After December of 2022, a community on the internet was divided, some moving on to other things, others begging a company for more of what they loved. That company was Netflix, and the community begging for more, was that of “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure.” Now, after four years of waiting, “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 7: Steel Ball Run,” officially has been released.
The first episode of “Steel Ball Run” was a 48-minute special to start off the series, airing on March 19; this near-hour long episode delivered on the fan’s wishes. Just based on the first episode alone, people have had wonderful things to say about the anime. For a quick summary of the basic plot, our protagonist, Johnny Joestar, is a career horse racer and paraplegic learning to ride a horse again while competing in the Steel Ball Run race across the entire United States. Along the way, he meets Gyro Zeppeli, an Italian racer with unclear motives and mysterious powers who acts as a rival to Johnny throughout the episode.
The first episode covers the start of the race as well as the entire first leg of the race, introducing unique characters of varying races, backgrounds and horse racing skill levels. While I won’t describe the episode further to avoid spoilers, I can say with the majority of public opinion behind me that every aspect of this anime is downright astounding, from the animation quality to the voice acting and the unique story and characters. This is backed up by multiple online anime ranking platforms, including MyAnimeList, where SBR somehow topped the charts in a matter of hours after the release of the first episode, surpassing long running giants of the industry such as “Frieren” and “Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.”
The reviews were so overwhelmingly positive, “Frieren” fans became spiteful enough to review bomb SBR to retain their top spot. If you want a more well-trusted source, the episode got a 9.7/10 on IMDB. Some genuine critics are upset to a degree about the anime omitting things from the first episode such as certain character backstories and moments featured in the manga which the anime is based on, but I see no reason to think those moments haven’t just been moved further on the timeline. Unfortunately, the timeline is something we won’t be seeing for a considerable amount of time.
Recently, Netflix announced they will be using a cour-based release schedule. This means that they will be releasing weekly episodes, but in groups of roughly 10 at a time. The most recent and credible statements claim that the next batch of releases will start in Oct. 2026. Fans of the series have been upset by the revelation that the releases aren’t going to be outright weekly, but their concerns would seem to have been quelled by Netflix’s statements. With that news out of the way, I would genuinely recommend “Steel Ball Run” as a fun, dramatic and thrilling adventure story full of twists, reveals and mystery.
