Part 7: Steel Ball Run



Part 7 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, subtitled Steel Ball Run, is preceded by Stone Ocean and followed by JoJolion. Johnny Joestar is the JoJo for this part, and Funny Valentine is the main antagonist. Valentine's Agents and the SBR racers are this part's villainous factions.

Steel Ball Run begins a new continuity different from Parts 1-6. It makes reference to earlier parts but is not influenced by any of them. This part also introduces the power system of Spin, which is used by the protagonists of this story along with Stands.

Part 7 was published in Weekly Shonen Jump under just the title Steel Ball Run, without the "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" supertitle in 2004, running for 23 chapters. Starting in 2005 Part 7 moved from releasing in WSJ to monthly Ultra Jump, where the supertitle of JJBA was returned, and ran until 2011. The chapter count in Ultra Jump reset, and Chapter 24 onward began from Chapter 1 while in the magazine.

In December of 2007, Part 7 was adapted into a VOMIC (a voiceover comic,) that gave an official voiceover dub to chapters 1, 5, 6, and 7. It was released in four episodes weekly and concluded at the end of SBR Chapter 7.

As of now Part 7 has yet to receive an official English translation.

JOJO Portal
''The world of "JoJo" has entered a new stage. Part 7 takes place at the end of the 19th century and is set in the United States. The first-ever equestrian race across North America is depicted. The main character, Johnny Joestar, is a paralyzed former genius jockey. You'll partner with the mysterious outlaw, Gyro Zepelli, and you'll race together. Behind the scenes competing for huge prizes, an even more terrifying conspiracy swirl in this race. Will they be able to reach the goal safely!? It is a series that returns to the roots and increases the sense of adventure.''

Summary
Steel Ball Run is the seventh part in the JJBA series, and the first set in a new continuity. The part is set in America in 1890 and follows paraplegic jockey Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli on a cross-country horse race from San Diego to New York for the prize money of $50,000,000. Johnny is taught the power of Spin through Gyro, and develops his own Stand ability as well. Johnny and Gyro eventually uncover the dark truth of the Steel Ball Run race, which is for US President Funny Valentine to uncover the pieces of the corpse of Jesus Christ, and put the United States at the forefront of the world. The part ultimately ends with Valentine's defeat, at the loss of Gyro and many of Johnny's other friends, and Johnny learning to walk again. Although he does not win the race, on his way to Italy to deliver Gyro's corpse to his family, Johnny meets Rina Higashikata, who will eventually become his wife.

Trivia

 * When Part 7 first came out in Shonen Jump, it wasn't originally called "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure." When the series moved to monthly Ultra Jump, the supertitle "JJBA" was added. Thus the chapter count reset, and Chapter 25 was referred to as Chapter 1, and so on.
 * Chapters in this part are usually around twice as long as those from the past six parts, due to the jump from Shonen to Ultra Jump.
 * This part incorporates many references from across the past six parts. The most prominent trend is that each main villain is represented somehow in this new continuity, and appears in the original order they are introduced.
 * Diego Brando is a direct reference to Dio Brando, and he matches his appearance in Part 1, as they were both born Standless.
 * Magenta Magenta is a reference to Kars, as they both die in the very same way- becoming immobile and eventually stopping to think.
 * Diego Brando from an alternate universe is a direct reference to DIO from Part 3, as they both share the same stand, The World.
 * Noriko Narumi is the name of the graphic designer who created all the volume art for Steel Ball Run. She is also credited with designing the logos for Parts 8 and 9, although she did not create the logo for this part.

Iconography
Steel Ball Run 's icons are not as set in stone as are the previous two parts, and like most parts in the series, there are multiple pieces of imagery that are used to represent the part. One that is used prominently is a horseshoe, used as the identifying icon in All-Star Battle and Eyes of Heaven, representing the fact that the part's premise is that of a cross country horse race.

Besides horseshoes, horses themselves are also used to represent Part 7, for the same reasons stated above. A horse is used in the Bunkoban edition logo and all over volume covers and artwork depicting Part 7.

The other important icon used to represent Part 7 is the Steel Ball, for which the part is partly named after. It is Gyro's weapon of choice, and is featured on almost every single volume cover of the manga to display the volume number next to the logo.

Continuity

 * This is the first part that is set in a totally different continuity from the other parts, meaning it has absolutely no connection to the previous parts.
 * A common misconception is that the universe reset that occurs at the end of Part 6 creates the universe that this part takes place in, but those events are unrelated and this universe is not connected to the original.
 * Another misconception is that Funny Valentine may be able to travel from the base world in SBR to the Parts 1-6 continuity, however his ability is confined to worlds "based" around the one he is currently in.
 * Johnny Joestar, the main protagonist of this part, is a part of the Joestar family, similar to the previous JoJo's in the original continuity, however once again unrelated.
 * Like in the original continuity, every member of the Joestar family is shown to have the Joestar birthmark, however Johnny is never shown with it in any media whatsoever. It is implied in Part 8 that he did in fact have it, as Lucy remembers Johnny while looking at the birthmark of one of his descendants 50 years later.
 * Many other characters are introduced in this part, including Gyro Zeppeli, who are a reference to characters from the previous continuity, however once again they are completely unrelated.
 * The character Norisuke Higashikata appears in this part, a distant relative of the Higashikata family that is prominently featured in Part 8.
 * The corpse of Jesus Christ, also known as the Saint's Corpse, is a prominent item that is sought after in this part. It becomes integral to the plot surrounding all the parts in this new continuity.
 * When parts of the Saint's Corpse come in contact with a human, they gain a Stand. A similar phenomenon happens when the corpse parts touch a part of the ground in the United States, creating a spot of the earth where, when passed through, grants individuals Stand powers.
 * While the Stand Arrow likely does not exist in this continuity, it is noted that a meteorite falls into one of these "Devil's Palms," which may be a reference to the original Stand Arrows coming from space.

Gallery
"'Thank you everyone from the bottom of my heart for the completion of Steel Ball Run. I'll see you in Part 8: JoJolion.'"