Steel Ball Run Episode 1 is Here!

Article at a glance:
A paralyzed man touches another man’s steel balls and somehow stands up. That’s the plot hook. No, really. And somehow it works.
The animation, the art style, the music… all immaculate. Only one episode in and it’s already looking like a banger season.
Johnny wants to learn Gyro’s secret and join a cross-country race to touch his balls again. Deep? No. Fun as hell? Absolutely.

If you ask me to summarize Steel Ball Run, it would go something like this: a paralyzed man touches another man’s steel balls and somehow stands up for a second. Yeah, that’s all you need to know. That’s how the plot got kick-started. Oh, and don’t worry, this isn’t even the weirdest JoJo has ever been. Heck, this isn’t even the weirdest thing in SBR, all things considered. And this happened like 10 minutes into Steel Ball Run Episode 1, by the way. If THAT is not a vibe setter, I don’t know what is.

So yeah, welcome back to another first impressions article, and today, we are talking about JoJo Part 7: Steel Ball Run Episode 1! Let’s just… let’s just get into it because it is going to get so much wilder just a few episodes on lol

What did I think of Steel Ball Run Episode 1?

David Productions NEVER fails when it comes to JoJo, and sure enough, Part 7 looks immaculate. They understand Araki’s art style so damn well and change the panels in just the right way to make them stand out in animation. JoJo has always had great music, but once again, I am blown away by how good the music was in just this episode alone. We haven’t even seen the opening yet, so I hope they cook hard for the opening as well. 10/10 on the production side as always. It doesn’t get more JoJo than this.

As for the episode itself… as you might have guessed, the story is about a race, the Steel Ball Run. Why is it called that? I have no idea. But all the contestants have to race across the USA, with the race being split into 9 stages. The winner gets a boatload of money. And man, I have to see, this is as “Murica” as it gets lmao since it is set in the wild west and all. And since it is JoJo, all kinds of weird people showed up to the race. There is a dude running barefoot and somehow beating horses while at it, LOL. Yeah, don’t think about it.

I gave you that summary in the introduction for a reason. It makes no sense, but is it fun? You bet your sweet bippy it’s fun as hell. JoJo is a lot of things, but it always finds a way to be entertaining. The plot so far is no deeper than Johny wanting to learn more about Gyro’s balls and joining the Steel Ball Run to pursue him and touch his balls again. But it works. It hooks you in, it makes you root for Johnny, and you WANT to see him touch the balls again.

Did that whole paragraph make sense? Of course it did, because it’s JoJo.

That is all for now

So yeah, let me know what you guys thought of Steel Ball Run Episode 1 in the comments. Me personally? I can’t think of a better way to introduce a season as wild as Steel Ball Run, LOL. With that said, though, I will take my leave here. See ya!

Also, check out my Fate/Strange Fake review here!