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Live-Action JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Project Shoots in Spain, Aims to Cover Entire Part 4

Kento Yamazaki, the lead actor in the live-action film adaptation of Hirohiko Araki's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable manga, revealed during the project's Wednesday press conference that the project is filming almost entirely on location in Spain. Director Takashi Miike acknowledged that the original manga's setting is loosely based on the real Japanese city of Sendai, but he began the project by scouting locations for the Morioh town setting — not just in Japan, but throughout the entire world. He then came across the Spanish town of Sitges and decided it fits the fictional Morioh.

Despite the location shooting in Spain, TBS producer Takashi Hirano explained that the staff decided to adapt the manga's Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable storyline since it features a Japanese protagonist in a Japanese setting.

In acknowledging the "Dai-Ichi-Shō" (Chapter I) in the upcoming film's full title — JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond wa Kudakenai Dai-Ichi-Shō (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable Chapter I) — Hirano also confirmed that the staff is looking into hypothetical sequels. Hirano noted that the manga's Part 4 is particularly long and will not fit entirely within two hours of screentime. If possible and if audiences support the project by watching the upcoming film, Hirano wants to eventually adapt Part 4's entire storyline in additional films.

Hirano further noted that the original manga is popular worldwide and that the other parts of the manga feature protagonists who are not Japanese. If possible, he said that the cosmopolitan nature of the manga offers a chance for Japanese cinema to expand across the world. He acknowledged not knowing how many years this might take, but he thinks that he and the director share this dream.

From left to right in the photo above, the cast and staff of the project are:

• Yusuke Iseya (Casshern, Rurouni Kenshin Part II: Kyoto Inferno, Shinjuku Swan, Honey and Clover) as Jōtarō Kūjō
• Mackenyu (Chihayafuru) as Okuyasu Nijimura
• Nana Komatsu (Bakuman., Kin Kyori Renai, World of Kanako) as Yukako Yamagishi
• Kento Yamazaki (Orange, Your Lie in April, Heroine Shikkaku, Wolf Girl and Black Prince, live-action Death Note television, seen right) as Jōsuke Higashikata
• Ryunosuke Kamiki (Howl's Moving Castle, The Secret World of Arrietty, Bakuman., Rurouni Kenshin Part II: Kyoto Inferno) as Kōichi Hirose
• Masaki Okada (Hana-Kimi, Boku no Hatsukoi o Kimi ni Sasagu, Otomen, Mahō Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto, Space Brothers) as Keichō Nijimura
• Takayuki Yamada (Bakuman., Terraformars, Crows Zero, Gantz) as Anjūrō Katagiri
• director Takashi Miike (live-action Terraformars, Ace Attorney, Crows Zero, Yatterman, For Love's Sake, Ichi the Killer)

Two more cast members absent at the press conference are Alisa Mizuki (Doraemon: Nobita no Space Heroes) as Tomoko Higashikata and Jun Kunimura (Attack on Titan, Chihayafuru, The Wind Rises, Ichi the Killer) as Ryōhei Higashikata. Mainichi Shimbun's MAiDiGi service posted a video from the cast introduction at the press conference:

Miike revealed that he did not sleep for three days after receiving the offer to direct the film project.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable is the fourth part of Araki's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga. The story is set in Morioh, located in S City in M Prefecture of Japan, and it follows the misadventures of Jōsuke Higashikata and his companions, as they are involved in a series of bizarre incidents in their town.

Araki serialized the fourth part of the manga in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from 1992 to 1995. david production has been adapting the manga into multiple television anime series, beginning with Part 1 in 2012. Its television anime adaptation of Diamond is Unbreakable premiered on April 1, and is currently running. Crunchyroll is streaming the series as it airs in Japan.

Viz Media is releasing the manga in North America, though its releases have not yet reached the fourth part.

Sources: Comic Natalie, Mainichi