Common Sense Media Review
Action-driven anime has lots of swears and stereotypes.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 14+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Steel Ball Run: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
What's the Story?
STEEL BALL RUN: JOJO'S BIZARRE ADVENTURE tells the story of Johnny Joestar (voiced by Daman Mills), a paraplegic jockey haunted by his former fame. Johnny's mobility is briefly restored during a chance encounter with Gyro Zeppeli (voiced by Kaiji Tang). Despite Gyro's warnings, Johnny joins the Steel Ball Run to prove himself worthy of learning the secrets of Gyro's mysterious Spin technique.
Is It Any Good?
This high-energy anime gives American history a fun fantasy twist, but some of the stereotypes about people of color are hard to overlook. On its surface, Steel Ball Run: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is an encouraging story about working hard and controlling your own destiny. The fall from fame is an interesting backstory for Johnny Joestar, and all the other characters have equally interesting motivations for winning. Ultimately, it's an entertaining adventure about a high-stakes, cross-country horse race.
On the other hand, its diversity and potential to cover themes of justice falls short. The fashion-forward character design that's typical of JJBA storytelling does uplift some defiance of gender norms, and that's important to note. However, its effectiveness is undermined by racial stereotypes, the lack of female characters, the fact that the main heroes are White men, and the idealization of American history and manifest destiny. This could make the story less fun for many viewers, but it also provides plenty of opportunities to talk about how media, history, and representation influence our worldviews.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about character motivations. What are the different characters goals? Does the story present an opinion on which goals are "good" or "worthy?" Who gets to achieve their goals, and what lessons do we learn from that?
Families can talk about historical fiction. What is realistic about the setting? What parts of history are missing or fantastical? How does this influence the messages we take away from the story?
What stereotypes do you notice? Where do those stereotypes come from? How do the characters both follow and challenge these stereotypes?
TV Details
- Premiere date : March 19, 2026
- Cast : Kaiji Tang , Daman Mills , Alejandro Antonio Ruiz , Cedric Williams
- Network : Netflix
- Genre : Anime
- Topics : Adventures , History
- Character Strengths : Perseverance
- TV rating :
- Last updated : April 6, 2026
Did we miss something on diversity?
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