It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of the critically-acclaimed anime and manga series “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (JJBA).” I’ve written two articles about it for this very paper, I recently started watching it for the umpteenth time and I have a figure of Jonathan Joestar staring at me as I write this. 

The long-running manga series, written by Hirohiko Araki, is currently in its ninth part. It was recently announced that the seventh part, “Steel Ball Run,” has an anime adaptation in the works. 

“Steel Ball Run” is universally praised by those who have read it, with it being the second-highest rated manga on MyAnimeList.net, losing only to Kentaro Miura’s “Berserk.” 

In anticipation of “Steel Ball Run’s” anime, I will be ranking all of the current “JJBA” openings (or OPs) from worst to best. If you don’t know what an OP is, think of it like a cartoon’s theme song. Keep in mind that this list reflects my personal opinion and not any sort of factual data. 

11: OP 11 – “Heaven’s falling down” – sana

“Heaven’s falling down” is appropriately titled: this song fell to the bottom of my list. This is the only one of the OPs that I don’t have any strong feelings on. It’s not necessarily bad, but I don’t think it’s good, either. 

Especially after the fun, high-energy beats of the previous opening, “Heaven’s falling down” doesn’t elicit any sort of reaction from me. I think the song is okay. 

As the final opening for part six, which is supposed to be a grand finale and extremely important point in the overall lore of “JJBA,” this song just doesn’t deliver. 

10: OP 6 – “chase” – batta

Part four, “Diamond is Unbreakable,” is a special snowflake that gets three whole openings, compared to the one or two afforded to the others. The part has two excellent OPs and also “chase.”

“chase” isn’t a bad song, but there’s too much happening instrument-wise for it to work for me. I find the high-pitched guitars and repetitive vocals to be a bit annoying.

To be honest, I do like the song overall, but I feel that it’s tonally inappropriate for the show it’s attached to. I think if this were just a song and not a “JoJo” OP, I’d like it a lot more.

9: OP 9 – “Traitor’s Requiem” – Daisuke Hasegawa

From here on, the rankings get rather difficult. Starting with “Traitor’s Requiem,” I promise I have belted each of these songs in my car like nobody was watching on multiple occasions, even when people definitely were watching.

“Traitor’s Requiem” is a victim of the animators. As a song, this deserves to be much higher, but I docked it points for one main reason: the video actively spoils the events to come. It’s somewhat famous in the “JJBA” community for this reason. 

The song is excellent and embodies everything that the part five gang is going through, but the first time I watched it, I correctly predicted a few pretty important events, which sullied my thoughts on it.

8: OP 4 – “JoJo: Sono Chi no Kioku ~end of THE WORLD~” – TOMMY, Coda, JIN

The deep, foreboding strings that start this song off followed by the haunting back-and-forth narration perfectly sum up the drama and stakes of the end of “Stardust Crusaders.” The ticking grandfather clock as a visual doesn’t hurt anything, either.

Jotaro and the Stardust Crusaders are running out of time. After a slow opening, the song goes into fast-paced vocals and instruments that encapsulate the feeling of racing against the hourglass.

I don’t have much else to say on this one. It’s just a solid opening that does what it wants to do. Plus, it was the first opening to have the villain interrupt it mid-song, which I think is a cool detail.

7: OP 3 – “STAND PROUD” – Jin Hashimoto

Part three’s opening is important because this is the first part of “JJBA” that features its iconic Stands. The immediate power of the electric guitar feels like Star Platinum himself is punching at us.

Unlike “end of THE WORLD,” “STAND PROUD” just feels … good. It’s got a guitar being shredded on, active, high-energy vocals and cool fights that accompany all of it.

This song encapsulates the wonder that I feel as an audience member who wants to see everything the brand new Stands are capable of. It’s just solid all around.

Jonathan Joestar fought Dio Brando. Josuke Higashikata hunted down Yoshikage Kira. And I, my dear reader, am locked in an eternal conflict with the villainous word count.

I’ve done the first five entries of my list and will conclude it next week with the last six. Until then, I will be training to uncover my Stand’s true potential. 

Tolbert can be contacted at [email protected]. He’s down to watch “JoJo” again if you are.