Where do I start with Steel Ball Run, it's just peak fiction. I'd argue it's more peak fiction than the manga often considered peak fiction (berserk, Vinland saga, Vagabond) (also nothing against berserk it's No.2 on the peak scale). But there's one main factor that makes SBR as peak as it is, the characters are all bangers. Johnny is one of the best Jojo MC's. Every character even one off stand users get so much backstory that they are just as important as the MC's (for example Ringo Roadagain). But there are two characters that shine more than any other jojo character, Gyro Zeppeli, and Funny Valentine. Today we'll be talking about gyro, maybe i'll do Valentine next time. gyro has a better backstory than guts, better writing than eren, and probably the most creative powers i've seen in fiction. I mean, who would have thought about metal green balls that twist your innards and also can be used to fly. The only thing Gyro lacks is a great stand, he has two stands they don't even do much, but where he lacks in stands he shines in swagness and sheer power. as anyone who read it knows, steel ball run is a western in America during 1889 hence Gyro's cowboy like attire. the whole story revolves around a horse race and gambling, which sets this weird but cool vibe for the whole story. Gyro is first shown in the first volume and for the first 3 volumes, it seemed like he was out MC until Johnny shows up in volume 4. This is because Araki originally wasn't going to make SBR as a continuation of jojo but as it's own thing. That's why Gyro never says his last name until around volume 5. Johnny wasn't even in the first draft of the story he was only added after it was made a continuation of Jojo, which is why those first few volumes focus so hard on gyro. As time went on the story started to be more Johnny focused, but Gyro wasn't left in the dark. which leads us to our part one of this retrospective of Gyro Zeppeli, the backstory. when we first see Gyro's past it's shown that he comes from a large family with 5 kids, Gyro being in the middle and the dad isn't present, the only mention of his father is a letter from a Roman governor sent to him. fast forward a few volumes and we see the next bit of lore. Now it's shown that the Zeppeli's are a bloodline of executioners with Gyro up next for the mantel. we see gyro's father beheading someone in front of Gyro to show the world isn't pretty and Gyro accepts this. this shapes gyro into who he is later. now in the final Gyro flashback we're shown that gyro's father has died of some unnamed disease and his mother is next to go. This is Gyro's motivation for it encourages him to join the steel ball run and win the prize money so he can get treatment for his mother.
PART 2: stands. Gyro is one of few people in jojo's bizarre adventure to have obtained more than one stand. His first stand is Scan which he gets after infusing his left eye with the left eye of the saints corpse. the stand looks like one of his steel balls (the green things hanging from his shoulders) but with an eye on the center. All it really does is allow him to use vibrations to detect moving things in sand. It's not all that impressive but when he gets the right eye he unlocks his second stand, Ball Breaker, it has the powers of Scan but now he can duplicate the steel balls to an infinite amount, and he can now cross dimensions like Valentine and Tusk Act Four. Plus his dimension hopping makes him immune to valentines ability to fuse two versions of the same person together. While Gyro never had the best stand. his base power is better than nearly every stand. At first it's simple, he throws the steel ball at someone and they get knocked out. But then the ball starts to spin fast enough that the ball locks into your body and twists your innards. I'm pretty sure araki confirmed that SPIN is just a form of HAMON fused with golden rotation but that doesn't take away from the cool factor. PART 3: the death of Gyro Zeppeli. Every Jojo part has a "jobro" or just a sidekick for whoever the main joestar Is. Jonathan has Speedwagon, Joseph has caesar, Jotaro has Kakyoin, Josuke has Okuyasu, so on and so forth. the sad part about the Jobro's is that they don't often make it out alive, the only ones who do are Speedwagon and okuyasu. Sadly Gyro is no exception and he does not live until the end. in the final confrontation with President Funny Valentine Gyro tries to stop him with Ball Breaker but D4C LOVE TRAIN (yes that's the name of Valentines stand) is too strong and gyro is killed. and just before Johnny finishes Valentine with TUSK ACT 4 he says, the words "Arigato Gyro" or goodbye Gyro.Then after Valentine is defeated Johnny falls off his horse and looks into the sky, and we see gyro's spirit in the form of a cloud looking back at Johnny. And that my friend, is the best shot Hirohiko Araki has drawn. I hope this project inspires you to pick up your nearest device and read Steel Ball Run. While yes the manga has yet to be released officially in English most manga reading sites have the fan-made English translation that doesn't change the names of the stands due to copyright. and remember, ARIGATO GYRO.
