ジョジョの奇妙な冒険スティール・ボール・ラン 1st STAGE

STEEL BALL RUN JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE 1ST STAGE

ONA

STATUS
COMPLETE
EPISODES
1
RELEASE
March 19, 2026
LENGTH
47 min

DESCRIPTION

It’s 1890, in America, the Steel Ball Run — the first horse racing championship across the North American continent — was about to begin. Johnny Joestar, once being hailed as a genius jockey, is now paralysed and lost in despair. He finds hope in the mysterious phenomena caused by Gyro Zeppeli, an outlaw aiming to win the race, and determines to participate in the 4,000 miles of grueling adventure.

(Source: STEEL BALL RUN: JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken Site)

CAST

Gyro Zeppeli
Youhei Azakami
Johnny Joestar
Shougo Sakata
Diego Brando
Kaito Ishikawa
Lucy Steel
Rie Takahashi
Sandman
Masaaki Mizunaka
Pocoloco
Kenichirou Matsuda
Steven Steel
Kenta Miyake
Urmd Avdol
Kenta Miyake
Mountain Tim

Episodes (7)

Episodes are being prepared. Check back soon.

RELATED TO STEEL BALL RUN JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE 1ST STAGE

Cover Art for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 7–Steel Ball Run

MANGA ActionJoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 7–Steel Ball Run

Cover Art for JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: STONE OCEAN Part 2

ONA ActionJoJo's Bizarre Adventure: STONE OCEAN Part 2

Cover Art for STEEL BALL RUN JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 2nd - 3rd STAGE

ONA ActionSTEEL BALL RUN JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 2nd - 3rd STAGE

REVIEWS

Underscore
79/100
Potential that was cut short
⬢⬡⬢| Steel Ball Run |⬢⬡⬢

I want to preface by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed what was given, I only wish that the release schedule was made transparent as it did effect my viewing experience and I think that setting expectations is important to enjoyment of a show. But more importantly this split release truncated what was supposed to be a serialized adaptation, not allowing it to shine to its full potential.

⬢⬡| Overview |⬡⬢
- Story: The start of a transcontinental horse race in the late 1800's within the alternate universe created in Stone Ocean. It was full of the classic Jojo's tension and action. (7/10)
- Characters: New faces with familiar names, mainly Gyro Zeppeli, and Johnny Joestar. They're both kinda jerks, but I liked every character, not just them, and thought they all added a unique element to the story. (7/10)
- Visuals: Very well animated in the expected Jojo's artstyle. I must point out that while I was dubious of CGI usage, it actually looks good and isn't easily noticeable. (8.5/10)
- Audio: SFX were good, I recognized a few from previous parts, the music was also good, but I felt that aside from a couple points, merely did its job but nothing more. (8/10)
- Bingeable/Hype: I was very excited to watch this, and was thoroughly engrossed the entire time. (9/10)
- Enjoyment: Nothing bad to say aside from the brevity which left a lot to be desired. Happy with what's there, just not how much of it. (8/10)
⬡ Overall: (7.9/10) ⬡

⬢⬡| Plot |⬡⬢

(7/10)

1890, the Steel Ball Run begins, a race across the United States of America. It follows a similar formula to previous Jojo's parts, with a main goal being pursued by the main character (Jojo), and their retinue. Although this story seems to focus equally on gyro Zeppeli and the mystery of his pair of spinning steel balls. I thought that the episode/anime did a wonderful job of establishing the premise and setting and immediately delivered with a high intensity first part of the race that introduced a myriad of characters. I initially wanted to describe this part as self-contained since there is setup, climax, and conclusion. Unfortunately, it clearly is meant to be the first episode of many with the intention of immediate follow up of a 2nd episode which never comes. This is the one and only crux of the anime, and it leaves the story incomplete, restricting its potential, like a half finished story.

⬢⬡| Characters |⬡⬢

(7/10)

We see some familiar names: Gyro Zeppeli, Urmd Avdul, Diego Brando, Johnny Joestar, but all new characters. I was curious to see how they compare to their namesakes and watch their relationships with one another, but unfortunately there is little opportunity for this. Most of the interaction we see is brief one-on-one conversations during the race, mostly the two MC's Gyro Zeppeli and Johnny Joestar, with some characters not interacting at all. Each character definitely has, well, character, and different personalities which you can see right off the bat. Side note: Johnny and Zeppeli both seem like jerks.

⬢⬡| Visuals |⬡⬢

(8.5/10)

Phenomenal. Great animation, design, the art direction is on point, I mean look at those gifs. The palette changes during intense moments and just use of color in general was really well done. Iconic character designs (I especially like Zeppeli's). I will admit, I was hesitant of the CGI usage, especially with the horses, but it's hardly noticeable, and honestly not a big deal when you do because it's extremely well done; it still feels like Jojo's and 2D style in general.

⬢⬡| Audio |⬡⬢

(8/10)

Pretty decent sound effects, I noticed a few I've heard before which isn't a complaint. I like the callbacks. The sound design throughout was good, but the music in my opinion, for the most part was nothing special. Good for sure, but nothing that screamed "Jojo's," nothing that stood out as exeptional aside from a couple moments. Again, not a bad thing at all, I'm not expecting the greatest symphony ever every 5 minutes, I just don't think there might've been much opportunity to show off.

⬢⬡| Bingeability/Hype |⬡⬢

(9/10)

I was very very excited to watch this, I have been watching Jojo's for a while and had just barely completed Stone Ocean in time to catch up to the premiere. As far as my excitement and engagement while watching, I was glued to the screen. I don't think captivated is the right word, but I was solely focused on watching, and in fact rewatched (for a couple reasons) and was equally as engrossed, where usually I lose a bit of interest the second time around.

⬢⬡| Enjoyment |⬡⬢

(8/10)

I wasn't planning on writing anything about SBR, and definitely not so soon after it started airing, especially since if you're watching this, you've probably seen the previous 6 Jojo's parts and I'm figuring if I liked it this far, I'll probably also like it this time. Actually, it's because I've been a fan up until now that I feel the need to speak up.

I started watching Jojo's with my friends a while ago, slowly but steadily making my way up to current seasons. But as SBR approached I started watching it on my own in order to catch up with the release to the point where I ended up binging the last half of Stone Ocean over a weekend. I also resubscribed to Netflix (for a few reasons, but this being one of them) and I feel like my loyalty as a fan has been betrayed. This was objectively one of, if not the, most anticipated anime seasons basically ever. It was hyped up for so long, episode 1 was released, life was good, and then... nothing? No updates, no apologies, radio silence up until 2 weeks after the first episode came out and all they have to say is "2nd stage comes out this fall." WHAT DO YOU MEAN PART 2?! All we were given was a single 45 minute episode and nothing else. Why should I believe that we really will get weekly releases this fall? Why would I want to support that in the first place when I've been dying of thirst and Netflix spits in my face and tells me to take a drink.

I want to say that I actually did enjoy the episode itself. I thought the animation was on par if not better than previous seasons, the Jojo "feel" was there, even the music was good. I was actually invested in the story, and, perhaps this is worst of all, I cared about watching it. Big mistake me! How could I have been so foolish as to actually anticipate watching more. I wasn't sure if I should voice my opinions on this, since it's not technically about the anime itself, but it kind of is. It does affect the anime and viewers like myself because expectations were set and then not met, and the final product feels unfinished, because it is.

Looking at this whole thing, I realize it's better late than never. I won't pretend to know why things went the way they did, and I'm sure many many people worked hard on providing the best experience they could, and at least the animation team acknowledged the fans, and have responded with a release schedule in the fall 2026 season (which is still half a year away by the way). But if that was the plan all along they should have lead with that! I think a little transparency would go a long way, and now I'm just concerned all the momentum leading up to the premiere of SBR has been lost. But who am I kidding, like I said, Jojo's has one of the most loyal fan bases out there. That being said there's no reason, actually there's more of a reason to, communicate with the audience.

I guess all I really want to say is that the quality is good, but everything else has been a nightmare. If they would've delayed release initially, I would have been upset, but ultimately understanding, however when I'm given a half finished product and no follow up I get a little bit upset. Don't half-ass something, because then you're just left with a single butt cheek and nobody wants that. Either no ass, or the whole cake.
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CoffeeTime
92/100
An honest, spoiler free review from someone that has never seen anything related to Jojo's before. Wow what a ride.
What a crazy first experience, I was just not expecting that at all going into this.

I was recommended Jojo's by a friend of mine when I first initially got into anime as it is one of his absolute favorites. He always talked about how he loved how different the art style was, and how creative and out there all of the concepts and ideas about the entire series was. At first, I wasn't really interested at all to be honest. I wasn't a massive fan of how the characters looked, and I hadn't really heard or saw anything about it that really drew my attention in to make me really want to actually sit down and watch any of the previous seasons. Until I saw a glimpse of the trailer for part 7, the so called "Steel Ball Run" on my Instagram feed. And it DEFINITELY caught my attention almost right away, specifically the premise around the story of it, the whole objective of horseback racing across the wild west United States really drew me in a lot. My friend who recommended it to me that I mentioned above said that you did not need to watch the previous seasons to really understand what was going on to the fullest extent, I also had heard from a few others that it was a great starting point to go back and watch the previous seasons if you enjoyed this arc (which I am definitely now considering after seeing this) and these are my unbiased thoughts about everything I just saw in those 40 or so minutes of pure adrenaline rush style horseback riding, from someone that has never seen a single piece of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure previously before watching this.

Gyro Zeppeli. That is how I am going to start this off. I am already a big fan of this character and I've only seen the very first part of this. His whole design, his swagger and aura that he gives off was already good enough to begin with. Combo that with an above average IQ in terms of horseback riding, with those mysteriously badass "Steel Balls" of his that seem to defy all logic itself? From the golden teeth to those crazy alluring bright green eyes, and I really like how he is definitely much more then meets the eye, especially with all of his interactions with Johnny. You can tell he definitely has a level of respect and interest in him, and I'm very curios to see how that escalates in the future. I cannot wait to see more of this guy in the future episodes that are currently releasing.

I'm also a big fan of Johnny as well. A lot of pressure being put onto you as a child from the older people in your life that you look up to is always something that is exceptionally hard to deal with, as it can lead to a whole host of problems emotionally. It is something that many people unfortunately have to experience growing up. That, is exactly why I found myself liking his personality straight away. Ungodly determined to figure out what ever the hell is going on with Gyro's Balls despite being a literal textbook paraplegic in a time where.... being dead could honestly be a more viable option.... I absolutely loved how he was able to figure out getting back on the horse, and got right back to doing what he loves. Also I found it interesting that his biggest motivator wasn't actually the absurd cash sum that was promised at the end to whoever the victor was, it really is a good show of his tenacity and just the level of his insane determination, despite having so many odds stacked against him. The Native American man Sandman was dusting him for half the race and he doesn't even have a horse! It's sort of a common type to see the "never give up" style of main character. But with him, I think it's done REALLY well.

The pure level of adrenaline from just how aggressive some of the jockeys were kept me on the edge of my seat too. Diego Brando's screen time was kind of short but every single time he was there you definitely felt it. Using these absolutely wild techniques to gain the advantage on jockeys ahead of him, to my man Pocoloco being quite literally the luckiest man alive, it all just felt so... refreshing I guess is the way I would put it. The type of action is just something that I haven't personally seen in any way so far in anime (granted I haven't seen a whole lot) but it was SO GOOD I almost felt like I couldn't leave the edge of my seat! It almost made me wonder how far would someone really go for 50 million dollars? I think the answer is pretty far, and it definitely shows in almost every single sequence of the horseback riders going at each other right before hitting the finish line for the first section. The last push was insane, and really had me guessing for a minute or two who the victor was actually going to end up being.

To sum it all up? I really enjoyed this a lot for my first ever experience. I am also definitely considering going back and watching the rest of this series too. I really do think that this is a VERY GOOD introduction to this entire franchise if you want a taste of what I would assume to be a very good series to watch, paired with really memorable characters, and very good intense action. I would say that my biggest complaint about this and as to why it's not higher is that it was too short! And the art style does definitely take some time to get used to, but I think once (or if) your brain makes the connection I don't really know if I can even call that a negative. Hirohiko Araki is an extremely talented and legendary Mangaka and it really REALLY shows here to an awesome level. The animation is super well done in all aspects throughout the entire thing.
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure you have caught my attention in the most positive way possible! Thanks for reading!
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