Steel Ball Run (Japanese: ????????????, Hepburn: Sut?ru B?ru Ran) is the reboot and seventh story arc of the Japanese manga series JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. Set in 1890, it stars Gyro Zeppeli, a disgraced former executioner, and Johnny Joestar, a former hot-shot jockey who was shot and lost the use of his legs, as well as his fame and fortune. They, along with others, race across America for $50 million.
Originally the first 23 chapters (4 volumes) were serialized in Weekly Sh?nen Jump in 2004 simply under the title Steel Ball Run. Although the character's names are obviously related to the series, it was unclear if the story was a part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. However, when the series moved to Ultra Jump in 2004, it was officially announced as part 7 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, but in an alternate universe, like the following and current arc, JoJolion.
The 95 chapters were combined into 24 tank?bon volumes (volumes 81 to 104 of the entire series), following the trend set by the previous part, Stone Ocean, of starting over the volume count. A couple of chapters were adapted into a "Vomic" series, which has voice actors act over the manga pages as they are shown on screen.
Maps, Directions, and Place Reviews
Plot
In the year 1890 in an alternate reality created in the aftermath of Stone Ocean, racing jockeys from all over the world flock to the United States to take part in the Steel Ball Run-- a cross-country horse race from San Diego to New York City with a prize of fifty million dollars. Johnny Joestar, a former jockey who fell from glory after a shooting paralyzed him from the waist down, enters the race after meeting the mysterious Gyro Zeppeli to learn the secrets of man's Spin technique which restored his mobility. While beginning as rivals, Johnny and Gyro become friends as they travel through the wilderness while fending off violent competitors.
Although the race is organized by the eccentric oil tycoon Stephen Steel, it is later revealed that the Steel Ball Run is backed by the United States government with Steel unaware of the actual agenda of US president Funny Valentine: the race being a means for Valentine to collect the scattered pieces of a two-thousand-year-old corpse known as the Saint's corpse so he can used the reassembled body to achieve incredible power. Once Johnny and Gyro discover this, they must fend off both Valentine's assassins and highly competitive rivals as multiple factions struggle over control of the corpse parts.
15 Steel Ball Video
Characters
- Johnny Joestar is a former horse racer from Kentucky, who is paralyzed from the waist down. He participates in the Steel Ball Run to follow Gyro Zeppeli and learn how to use his Spin technique, to be able to stand again, but for the most part, uses his horse Slow Dancer as his legs. He uses the Stand Tusk, which allows him to shoot his finger nails as bullets.
- Gyro Zeppeli is a disgraced magistrate and executioner from the Kingdom of Naples, who participates in the Steel Ball Run to free someone who he believes has been wrongly imprisoned. He is a master of a mystical art called the Spin, which is channeled through the steel balls he throws, with both combative and medical effects.
- Lucy Steel is a fourteen-year-old girl who tries to help Johnny and Gyro, and is the wife of the Steel Ball Run promoter Stephen Steel.
- Funny Valentine is the 23rd President of the United States, and a former soldier. He uses the Stand Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (usually shortened to D4C), which allows him to travel between alternate dimensions when he is pressed between two objects.
- Diego Brando, nicknamed "Dio", is a Steel Ball Run participant from the United Kingdom, and a rival to Gyro and Johnny. He uses the Stand Scary Monsters , which allows him to transform into a Utahraptor. Later, an alternate version of Diego is summoned by Valentine. This Diego is far more similar to the original DIO, and even uses THE WORLD as his Stand.
- Hot Pants is a Steel Ball Run participant from the United States, and a former nun. She uses the Stand Cream Starter, which takes the form of a spray bottle that can turn flesh into a foam-like substance and spray it to fuse the flesh with people's bodies.
- Wekapipo is a former Neapolitan royal guard who is hired and partnered with the Stand user Magent Magent to protect Valentine. He uses the Spin, wielding a steel ball called Wrecking Ball, which can release smaller, blinding balls if the main ball is blocked or misses.
- Stephen Steel is the promoter of the Steel Ball Run and is the elderly husband of Lucy Steel.
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Production
Steel Ball Run was written and drawn by Hirohiko Araki, and was originally serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Sh?nen Jump magazine, until it was moved to their monthly seinen magazine Ultra Jump in 2004. Araki found that the new, monthly schedule with longer chapters suited him better, as he was not as restricted in what he could draw and no longer had to write stories with momentum building up excitement for the next week's chapter, and had more flexibility to draw at his own pace. Araki described the manga's theme as "seeking for satisfaction". Like with other parts of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Araki also used "an affirmation that humanity is wonderful" as a theme, which he explained as a description for humanity's ability to grow and overcome hardships through one's strength and spirit, portrayed through people succeeding in fights through their own actions, without relying on machines or gods.
Because the series follows a race across America, Araki had to split his research into three trips: one from the West Coast to the deserts, one from the Great Plains to the Mississippi River and Chicago, and one to New York. He said that it would have been impossible to get an understanding for the vast scale without having gone there personally, describing the scenery of the midwest as endles and unchanging. The feeling of distance made him think that if an enemy had approached, the open landscape would have meant that he could not have escaped due to a lack of places to hide, an experience he found useful when drawing the manga.
Like other protagonists in the series, Johnny was designed to symbolize the part's story and setting, and to stand out among the previous protagonists in terms of appearance, clothing, and silhouette. He was not specifically planned to have a disability at the start of the production; rather, his disability was the result of the series' focus on protagonists growing through overcoming hardships, and Araki wanting to create a character who was forced to rely on people and horses during the race and had room to grow both mentally and physically. Valentine was created as part of Araki noticing more and more that good and evil is not always easily distinguishable and taking a greater interest in the motivations for people who do bad things. He noted that Valentine's patriotism and goals seemed just and might line up with leaders in the real world, and that it is his sacrificial of powerless people to reach his goals that make him evil and completely unsuitable as a protagonist. The concept of having the president of the United States fighting the main characters came from when Araki saw the film Independence Day, and liked the idea of a president who fights.
Reception
Kono Manga ga Sugoi! recommended Steel Ball Run as a good place to start for people who have not read previous parts, due to how it serves as a reboot of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, and appreciated how its move to the monthly seinen magazine Ultra Jump enabled Araki to write longer stories and depict things that would have been difficult to do in a magazine aimed at children. Erkael of Manga-News called the manga one of the best in the series, and said that it does not disappoint the reader at any point. Anime News Network called Steel Ball Run an interesting take on the battle manga genre due to its positive portrayal of a hero with a disability, and found it, along with JoJolion, to represent a big shift in the evolution of Araki's art, following his earlier shift from muscle men to thinner characters and fashion.
K. Thor Jensen of Geek.com called the portrayal of Johnny and Gyro's relationship one of the best platonic friendships in comics, citing their transition from rivals to close allies who make sacrifices for one another and help each other with their respective abilities. Erkael liked the high speed and intensity of the story, saying that it was as if Araki wanted the reader to feel like they were part of the race themselves, and how the story eventually opens up to follow several different characters whose paths at times intersect, leading to a world that feels "rich and dense". They wrote that the lack of Stands early in the story, with Gyro instead using steel balls, was surprising but refreshing, and reminiscent of the hamon abilities featured in the first part in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, Phantom Blood; they still enjoyed the shift in focus to Stand abilities later in the story, calling them "original and surprising". Kono Manga ga Sugoi! liked the depiction of the landscapes Johnny and Gyro travel through, calling them "beautiful".
Chapters
Original volumization
2017 release
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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