JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Returns In Wild West Extravaganza

Dylan Z. Alter ‘29 / Emertainment Monthly Staff Writer 

Spoilers for Steel Ball Run: First Stage

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has become a pillar of the anime world. The series, created by Hirohiko Araki, began as a manga series in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1987, and is still going strong today. A critically and commercially acclaimed anime adaptation of the series began in 2012 as an interconnected television anthology separated into parts. The first six parts, each of which follows a different member of the Joestar family in a new setting and facing new foes, are available on Netflix, and tell a (more or less) complete story throughout. The ending of the sixth part, Stone Ocean, brought the initial series to a close with a massive universal reset, leaving the door open for a completely original story to follow.

In 2004, Steel Ball Run began serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump, before moving to the monthly Seinen (stories for adult men) publication Ultra Jump at the end of the same year. The seventh part of the hit series was lauded by fans and critics alike, and has been followed up with the highly experimental eighth part, Jojolion, in 2012, and The JOJOlands in 2023.

Now, in 2026, Steel Ball Run is available on the small screen.

Set in 1890’s California, the pilot of Steel Ball Run, entitled “First Stage,” invites viewers to the Steel Ball Run Race, a cross-country race for five billion dollars. Contestants can use any steed or vehicle they choose, and the goal is to make it to Manhattan as fast as possible across a series of legs that stretch the length of the country. The race’s creator, Stephen Steel (Kenta Miyake), is desperate to make the race a success, and thousands come to watch the race’s beginning.

Among the racers is the eponymous Johnny Joestar (Shogo Sakata), a former horse racing star who lost his fame and fortune when he was shot trying to force his way into a movie theater, resulting in becoming paralyzed from the waist down. Having lost control of his life, he joins the race after an encounter with a mysterious man causes him to stand for the first time in years.

The man, Gyro Zeppeli (Yohei Azakami), is a fellow contestant, and the owner of a pair of steel balls that he keeps attached to his hip. The balls act as weapons when thrown, and, when spun around, can do all manner of strange things — including causing Johnny to walk, if only for a second.

Johnny, determined to understand the power the balls contain, joins the race to follow Gyro and force him to reveal his secret, no matter the cost.

Also among the cast of racers are Pocoloco (Kenichirou Matsuda), a black farmer with incredible luck who joins the race at the last second; Sandman (Masaaki Mizunaka), a Native American man who runs instead of using a horse; and Diego Brando (Kaito Ishikawa), a famous jockey from Britain. The three of them, alongside Johnny and Gyro, make up the leaderboard at the end of the race’s first leg.

The pilot shows incredible promise. The animation is beautiful, adapting the manga panels with near-perfect accuracy. A common point of contention among fans prior to the show’s release was whether to animate the horses with CGI, or draw each element by hand. The animation team chose to utilize CGI, and the results are stellar. The horses blend in perfectly with the scenery, and unlike a lot of anime CGI, manage to not look out of place when flipping between 3D and 2D character designs.

Sonically, too, this pilot stands out. The Japanese voices are fantastically paired to their characters, and the soundtrack is an absolute jam. JoJo’s has found its own sonic identity in a mixture of rock music and hip-hop, and Steel Ball Run does not disappoint in either regard, adding in instrumentation evocative of the classic old west aesthetic. 

For fans of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, this episode brings iconic moments to life and sets the stage for more. Fans of anime looking to get into JoJo’s can start here and not get lost, though references to earlier parts and new characters based on older ones — such as Diego Brando being based on the original series’ overarching villain Dio Brando — will get lost with the lack of knowledge. 

Regardless, Steel Ball Run will hook viewers in and keep them wanting more. As more episodes are released, hopefully the series manages to deliver one of the best narrative arcs of all time.