JJBA Steel Ball Run: the decade-long wait is over

After months of hiatus, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run resumed its weekly releases on Netflix with episode 2. The adaptation of the seventh part of Hirohiko Araki's manga had premiered a longer first chapter in spring, and fans had been waiting for the continuation ever since.

Last week it returned with the so-called JoJo Fridays, the weekly release schedule that will set the pace for the series from now on. And the comeback didn't go unnoticed: expectations were huge, especially because of what surrounded the initial premiere.

The second stage of the race begins

The story of this part takes place in a parallel universe after the events of the sixth installment. Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli take part in a transcontinental horse race across the 19th-century United States, running from San Diego, California, to New York.

Episode 2 opens the second stage of the competition, after the first one closed in the previous chapter. The central fight, as is tradition in the franchise, pits the protagonists against another racer: Mrs. Robinson. Also, a murder investigation subplot starts to complicate the race's context and sets up the arrival of the biblical motifs and the main antagonist.

The ending that fired up fans

The controversy isn't in the episode's content, but in what surrounds it. First came the decision to release a single chapter and wait months to publish the second. Now the debate revolves around the closing theme.

The JoJo's adaptation became known for using Western songs in the endings, sometimes with questionable lyrics. For this part, the most anticipated and the most American of the entire series, the producers changed the pattern and chose a Japanese rap. The disconnect between that song and the old west setting didn't convince many viewers, who are already imagining which tracks should play instead.

An episode that lives up to the wait

Despite the noise, the chapter delivers on years of waiting. The adaptation is quite faithful to the manga and the pacing matches what readers imagined when bringing the story to anime, especially in the main fight. The character designs also work well in motion.

The series' lower ratings are explained by the rejection of the ending and Netflix's delay, not by the episode itself. With a minor adjustment, the already respectable debut can become one of the best series of the season. JoJo Fridays are worth it.