Summary
People always talk about how incredible all the openings are forJojo’s Bizarre Adventure, but what about the endings? Sure, they’re usually not nearly as well-animated or as over-the-top as the openings, since they’re not made for pulling the viewer in. But that doesn’t mean they’re not notable or worth talking about.
Anime endings set the mood, capping off what happened in the episode before viewers move on to the next one. They’re also a fantastic way to give characters an extra bit of characterization, be it with subtext or just plain text. Still, some are better than others, be it from a visual, audio, or other standpoint. So, let’s take a look at all theending songs inJojo’s Bizarre Adventureand rank them from worst to best.
Updated on October 21st, 2024, by David Heath:Things have been fairly quiet Jojo-wise, at least as far as animation goes. Parts 1-6 are now fully animated, completing the original Joestar arc. It’s left some wondering if that’s as far as David Production will go, given it wraps everything up in a bow. Though bar any behind-the-scenes details, it’s more likely animating Part 7: Steel Ball Run would be a task, as it’s one of the longest parts in the series. Then Part 8: Jojolion would be worse as it is the longest part in the series! Luckily, SBR’s official translated releases are due to start coming out in Summer 2025 onward, which will keep fans busy until more news comes out. Then, once it does get animated, its ED will find a place here. Until then, this list has been updated with a few tweaks and turns, and giving it some old-school representation. Jojo anime was thin on the ground before David Production’s series, but they weren’t the only ones to give it a go.
12Finding The Truth
Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan
Finding the Truthtakes the wooden spoon by default, asThus Spoke Kishibe Rohan, the spin-off fromDiamond is Unbreakable, doesn’t have an ED. The song is just the full version of the OP played over a plain black screen listing the credits. There’s nothing going on visually here that people wouldn’t see on a standard TV show. Unless the viewers needed to know who did what on the show, and knew Japanese well enough to read it, they’d have to stick with their audio treat rather than a visual one.
The tune is pretty good, sung byJojoOP singer Coda, with lyrics written in English by fellowJojoOP singer-songwriter Karen Aoki. They reflect Rohan’s insatiable curiosity, and his will to know about anything and everything around him. His Stand, Heaven’s Door, usually makes that simple, but not everything can be solved by turning figures into living manga, as Rohan seems to know (“Finding the truth beyond the Heaven’s Door”). This song is just better heard on Spotify than by clicking ‘Watch Credits’ on Netflix.
11Going Home
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure OVA, Final Episode
Before 2012, the onlyJojoanime was A.P.P.P’sJojo’s Bizarre AdventureOVA series. It’s a massively condensed adaptation ofPart 3: Stardust Crusaders, where they animated half of its 13 episodes in the mid-1990s with cells, then the other half digitally in the early 2000s. They animated the last half set in Egypt too, to avoid ending on a cliffhanger, and because they found it more interesting than the first half. It’s a bit of a mixed bag, as it does some things better than the fullStardust Crusaders, but is a weaker adaptation overall.
Since they were direct-to-video OVAs, they didn’t produce any flashy OPs or EDs either. They’re just plain credits in front of a black background. But they still have some neat music, with its last episode playing a neat piece calledGoing Home. It’s akin to Euro house music from the time, though with more of a funk rock edge. It would be higher on the list if it didn’t have a weird, distorted beat midway through that sounds like someone put a microphone up to someone finishing off their juice box.
10DIO’s Theme
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure OVA
One of the things the OVA arguably did better than David Production’s anime wasDIO’s Theme. ‘Dark Rebirth’ isn’t bad, as it also does a good job expressing the gothic horror of the notorious vampire, alongside the Arabic leitmotifs to represent the Egyptian setting. ‘DIO’s Theme’ just amps it up more, with its threatening, reverberating drum beats, operatic vocals (taken from ‘Nessun Dorma’), and eerie instrumentation. While the moody guitar thrums give it a grandiose,Phantom of the Opera-style sense of flamboyance.
In other words, it fits the blatantly evil yet dangerously charming vampire to a tee and works well as an ED theme as the leads press further toward his home. Nonetheless, it is repurposed from a character theme, and it’s played over a plain credits screen. Still, both it andGoing Homeare catchy original compositions, which are points in its favor over the reused pop music. But likeFinding the Truth, they’re best heard rather than seen.
9Distant Dreamer
Part 6: Stone Ocean
Distant Dreameris a great song by Duffy, and fitsStone Oceanquite well, as its hopeful lyrics work with Jolyne and her character. Alot happenedbetween Part 5 and Part 6, and Jolyne’s relationship with her father, Jotaro, is strained at best. But there’s part of her that still wishes for the best for both him and herself. That said, its visuals are a step down from prior parts. Obviously,Stone Oceanhas a lot to do with the, well…ocean, but this is taking it to a whole new level.
It takes a more subtle direction, as it shows panning shots of the seashore before culminating with a golden-hour view of the sea right at the start of the chorus. The last cour throws in more imagery, with a butterfly, an underwater view showing dolphins, and a bird flying over the horizon. Some might prefer this over the bombast of the other EDs, or an alternate one showingall the great Stands in Part 6. Still, there are ways to move viewers while offering more than a beach.
8Modern Crusaders
Part 5: Vento Aureo
Modern Crusadersis low, mostly because it’s essentially a retread of Season 1’s ED.Visually, that one was essentially just one long panning shot of wall carvings/hieroglyphics about its MacGuffinsand the history between Dio and the Joestars.Vento Aureo’s second ED does something similar with an upward pan of a carved pillar featuring all ofVento’s stands. It does add a new Stand for each debut, which spices things up, before ending on Golden Experience, one ofthe most overpowered Stands in the series.
The actual composition and detail in this statue are nice, but that’s about all it has going on for it. The song isn’t that bad in a vacuum either. Yet it feels fairly generic by comparison, suggesting Giorno and the gang are the ‘modern crusaders’ succeeding the Stardust Crusaders. It didn’t do much for Enigma back in 2000 either, as critics criticized it and the album for being guitar-heavy for an ambient track, with too many samples of ‘O Fortuna’ fromCarmina Burana.
7Villain Concerto
Part 3: Stardust Crusaders, Special Outros
Out of all the EDs, this might be the most memorable and yet the most unnecessary, as both versions of theVillain Concertoare only around for three episodes, and one of them is a two-parter. That said, it’s just so charming to have the Oingo Boingo Brothers take over their own episode by singing about their plight. They’re some of the bestStardust Crusadersvillains (and some of the weakest) so it’s fine for them to get a little extra screentime.
The absolutely hideous art style taken from Oingo’s ‘Tohth’ Stand has its own charm to it, the song is just as scuffed as the brothers themselves are. The fact that they produced a second version when Boingo returned with his new partner, Hol Horse, is just such a great commitment to the bit. It’s not something viewers would probably like to see on a regular basis, but if there was anyone inJojo’s list of comic villains who could make a great gag ED, it would be the Oingo Boingo Brothers (& Hol Horse).
6Walk Like An Egyptian
Part 3: Stardust Crusaders, Season 1
As on-the-nose as the song selection is (The gang is heading to Egypt, so add a song about Egypt!),Walk Like An Egyptianis one of the most visually intricateJojoEDs, as well as the most well-composed. The Crusaders named their Stands after Tarot cards, so the camera swirls between them holding their representative cards while being right beside or connected to their titular punch-ghosts and their elements (Magician Red’s fire, Hierophant Green’s emeralds, etc.)
This ED really set the standard forJojoendings going forward visually. That said, it kind of has the inverse problem ‘Distant Dreamer’ had, in that it’s a visual tour-de-force with an ill-fitting song. The group isn’t in Egypt yet in Season 1, and as bizarre as their adventures get, they’re not as whimsical as the cigarette-chomping crocodiles and hookah pipe smokers in the lyrics. It’s a pedantic point, as not every ED has to be some moving masterpiece. If people want an ED that’s just fun and evocative, they’ve got it here in ‘Walk Like An Egyptian’.
5Freek’n You
Freek’n Youwas great for a hearty laugh the first time it debuted at the end ofVento Aureo’s second episode. Not because it’s a bad song. It’s actually a great piece of R&B. It just created an odd case of emotional whiplash where an episode could end with a life-and-death struggle, a shocking revelation, or an emotional blow, only to then cut to a sex jam (“Every time I close my eyes, I wake up feeling so horny”). The visuals don’t help either, from the placeholder where everyone looks like they’re posing for bodypillows, to the full one with growing plants.
They symbolize Giorno’s (literal) life-changing, plant-mancer powers, though they can also seem more suggestive. Then again, givenVento Aureowas where Hirohiko Araki got more mature with his storytelling, ramping up its steamier elements with its own suggestive imagery, ‘Freek’n You’ might be its perfect match. Jodeci even had a member called Jojo, and another called K-Ci, alaVentovillain King Crimson, and their big song debuted in 1995 just likeVentodid. So, perhaps it was fate that brought the two together when the manga finally got animated.
4Last Train Home
Part 3: Stardust Crusaders, Season 2
There’s just something aboutLast Train Homethat always gets the viewer emotional. Whether it’s the fact that it’s somber and wistful compared to the upbeat tone of ‘Walk Like An Egyptian’, or just its beautiful visuals overall, it never fails to move the viewer. At first, it seemed like a surprisingly low-key way to end the second season’s episode. But as its events play out, it fits the show like a glove, as all the crusaders travel together across the Egyptian sands, but not all of them will be making it back home.
That steady locomotion “chuga-chuga” in the background of the song, originally meant to express traveling through the American Midwest, adds to that context in relation toJojo. The cast have traveled a long way together, been through all sorts of adventures together, and thus will always remember each other long after they’ve parted. It’s all interpretation, as it’s an instrumental piece, but it’s why it’s become one of the most moving EDs in theJojoseries.
3I Want You
Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable
I Want Youhas everything that’Last Train Home’has but with just a bit more synergy. Being the first top single from 90s synth-pop act Savage Garden, the tone of the music so perfectly fits Part 4’s late 90s setting. It’s catchy too, with some pretty fantastic lyrics. In context, it should induce the same about-face as ‘Freek’n You’, as the original song was also about being physically attracted to someone. But it uses more dreamlike descriptions, which fitJojo’s own surreal setting, and the ED’s swirling, physics-defying direction.
That might be why David Production stuck with it for the anime’s full run (and Savage Garden’s lead singer Darren Hayes liked the show enough to allow them the song’s license). All they did was add more to the visuals as the show went on. The camera takes a journey through Morioh as a whole, adding extra characters and more parts of the town after they’ve debuted. While the ‘Last Train Home’ED was more conventionally pretty to look at, Part 4’s ED is more experimental and expressive with its colors and visual storytelling.
