Josuke Higashikata is at the heart of JoJolion, a young man with amnesia trying to find out more about himself. Unlike all other previous protagonists in the series of JoJo, Josuke does not battle protect other people or out of vengeance. Instead, he tries to know about himself-where he is from and why those scars on his body.

The search for identity of Josuke becomes much more complex because he gets caught up in the mystery of the Higashikata family and its legacy. The Higashikata family is closely associated with the town of Morioh’s history, and in return, the events of Diamond is Unbreakable (Part 4) provide a background of this town. Through the secrets of this family, the series brings the theme of an inheritance, but not only physical traits but also the psychological and emotional scars that characterize people.

At its core, JoJolion is about the human condition and the struggle to define one’s place in a world full of beauty and chaos. The manga explores trauma, both physical and psychological, as a central theme. Many of the characters, including Josuke, are marked by past events, experiences, and losses that affect their perceptions and relationships. The trauma from the past doesn’t just disappear—it’s passed down, buried, and often manifests in unexpected ways.

This exploration of trauma is embodied in the Rokakaka Fruit, a mysterious object in JoJolion that can heal or alter human bodies. The fruit, which holds the power to erase scars or change one’s physicality, becomes a metaphor for the lengths people go to in order to change or escape their past. But this change comes with a price. JoJolion raises questions about whether the healing is true without confronting the root causes of pain and whether pursuing perfect self-identity is worth the cost.

Human connection is also crucial to JoJolion. The relationships Josuke forms with other people, friends or enemies, reflect the intricate web of relationships that characterize human lives. The Stand fights in the manga are often illustrated as weird, supernatural battles and represent inner turmoil for control and meaning and the balancing of emotion. In JoJo’s universe, the abilities of the Stands are external manifestations of a user’s psychic self, meaning that the fight is a figurative representation of the character’s inner conflict.

The lineage is at the core of JoJolion and works well into the broader context of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. Often, Araki relies on both the family and heritage themselves as the primary factors in forwarding his plot lines. For JoJolion, this theme arises through the twisted, and sometimes tragic, history of the Higashikata family. The manga continuously deems inheritance-biological and psychological alike-a theme, along with how past generations will delineate them.

Josuke, who belongs to this family, must deal with the legacy that is forced upon him, even as he tries to chart his own way. This inquiry raises a question: how much of who we are is a product of the people who preceded us? How much of our destiny lies in our own hands? The tension between these two forces—the inherited legacy and the individual’s ability to redefine themselves—forms the emotional crux of the manga.