Steel Ball Run

Steel Ball Run (スティール・ボール・ラン) is the seventh part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump in 2004 and in Ultra Jump between 2004 and 2011.

Set in the U.S. in 1890, the story follows Gyro Zeppeli, master in a mystic art named the Spin, and Johnny Joestar, a paraplegic ex-jockey, as they compete with a vast number of others in the Steel Ball Run race: A mad-dash across America for a grand prize of 50 million dollars.

The Steel Ball Run Universe
Steel Ball Run describes a new continuity apart from that detailed in Parts I-VI of the series.

On top of features core to JoJo such as Stands, the story is marked by many references to the original series.

Transition to Ultra Jump
Originally described as a "standalone alternative universe", after Chapter 23, Steel Ball Run transferred publication from Weekly Shonen Jump to seinen magazine Ultra Jump, upon which it was officially declared part of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.

In the monthly Ultra Jump, chapters are much longer. Perhaps coincidentally, between those chapters included in Volumes 7 – 8, Araki's style takes on greater realism.

Trivia

 * Part VII marks the first time since Part II: Battle Tendency that a Zeppeli is featured, and the first in which a character besides a JoJo is purported to be the main protagonist.
 * This arrangement changes when Part VII is revealed to stand within the JoJo continuity and Johnny Joestar's role expands.


 * Steel Ball Run (and its eponymous race) appears to be named after the film The Cannonball Run; also characterized by an American cross-country race populated by eccentrics.