On March 19, fittingly in the year of the Horse, the first episode of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 7, Steel Ball Run, was released on Netflix. An over 40-minute long episode, this not only was an exceptionally long first episode premiere, but it broken multiple records as well. For starters, in the first weekend following that Thursday, it had already become top 10 in trending across 45 different countries. On Netflix, it became the top 2 in non-American TV shows ranked globally. On MyAnimeList, the premiere site for Japanese Animated shows, it became an immediate hit, sitting at around 9/10 stars, becoming the highest ranked anime (at least for now), surpassing previous longstanding shows as well. This is an insane string of results for a series following the first episode, but it’s no surprise. Millions of fans had silently been waiting in baited breath for the animation adaptation of Part 7, an anticipation since the manga release of Steel Ball Run two decades ago.
There had been so many fan animations, soundtracks and altogether games created over the years speculating what an anime adaptation part 7 might look like, and so much so that there is likely enough fanworks to fit into a full-length anime show in itself. So when the 47-minute long Episode 1 was announced on April 12th last year and confirmed in December, the internet blew up. Such insane hype and excitement should, and would easily lend it the title of the most memorable and famous anime adaptation of all time, but this would be true for the wrong reasons instead.
And this story starts with…horses.
As a 3D and 2D Animator, Artist, Writer, Music Composer and Video Editor, I am uniquely positioned to tell you about one of the hardest things to make convincing in animation. You’d think it’s the hands, like in art, or maybe the face. However, the horse trumps these by a mile. This is due to a unique combination of their anatomy, mobile and stationary structure, as well as the fact that viewers very often have standards and expectations for how a horse should feel and act, making it more important to match their understanding of horses in the animation. This was likely in part the reason why Attack on Titan season 3 took so long to produce, horses and all, as well as why the previous studio chose to part ways with the series after they finished and handed it off to MAPPA instead.
Steel Ball Run, by contrast, has a horse in virtually every scene. This is a serious task to animate, and a reason why it may take so long to produce. Coupled with a perceived flaw in the bureaucratic and marketing choices by fans, it spun forth the weirdest fan reception of a show ever.
Episode 1 was hailed as an amazing opening episode and set extremely high standards for future scenes, especially notable exchanges and fights later down the story. Despite certain minor changes such as the decision to omit backstories of select background characters, it was overshadowed by the extremely vivid depiction of an excited San Diego, California, in the wake of a race across the 1890s United States, that new and old fans immediately fell in love with.
In contrast to the solemn tones of previous parts, this part brought about an infectious excitement and youthful anticipation, of large crowds and cash prizes alike.
However, anything further would have to be waited for. While fans had expected the usual weekly cycle that Netflix in the past had done for Part 6, Stone Ocean, they broke it instead, announcing that this first episode would be preceded by a second many months later.
While this was likely to build up hype for the anime down the line, it enraged fans instead.
If we had a nickel for every time a long-standing fanbase for a piece of media got so extremely furious with executives of the relevant industry that they took up to social media in a blind rage to repeatedly post ominous edited and warped pictures of a figure followed by indistinct words and what could only be understood as ancient hexes and curses as a form of revolt and protest, we would have two nickels. You may see this phenomenon yourself on the internet.
Regardless, Steel Ball Run is bound to be a landmark chapter in Anime history. Each episode after will likely only get better, as we follow the story of Johnny Joestar and his trek across the nation for the ultimate cash prize. When the steel ball starts rolling again, let a new episode be what you look forward to every week.
This is definitely a 5/5 show that you must see at least once.
