People always talk about how incredible all the openings are for Jojo’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, but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth talking about. Anime endings are what set the mood before the next episode, and they’re a fantastic way to give characters just the little extra bit of characterization. So, let’s take a look at every JoJo ED there is and rank them all from worst to best.
8 Part 6: Distant Dreamer
First up is, sadly enough, the newest ED from Part 6: Stone Ocean. Obviously, Stone Ocean has a lot to do with the, well…ocean, but this is taking it to a whole new level. Yes, a lot happened between Part 5 and Part 6, but this is almost too different. Even Roundabout has more going on visually than Distant Dreamer does.
It’s a great song by Duffy, and it matches well with the theming of the part, but it’s so far down in terms of visuals that it sadly has to get last place despite the OP being so fantastic. If it had just a bit more, some sort of integration of all the great Stands in Part 6, then maybe it would inch a bit higher.
7 Part 5: Modern Crusaders
Modern Crusaders takes second to last, mostly because it’s such a poor follow-up to Freek’N You as well as it feels like a knockoff Roundabout. Roundabout, visually, is just one long panning shot of wall carvings/hieroglyphics and characters that tell the story of the Pillar Men and the history between Dio and the Joestars.
In comparison, Modern Crusaders is just one long upward pan of this fictional statue storytelling of all Golden Wind, ending on Golden Experience, one of the 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 as the song itself isn’t all too memorable.
6 Part 3: Oing & Boingo/Hol Horse & Boingo
Out of all the ED’s, this might be the most memorable and the most unnecessary, considering both versions of this ED are only around for a total of three episodes. That said, it’s just so charming to have the Oingo Boingo brothers take over their own episode by including an ED sung by them. They’re some of the best Stardust Crusaders villains (and some of the weakest) so it’s fine for them to get a little bit extra screentime.
The absolutely hideous art style has its own charm to it, the song is just as scuffed as the brothers themselves are, and the fact that a new iteration of this ED came out when Boingo showed back up with his new partner, Hol Horse, is just such a great commitment to the bit.
5 Part 3: Walk Like An Egyptian
Walk like an Egyptian, by The Bangles, is one of the most visually intricate JoJo ED’s, as well as the most well-composed. Of course, the song choice is incredible, considering that Stardust Crusaders is all about journeying through Egypt, but then the visuals take it even further with the whole Tarot Card integration.
This ED really set the standard for JoJo endings going forward, and will always be the ED people most commonly think of first.
4 Part 5: Freek’N You
This next ED was great for a hearty laugh the first time it debuted at the end of Golden Wind episode two. Part 5: Golden Wind is commonly talked about as the part of JoJo’s Bizzare Adventure where author Hirohiko Araki completely changed the way he drew the male form, going from drawing high school students as seven-foot-tall bodybuilders to drawing full-grown men as lanky fashionistas meant to describe the term “sexy”.
And, because of this, Freek’N You is all that much better as the anthem of Part 5, nevermind the fact that Jodeci, the band behind the song, released this EP in 1995 (the same year Golden Wind started publication) or that they have a member that literally goes by the name Jojo.
3 Part 3: Last Train Home
There’s just something about Last Train Home, the second ED for Stardust Crusaders, that always gets the viewer emotional. Whether it’s the fact that it is incredibly somber compared to everything Stardust Crusaders had to offer so far, the fact that the second half of Part 3 is so absolutely depressing, or just the beautiful visuals overall, it always blends together to bring a tear to the viewer’s eye.
That steady locomotion “chuga-chuga” in the background of the song tells the viewer that the journey keeps going on, but the actual tone of the song keeps urging people to remember that nothing lasts forever, which is why this is one of the best ways JoJo has ever ended its episodes.
2 Part 4: I Want You
I Want You, the first ED for Part 4: Diamond is Unbreakable, has everything that Last Train Home has, but with just a bit more synergy. The tone of the music so perfectly captures the 90s era Part 4 is set in, the camera takes a journey through Marioh as a whole rather than jumping all over the place like in Last Train Home, and the song actually has some pretty fantastic lyrics.
Overall, while Last Train Home was a bit more stereotypically “beautiful” to look at, I Want You experiments with the color and visual storytelling even more than Part 4 already does. Plus, Savage Garden, the band behind the song, seems to be fans of JoJo as well.
1 Part 1 & 2: Roundabout
The catalyst for so many “To Be Continued” memes worldwide, of course, Roundabout is on top of the list. Sure, it falls short in the visual department, and sure, maybe it’s not fair that this ED gets the top spot purely because of how iconic the song is, but sometimes life is just unfair!
Roundabout is as synonymous with JoJo as Sono Chi No Sadame is, and it remains the cult classic favorite song of the franchise to this day. Plus, let’s not forget that both Part 1: Phantom Blood and Part 2: Battle Tendency use this song as their ED, with Part 2 literally continuing the panning wall-carving right where the Part 1 ED ends. This continuation along the familial line of the Joestars is one of the main reasons the series’ format works so well, after all.
