A new interview with Fairouz Ai, the voice of Jolyne Cujoh in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean’s Japanese dub, offers a unique perspective on the global appeal of the franchise. 

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Ai is an Egyptian-Japanese voice actress and has said that voicing Cujoh has been a literal dream come true. Ai previously said that the protagonist is so important to her that she’d rather voice the side character Foo Fighter so as to support Jolyne. You can hear that same saccharine sentiment as Ai discusses the show with Netflix Anime.

“When I’m facing difficulties in my life, I think of Jolyne,” she says. “It gives me courage and makes me feel that I can be strong like her. What a girl!”

Cast as Jolyne, Ai was welcomed to the role by fans across the globe. She recounts how “people all over the world celebrated me in different languages through social media.” That reflects the international love for the series, which has topped charts far and wide.

 “Jojo’s is loved by many people despite differences in age, gender, race, nationality, and culture,” Ai says, and she shares what she thinks is the reason for that success: “‘Humanity’ depicted here is not limited to Japanese or British, but highlights different countries through the series, allowing more people to empathize with the story.”

Stone Ocean continues to expand the franchise with that in mind. It’s set in Florida, of all places, and Jolyne is a bit different from other Jojos. She’s the series’ first female protagonist, but Ai illustrates what else is significant about her.

“The past protagonists of the series…they already have guts from the beginning of the story. Most of them are skilled and prepared to fight. But Jolyne…starts off as a delinquent crybaby. She doesn’t have any guts or pride, and in a way, is pretty miserable. But once she finds her purpose, she becomes stronger than anyone else. No matter what difficulty she faces she’s got the power to boost herself to overcome it.”

In case you can’t tell how much important Jolyne is to Ai, just hear what she’s most excited about seeing in David Productions’ anime adaptation of the beloved manga.

“At the time STONE OCEAN was serialized, a battle manga starring a woman protagonist was pretty rare. I was so surprised when I first saw it. Girls can also fight. They’re so strong and cool! It left a great impact on me. Now, as an anime…the balance of women’s flexibility, beauty, and strength creates a different sense of fascination from the manga.”

It’s been over 20 years since Stone Ocean was first published in Weekly Shōnen Jump as the sixth arc in Hirohiko Araki’s manga JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. David Productions began adapting the series into anime in 2012. 

You can stream the first 12 episodes of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Oceanon Netflix.