Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The shout is a name, a threat and a punchline at once: DIO says it, time stops, and everyone else loses. The odd Japanese-English pronunciation turned it into one of the web's best-known anime memes, shouted in videos, games and group chats whenever somebody wants to freeze a moment. Behind the joke, it marks the moment a fight in the series stops being a brawl and becomes a puzzle about how to beat time itself.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for JoJo's Bizarre AdventureShow the scene
It is the name of DIO's Stand, The World, shouted in the Japanese approximation ("Za Warudo") that gave the line its meme life. In Part 3 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Stardust Crusaders, the vampire DIO waits in his Cairo mansion for Jotaro Kujo and his allies. The Stand makes its full debut in manga chapter 248 and in Stardust Crusaders episode 45 of the TV anime, in the "DIO's World" stretch of the story, and chapter 253 sets out its power: it stops time, so that only DIO and anyone with a matching power can move. DIO uses the pause to barrage opponents, and the cry is how he triggers it. Nobuo Tanaka voiced The World in the OVA and Takehito Koyasu in the TV anime.
Sources (3)
- JoJo Wiki: The WorldInfobox and Time Stop sectionReference checked
- JoJo Wiki: DIO's World, Part 2InfoboxReference checked
- JoJo Wiki: DIO's World: Farewell, My Friends (OVA episode 13)InfoboxReference checked
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