Earlier this year, that day that many JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure fans have been waiting for finally arrived. The story of Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli debuted on Netflix with the first episode of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run, documenting the horse race across the country. While many Joestar enthusiasts were happy to see that the series wasn’t releasing episodes in big batches ala Stone Ocean, it seems as though we might be running into a similar situation. In a recent interview, one of the creators responsible for bringing the Steel Ball Run to life commented on the adaptation’s future.
As of the writing of this episode, Steel Ball Run’s second episode, or any future episodes for that matter, have yet to receive a release date. In a new interview with outlet AniTrendz, the director of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s latest anime story, Yasuhiro Kimura, mentioned episode two, though it might not be the mention that fans were hoping for. The director stated, “I want to see it soon, too! When will it be? I don’t know. It takes a lot of time to make just one episode, but production is going smoothly, and I’m looking forward to seeing the finished episode as much as you are!”
The Steel Ball Run’s Debut
Also in the interview, Kimura described the creation of the first episode and how it turned into a much lengthier endeavor than regular JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure entries. “The 1st STAGE is incredibly tight. Given its length, I felt we couldn’t end it with a cliffhanger. On top of that, the staff and I decided that we didn’t want one. As a team, we think the idea of a cliffhanger is a bit stressful for the viewer. Even though people will be able to binge-watch the series, there are those who also like to watch each episode calmly, and having to constantly get to the next episode can be frustrating. For the first half of the episode, there’s a cliffhanger into the second half, but it was decided from the start that we weren’t going to make it a rule to do one for the final part, leading into the next episode.”
Luckily, we might learn about the future of Johnny Joestar sooner than you think. At this year’s Anime Expo, taking place later this month, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is hosting an event that will bring together the anime’s creators along with several voice actors from the cast. While it hasn’t been confirmed if the creators will discuss the next episode’s release date, fans are crossing their fingers that the latest season manages to dodge many of the problems that Jolyne Cujoh’s arc encountered. Unfortunately, it seems as though fans hoping for the return of “JoJo Fridays” might be out of luck based on what we’ve seen so far. Fingers crossed, we’ll see the Steel Ball Run continue sooner rather than later.
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