In the Major League Baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants on July 23, 2024, Shohei Ohtani, the Dodgers’ star pitcher and designated hitter, walked onto the field with JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure music playing in the background.
The game, held at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California, highlighted a unique event called “Women’s Night,” where various activities focused on celebrating women. As part of this celebration, the wives and partners of the players chose their entrance songs.
For Shohei Ohtani, his wife Mamiko Tanaka selected the iconic piece “il vento d’oro” composed by Yugo Kanno. It is an extremely popular track from the anime series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, particularly being from the OST of the fourth season, Golden Wind.
Shohei Ohtani’s Walk-up Song
Ohtani batted first as the designated hitter in the game. He remains only one hit away from his 250th home run combined from his career in Japan and the United States. Although he didn’t hit a home run in this game, he majorly contributed to the Dodgers’ win against the Giants, hitting a two-run double.
il vento d’oro
Golden Wind is an adaptation of the fifth part of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure manga. Some fans refer to the track as “Giorno Giovanna‘s theme”, although the track represents a victory theme for Golden Wind as a whole rather than exclusively Giorno, who is the protagonist of Golden Wind. It is included in Volume 1 of the soundtrack called “Overture“.
Upon reading the news, Yugo Kanno posted that he is honored.
It seems that Ohtani used a song from JoJo as his entrance music. I’m honored! Congratulations on the two-run double!
The JOJOLands Mentions Ohtani
Coincidentally, the creator of JoJo, Hirohiko Araki, mentioned Ohtani just last month in his manga. Part 9 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, The JOJOLands, is currently being serialized in the Ultra Jump magazine.
In the sixteenth chapter which released on June 19, 2024, a character named Congressman White mentions that his daughter Sophie was talking about Ohtani while making her father breakfast.
The JOJOLands takes place in Hawaii. Last April, Ohtani revealed that he is building a massive mansion on Hawaii’s Big Island.