes featuring the first six JoJo protagonists shown in backwards order (Jolyne, Giorno, Josuke, Jotaro, Joseph, and finally Jonathan), and from there moves into a tunnel with the title displayed. The tunnel opens up and Jonathan and Dio are seen as kids staring each other down in the Joestar Manor. The scene shifts over to a rotating Statue of the Goddess of Love. A sudden spin of the statue turns it into an arm holding the stone mask and from there it becomes what is presumably Jonathan's arm holding a knife, carving his and Erina's name into a tree. Erina is shown and attempts to move in for a kiss from Jonathan, but is surprised when Dio is kissing her. Jonathan appears and punches the camera causing it's gaze to shift onto theStone Mask. The stone mask's eyes glow and the camera zooms into a scene where the police are shooting Dio wearing the stone mask. Dio flies back after being shot and the window shatters. One of the broken pieces of glass shows the reflection of Jonathan holding his dying father. A moment later, Jonathan's arm points toward the sun.

Dio is seen after gaining his new vampire abilities walking up the wall of the burning Joestar mansion. The room spins and a Dio appears up close holding the stone mask. He smashes the stone mask into the camera and a montage of scenes from the manga featuring him as a kid commences. After a quick glance from Erina, a scene starts up with Jonathan staring at the darkness at the top of some stairs. Swinging his arm, the rippleshoots through his body. Jonathan then proceeds to walk up the stairs. He gradually picks up speed and starts running until his eyes are close up with his pupils aflame. The scene shifts into Dio sitting on a throne holding the stone mask up to his face. A quick zoom into a montage of scenes from the manga starts up, where alsoWilliam can be seen there at his last moments with Jonathan; until it eventually shows Dio and Jonathan facing off. Jonathan charges a ripple overdrive and punches Dio. Dio attempts to block it. The camera rotates and zooms out from the battle up a long flight of stairs. A moment later the stone mask is seen falling into the ocean and slowly sinks to the bottom.