SPOILERS AHEAD
I've tried to make this review as spoiler friendly as possible necessary spoilers have been tagged appropriately.
This review will break down JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken: Steel Ball Run into parts which will help understand each aspect of the story in detail and share specifics which made me acknowledge and appreciate Araki's masterpiece.
ForewordI've always been a fan of Jojo and considered any show to be subjective to its viewer but the sheer brilliance of Steel Ball Run (SBR)
made me objectively dub it as the best work of Araki and made it the first animanga I ever review, the 2000+ word limit and my belief of the quality of work being tied to its viewer's experience (which I still believe in) never really made me want to write a review before but this journey of reading and trying to understand SBR has been so special and magical to me I hope to convey some of that feeling by going over the different parts and trying to understand Araki's brilliance in writing SBR.
Trigger warning (this might piss off a lot of you guys) even tho SBR is objectively Araki's best piece of work I enjoyed Golden Wind more than SBR and that is simply due to my preference so subjectively SBR is not my favorite part so depending on how this goes might end up reviewing Part 5.
Part 1: How did we get to SBR and why it's important:Over this part id mainly like to discuss the end of Part 6 Stone Ocean and why it plays such a key role.
Spoiler, click to view
In short at the end of Stone Ocean, the universe as we know it since Phantom Blood is reset to a world without Dio and Pucci thanks to Made In Heaven bringing an end to what we call "the original timeline" to the "SBR timeline", while this remains to be a controversial decision in the fanbase what id like to discuss is not related to any of that. Most mangakas in today's time after getting their IP mainstream would do everything in their power to maintain and ride that success like making many side stories/alternatives/different timelines whatever you call it primarily keeping the same cast that the fanbase loves to keep it relevant or making unnecessary sequels, whether this is a good choice or a bad one completely depends on the outcome but the fact remains that it is the conventional choice, Hirohiko Araki breaks this convention by removing everything and everyone we know and love from the original part to start fresh because that's how he wanted his story of Jonathan's descendants' eternal curse of fighting against Dio and his minions to end and frankly it was the right choice as the plot had nowhere to go from there as much as everyone would have liked Dio to be revived for some cheap excuse and Jotaro to keep beat him again and again it would have felt recycled and just an excuse to remain relevant. Araki's greatest feat was deciding to end the universe there even tho it would have been unconventional and his fans would dislike it. He keeps callbacks to the original universe and yet tells a completely different and unique story which most mangakas nowadays would not risk.
Part 2: Art/Theme :Araki perfects his bizarre yet expressive art style that we are used to since Phantom Blood everything in SBR from volume covers to panels is on a different level compared to his previous works. Even tho it's not as detailed and intricate as some of the other mangas out there Araki adds his charm and expresses the story perfectly in each panel. Whether it's a landscape panel of hundreds of horses or just a panel of Gyro and Johnny fooling around it's done perfectly about the theme of the story. A barren desert primarily features as the background to the story of horse racers trying to race across the country in the Steel ball run race. Araki has changed his art style to complement the theme of the story most prominently in Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable, he changed his art style and character designs to fit the laid back slice of life theme of Part 4 while this is done subtly in the manga it is better noticed in the anime. Overall the art is perfect for the story it is trying to portray
10/10.
Some of the panels where Araki shows his improved art and masterful paneling:
Spoiler, click to view
Some of my favorites:
Spoiler, click to view
Part 3: Plot/Storyline:Steven Steel the organizer of the Steel Ball Run race gathers thousands of people from across the world to race across the country for a cash prize. Two of these participants are Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli our main characters.
Spoiler, click to view
Everyone including Steel , Johnny and Gyro have been misled to the true purpose of the race. A man named Funny Valentine the 23rd President of the United States is revealed to be running the race from the shadows his true purpose is to collect "corpse parts" of a saint who lived 1900 years ago.Johnny Joestar the genius jockey who is now crippled and nothing but a shadow of his former glorious self is intrigued by the man named Gyro Zeppeli he believes understanding this weird power of steel balls that Gyro possesses will make him stand again.
The race itself is divided into 9 parts with the winner from each part receiving a time bonus and other rewards many other racers from around the world participate for the cash price. During the early stages of the race when its course runs through the Arizona desert some of these participants awaken stand abilities and due to the fate in the world of Jojo stand users attract one another.
This sums up the plot of SBR while at first the idea of a race being the center of the plot might seem bland SBR executes it perfectly with the ending of each arc having you more excited for the next one. Araki's brilliance in writing his side characters and side villains manages to always keep the story interesting. The plot remarkably gets better in the later parts with more involvement from the main villain. Overall though it had me in doubts at first the execution of the plot with surprise elements like the saint's identity , the spy and the backstories of all the characters are more than enough to fuel the plot.
9.5/10
Part 4: Characters Lets talk about the 2 main characters first as it'll help us understand the core of this story.
Johnny Joestar
Spoiler, click to view
"This story is the tale of me starting to walk. Not in the physical sense... but in an adolescence to adulthood sort of way... "Johnny grew up as a child constantly seeking the approval and love of his father and he always admired his Elder brother Nicholas. So when his brother died due to an accident , Johnny believed he caused it when he released his pet rat Danny. The guilt of his brother's death remains with Johnny constantly weighing him down, his own father saying that god had taken the wrong son acts as the core to Johnny's character and he goes on to lose his legs which won him all his races causing him to believe he is cursed and destined to fail.
"It wasn’t supposed to be my brother, it should have been me who was taken. I should have been the one to die… That’s why I had to pay the price. Someday, Fate would catch up with me."
This is the reason he is so determined to be able use his legs again . The reason he is determined to learn spin from Gyro and why he seeks to find the corpse's parts in hopes that it might return his legs back to him.
As the story goes on we see Johnny grow as a person trying to forgive himself for his brother's death . With Gyro's lessons and the corpse's parts awakening Johnny's stand Tusk we see him alter fate for his purpose.
"If your heart is wavering... Do not shoot. You will grow... Once more shall the gates leading to a new path open for you. "
Gyro Zeppeli
Spoiler, click to view
Descendent from the family of executioners of Naples his mastery of the steel balls allow him to produce and manipulate spin later while passing through the devil's palm he awakens his stand with Johnny. Gyro participates in the race to win amnesty for a child that he is to execute. The Zeppeli family are bound to act as the will of their king when Gyro's father was training Gyro to be an executioner he tells him to throw his emotions and sentimentality away. Gyro who tries to follow his father's teaching still cannot accept that a child be executed for a crime he was barely involved in. After talking to the king's advisor Gyro decides to participate and win the race to save the kid . Gyro acts as the perfect primary ally or Jobro to Johnny and most of the times even out shadowing Johnny, he also acts as the source of comedy and entertainment in the story.Arguably the most important character in the story Gyro's sacrifice in the end is what made the story so special to me. Him sacrificing himself to teach Johnny lesson 5 entrusting him with killing the president. Gyro acts as the perfect support character and face of the show ,even more than the main character. He goes through his own character development learning the path of a true man from Ringo and is ready to sacrifice everything to win the race. Gyro is someone i would call a perfect character he is there in the bulk of the story and every scene he is in his impact is what makes the scene special.
Spoiler, click to view
The primary antagonist of SBR is Funny Valentine who wants to retrieve the corpse of Jesus to misdirect all misfortune that happens to his country onto other countries. He carries out his role perfectly with his terrifying ability D4C. There is a mystery and frightening nature to D4C making it so powerful and perfectly fit the role of a final villain. Funny Valentine who is extremely patriotic like his father gained D4C in a Devil's pit with the corpse's heart and went on to become the president of the United States. Here is where I have a slight issue with the manga I felt the main villain's father had a better back story than the main villain I understand that his dad is what made him what he is and his story has influenced everything he did but id liked to have gotten a bit more about Valentine's backstory. Him bringing Diego from another world just to make sure his country prospers even when he is dead shows his incredible patriotism and intelligence.
Spoiler, click to view
Arguably what Araki does best is his side characters each one fleshed out with their own backstory and motive to either win the race or find the saint's corpse every one of them interesting and keep the story moving during the 9 parts of the race and when Valentine is not directly involved . Most notable side characters include Diego , Hot pants , Lucy Steel ,Weakpipo , Ringo Roadagain , Mountain Tim and many more. With such a vast bunch of characters to choose from Araki weaves them in intricately and perfectly each doing their job neatly. Characters like Weakpipo and Ringo help the main characters grow while Diego is always there to compete with them and Lucy and Hot pants offer help when the main characters need it . Araki perfectly manages each one of them to keep his story flowing.10/10
Part 5: Power System:Araki adds a significant change to the power system to clearly differentiate this timeline with the original. With the introduction of Spin to be the replacement or possibly even the stronger version of hamon while he still keeps stands, most of them are significantly stronger. I love when Araki randomly adds any science facts he has learnt as an ability in Jojo with the Mobius strip in Stone Ocean and the Golden rectangle in SBR . The Golden ratio is such a cool and unique concept that fits so well with Gyro and his character. Araki goes beyond here adding so much depth into SBR's power system.
9.5/10
What sets SBR apart for meI feel Araki has mastered each of the previously stated feats throughout the years through the Parts1-6 , SBR was the culmination of Araki putting all his skills together on an empty canvas with no restrictions to hold him back. SBR takes every niche there is and does them perfectly. I was initially curious about all the hype around SBR but I waited till Stone ocean ended to read it. The ending of Part 6 had me asking the same questions "Why on Earth would he do that?" but Araki does the unconventional and steps out the box to paint his masterstroke. I had an amazing journey reading through this part it made me fall in love with Jojo again. This is a must read for manga fans in general, the great thing abt SBR is you don't need to read anything to get into it you can dive straight into it . With Jojolands possibly being his last work on this franchise I'm glad I got to experience and enjoy the pinnacle of a master at his work. SBR has and will go down as a timeless classic in the seinen category.
''This is a story of revival… How I was literally able to start walking again… and thinking back, I was constantly praying the whole journey… even this cross-continental race by horse was a journey of prayer. Praying for the weather tomorrow. Praying that when when we wake up the next day there would be a road on the land. Praying that we would have food and a place to sleep. Praying that our campfire would light. And while these common things would repeat, prayer that my friend and the horses would be okay. And we crossed each river one by one. Now… I have crossed the final river.''
