JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 7--Steel Ball Run, Vol. 5

Steel Ball Run 2 in 1 #5

by Hirohiko Araki

The legendary Shonen Jump series is now available in deluxe hardcover editions featuring color pages! JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is a groundbreaking manga famous for its outlandish characters, wild humor, and frenetic battles.

Genres: Manga, Comics, Fantasy, Historical Fiction

378 pages, Hardcover

Published January 27, 2026

About the author

Hirohiko 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.

Reviews

[Ashley (Red-Haired Ash Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Series: Steel Ball Run #5 (Ch. 37-42)
Rating: 3 stars - I liked it

This volume picks up right where the previous volume left off, with Lucy Steel discovering the truth about why the President is interested in the Steel Ball Run. The Lucy storyline is fine in my opinion. I don’t like Lucy and her husband or how gross their relationship is considering she is only 14 and he is in his 30s. But beside that, we see her actually be bold and try to find the next piece of the body and get that piece to Johnny and Gyro in the hopes it would somehow save her husband. The battle that followed with Darkmore was interesting because their abilities with rain was just fascinating.

Following this battle, the fourth leg of the race ends and Gyoo and Johnny now have the location for three more pieces of the body and are determined to reach them first. The later half of this volume focuses more on Johnny’s backstory and we learn about his childhood, his brother, Diego, and how it eventually led to his injury. It was great finally learning a little more about Johnny and what pushes him to race. I was a bit surprised by how it tied into Diego but still a sad backstory (like most of them in this).

This volume ends with a new stand threat coming at Johnny and Gyro while they make their way through the fifth part of the race. I will be interested in seeing how this new stand battle goes because it seems like a tricky one.

TW: death; death of a sibling; underage marriage; violence;

[Marla Hectic · Rating 5 out of 5]

El dinero de esta competición debería haberse usado para terapia, solo digo
Cada vez más dinámico, a partir de aquí se agradece mucho la relectura para observar bien tanto los detalles visuales como de los stan.
Creo que este fue el punto en primera lectura en el que dije: I'm SO IN.

[Dusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

i think gyro and johnny are the stupidest men to ever live. /pos also i love you hot pants

[Simms · Rating 4 out of 5]

PIZZA MOZZARELLA PIZZA MOZZARELLA
RELLA RELLA RELLA RELLA RELLA RELLA

[Seung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Update: I finished all 24 volumes. There is a ton of Jojo plot armor here, where details can be washed out through “JoJo” logic. Some of the minor characters feel secondary after being primary. I think the issue here is that you can only develop so many side characters after the countless gauntlet of Stands. Some of the side characters had some great backstories that I wish could have been fleshed out more. And I felt the ending felt rushed. But I can see the vision and inspiration here of the classic spaghetti western. After the sun sets, life resumes. There are no clear victors and losers (moral ambiguity and complexity). But I can see why this is considered by many to be the best JoJo, the art being S tier after being changed to monthly releases, the complex characters and their motivations, the travel through America, but most importantly, the camaraderie between the two major characters: Gyro and Jojo. Was not a fan of Sandman or (Soundman) being killed off like that while he’s the first guy to open up the novels. Also, the ending. Ok I get that the ending is a nod to the Western like Tombstone but come on, at least give us a proper epilogue. What happens to Steel? Lucy? Where is the Zeppeli family? There are many characters with tragic and hungry backstories. There is moral ambiguity. But I think what really makes this part shine is that the theme of brotherhood akin to Lonesome Dove is found between Gyro and Jojo through the race across America in the late 1800s. Gyro is one of my favorite supporting characters in a long time; he sings a song about Italian cheeses.

[Miriam García · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cada vez el recorrido se va poniendo más bizarro. Las aventuras de Johnny y Gyro son trepidantes, ambos son personajes tan entrañables y tan bien construidos, un momento nos dan una escena de intensa acción y peligro, al siguiente vemos el emotivo pasado de Johnny y al siguiente nos dan una escena memorable y graciosa con esa canción sobre pizza mossarella rella rella rella.
La historia está muy bien contruida y no puedo esperar a leer el siguiente volumen.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

JoJo logic never fails to both amuse and confound me. I love it though. The story and characters are consistently strong and creative.

[Brytany Dominguez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume really said “yeehaw”🤠 and “amen”🙏🏽in the same breath

[Rob Marney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual stakes for our heroes, interesting flashbacks, and dialogue that's slightly less torturous. Now all I need is some more lovely landscape vistas

[Mahmoud Abbas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darkmore was a good antagonist.

[Charlie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grown man gets slimed out by a 14 year old girl because he was hallucinating

[Hundley · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Oh lord in Heaven… you took the wrong child”