STEEL BALL RUN JoJo's Bizarre Adventure

Episode 5

God, I'm glad that my dad is cool and supportive, and that I don't have to deal with this patriarchal nonsense. Episode five of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run sees the anime depict Gyro's backstory and hone in on his motivations all in one go, rather than spread it out in between other story beats as is the case in the manga. With this episode, the thematic core of Steel Ball Run and the heart of what's made it the best installment of one of the most influential manga and anime ever created is laid bare, and I cannot wait to see the anime dig into these themes further over however many episodes it takes to reach the finish line.

After discovering the Zombie Horse, a magical macguffin that allows Gyro and Johnny to recover from the many life threatening injuries they've endured and are set to encounter further, the anime transitions to Gyro's childhood. Here we learn that his medical doctor father is also the King of Naples' chosen executioner, with the Zepelli family having filled that role for hundreds of years, the Steel Balls originally being tools to aide in the process of execution. Gyro is set to take over his father's position when he turns twenty-five. In short, Gyro has a socially venerated life laid out ahead of him that he would likely find tremendous success in; or he would, if not for a young boy, Marco, who was working dutifully and innocently for a rebellious baron was not set to be the first recipient of his blade.

Gyro's backstory is one of the best parts of the early Steel Ball Run manga, and the anime makes the engine of Gyro's character shine even brighter by making the ways in which Gyro is forced to emulate his father even clearer. This episode is the first time I noticed that a teenage Gyro basically has the same haircut as his dad, and between that and him wearing largely the same attire as his father in most of this flashback, it's incredibly clear how Gyro is forced into a patriarchal mode of masculinity that does not suit him and will ultimately be unrewarding for him. This idea of patriarchal norms and expectations being unfulfilling is even hinted at by Gyro's dad, the person passing this inherited trauma onto Gyro, with him revealing that this lifestyle has ultimately left him alienated and a slave to the place in society he inherited from his father.

While we get flashes of rebellion in a young Gyro, like him hilariously gnawing on his father's arm to get him to release a child-sized steel ball, Gyro's pushback against his father and participation in the Steel Ball Run race to save a child who was also just fulfilling the duties he inherited from his father is deeply touching. This episode makes clear that Steel Ball Run is ultimately about Gyro's (and Johnny's, but well get to him a bit later) journey to prove that he is worthy of his father's respect on his own terms and casting aside his need for his father's love if he cannot meet him in his chosen life and values, and that's brilliant. Now every challenge these two face in this bizarre adventure is a representation of how difficult it is for young men to move beyond their fathers in real life, which is so physically and emotionally taxing that many never even start the work that goes into that process.

Steel Ball Run in all its forms is so good, and I wish more people would experience it and its ruminations on patriarchy. Also, not-Stroheim shows up and gets his ass beat at the end of this episode! That's fun, and I chose to believe is a subtitle acknowledgement of how misguided it was to have previous installments of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure normalize a literal Nazi scientist. Netflix even got Dan Woren, the voice of the original Stroheim, back to play this version of the character in the English dub and that's great, though this episode once again reminded me how frustrating it is that this platform does not translate on-screen Japanese text in the dub.

With the berating thematic heart of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run now laid bare, the race can really begin and I feel so lucky to be alive at a time when I can experience this story in this way.

Rating:

With JoJo's Bizarre Adventure playing no small part in his bisexual awakening, Lucas DeRuyter is thrilled to be reviewing the latest anime adaptation of a work that is nothing short of foundational to he is in his adult life today. You can catch glimpses of his own bizarre adventures on his Bluesky account and read about how these exploits have informed taste in media and his broader worldview by checking out his portfolio. He and his JoBros catch up at least once a week in ANN's This Week in Anime column, where they have big, but appropriate, reactions to everything going on in this bizarre industry.

STEEL BALL RUN JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is currently streaming on Netflix.