High stakes, wild races
I’m a fan of “JoJo’s Bi-zarre Adventure.” I’m not a huge manga reader, however. So, while I am a big fan of JJBA, I’ve never gone out of my way to read the manga. Until now, I’ve only ever seen the anime adaptation. At the time of writing this, only the first six parts of the manga have been adapted into an anime by David Production. For the uninitiated, JJBA tells a grand narrative throughout different eras of history, beginning in England in the 1800s and going to places like Italy in 2001. A “part” acts as a self-contained story which typically follows a member of the Joestar family and an assorted cast of characters that change out every part. Anyway, I’m getting ahead of myself. I read Part 7 of JJBA, AKA what has been called one of the greatest manga of all time. But does that hold up? Here’s my review of “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 7: Steel Ball Run.” No big spoilers, no worries. This part centers around, shocker, the Steel Ball Run. This is a horse-race that takes us from San Diego to New York. This all takes place in 1890, mind you. We open immediately meeting a few of our racers, where they come from and why they’re competing. It’s done in a way that really fleshes out the world and introduces the complexity of these characters’ motivations right from the jump. And then we meet the actual main characters. We follow Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli throughout the part and, al-though the series so far has conditioned us to think that the Joestar bloodline takes the spotlight without con-test, the duality of these two racers is part of what makes this part so memorable. In fact, Gyro acts as a sort of mentor to Johnny at times, which serves as a base on which to develop their relationship. As a quick introduction, Johnny Joestar is paralyzed from the waist down but has plenty of professional racing experience to set him apart from the rest. Gyro Zeppeli is a racer with golden grills, a mysterious past and steel balls. As an action manga, JJBA breaks the mold by having not just multiple power systems, but a diverse and creative way of exploring not only the story, but its characters throughout each of them. While you might know JJBA for its Stands or Hamon, Steel Ball Run adds yet another power system known as the Spin. An ancient art known only to a certain few, the Spin is Gyro’s signature technique and has a variety of uses. This manga was genuinely incredible, complete with everything you expect from JJBA and more. In 95 chapters, Steel Ball Run takes you on a wild ride complete with a 6,000-kilometer race, political intrigue, intense action sequences, and some of the most unique stands in the series. I encourage anyone, even if you’re not interested in JJBA, to read this manga. If you feel confused, trust me you’re on the right track. I think it’s safe to give Steel Ball Run a 10/10 and I think I will be reading again in the future. I’ll be watching for it for sure.