Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run Will Make SIGNIFICANT Changes, Director Says

On September 25, 2025, it was confirmed by one of the two series directors of Steel Ball Run, Yasuhiro Kimura, that there will changes to the anime, particularly in how the series will start.

This is done by removing the first scene of Part 7, where Sandman is being chased out by his own tribe

“I wasn’t able to read it in real time during its serialization, so during New Year’s break while working on Part 5 I finally sat down and read it.

I remember enjoying it so much that I read it all in one go.

…But when I first started reading, I remember wondering, ‘Is this really JoJo?’ (laughs).

That question has weighed heavily on us during this adaptation.

As the story progresses, it does transition into the familiar JoJo-style Stand battles, but at the beginning there’s hardly any hint of that.

It’s clear that Araki-sensei originally wanted to draw a “race story.”

After all, the first character to appear isn’t Gyro or Johnny, but Sandman. As a fan just reading the manga, I didn’t think twice about it.

But approaching this as the newest JoJo anime season, we realized the early chapters would need restructuring.

Actually working on it, the story composition has been quite a challenge.

We have to reproduce the same exhilaration the original gave readers, so we can’t change it too drastically.”

This leaves room for more changes to the anime that may leave fans worried or excited.

Sandman had a lot of potential for the story but he eventually became yet another lackey for the villain of the part, Funny Valentine.

Sandman also represented the Native American people who have been oppressed by the white settlers of the United States of America, led by Valentine himself.

Since Sandman is essentially making a deal with the devil, using “white man’s greed” as a means to purchase the land back for his people.

In a way, the anime moving him away from the premiere spot of the first cold open means the fans will be less disappointed when they fully see his arc unfold and more focused on the main characters, Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli.

However, there is also a small possibility that the anime would improve upon the character of Sandman by adding more interactions between him and his tribe or a payoff where his beloved sister is shown at the end of the series, rather than being ignored after Sandman’s death at the hands of Johnny.

Kimura is one of the two directors for Steel Ball Run and has worked on Golden Wind, considered the best-animated part among Jojo anime fans.

Part 5 also featured many additional scenes, such as heavily expanding the backstory of La Sqaudra or the Hitman Team, the first set of villains in the part, including visually showing the execution of two of their members at the hands of Ciocolatta and Secco, two of Diavolo’s close men.

There is even a scene of Fugo Pannacota that was not there in the manga and added in the anime after Naranchia’s death, paying tribute to their close friendship.

This could mean many good things for the adaptation if the directors are allowed to add more content of their choosing.

The Steel Ball run anime just recently released its trailer yet there is no official release date.

Source: Twitter

The director Yasuhiro Kimura mentions that he had to restructure the early chapters of Steel Ball Run for the anime. It no longer begins with Sandman in Episode 1.

“I wasn’t able to read it in real time during its serialization, so during New Year’s break while working on Part 5… pic.twitter.com/c6qKaMF4LF

— JoJo’s Bizarre Encyclopedia (@jojo_wiki) September 25, 2025

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