is the eighth main story arc of the Japanese manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. Set in Japan in 2011, it follows Josuke Higashikata, a young man afflicted by retrograde amnesia, in his search to uncover his identity in Morioh Town, a coastal Japanese town affected by the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. However, his digging pulls him and his adoptive family into the unfinished business between his previous life and an impending inhuman threat. It was serialized by Shueisha in the manga magazine Ultra Jump from May 2011 until August 2021, and has been collected in 27 volumes.
Plot Following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, anomalous formations known as the Wall Eyes emerge near the coastal town of Morioh. These structures possess the ability to exchange traits between objects buried within their vicinity and occasionally awaken Stand abilities in individuals. Yasuho Hirose, a local college student, discovers an amnesiac young man buried beneath the Wall Eyes and temporarily names him "Josuke". Together, they endeavor to uncover his lost memories and true identity. While Yasuho investigates possible connections between Josuke and a missing ship doctor named Yoshikage Kira, she entrusts his care to the Higashikata family. Upon visiting Kira's ailing mother, Holy Joestar-Kira, Yasuho gathers clues that eventually lead Josuke to realize he is a fusion of Kira and another individual.
Josuke confronts Norisuke Higashikata IV, the family patriarch, regarding his motives for sheltering him. Norisuke reveals that the Higashikata lineage suffers from a generational curse that petrifies their firstborn children, and they require Kira's memories to break it. Kira had been involved with a miraculous fruit called the Locacaca, capable of healing one part of the body at the expense of another. Unbeknownst to Norisuke, his eldest son Jobin has been secretly trafficking Locacaca in collaboration with a group of stone-based beings known as Rock Humans, who seek to eliminate Josuke and infiltrate human society.
Further revelations expose that before Josuke's awakening, Kira and a man named Josefumi Kujo had grafted a Locacaca branch onto a tree in the Higashikata orchard, creating a new variant of the fruit that uses another person as collateral for healing. After Kira was mortally wounded by the Rock Humans, Josefumi used this new Locacaca to save him, and the two were buried beneath what would later become the Wall Eyes. Recognizing himself as the fusion of Josefumi and Kira, Josuke resolves to retrieve the new Locacaca and fulfill their original intent: curing Holy. Meanwhile, Jobin's mother, Kaato, is released from prison after serving a 15-year sentence for murdering a child to save Jobin's life. Though Jobin reunites with her, he conceals his plan to use the Locacaca branch to heal his son, Tsurugi.
Under Norisuke's direction, Josuke enlists the help of Rai Mamezuku, a plant appraiser, to locate the Locacaca branch in the Higashikata orchard. However, Jobin's alliance with the Rock Humans collapses, prompting him to set the orchard ablaze to prevent both Josuke and his former allies from securing the branch. Amid the chaos, two Rock Humans posing as paramedics seize what they believe to be the Locacaca branch, unaware that Tsurugi has deceived them—and Josuke's group—using his Stand. The true branch remains in Jobin's possession. After defeating one of the Rock Humans, Josuke and his allies prepare to pursue the hospital director suspected of orchestrating the conflict.
Their investigation leads them to Toru, a hospital intern who directs them toward the elusive director, Satoru Akefu. During their pursuit, Akefu's Stand manipulates natural laws to assault them, forcing the group to separate. Josuke lures Akefu into a confrontation alongside Mamezuku, while Yasuho inadvertently exposes the Locacaca branch's location to the Higashikata family. Norisuke confronts Jobin, only to be incapacitated; moments later, Jobin falls victim to a calamitous force as Toru arrives. Yasuho deduces that Toru is the true Stand User behind Wonder of U, the ability controlling calamity, and that he has been masquerading as Akefu.
Mamezuku and Josuke attempt to ambush Akefu, but Mamezuku is mortally wounded in the process. Before dying, he awakens the latent Spin within Josuke's Stand ability. Yasuho relays her discoveries to Josuke, who then combines his power with hers and the Spin to launch a decisive attack against Toru. Though Akefu evades destruction, Toru is gravely injured and consumes a ripening Locacaca fruit in a desperate bid to initiate an exchange. Kaato intervenes, forcing Toru to bear Tsurugi's curse in his place, resulting in both their deaths. The last remnants of the new Locacaca branch are destroyed in the struggle.
With the conflict resolved, Josuke and Yasuho visit Holy in the hospital. While Yasuho catches sight of Josefumi's mother outside, Josuke chooses not to approach her, having embraced his identity as neither Josefumi nor Kira. The two later join the surviving Higashikata family at a cake shop, where they deliberate over a celebratory dessert for Norisuke's impending hospital discharge. The family ultimately defers the decision to Josuke as Yasuho departs, content in the knowledge that he has found both a home and a new purpose.
Characters
Josuke Higashikata is a young man with no memory of his past or name. He is temporarily named "Josuke" by Yasuho after her dog. He later learns that he was originally Josefumi Kujo, a friend of the Kira Family whose body was fused with Yoshikage Kira's by the land later marked by the Wall Eyes and a new form of Locacaca fruit. He uses the Stand Soft & Wet, which allows him to produce soap bubbles that absorb an aspect of whatever object they touch, such as a person's eyesight or the friction of a floor. He later discovers another ability of his Stand he dubs Go Beyond, allowing him to shoot bubbles imbued with an explosive and transcendent form of the Spin phenomenon from Steel Ball Run. Yasuho Hirose is a young woman who discovers Josuke and helps him search for his true identity. She uses the Stand Paisley Park, which has the ability to direct things around Yasuho and send objects through wireless connections. Rai Mamezuku is a plant appraiser and fruit grower who works for the Higashikata fruit company. Norisuke asks him to assist Josuke in searching for, grafting, and harvesting a new type of Locacaca fruit. He uses the Stand Doggy Style, which allows him to peel his flesh like an apple, turning it into a ribbon that he can manipulate. The Higashikata Family are the descendants of Norisuke Higashikata from Steel Ball Run. They suffer from an ancient curse that causes their firstborn child of every generation to turn into stone and die at a young age. The current members of the family live in Morioh and operate a financially-successful fruit company started by their famous ancestor. Norisuke Higashikata IV is the patriarch of the Higashikata family and the manager of his company's primary fruit parlor. Norisuke hopes to break his family's curse using Kira's knowledge of the mysterious Locacaca fruit, but insists upon following a righteous path toward his goals. He uses the Stand King Nothing, which has the ability to track by scent while changing its physical appearance to resemble the target it is tracking. Joshu Higashikata is a college student with an unrequited love for Yasuho. He uses the Stand Nut King Call, which allows him to materialize nuts and bolts through objects or people's bodies; that can be used to either detach objects or limbs from each other, or attach objects together. Daiya Higashikata is a near-blind teenage girl and the youngest daughter of the Higashikata family. She uses the Stand California King Bed, which allows her to steal people's memories and store them within chess pieces if they break one of her rules. When Josuke temporarily moves into her family's house, Daiya instantly falls in love with him and plots to manipulate him into returning her feelings. Hato Higashikata is a fashion model and the eldest daughter of the Higashikata family. She uses the Stand Walking Heart, which allows her to extend her shoes' heels into spikes to walk up walls and impale enemies. Jobin Higashikata is the eldest son of the Higashikata family. Jobin officially works in foreign research for the Higashikata fruit company, but secretly uses his position to launder money and Locacaca fruits for the Locacaca Smuggling Organization. Upon learning of the new Locacaca variant, he secretly plots to use the fruit to cure his son Tsurugi by any means necessary. Jobin uses the Stand Speed King, which allows him to manipulate the temperature of his targets and store heat in objects which can then be released as a trap. Mitsuba Higashikata is Jobin's vain wife and a model working for the Higashikata fruit company's advertising division. She uses the Stand Awaking III Leaves, which allows her to create vector arrows that will repel anything from the arrow's direction. Tsurugi Higashikata is Jobin and Mitsuba's son, an eleven-year-old boy who dresses as a girl to avoid the evil eye, in line with family tradition. Tsurugi fears his family's curse, allowing him to be manipulated by Yotsuyu after seeing him cure a petrified dog named Iwasuke. Tsurugi uses the Stand Paper Moon King, which lets him create origami that disrupts the perception of anyone who touches it, and additionally allows him to create origami from other objects besides paper and control any origami creatures he has made. Kaato Higashikata is Norisuke's ex-wife and the mother of Hato, Joshu, Daiya and Jobin. After Jobin accidentally incapacitated a child with his Stand at a young age, Kaato used the opportunity to save Jobin from the family curse, killing the other youth. She is released from Stone Ocean Jail after serving a fifteen-year sentence, with plans to take her share of the family's fortune. She uses the Stand Space Trucking, which lets her store objects or people between playing cards. Kei Nijimura is the Higashikata family's maid, and is later revealed to be Holy's daughter and Yoshikage Kira's younger sister. She took on a fake last name and evidence of her existence was erased by Kira to infiltrate the Higashikata family. Initially suspicious of Josuke, Nijimura comes to sympathize with the amnesiac and provides him with a clue about his true identity. She uses the Stand Born This Way, which appears when its target opens an item, such as a door or a notebook, and attacks by freezing everything around it. Holy Joestar-Kira is an ophthalmologist from T.H. Medical University Hospital and an associate professor at Morioh's T.G. University. She is hospitalized due to a condition that destroyed parts of her brain and other organs. It is later revealed that she was experimented upon by the Rock Humans in order to create new forms of medicine from the Locacaca fruit. She is the great-granddaughter of Johnny Joestar. Yoshikage Kira is a doctor who is a descendant of Johnny Joestar through his mother Holy. He was friends with Josefumi Kujo, who attempted to help him save Holy's life by stealing a Locacaca branch to use its fruit. After Yoshikage was fatally wounded by the Rock Humans, a combination of the new Locacaca's effects and the emerging Wall Eyes caused his body to swap traits with Josefumi's, creating Josuke. Yoshikage's Stand is Killer Queen, which can producing exploding pockets of air and summon multiple tank-like stands called Sheer Heart Attack.