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Rohan Kishibe Gets His Own Personal Exhibit at Shibuya Tower Records
posted on by Kim Morrissy
One of the fan favorite characters in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable is Rohan Kishibe, the eccentric manga artist who can peer into a person's inner life using his Stand, Heaven's Door. Such is Rohan's popularity that he recently got an exhibit all to himself in the Shibuya Tower Records between April 25 - May 20.
The exhibit is dedicated to all of Rohan's major appearances in the Diamond is Unbreakable anime and the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan spinoff series, which was recently adapted into an OVA series. So far, only one episode of the OVA series has been released, but the exhibit was held to commemorate the announcement of the release date of the second episode on DVD, which will be bundled with the second volume of the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan manga, released on July 19.
The big draw of the exhibit is that it shows off some of the first screenshots from the yet-to-be-released second episode of the OVA. ANN was given special permission by Shibuya Tower Records to photograph the exhibit, shown below:
The second OVA will adapt the second chapter of the Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan manga, titled “Mutsu-kabe Hill”. Some but not all of these shots were included in the preview Warner Bros. released on February 25.
The first episode covered the fifth chapter of the manga, titled “Millionaire Village”. The exhibit also featured some of Toshiyuki Kato and Yasufumi Soejima's storyboards for the episode.
The rest of the exhibit was dedicated to showing off the setpieces from all of Rohan's major appearances in the Diamond Is Unbreakable TV anime. The most conspicuous thing was the life-sized statue of Rohan wielding his pen.
Rohan's Stand, Heaven's Door, seems as if he's leaping out of the manga panel. This was a nice visual effect.
The exhibit was interactive, too; you could stick the katakana sound effects on the right panel anywhere on the picture to make your own JoJo manga panel.
This is the alleyway from episode 17 “Rohan Kishibe's Adventure”. Depending on the way you look at it, you may be able to spot the hidden alleyway that forms the boundary between the dead and the living.
Now you see it…
...And now you don't.
There was also a recreation of the postbox that is a key landmark of this alleyway. You can even see the stepped-on dog droppings.
From episode 26 “Janken Boy is Coming” is the hole that can suck in Stand powers. Rohan had a very harrowing experience with this.
Episodes 27-28 featured the three dice that Josuke and Rohan used to play Cee-lo with. A board in front of the dice showed the rules of the game and encouraged visitors to play. These dice were definitely not loaded!
Probably the coolest part of the exhibit was the recreation of the Futatsumori Tunnel, which is depicted in episode 28. This shows all of the components of the enemy Stand featured in this episode: Highway Go Go (“Highway Star” in Japanese). Once you walk inside the tunnel, you can look to your left see the trap room that Highway Go Go can create to lure people inside. Turn around and you'll see an image of the body of the Stand in a lunging pose.
Even when you leave the tunnel, you're still not free from Highway Go Go's clutches. When it knows your scent, the Stand will automatically chase you to the ends of the world at a speed of up to 60 km/ph. All you will see of it are dozens of its footprints. This was accurately represented in the exhibit too.
Cheap Trap (“Cheap Trick” in Japanese) is the Stand that attached itself to Rohan's back in episode 33. It's shown hanging from the wall at the very back of the exhibit, next to Rohan's front door.
On top of showing off all these recreations of props and Stands from the anime, each episode Rohan appeared in had a sign describing his outfit. Notably, Rohan is one of the few characters in Diamond is Unbreakable who regularly changes his clothing choices. This was evidently something that the animation team put a lot of thought into every episode.
Finally, the exhibit had an area for fans to leave messages showing their appreciation, as well as a merchandise booth.
There is also a Rohan Kishibe-themed cafe running until May 27, from which visitors can buy a range of exclusive food dishes and merchandise. More details, including the menu and merch list, can be found from the Tower Records website.
Tower Records regularly holds anime-related exhibits on the 8th floor of their Shibuya branch. Their next exhibit is scheduled to be DEVILMAN crybaby from May 23 to June 17.
