Steel ball run

The action takes place in an alternative universe, at the end of the XIX century, where the level of technological progress is slightly ahead of that in the real world, and people also have different standards of fashion and appearance. Jairo Zeppeli travels to the United States to take part and win the Steel Ball Run so that the king of his state declares an amnesty. Johnny Jostar also enters the race, wanting to learn about the power of Jairo and start walking again. The winner of the Steel Ball Run race is promised a reward of $ 50 million. The race is being watched by US President Fanny Valentine , who intends to find parts of the relics of Jesus that can empower a person with the power of a stand. However, they are found by Jairo and Johnny, and now the main characters must defend themselves against secret agents working for the president.

Jairo Zeppeli ( Jap. ジ ャ イ ロ ・ ツ ェ ペ リ Jairo Zappari )

Deuteragonist of the seventh part. Real name Julius Caesar Zeppeli. It is a mixture of Will Zeppeli and Caesar Zeppeli from Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency . Originally from the Italian family of executioners Zeppeli. When he sets off for the race, Johnny Jostar joins him. Jayro is very arrogant, but becomes very serious in case of danger or problems.

Johnny Jostar ( Jap. ジ ョ ニ ィ ・ ジ ョ ー ス ー ー Jenny Jo: suta :)

The protagonist of the seventh part. He is an alternative to Jonathan Jostar , the protagonist of the first part of the manga. Disabled, but temporarily able to walk thanks to the power of Jairo. For the sake of this, he agrees with Zeppeli to take part in the race in the USA.

Fanny Valentine ( Jap. フ ァ ニ ー ・ ヴ ァ レ ン タ イ ン Faniː Varentain )

President of America, the main antagonist of 7 parts. He organizes a race to quickly find the remains of Jesus, which give great strength to man. Fanny begins the hunt for the main characters, who were previously found by other holy remains.

Diego Brando ( デ ィ エ ゴ ・ ブ ラ ン ド ー Diego Burando :)

Antagonist, professional jockey. Racing is an alternative to Dio Brando . He is defeated by Zeppeli and later signs a contract with Fanny Valentine to be able to take revenge on Zeppeli. At the end of round 8, he confronts Fanny Valentine, but turns out to be defeated by his stand.

The author and illustrator of the manga is Hirohiko Araki ^[1] , first the manga was published in Weekly Shonen Jump magazine and then transferred to the monthly Ultra Jump magazine ^[2] . Araki noticed that the release of longer chapters was better suited to the format of his story and there was no need to create an atmosphere of tension at the end of each chapter, every week. In addition to this mangaka, he was tired of the pace of creating manga, which was necessary for Shonen Jump and required to create one chapter each week ^[3] .

For another reason, the author indicated that he sought to go beyond the young readership, as at some point he began to “feel too crowded” and decided as a result to target a wider circle of adult readers. So, in his work, Araki decided to focus on a subtle psychological description of the characters, expressing their feelings and tell a story of a larger scale than in earlier works ^[4] . Mangaka was inspired by the dramatic American television series 24 Hours and The Lord of the Rings . In addition, mangaka wanted to address many ethical issues, such as rape , domestic violence and others ^[4] . On the one hand, the mangaka does not want to emphasize that Steel Ball Run is a direct continuation of the previous six parts of the manga, but on the other hand it is recognized that “it’s not good to completely bury past works because of the author’s creative whims,” and Araki explains his decision to restart the universe the desire to expand the new world and show in it new stories that would be impossible in the old universe ^[5] . On the one hand, Araki wanted to attract new readers through Stell Ball Run , on the other hand, not to give up the legacy of the previous parts and leave multiple references to the characters from the previous parts, calling them "parallel incarnations." Explaining his desire to connect the theme of manga with horse racing, Araki noticed that he always liked the idea that a man and a horse during racing competitions are capable of “becoming one entity” ^[6] .

Since the plot takes place in the USA, Araki, wanting to give a wide scale of history, decided to connect the plot with a trip across the great plains to the Mississippi River . To reliably depict these places, the mangaka personally traveled to the United States, and described the natural open landscapes of America as endless and low-lying. Then the mangaka noticed that in such places it is very difficult to hide or hide, which Araki found interesting and decided to embody in his manga, where the goal of the opponents will be primarily to catch up and attack each other, and not act from ambush ^[7] .

When asked why Araki decided to make the main character Johnny Jostar a cripple, the mangaka noted that this was not his original plan, but was the result of the desire to create a character that could grow, both physically and mentally, during the race where he was would have to not only rely on other people, but also horses ^[8] . Jairo Zeppeli was created in the likeness of the Hall Horse from Stardust Crusaders , whom the mangaka wanted to make one of the protagonists of the main character Zetaro Kujo , but fearing that due to the presence of some personal similarities with the allies of Zetaro, Horse, as a person begins to get lost, Araki decided to leave him secondary an antagonist, however, the mangaka really liked the archetype of the character; in particular, his principle is to prefer to hide in the shadow of an ally and act from ambush at a convenient moment with the principle of “why be number one and flattery for trouble, if you can be number two and get no less benefit from it?”. So mangaka decided to certainly embody this archetype in the hero of future history and he laid the foundation for the character of Jairo Zeppeli ^[9] . When creating Fanny Valentine, Araki wanted to emphasize that good and evil are not always so easily distinguishable, but wanted to focus on the character’s personal motives. In particular, on the one hand, the character is a patriot of his country and wishes America prosperity, which seems fair to many people, especially if the rulers of his powers are endowed with such qualities, but the fact that for the sake of “noble goals”, Valentine is ready to sacrifice innocent people, makes his wicked character and unsuitable for being a hero. The idea to create Valentine came to Araki after watching the film " Independence Day ", where the president is fighting against the main characters ^[10] .

The original manga began publishing in Star Comics from February 2, 2004 to April 19, 2011. In total, 95 chapters were published, then collected in 24 volumes of manga, which makes it the longest part of the Jojo franchise ^{[1] [11]} . The manga was also published in France by Editions Tonkam, Italy by Simona Stanzani and in Taiwan by Tong Li Publishing Co., Ltd ^[12] .

The manga was included in the list of best-sellers in Japan several times, for example, the 17th volume took 5th place, with sold 135,583 copies in 2009 ^[13] . 19th volume took 6th place with 169,878 copies ^[14] , 20th volume in 2010 took 6th place with 117,225 copies sold ^[15] , 21th volume - 7th place with 87,778 copies ^[16] , 22th volume took 8th place with 123,600 copies sold ^{[ 17]} , 23 volume in 2011 - 3rd place with 141,415 copies ^[18]

The main characters from Steel Ball Run appeared in two video games, such as All Star Battle 2012 release ^[19] and Eyes of Heaven 2014 release ^[20] . In both cases, Johnny Jostar, Jairo Zeppeli and their closest allies appear as game characters with whom you can join the battle or fight for them yourself.

Justin Sils from Ffreakinawesomenetwork noted that Steel Ball Run is the most unusual part of the Jojo franchise, but at the same time the main plot is typical of the rest of Jojo ; the main character is a glam rock character, intelligent, but clumsy. The manga style is reminiscent of American comics. However, according to the critic, facial expressions and expressions of the feelings of the characters are weak and inanimate because of the desire of the author of the manga to show the characters attractive. Despite this, the manga is filled with supernatural “fantastic” visual effects ^[21] . The reviewer of Manga-news also noted the unusualness of the universe, many interesting characters; readers familiar with the main Jojo universe will be pleasantly surprised to see many cameos from previous parts of the manga ^[22] .

Kono Manga ga Sugoi Magazine ! He advised newcomers who are not familiar with the Jojo franchise to begin their acquaintance with this manga, since it is essentially a restart of the universe. The editors also appreciated the move of the manga from Weekly Shōnen Jump to Ultra Jump , which would allow Araki to write longer stories and embody ideas that would not be possible in a magazine aimed at children's audiences ^[2] . Erkael from Manga-News called the manga one of the best parts of the franchise, which will not disappoint the reader in any way ^[23] . Thor Jensen from Geek.com noted that the portrayal of the development of companionship between Johnny and Jiro is one of the best he has seen in comics. In particular, the opportunity to observe how characters turn from enemies into faithful comrades who are ready to make sacrifices for each other ^[24] . Erkael appreciated the fast-paced history and the maelstrom of events, as if Araki wanted the reader to feel part of the race and watch the history of characters whose fates sometimes intersect, which gives the story a sense of wealth. Nevertheless, the critic at the beginning did not really appreciate the rethinking of the stands, turned into steel balls and even more reminiscent of the power of jamon. However, mangaka also demonstrates the diversity of the ability of the stands, which does not spoil the story ^[23] . Edited by Kono Manga ga Sugoi! separately appreciated the diverse and beautiful locations through which the heroes pass ^[2] .

• Official site (Japanese)
• Manga "Steel Ball Run (manga)" in the encyclopedia of Anime News Network