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Steel Ball Run #5
スティール・ボール・ラン #5 ジャンプコミックス
スティール・ボール・ラン #5 ジャンプコミックス (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 7, Steel Ball Run #5)
224 pages, Paperback
First published August 4, 2005
26 people are currently reading
300 people want to read
About the author
Hirohiko Araki
650 books2,035 followersHirohiko Araki ( 荒木飛呂彦) is a Japanese manga artist. He left school before graduation from Miyagi University of Education.
He enjoys the baseball manga Kyojin No Hoshii (Star of the Giants); the video games Mario Kart and Bomberman; and likes Prince and other African-American singers, as well as jazz, rock, and rap.
He is a recipient the Tezuka Award for manga.
He enjoys the baseball manga Kyojin No Hoshii (Star of the Giants); the video games Mario Kart and Bomberman; and likes Prince and other African-American singers, as well as jazz, rock, and rap.
He is a recipient the Tezuka Award for manga.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
May 5, 2022
there is no heterosexual explanation for this
April 21, 2024
this cover just explains it all
May 15, 2020
Check out that cover art. There's no hetero explanation, my friends. You can't change my mind.
I kind of want to take back some of the stuff I said about Gyro's backstory. Because this volume (quite clumsily) jumps back into his past and what we get here is way better. This time around, the story focuses around the theme of sentimentality, which is much more comprehensible. Gyro's father sees his entire bloodline as being tools to act on behalf of the king. In order to completely embody this mentality, Greggorio has cut all ties with all things over which he may come to feel sentimental over. In his mind, sentimentality would interfere with his duties as a blade in service of the king.
But this is the kind of thing that is impossible to stick to your guns over. Greggorio is shown to have multiple things in his life that are indicative of sentimentality. He has a wife, multiple kids, pictures hung on his wall, and decorations in his house. It's possible that this was an arranged marriage, he sees his kids as tools and nothing more, and that his wife is the one who cares to do anything with the house. However, there is an undeniable sentimentality reflected in his anger that Gyro's crest was damaged. He would not be so angry over the desecration of a symbol unless he attached some level of sentimentality towards it.
But this isn't Greggorio's story, so his hypocrisies aren't very important or deep. What matters is what this means for Gyro. This information paints his journey in a much more shameful light. For how flashy and charming he is, Gyro's quest to win the race is, in the eyes of his culture, a decision made out of weakness. He is running this race as a disgraced failure who could not complete the job he was born to do. In the eyes of his kingdom, he is a shamed figure who is running on the outside chance that he may make his kingdom some money. But he has disgraced his king and his family.
But Gyro is doing the right thing, risking his life and bearing immense physical damage for the sake of saving an innocent child. It's an interesting situation, especially given the context of shonen storytelling. He is seen as a failure for following his conscience and risking it all on what is right. Where a character like Luffy or Naruto might wear their resolve on their sleeve, Gyro buries his motivation. He doesn't hide his intent to win the race, but why doing so is important to him must remain a secret.
Something else that's interesting is the whole deal with the corpse. I'm super bummed that I've had the premise of Steel Ball Run spoiled for me, because I probably would have lost my shit at this revelation. The main characters of this longrunning manga are racing around the united states trying to collect the mummified corpse of the mormon Jesus goddamn Christ, who may or may not have a stand. I'm not entirely sure what to make of that at the moment.
There's certainly some symbolism to unpack here. Most striking for me is the fact that the president of the united states is chasing after the glory of christ's corpse, likely hoping for it to bring prosperity. Despite whatever pretenses it may put up about the separation of church and state, the United States is in many ways, in practice, a conservative christian theocracy, regardless of who is president. If you won't agree with me there, surely we can at least agree that the nation is covered in the cultural fingerprints of Christianity. In terms of laws, customs, beliefs (salvation through faith over actions, self flagellation, pessimism about the nature of humanity, preaching of helping the poor while not actually doing so, the cognitive dissonance of self-loathing while also acting entitled as a special chose one), this is the case. I really don't want to write out a whole manifesto about the cognitive dissonances at the core of America's psyche all for the sake of reviewing 1/24th of 1/8th of Jojo, so I'll cut it short here. But seeing the fucking president commit murder for the sake of pursuing the remains of Jesus... That is some loaded imagery. If you're that invested in what I have to say, DM me or wait until I review some more Chomsky or something. Who knows, maybe Funny Valentine will bring it out of me.
Something else I have less to say about is the symbolism in Johnny's interactions with the corpse. Jesus lives inside him. Jesus "healed" his paralyzed legs. Johnny hopes to be reborn after literally "finding Jesus". I don't think there's much to unpack here, at the moment. But I am very interested to know if the stand is Johnny's or Jesus's. Which is a wild sentence to write. I love it when Non-American, Non-Christian cultures tackle those topics and use their imagery. I feel as though Araki put a lot of effort into being respectful of Christain and Ameircan culture. Which is admirable. However, I feel that it's not necessary. Both could stand to be criticized, and Araki's perspective as a renowned author in a globally famous publication is a fantastic platform to do so.
The fight with Pig Pork Hat Pie Hook Boy was fine. I was more interested in the other stuff. It's seeming more and more like the fighting in Steel Ball Run is pretty incidental to me. I would rather the time be spent on all of these interesting themes or cowboy shit.
I think one of Araki's weaknesses as a writer is that he'll introduce really compelling ideas, imagery, or themes, but not do as much with them as I like. They often take a backseat to the stand battle of the week. That's one of my least favorite things about Jojo: the fighting so often feels divorced from the story. I get that this is probably just the nature of the beast with stand battles and incorporating more story would probably mean that they lose some of their mental-chess fun. But I feel like there's a potential for this series to go more in depth with its characters and themes that is left unfulfilled in favor of filling up the runtime with fights. The fact that chapters are usually named after whatever stand we're fighting always bothered me, but I couldn't figure out why until now. It's because that decision is symbolic of Araki's approach to writing the series. And after 80+ volumes, I'm at a point where that's just sound and noise between the good bits.
I kind of want to take back some of the stuff I said about Gyro's backstory. Because this volume (quite clumsily) jumps back into his past and what we get here is way better. This time around, the story focuses around the theme of sentimentality, which is much more comprehensible. Gyro's father sees his entire bloodline as being tools to act on behalf of the king. In order to completely embody this mentality, Greggorio has cut all ties with all things over which he may come to feel sentimental over. In his mind, sentimentality would interfere with his duties as a blade in service of the king.
But this is the kind of thing that is impossible to stick to your guns over. Greggorio is shown to have multiple things in his life that are indicative of sentimentality. He has a wife, multiple kids, pictures hung on his wall, and decorations in his house. It's possible that this was an arranged marriage, he sees his kids as tools and nothing more, and that his wife is the one who cares to do anything with the house. However, there is an undeniable sentimentality reflected in his anger that Gyro's crest was damaged. He would not be so angry over the desecration of a symbol unless he attached some level of sentimentality towards it.
But this isn't Greggorio's story, so his hypocrisies aren't very important or deep. What matters is what this means for Gyro. This information paints his journey in a much more shameful light. For how flashy and charming he is, Gyro's quest to win the race is, in the eyes of his culture, a decision made out of weakness. He is running this race as a disgraced failure who could not complete the job he was born to do. In the eyes of his kingdom, he is a shamed figure who is running on the outside chance that he may make his kingdom some money. But he has disgraced his king and his family.
But Gyro is doing the right thing, risking his life and bearing immense physical damage for the sake of saving an innocent child. It's an interesting situation, especially given the context of shonen storytelling. He is seen as a failure for following his conscience and risking it all on what is right. Where a character like Luffy or Naruto might wear their resolve on their sleeve, Gyro buries his motivation. He doesn't hide his intent to win the race, but why doing so is important to him must remain a secret.
Something else that's interesting is the whole deal with the corpse. I'm super bummed that I've had the premise of Steel Ball Run spoiled for me, because I probably would have lost my shit at this revelation. The main characters of this longrunning manga are racing around the united states trying to collect the mummified corpse of the mormon Jesus goddamn Christ, who may or may not have a stand. I'm not entirely sure what to make of that at the moment.
There's certainly some symbolism to unpack here. Most striking for me is the fact that the president of the united states is chasing after the glory of christ's corpse, likely hoping for it to bring prosperity. Despite whatever pretenses it may put up about the separation of church and state, the United States is in many ways, in practice, a conservative christian theocracy, regardless of who is president. If you won't agree with me there, surely we can at least agree that the nation is covered in the cultural fingerprints of Christianity. In terms of laws, customs, beliefs (salvation through faith over actions, self flagellation, pessimism about the nature of humanity, preaching of helping the poor while not actually doing so, the cognitive dissonance of self-loathing while also acting entitled as a special chose one), this is the case. I really don't want to write out a whole manifesto about the cognitive dissonances at the core of America's psyche all for the sake of reviewing 1/24th of 1/8th of Jojo, so I'll cut it short here. But seeing the fucking president commit murder for the sake of pursuing the remains of Jesus... That is some loaded imagery. If you're that invested in what I have to say, DM me or wait until I review some more Chomsky or something. Who knows, maybe Funny Valentine will bring it out of me.
Something else I have less to say about is the symbolism in Johnny's interactions with the corpse. Jesus lives inside him. Jesus "healed" his paralyzed legs. Johnny hopes to be reborn after literally "finding Jesus". I don't think there's much to unpack here, at the moment. But I am very interested to know if the stand is Johnny's or Jesus's. Which is a wild sentence to write. I love it when Non-American, Non-Christian cultures tackle those topics and use their imagery. I feel as though Araki put a lot of effort into being respectful of Christain and Ameircan culture. Which is admirable. However, I feel that it's not necessary. Both could stand to be criticized, and Araki's perspective as a renowned author in a globally famous publication is a fantastic platform to do so.
The fight with Pig Pork Hat Pie Hook Boy was fine. I was more interested in the other stuff. It's seeming more and more like the fighting in Steel Ball Run is pretty incidental to me. I would rather the time be spent on all of these interesting themes or cowboy shit.
I think one of Araki's weaknesses as a writer is that he'll introduce really compelling ideas, imagery, or themes, but not do as much with them as I like. They often take a backseat to the stand battle of the week. That's one of my least favorite things about Jojo: the fighting so often feels divorced from the story. I get that this is probably just the nature of the beast with stand battles and incorporating more story would probably mean that they lose some of their mental-chess fun. But I feel like there's a potential for this series to go more in depth with its characters and themes that is left unfulfilled in favor of filling up the runtime with fights. The fact that chapters are usually named after whatever stand we're fighting always bothered me, but I couldn't figure out why until now. It's because that decision is symbolic of Araki's approach to writing the series. And after 80+ volumes, I'm at a point where that's just sound and noise between the good bits.
January 16, 2022
there was a moment in the second last chapter where it looked like jesus christ's pink latin-speaking stand had emerged from johnny's left arm to detach his spinning toenails and hurl it at the enemy
August 9, 2023
i aspire to someday see it animated
May 25, 2022
Johnny and Gyro's dynamic keeps getting better. This volume is so much better the last one, featuring tusk's first appearance, Gyro hanging from his hair and being his silly self. Also I completely forgot hat Stroheim is in SBR.
August 26, 2020
I hate that it took me so long to finish it. I'm too busy to read as much as I want. However, I really like it and I can't wait to read more (and to understand more, haha).
April 7, 2025
TUSK! HES HERE. AND HES JUST A LITTLE GUY. also i feel like - 5 volumes in - we are finally get the true point of the story and the race. trying to find like idk fucking jesus or something??? johnny is jesus?!?! and some weird president showed up... hmmm - cant be that important right? ANYWAYS. LOVE IT. LOVE THE LITTLE HEARTS ON TUSK UGH
Read
May 5, 2025Jesus Joestar has entered the chat
April 12, 2024
Que geis
May 15, 2020
Memes in this volume:
Narration: "Our main character, Gyro Zeppeli"
Johnny: "Am I a joke to you?"
German science has arrived
Gyro: "You want me to drop these steel balls?"
JOHNNY NO
IT'S SO CUTE
Now that the truth has been revealed, I think this meme is appropriate
Narration: "Our main character, Gyro Zeppeli"
Johnny: "Am I a joke to you?"
German science has arrived
Gyro: "You want me to drop these steel balls?"
JOHNNY NO
IT'S SO CUTE
Now that the truth has been revealed, I think this meme is appropriate
February 9, 2025
Siento que uno de los grandes valores de esta historia es Johnny. La forma en que se desarrolla su personaje, considerando que no puede mover sus piernas, es simplemente brutal.
Muchas veces tengo la sensación de que esta historia no gira solo en torno a la carrera, sino también a la autosuperación. Y en ese aspecto, Johnny brilla con muchísima más fuerza que Gyro. Su mentor ya es un personaje carismático, seguro de sí mismo y con un estilo marcado desde el inicio. En cambio, Johnny tiene un camino mucho más complejo que recorrer, y eso es lo que hace que su evolución sea tan poderosa.
Poco a poco, el trasfondo real de la historia empieza a salir a la luz, permitiéndonos analizar lo que hay detrás de esta aventura. Me encantan los homenajes a personajes del pasado, pero también quiero seguir conociendo nuevos rostros, como Sandman, que aporta un aire fresco a la trama.
Muchas veces tengo la sensación de que esta historia no gira solo en torno a la carrera, sino también a la autosuperación. Y en ese aspecto, Johnny brilla con muchísima más fuerza que Gyro. Su mentor ya es un personaje carismático, seguro de sí mismo y con un estilo marcado desde el inicio. En cambio, Johnny tiene un camino mucho más complejo que recorrer, y eso es lo que hace que su evolución sea tan poderosa.
Poco a poco, el trasfondo real de la historia empieza a salir a la luz, permitiéndonos analizar lo que hay detrás de esta aventura. Me encantan los homenajes a personajes del pasado, pero también quiero seguir conociendo nuevos rostros, como Sandman, que aporta un aire fresco a la trama.
February 19, 2024
Super dziwaczna przygoda Janka i Gyrosa na biegu stalowej kulki nyo ho. A tak na serio to podoba mi się jak rozwija się relacja głównych bohaterów, że zaczynają się przyjaźnić i nie są już tylko zwykłymi towarzyszami w trakcie wyścigu.
Okładka jest piękna (jak wszystkie).
Z chęcią zobaczę jak będą postępować poszukiwania rozrzuconych po pustyniach Ameryki części ciała Jezusa...
Okładka jest piękna (jak wszystkie).
Z chęcią zobaczę jak będą postępować poszukiwania rozrzuconych po pustyniach Ameryki części ciała Jezusa...
August 24, 2024
five stars for the cover alone
January 13, 2019
This is my favorite SBR volume so far!
It was so much fun! The fight with the hook guy was intense and in perfect Jojo tradition. There are bits about Gyro's backstory, lots of cool scenes between Gyro and Johnny. The mystery of Steel Ball Run is finally opening up and it's connected to something very cool.
I am slowly falling in love with part 7, I'm not there yet, part 6 is my one true love, but SBR is crawling up there.
The illustrations are mind-blowing. I'm forever spoiled by Araki to any other manga ever. This art is unbelievable. After all of these volumes I probably should have calmed down about his art, but nope. The art wows me every time, with every page.
Also I am convinced that we are going to assemble mummified body parts of jesus christ and you can't change my mind.
Gyro is the most beautiful man I've ever laid my eyes on and that's just facts.
It was so much fun! The fight with the hook guy was intense and in perfect Jojo tradition. There are bits about Gyro's backstory, lots of cool scenes between Gyro and Johnny. The mystery of Steel Ball Run is finally opening up and it's connected to something very cool.
I am slowly falling in love with part 7, I'm not there yet, part 6 is my one true love, but SBR is crawling up there.
The illustrations are mind-blowing. I'm forever spoiled by Araki to any other manga ever. This art is unbelievable. After all of these volumes I probably should have calmed down about his art, but nope. The art wows me every time, with every page.
Also I am convinced that we are going to assemble mummified body parts of jesus christ and you can't change my mind.
Gyro is the most beautiful man I've ever laid my eyes on and that's just facts.
June 26, 2023
O rany rany, robi się coraz ciekawiej, uwielbiam jak współpraca Johnnyego i Gyro zamienia się w przyjaźń z każdym utrudnieniem jakie muszą przejść dalej
March 10, 2025
god steel ball run kicks ass
January 6, 2025
je suis seulement au t5 et pourtant je peux déjà dire que c’est une des meilleurs partie de tout l’univers de jojo’s bizarre adventure
October 7, 2025
i am sensing intense homosexual energy from johnny and gyro
July 9, 2025
wallah they are going to ride each other when they get the chance i knowwwww
January 11, 2025
Gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy
January 10, 2021
ayo cover art 👀👀👀👀 nothing straight about that lol
SO
more of gyros background, more enemies and more mysteries! The steel ball run? A conspiracy to find the scattered corpse parts of .... (wait for it) a saint
😀
A saint is someone that can cause miracles after they die.... and their bodies have this ability to create miracles and invoke prosperity...?
honestly,,, not gonna lie this story is a lot more meta that any other preceding parts...
They’re about to be done with the second part of the race and (gasp) DIO and sandman! show up!
SO
more of gyros background, more enemies and more mysteries! The steel ball run? A conspiracy to find the scattered corpse parts of .... (wait for it) a saint
😀
A saint is someone that can cause miracles after they die.... and their bodies have this ability to create miracles and invoke prosperity...?
honestly,,, not gonna lie this story is a lot more meta that any other preceding parts...
They’re about to be done with the second part of the race and (gasp) DIO and sandman! show up!
February 17, 2015
Pero qué larga que se me hizo la lucha contra el cargoso del Pork Pie Hat Kid. Lo contrario a la mucho más corta y entretenida pelea contra F.V. Stroheim. La aparición de Funny Valentine y que vayan mostrando qué esconde tras la fachada la publicitada Steel Ball Run suman, pero vuelvo a promediar para abajo para que Araki se ponga las pilas y al próximo enemigo pedorro no le dé tanta cabida.
April 10, 2024
The move that SBR had from shounen Jump to Ultra Jump is hella noticeable in this volume the art went from being great to incredible Araki is that guy
September 29, 2023
Series: Steel Ball Run #5
Rating: 4 stars - It was really good
This volume we finally get to see the physical reveal of Johnny’s stand and learn the true purpose of the Steel Ball Run race. This volume jumped back and forth a lot between the past and present. We learn more about Gyro’s country, his father, his life and more about the child he wants to save. Gyros’ whole history and upbringing is very interesting and unique. I really like that we are getting to know more about him and his reasons for joining this race.
A lot happens during the race in this volume. Johnny and Gyro fight against racer F. V. Stroheim, they fight another stand user named Pork Pie Hat Kid (what a name), the true reason why this race is happening, and we see Johnny’s stand finally manifests. Johnny’s stand Tusk was a really cute little guy and I can’t wait to see what else Johnny can do with him. Also I was not expecting the true reason for this race and who is pulling the strings Mr. Stephen Steel (the race creator and benefactor).
I am really enjoying this crazy story especially since it keeps me guessing as to wth will happen next.
Rating: 4 stars - It was really good
This volume we finally get to see the physical reveal of Johnny’s stand and learn the true purpose of the Steel Ball Run race. This volume jumped back and forth a lot between the past and present. We learn more about Gyro’s country, his father, his life and more about the child he wants to save. Gyros’ whole history and upbringing is very interesting and unique. I really like that we are getting to know more about him and his reasons for joining this race.
A lot happens during the race in this volume. Johnny and Gyro fight against racer F. V. Stroheim, they fight another stand user named Pork Pie Hat Kid (what a name), the true reason why this race is happening, and we see Johnny’s stand finally manifests. Johnny’s stand Tusk was a really cute little guy and I can’t wait to see what else Johnny can do with him. Also I was not expecting the true reason for this race and who is pulling the strings Mr. Stephen Steel (the race creator and benefactor).
I am really enjoying this crazy story especially since it keeps me guessing as to wth will happen next.
March 18, 2025
Some key backstory is revealed in this volume.
The history of holy relics and their supernatural powers.
And in particular a body buried by Joseph of arimathea in the new world and the map he left to find it.
That map was acquired by funny valentine, president of the USA. And the secret purpose of the race is to collect the parts of the mummy which will bestow invincible power.
We also learn Gyro’s motivation to win the race — he wants to win a pardon for the innocent child who mended his honor collar. So he doesn’t just want glory, but to save someone else — this is the royal road of manga!
So the above episodes were interesting. There is also a stand battle which was pretty lame against a little freak who shoots wires from his mouth and uses hooks and bait. We see Tusk, Johnny’s stand. But the villain was one dimensional and the battle perfunctory.
The art is pretty bad. Many of the characters look the same, such as Johnny and Gyro. The facial expressions are enervated. Jojo art peaked in part 3.
The history of holy relics and their supernatural powers.
And in particular a body buried by Joseph of arimathea in the new world and the map he left to find it.
That map was acquired by funny valentine, president of the USA. And the secret purpose of the race is to collect the parts of the mummy which will bestow invincible power.
We also learn Gyro’s motivation to win the race — he wants to win a pardon for the innocent child who mended his honor collar. So he doesn’t just want glory, but to save someone else — this is the royal road of manga!
So the above episodes were interesting. There is also a stand battle which was pretty lame against a little freak who shoots wires from his mouth and uses hooks and bait. We see Tusk, Johnny’s stand. But the villain was one dimensional and the battle perfunctory.
The art is pretty bad. Many of the characters look the same, such as Johnny and Gyro. The facial expressions are enervated. Jojo art peaked in part 3.
March 24, 2023
4.5 estrellas
Volviendo al corriente con el mamga.
Iba a decir que ene un punto la historia me parecio algo engorrosa, pero sería mentir, la carrera es de lo más llamativa, y el villano que apareció en esta parte me parecio sumamente curioso, su habilidad es algo destacable y rara
Me gusta mucho la motivación que tiene Gyro, y a pesar de que ya sé el destino del personaje, espero que se pueda cumplir.
La primera apararición de Tusk me pareció muy curiosa.
Volviendo al corriente con el mamga.
Iba a decir que ene un punto la historia me parecio algo engorrosa, pero sería mentir, la carrera es de lo más llamativa, y el villano que apareció en esta parte me parecio sumamente curioso, su habilidad es algo destacable y rara
Me gusta mucho la motivación que tiene Gyro, y a pesar de que ya sé el destino del personaje, espero que se pueda cumplir.
La primera apararición de Tusk me pareció muy curiosa.
October 22, 2022
Johnny: ¿No viste? Mis piernas se movieron. Estoy agradecido. Estoy agradecido de haber entrado a esta carrera, pienso que podría arriesgar mi vida para mantener esta mano izquierda. No quiero entregarla. En verdad estaba agradecido de que una persona inútil como yo pudiera tener una razón para vivir.
December 4, 2025
this one is soooo homosexual. I have a few comments:
1. Gyro's backstory makes him like even more super attractive.
2. Also am I tripping or is the saint gonna be Jesus, maybe that's obvious or something but it def feels obvious to me.
3. Tusk should leave Johnny and pursue a career in sculpting, low-key could be the next Michelangelo
1. Gyro's backstory makes him like even more super attractive.
2. Also am I tripping or is the saint gonna be Jesus, maybe that's obvious or something but it def feels obvious to me.
3. Tusk should leave Johnny and pursue a career in sculpting, low-key could be the next Michelangelo
January 7, 2022
I liked it and a cool new thing is the saints corpse part. it adds an interesting stand called tusk that enhances johnny's spin ability and saves him from his enemy. I liked the plot and story aswell.
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