"Steel Ball Run: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" Event Report

An event was held in Tokyo on September 23rd to announce new information about the anime "Steel Ball Run: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure," based on "Steel Ball Run," the seventh part of Hirohiko Araki's popular manga series "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure." The story is set in America at the end of the 19th century and depicts the first ever transcontinental horse race in North America (the Steel Ball Run), and fans have been paying close attention to the depiction of the horses. At a press conference after the event, voice actors including Shogo Sakata, who plays Johnny Joestar, spoke about noteworthy aspects of the horses.

Rie Takahashi, who plays Lucy Steele, commented, "I often hear that it's difficult to draw horses in animation, but the fact that they still decided to make an animation of this work really made me feel that the animation team was very determined. Now that the animation has been announced, I think they're putting a lot of effort into the horses."

Kaito Ishikawa, who plays Diego Brando, said, "I think that even in the footage we're currently watching, the individuality of the horses ridden by each character is made to be apparent from their movements and appearances." He added, "Maybe when viewers see it, they'll think, 'I might like this horse.' I think this is a production that will make people pay attention to the horses as well." He focused on the individuality of the horses.

Sakata, who plays Johnny Joestar, said, "It's a very niche story," but added, "I think the movement of the muscles in a horse's thighs is amazing, and I'd be happy if people paid attention to how they were depicted."Yohei Azakami, who plays Gyro Zeppeli, spoke about the relationship between horses and horses, saying, "Horses are our partners for us race participants, so I think there's a bond between us, a friendship and love that's different from that with humans." Furthermore, Azagami added, "The more you pay attention to the horses, the more attention you'll pay to the Sandman's movements. He's running."

Kenta Miyake, who plays Steven Steele, said, "Naturally, the races they take part in are tough, so there's dust and mud that gets kicked up by the horses. If you try to portray that in detail in every episode, I think it requires an unimaginable amount of effort and talent. I think the people in charge of producing the animation will be very pleased if you watch the show while following the results of the races and wondering how they'll express this texture."

The anime "Steel Ball Run" will be directed by Yasuhiro Kimura and Hideya Takahashi, who worked on "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind," with Toshiyuki Kato, who directed "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean," serving as series director. Yasuko Kobayashi, who has worked on all anime series, will be in charge of series composition. It will be produced by David Production. It will be released on Netflix in 2026.