Big appreciation post for Steel Ball Run

(Ok, before we begin, this is going to be super disorganized and rambly!! It's kinda just an archive of my various thoughts and feelings over it :D)

So, I really like Steel Ball Run!! I've been reading JJBA for a few months now, and I am obsessed, it's incredibly written and the art is fantastic. 

I'm currently stuck in sbr hell as I've just finished reading it and the anime is coming out later this year (maybe even on my birthday...) SO OF COURSE this'll contain really heavy spoilers for. Everything. Like mainly sbr but also the other main universe JoJo parts. But nothing for part 8 and 9, I promise!

Now, let's get started on the rambles!

First up is the experience I had reading it!

It was... A mess! A big bloated mess. I had to fight for my life to read it!

I unfortunately only started reading it in late April-early May, which, for an art student (or any highschooler in general) is when grading is most present; presentations, tests, projects, anything really! It was so infuriating. So, due to that, I pretty much could only read it everyday in the train ride back home. 

Thankfully that didn't affect the reading itself, though something else (positively) did! That something was the music I listened, one day on the train I forgot to turn off my playlist and listened to Tarkus by Emerson, Lake and Palmer while reading the Catch The Rainbow/The Green Tomb arc. It was INSANE!

The music was divided by acts, and their progression was almost beat-by-beat the same as the arc's pace, I was so invested that my mind wasn't registering the manga pages as still images, but as animation! I still stim a lot thinking about it, it just left a huge mark on my mind and it's gonna be really hard to forget it.

Talking about music, while reading it I kept track pretty consistently of the music references throughout the narrative, and listen to this day very frequently to Tusk, Hot Pants, In a Silent Way and more! They're really solid, I think Araki's taste in music is superb.

I really started reading it to get ahead of the anime release because. Netflix. It's only going to release during the fall and I was so curious to see what really happened! Unfortunately or fortunately (however you want to see it), I got attached to the colored manga colors for the characters. I really miss blue-eyed Diego...

Honestly, overall, I feel like it was a hard read, but only because I am a mildly sensitive person and the whole thing with Lucy and the Valentines made me feel horrible. Outside of that, I really enjoyed it and want to see if I can get my friends to read it as well. :)

Passes you the source underneath the table... 

Now, as for character opinions!

I am pretty sure one of the best written protagonists of all time is Johnny. His arc is incredible and I loved him to the very end (even though I do think that every time Gyro punched him it was completely justified. After all, Johnny is a bit of a punching bag sometimes...)

Generally I just think all main characters got really good development and were explored in a really interesting way. Except Pocoloco my #goat, I wish he had more of a role in the story.... Other than that, yeah, I find it really hard to choose a favorite character since they're all so complex!

Also, we need to talk about the president. I HATE Funny Valentine, I despise, detest, loathe, abhor, abominate, HATE him. I want to set him on fire!!!!! I'm so happy he died, he's one of the villains that most revolt me, alongside Kira. Does it help that I am a big Lucy Steel fan? Yeahh...

Talking about Lucy, I think she's really neat! At first I was very put off by Steven, I didn't like him at all, but honestly these are just characters that you have to look and appreciate them as a whole, including backstory, because now I am a believer that Steven Steel is underrated. Again about Lucy, what is it with Araki and writing children into the worst situations ever? Poco, Anne, Hayato, Emporio and now Lucy... God she is 14!! Give the poor girl a break ;_;

Hot Pants is an incredible supporting character, I love her story and personality, I find her so endearing, really. I just generally end up gravitating towards characters with blunt but kind moments, like when she helped Johnny and Gyro after threatening them in the World of Man arc and Lucy with her disguise in Tubular Bells. Her backstory is also just depressing, as a person from a very heavily catholic country the guilt she felt is absolutely no joke, and her resolve as a nun is really well-written into the main plot!

Diego is really interesting as well, he's like a variant of Dio if he weren't purely evil. He is a very heavily flawed character, he had a horrible upbringing and struck a deal with the Literal Devil (aka Valentine.) I was already liking him just based on his writing alone, but I really started loving him when he took a beating during the Catch The Rainbow arc and fell off his horse... I don't know why, but maybe it was the emotions packed into his scream. 

And another character that struck a deal with the president is Soundman, which surprisingly lots of people didn't like, even going as far as making theories stating he is a D4C clone of his original appearance, which is Insane?!?!? Hello?? I understand that him being so suddenly the focus of an arc after being MIA for so long might feel a bit strange, but really? He is clearly the same character, same goals of playing along with the white men' plan to get enough money to buy back his native land, only more clearly flawed than before. Yeah, if you don't like him  in the Silent Way arc, then you should like him at the start! He fundamentally didn't change!! Read the manga and PAY ATTENTION!!! Anyway, Echoes type of abilities are always so cool to see in later parts' stands. His design is also incredible, but I could honestly say this about the entire cast of characters and it would still apply lol :)

Now, about the story itself!

It's as insane as ever in terms of bizarre happenings, but I find it so unique due to a lot of worldbuilding aspects. First of all, I really don't like westerns that much, and I'm very picky about how one-off antagonists are handled. But sbr takes such a fresh spin (pun completely unintended) on the genre, leading JoJo to more mature topics and the "western" to twist itself into something much grander. It also handles one-off antagonists in a really interesting way! 

One of the main gripes I had with stardust crusaders was that the monster of the week format felt dull at some points and just generally annoying or straight-up boring, because even though they were affilitated with the big bad DIO, there wasn't any story progression though those encounters, only through the characters' physical journey, which to be completely honest I really liked but it wasn't enough for me to absolutely love. Sbr goes through a similar concept as golden wind, which is like an improved version of the sdc formula, though it's noticeable that gw is clearly a shonen and sbr is more of a seinen. The one-off antagonists either matter via the main villain or they relate to the character(s)' backstory, and they actually carry information important to either the main plot or character specific arcs; not only that, but they also go on personal and physical journeys, a combo of one of my favorite aspects of sdc that was previously left a bit to float and what I like to call a buffet of incredible character studies!

In terms of my favorite non-main antagonists are the Boom Boom family, Oyecomova, Dr. Ferdinand, Blackmore and Mike O... I also really like Ringo of course, but he doesn't quite make it into the list mainly because of personal preferences (and his backstory is so so icky!!!) I also love Wekapipo, his name is so fun to say and his arc and backstory are fantastic, but I don't really consider him one-off and not really an antagonist, like... he technically is one, but I feel differently so I kinda don't care!!

As for my favorite story arcs... Catch The Rainbow/The Green Tomb, Scary Monsters, Silent Way, Sugar Mountain and Ball Breaker!! Most arcs were very very hyped up by my friends who read sbr before me, and honestly I see it now. I love these!! The intrigue and silly nature in Scary Monsters, the impending doom, suspense and general melancholy of Catch The Rainbow, the symbolic growth and character-specific focus in Silent Way, the jam-packed gunfire action and mystery of Sugar Mountain and the decisive and tragic moment of Ball Breaker, these really left a mark on me. I think one of my least favorite arcs is probably Both Sides Now (even though I really love the namesake song ^^) because of, you know, the whole Lucy stuff... I feel so bad for her, I wanted to throw the hell up reading that...

(Look, I usually advocate to read the entire thing, but if you're sensitive please skip *at least* chapters 61, 62 and maybe 63. Trust me, it really is that bad...)

So, I genuinely really enjoyed reading it, it's a narrative masterpiece in so many different ways!! I can't praise it enough, I can only imagine how insane people must've felt reading this when it came out...

Now, as for the art itself!

As always, Araki's art is wonderful and it really helps in showing the emotions and complex arcs the characters go through.

The artstyle evolution is always so interesting to witness, and this time we get to see a very clear transition because Araki decided to switch from weekly to monthly publications, so the art quality in the panels is glaringly obvious! Sbr is a noticeable shift from the main parts' more cartoony and exaggerated proportions and faces to the later ones' more realistic representation.

To be completely honest about opinions, I love the later part of sbr in terms of story but the artstyle throws me off for a bit, it's like jojolion's artstyle but incomplete. It just kinda looks weird! Not bad, just weird. I'm very attached to the stone ocean artstyle and derivatives, and early sbr chapters have that very iconic look to them, visibly up until the Scary Monsters arc! 

Then, during the World of Man arc, the chapters start giving more of a focus on character expressions and that's when the artsyle shift starts to seem more prevalent. The bodies are still quite stylized and exaggerated, but the faces start taking a more delicate and detailed turn. That's when sbr started to truly tug at my strings, so I hold this artstyle close to my heart.

After that big shift, around the end of the Ball Breaker arc, the proportions get a lot more set in stone and grounded to accurate human anatomy, not to mention the faces getting a bit wider (especially the noses, which end up looking very blocky) and absurdly detailed. This is the style up until the very end, which transitions into jojolion's artstyle quite swiftly, though I feel like it in sbr was still a bit janky before settling into part 8.

Generally, I can't really complain, since Araki's art is superb in any era, I just end up having favorites since having preferences is unavoidable! The colours are amazing in every illustration, and the poses and visual symbolisms and references!! Reading through it also helped me a lot with inspiration, as an artist I feel like my recent references and artstyle inspo comes from Araki's illustrations ^^

Now, about the future...

I'm sure David Production staff is pouring their hearts into the adaptation. I'm only worried about the scheduling, since they are maybe approaching it by the race's Stages. But whatever, I'm sure it's going to be better than the batches in stone ocean. 

I'm genuinely kinda curious about how they're gonna handle half chapters and the heavier topics, like are they going to omit stuff? I feel like it's for the best, especially when we're talking about a super graphic depiction of the whole Scarlet and Funny Valentine stuff, which I'm not saying the topic shouldn't be handled at all, I'm just saying the manga depiction of it is way too... graphic... for a TV series. And taking into consideration that the victim is LUCY out of all people, it just worries me!

Anyway, some of the arcs that I'm super hyped to see animated are World of Man, Sugar Mountain and Wrecking Ball, I think the action sequences are going to be incredibly translated into 2D just like golden wind's fights!

SO! To conclude this big mess of a blog entry!

I really recommend that you should check it out if you like the main parts of jojo and *still* haven't ventured towards the manga-only parts! Please, I urge you to give it a shot!! But beware, because if you're sensitive like me or worse, this story explores lots of uncomfortable topic like (highlight the text if you want to see) SA/attempted rape, grooming, suicidal thoughts, mental illness, religious trauma and LOTS more.

Even though it disturbed me at times, I still think almost if not all aspects of sbr are masterpieces.

I hope you enjoyed reading throughout all of this! This type of post is a bit outside of my comfort zone, but I really tried my best writing and formatting it.

Have a great day and (hopefully) see you later!