JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Exec Sparks Steel Ball Run Anime Rumors

Get ready JoJo fans, because one of the biggest arcs of the franchise might finally be receiving its own anime adaptation. For quite some time, Joestar fans have been dying to see the North American horse race that made up JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run. While no official news has been released for the anime follow-up to Stone Ocean, an animation director at David Production might have let the cat out of the bag with a recent post on social media. 

Yumenosuke Tokuda was the chief animation director for Stone Ocean, the latest season of the anime adaptation that arrived on Netflix. Following the story of Jolyne Cujoh, the daughter of previous JoJo star Jotaro, Stone Ocean mostly took place inside a prison that saw some of the wildest Stand battles of the franchise to date take place. On top of animating Jolyne’s world, Tokuda has also worked on the likes of Pokemon, Naruto, Dragon Ball, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed, Black Butler, and Fire Force to name a few. With a vast majority of Steel Ball Run taking place on horseback, a recent re-post and now deleted post from Tokuda might have let the cat out of the bag when it came to Johnny and Diego’s story hitting the small screen.

Is Steel Ball Run Being Worked On As We Speak

Yumenosuke reposted an account with a woman riding a horse that you can see below. What you might have missed is that Tokuda had previously posted a response to the horse-riding post, stating the follow, “So cool! Next JoJo required subjects. Please wait for further news, JoJo Fans.” While Tokuda quickly took down the post hinting at Steel Ball Run, shockwaves are being sent through the JoJo fan community.

There’s a good reason why Steel Ball Run is considered one of the best entries of the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure franchise. The storyline has some of the best battles and characters of the series so far, even if it doesn’t take place in the original universe that introduced anime fans to the Joestars. 

If this is your first time hearing of the Steel Ball Run, here is an official description of the story arc, “America, 1890. The longest and largest race ever, the Steel Ball Run, is about to start. It’s a race from San Diego, California all the way to New York City, New York, and while horses are the traditional racing medium, anything can be used. The winner is the one with the most points, via checkpoint placement, when they reach New York. The prize: $2,000,000. Gyro Zepelli, a mysterious man with an equally mysterious steel ball, is planning on winning the race. Johnny Joestar (JoJo) is a former jockey who’s cockiness got him paralyzed from the legs down. An accidental contact with the steel ball made his leg twitch, so he’s in the race the learn about Gyro’s steel ball. But the challenges of Diego Brando, a popular European jockey, Pocoloco, a slave with the Devil’s Luck, Sandman, a Native American who is sprinting all the way to NYC, and others will make it hard for Gyro and JoJo to win.”

Via Yumenosuke Tokuda Social Media