Steel Ball Run Director Says JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Is About to Get Even Weirder
Netflix's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run is returning with its second and third stages, with weekly episodes resuming from 25 September following a two-part premiere in March. Director Yasuhiro Kimura, speaking to Polygon, discussed how the anime builds on the manga's Spaghetti Western setting and hinted that the story's already eccentric tone will become even stranger as it progresses, sustaining momentum for one of the franchise's most acclaimed instalments.
Steel Ball Run follows paraplegic ex-jockey Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli as they compete in a gruelling 1890s cross-continental horse race across North America with a $50 million prize, while a hidden conspiracy unfolds around them. Kimura, who previously directed episodes of Golden Wind, explained that the team used careful colour design and art direction to evoke the vast, dusty atmosphere of classic Westerns, and detailed a hybrid technique combining 3D skeletal movement with hand-drawn surface animation to realistically depict horses without overburdening individual animators.
In short
- Steel Ball Run's next episodes air weekly from 25 September on Netflix.
- Director Yasuhiro Kimura discussed Western influences and animation techniques.
- Horses are animated using a hybrid 3D-skeleton, hand-drawn-surface method.
Explained simply
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is a long-running Japanese manga and anime series by Hirohiko Araki, with each instalment following a different member of the Joestar family. Steel Ball Run is set in the 1890s, when ex-jockey Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli enter a horse race across North America, competing for a large cash prize.
The race provides the backdrop for a story that also involves a hidden conspiracy. Its Western setting draws on the landscapes and style of classic cowboy films, while the series is known for unusual characters, striking visuals and supernatural elements. Yasuhiro Kimura directs the anime adaptation; he previously worked on another instalment, Golden Wind.
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