This review will contain spoilers for Jojo part 7
If you have heard about Steel Ball Run, it's probably about how fantastic it is. How it's the best part of Jojo, how great the fights are, how nuanced the characters are, how well paced an exhilarating the journey is, ect ect.
And I... agree!
You see contrary to this review's contents, I actually really like this manga, and there was a time it was my favorite Jojo part, but that time has past. See after some deliberate thinking I knew in my heart of hearts that it had been dethroned. Part 5 has a tighter ensemble cast, more intricate stand fights overall, and a greater story arc in ridding Italy of Diavolo's insidious drug trade. But this is not a part 5 review, I'm mainly going to be talking about the extenuating flaws that prevented SBR from being my favorite, or at least a 9-10 out of 10 and more like an 8.
I guess I'll be more clear in what I actually like, but I generally don't enjoy writing stuff I know other people have said before, so I'll make this brief.
I'm sure you can fill in the blanks of what I wrote above with other people's thoughts, since for the most part I agree with what has been written about them. Now lets begin.
Funny Valentine. He's alright, a decent villain, better than Kars I guess, but I don't really get the hype about him. I think people like him for his very over simplified form of patriotism, which in Jojo is a first for it's kind, but under scrutiny it really doesn't hold up. First if we actually examined his plan for the corpse parts it's completely idiotic, the steel ball run race was a complete waste of money, being the president should allow you to give the executive order for the FBI to go hunt for it themselves, but you blow it on a race that puts random american citizens in the line of fire in the hopes they may stumble upon this extremely delicate and important item? And to top that, Valentine doesn't even know what it does before Love Train, it was pure speculation before the race began, or even if it's affects can be administered to the entire United States, and reapplied based on border changes. Even if it works as intended, the only result would be the entire world declaring war on the United States for selfishly deflecting all misfortune away from them. A war they would most definitely lose, since it literally only took some italian execution technique to break through Love Train, you wouldn't think (part 8 spoiler) or other forms of the spin exist outside of the US, out numbered by troops in the billions, as well as the obvious protests from the american populous of relocating and abusing the corpse of Jesus christ for capital gain?
The only outcome for Valentine's plan is pain and destruction, yet some people say "Valentine did nothing wrong" which isn't a position anyone should take seriously (since it's a fictional character) but it's still noteworthy that people believe in him anyway? Why? Well simply, there isn't a single other character in the entire part that believes in anything other than their own goals. Now I get it, there's a race to win after all, but it doesn't sit right with me how Valentine is only really the villain in that he impairs Johnny's own goals of gaining the corpse parts to be able to walk again. You see this in the stand off after he's hit by the infinite rotation, Valentine postures as a man motivated by justice, that he keeps by his word, and that he will return all the people that have died in the race from other dimensions, including Gyro. Johnny's only response to any of this is the same self flagellating he's been doing for the entire part, why not actually note the obvious, that he says he's righteous while doing the opposite. It's easy for Valentine to be the charismatic one when the protagonist is anything but, when Valentine can literally put 5 bullets in Gyro and Johnny is still licking his boots.
Some people say this is "the point" in the sense that Valentine is motivated selfishly in the same way any other character in the part is, in how he chooses not to pick up the gun in that final confrontation, which at least dovetails well with the theme of fatherhood noted by the napkin from his father he holds onto as a keepsake, in contrast with Johnny and Gyro who both left their own fathers in their own journey to become their own men. However outside of that it's an interpretation that doesn't leave much in it's wake, as the setting Araki was trying to explore in this part remains just as destitute as how it started, and the hope for a way out for it's characters are null in the face of selfishness and murder. A good example of this is Sandman, who enters the race with the hope of buying territory for his people, only to die in chapter 30ish with a completely different stand for some reason (i know its a D4C red herring, i dont care). Or Pocoloco, a character I actually kinda like but is pretty much the only black racer in the part who is motivated by uninteresting greed. Even the villains of Steel Ball Run act in complete accordance with Valentine's orders, and are often nothing more than rogue's gallery fodder (with the exception of Blackmore, Axl Ro and Ringo Roadagain), even the curious Lucy Steel had the potentially interesting arc of infiltrating the government but is mostly let down by the fact that she is singularly motivated by her love for her groomer... I mean husband Steven Steel.
It's just kind of the end result of writing a setting off nothing but stereotypes born from the western genre instead of actually exploring the land and the people that inhabit it. I honestly wouldn't even mind since this most definitely applies to other Jojo parts, if Steel Ball Run wasn't this supposed "great western" that (along with blood meridian) just ham up the most reductive aspects of the genre for the sake of being engaging on a moment to moment basis. This isn't even something that is born from Araki being Japanese or any notion of "historical accuracy", Cowboy Bebop is just as much a western as Steel Ball Run but actually explores multi-polarity, following one's convictions, and leaving room for hope in a desolate setting. Hell I won't be caught defending Vinland Saga's historical accuracy but at least the setting aids in exploring Thorfinn's journey in a way that could only come from someone who knows he's writing fiction. It's just the notion that the western genre only exists against the hope for a better country, that one's selfishness is the only way to a better future, that makes Valentine the oh so "perfect foil" to the rest of the characters and the part as a whole, but it's a false dichotomy if there ever was one.
I could keep this review going with other pithy back scratcher complaints, the often meaningless call backs and other fan service, the bad fights pre ultra jump switch, occasional dips in artistic quality, but the main issues have been laid out above. In reality most people who like SBR like Johnny and Gyro, and I understand completely, however for something to be truly great I need more, and the world and characters outside of their journey leave much to be desired.
And for those who want to know my part ranking
Thanks for reading.
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