2024 broughtJoJo’s Bizarre Adventurefans incredible news during the year’s final inning, and it’s incredibly exciting.Steel Ball RunisJoJo’s seventh part, centering around a pan-American horse race sharing the same name. TheJoJoanime’s X announcement ofJOJODAY, aJoJofan event in Japan “connecting the anime’s past and future”, has made it all but certain thatSteel Ball Run’s adaptation is just around the corner.
Steel Ball Runhas come to be called one ofJoJo’s best parts, for very good reason. Fans who have read the manga already know why: the part is massive in every sense, full of twists and turns that will throw off even the most diehardJoJofans. It’s also one ofJoJo’s storytelling pinnacles: it could easily be argued to be one of the most creative efforts on the part of mangaka Hirohiko Araki since the fourth part,Diamond is Unbreakable. Here’s whyJoJofans can’t wait for its adaptation.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Takes on a New Frontier in Steel Ball Run
Stone Ocean’s Ending Set the Stage for Jojo’s Best Part in Years
Steel Ball Runchanged the game forJoJo, which is saying a lot considering the franchise is already renowned for constantly throwing fans off and keeping things fresh. There’s a very strong argument to be made that the preceding part,Stone Ocean, wassupposed to end withJoJo’s previous protagonist Giorno Giovannaarriving to aid Jolyne, Jotaro, and the others in defeating Pucci. It goes without saying that this isn’t what happened, in the end. Long story short: Araki felt that, mechanically and narratively,JoJohad reached its pinnacle with Pucci’s stand, andhe wanted to start over from scratch.
Steel Ball Runrepresents a work built upon a new frontier that Araki cobbled together forJoJo—a blank canvas that tantalizes with its danger as much as its possibility. It’s fitting, then, that the part literally represents a frontier. Set at the turn of the 20th century, the part follows Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli as they compete in a cross-country horse race calledSteel Ball Run. The race, hosted by an oil magnate and with a curious level of oversight by the President, starts in San Francisco and transverses the barely-charted frontier all across America before landing back in New York in the cradle of American familiarity.
This works as a metaphor, too. Starting with the familiar—for example, a protagonist named Johnny Joestar—Steel Ball Runcrosses into the frontier, seemingly extracting new concepts from the salt of the earth, isolated and honed by the foundationJoJo’s Bizarre Adventurelaid in its original universe. Hamon is replaced by a new mechanic called Spin, with an unconventional mechanism at its core. A certain character whose name leads one to expect them to be a villain actually plays a far more complicated role.
The end result is a part that, like Araki wanted, feels astoundingly fresh and familiar at the same time. Once the part crosses the finish line,the big picture is that it feelsunmistakablyJoJo.Steel Ball Runexemplifies everything there is to love about the series.
Johnny and Gyro Are Highlights of the Entire Franchise
JOJO Doesn’t Have a Better Core Duo
Johnny and Gyro, of course, play into that familiarity. Their alliance is supposed to parallel the former JoBro pairings of Jonathan and Will A. Zeppeli (and, less directly, Joseph and Caesar). Both as individuals and as a pair, the dynamic they bring toSteel Ball Runis one of the highlights ofJoJotaken as an entire franchise.
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Gyro, on his own, is an extremely fun character. He gets more screen time and personality than either of his Zeppeli namesakes. Like both of them, he plays a part in teaching Johnny how to harness a power he calls Spin—like Will A. Zeppeli in particular, he’s a very strong user of this power. The exact reason for Gyro’s mastery of Spin is one of the most compelling parts of his character arc, but it’s certainly more involved than either of his namesakes ever received.
While they’re well-written as individuals, where Johnny and Gyro really shine is as a pair. Their developing friendship is front-and-center the entire time, and the bond they develop is as charming as their on-screen interactions, which run the gamut from hilarious to heartwrenching. PrecedingJoJoparts have had friendships at their forefront, but Johnny and Gyro are so endearing, fascinating, and intelligently written that it’s almost unstoppable.
Steel Ball Run Is Already Incredible, But Its Anime Will Be on Another Level
Bringing Steel Ball Run To Life Is Inevitably Going To Be Great
Steel Ball Runis a part where things are perpetually in motion. From the horse race to the underlying mechanics of Spin, everything aboutSteel Ball Runis a concealed reflection of that fact. What’s particularly impressive is that the still panels of manga have garnered such a reputation for a part that is, in effect, hyperactive.
What that means is that what fans love about the part comes from the congealing of everything else.Steel Ball Run’s pacing, narrative, themes, and characters are unbelievably strong. One of the benefits of the alternate universe is that the original universe also laid a conceptual groundwork that allows Araki to be super creative. The concepts and mechanics thatSteel Ball Runworks with are unwieldy and mostly work on an intuitive level, specifically because of that groundwork—but they do work, and they work incredibly well. It’s all around one ofJoJo’s most interesting, dynamic, and thoughtful parts.
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All of that to say, even fans of the series haven’t seen anything yet. David Production has shown themselves to be more than capable with their past work on the franchise. IfSteel Ball Runrepresents Araki’s mastery of manga as a medium,JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s anime represents David Production’s mastery of anime as a medium.
From the soundtrack to the flawless animation, the cleverly timed use of color palette swaps to the way every voice actor absolutely locks in to the role they’re playing, everyJoJopart that worked brilliantly as a manga has worked even better as an anime. This trend is unlikely to stop any time soon—so ifSteel Ball Runis one ofJoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s most brilliantly written parts, the anime’s vivid intensity in adapting an already incredible story is sure to bring one of the best adaptations of the 2020s.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is a Japanese multimedia franchise created by Hirohiko Araki. It follows the adventures of the Joestar family, spanning generations, each with unique abilities and battling supernatural enemies. Known for its eccentric characters, distinctive art style, and creative battles, it includes manga, anime, games, and merchandise.
