Jupiter of the Monkey

Jupiter of the Monkey is the name of both the brand and the pin. This article is about the brand.

Jupiter of the Monkey, also known as J of the M (sometimes shortened further to JotM or Jupes ), is one of the 13 brands in The World Ends with You. It also returned in NEO: The World Ends with You. It represents the Monkey in the Chinese zodiac.

The brand's style is that of modern urban and sporty clothing, featuring zip-up parkas, loose fitting jeans, and high-top sneakers. Stripes and names based off of Japanese legends and mythology are a common theme in Jupiter of the Monkey's designs, and nearly all their clothes and accessories are blue in color (with the exception of one item). Jupiter of the Monkey's threads and pins retain their Japanese names, not being based off of English words.

Almost all of the threads' abilities affect Neku, indicating that he is a fan of this brand. This is supported by the flavor text for the Inazuma threads, which claims that they're Neku's favorites, as well as the flavor text for the Dharma thread, which says that Neku's constantly been wearing his. In fact, the shirt Neku wears throughout the game is Dharma.

In both games, Jupiter of the Monkey has one main store located in Cat Street run by Keiichi Okada, though pins may also be sold in Edoga and AMX in the first game. Jupiter of the Monkey is often the most popular brand on Cat Street, due to having its main store there.

Jupiter of the Monkey's pins are mostly positive psychs involving tapping or slashing enemies.

References to the Chinese zodiac[]

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A story goes within the mythos of the Chinese zodiac animals that, after the tiger had completed its trials to become the king of beasts within the natural world, the tiger had appointed the monkey to be its adviser and close helper. Though the tiger was benevolent and righteous, the tiger's role as a predator awed and scared the public, other than the monkey, who it lived alongside with as neighbors and were the best of friends together. In turn, for being in tune with the public and a benevolent herald and messenger of the wild as the tiger's adviser, the monkey was widely revered and temporarily ruled when the tiger was out. One day, the tiger had fell into a hunter's trap, but being great friends, the monkey had saved the tiger's life, and the tiger granted his graces of helping the monkey to repay its help. When the Jade Emperor decided to designate and appoint the 12 animals to the zodiac, the tiger helped the monkey by giving his word, and so the monkey was selected in. However, due to the tiger's pride, it felt that the monkey had little to no skill that compared to the rest of the animals, and since then, the two have been rivals.
Within Japan, the word for monkey is culturally significant, as it is a homophone for the term saru (去る, saru, to expel), particularly in the case of demons and the supernatural._[ ? ] Specific deities of Japanese faith are also monkey gods who are noted to be particularly exceptional in the subduing of demons and are looked to as the protectors and heroes of the people. It is from this that the brand is heavily featured with names and titles from Japanese religion and mythology. Jupiter of the Monkey is also a unique wordplay to refer to Son Goku or Sun Wukong, who is known as the Monkey King and one of the main heroes of the famous tale, Journey to the West.
- Considering its clothing line, its aim of comfortable and sporty attire are named accordingly so to emphasize the "exorcising the demons of discomfort and the harsh elements" within activities and pastimes, and to further protect from such ills like divine graces and blessings. Though the color blue within Japan has connotations with death and villainy, within Shinto and traditional Japanese thought, blue is significant of that of the spirit, purity, and the heavens. With the off color of red for the thread Ashura, red is significant of bravery, heroism, the intensity of spirit, and blessings to ward off illness and disease.
- Considering its pins and psychs, its feature of weaponry focused psyches are in reference to Monkey signs being resourceful, intelligent, and crafty. One notable aspect of their pins is that of their katana named line, as Japanese swordsmiths were also considered spiritual craftsmen within the context of Shinto, which states the belief of how all things bear spiritual presence, and the swords of their make were often considered those with holy and benevolent influence, which in turn deified them as gods of swordsmithing. Further related to this aspect is that though weapons define the age within the course of history, those that wield them come to shape history; one notable Monkey sign is that of Miyamoto Musashi, who is widely considered Japan's greatest swordsman in history.
There exists the tale of Jupiter and the Monkey. The story goes in that Jupiter/Zeus held a beauty contest for the animals of the world and their offspring. During the contest, a mother monkey entered and showed her baby to the crowd. Though the crowd did not think her child was pretty enough and laughed in jest, she contested that even if she nor her child won the contest, she believed her child was the prettiest and sweetest. Along with how the aesop of the story tells that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it also tells that virtue is more important than perfection, and that everyone will eventually have their day in the sun.
In theme with its brand design, there is a saying regarding the tiger and the monkey: "the monkey reigns in the mountains when the tiger is not there". Though the tiger represents the underground, and with its rock theme, rebellion and fighting back against the unwholesome aspects of current rule and common thought, another saying goes "That which we do not possess is of little value". Jupiter of the Monkey comes to hybridize Japanese authenticity with western method, and goes to show the more positive aspects of popularity and being in the mainstream, including a need to recognize times of peace and promoting positivity and acceptance. Though Jupiter of the Monkey caters to the everyday and current trends and styles, including sports wear, being closely related with popular music, appeasing to the minds of the general populace, and even to seemingly not truly representing Japanese culture tangibly, it should be noted that their clothes are all encompassing with comfortable, practical, and fashionable features, and the atmosphere of their main store is more welcoming than the Tigre Punks main shop, ironically located within Molco. While punk rock and metal is still a thing, there is a current struggle with its popularity and identity of what makes it "true" within the west, and its scene also being incidentally associated with less than wholesome identities and subcultures that run counter and even hypocritical to its rebellious and virtuous aspects that have risen post its popularity.
Regarding compatibility with certain brands, Jupiter of the Monkey does well with Mus Rattus and Dragon Couture. All mesh well due to their common design traits, specifically drawn from Western modern clothing, and comes to branch out to their own aesthetics and style. Mus Rattus's clothes aid in JotM's laid back nature, while JotM can come to add a sharp and cool kick to the modest nature of Mus Rattus. Dragon Couture and JotM fully bring together the Information Age Asian fashion feel, allowing for a strong base of clothes that can be accentuated with accessories and shoes from other styles.

Featured Pins[]

The World Ends with You[]

Jupiter of the Monkey pins could be seen as being easy to use, but as a semi-beginner brand, is outclassed near the end of the game.

Ichimonji (given on Joshua, Day 2) features a fast, high-efficiency psych (Lance Lunge) and is mainly used in speedruns. Mikazuki is its superior evolution.
Yoshimitsu is the best Shockwave pin. It is possible to get this as early as W1D5 by evolving Masamune via MPP, then SDPP twice.

NEO: The World Ends with You[]

Featured Threads[]

The World Ends with You[]

All the threads that boost Neku's stats aren't the most useful as the better threads in the game tend to provide better boosts aside from the stat increase.

Naraka (Joshua, Day 3) features Puck Power 1 and has a low BRV requirement. Equipping this on both Neku and Joshua will start the puck at 3X instead of 2X. Be sure to grab another one for Beat.