{"id":24306,"date":"2026-03-19T08:42:01","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T08:42:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/?p=24306"},"modified":"2026-03-19T08:42:02","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T08:42:02","slug":"how-steel-ball-run-jojos-bizarre-adventure-anime-was-brought-to-life-with-director-yasuhiro-kimura","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/?p=24306","title":{"rendered":"How STEEL BALL RUN JoJo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure Anime Was Brought to Life With Director Yasuhiro Kimura"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In a few days, the next era of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">JoJo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> will be upon us with the release of the first, double-length episode of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">STEEL BALL RUN JoJo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Before the first stage gallops onto screens, Anime Trending had the chance to watch the episode and talk to director Yasuhiro Kimura in both pre- and post-release capacities.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">With that, let\u2019s hear from one of the staff behind bringing <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">STEEL BALL RUN JoJo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> to life \u2013 director <strong>Yasuhiro Kimura<\/strong>, who is best known for directing <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">JoJo\u2019s<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> fifth part, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Golden Wind<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, as well as the 2022 remake of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Urusei Yatsura<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This interview has been edited for clarity and flow.<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-3c6c528dd05a0176b4b891cbaa559a1d\">Kimura on <em>STEEL BALL RUN JoJo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure<\/em> Before Release<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><b>We\u2019re a few days away from the release of the extended first episode. How are you feeling about the release? How\u2019s the whole team at david production feeling?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><b>Yasuhiro Kimura:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0I\u2019ve continually been watching the first episode over and over again. Every time I see it, I can\u2019t help but be proud of it.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Many of the staff members are huge fans of the original manga, and they\u2019re working hard to finish the anime. They know that there are a ton of fans around the world and that<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0STEEL BALL RUN<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0got a huge reaction when it was announced, so they\u2019re putting their all into the show.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><b>This is the second\u00a0<\/b><b><i>JoJo\u2019s\u00a0<\/i><\/b><b>series you\u2019re directing. How does\u00a0<\/b><b><i>STEEL BALL RUN\u00a0<\/i><\/b><b>compare to\u00a0<\/b><b><i>Golden Wind<\/i><\/b><b>?\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><b>Yasuhiro Kimura:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0First, I thought about what the strengths of\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">STEEL BALL RUN<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> were. Above all, it\u2019s the buddy dynamic between Johnny and Gyro. I\u2019ve tried to avoid cutting their interactions as much as possible. Although the manga spans 24 volumes, the illustrations and panels are larger than in previous parts, giving the series a brisk, page-turning pace. We\u2019ve aimed to preserve that same rhythm you\u2019d feel reading the manga in the anime.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">When I directed\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Golden Wind<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, I realized that the characters never ate. Whenever they tried to eat, they were always attacked. For\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">STEEL BALL RUN<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, I want to portray the characters eating a meal, so during a camping scene, I\u2019d like to add more scenes showing the \u201croad movie\u201d atmosphere that wasn\u2019t in the original work.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><b>What are some differences in your approach between the two?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><b>Yasuhiro Kimura:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0When\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Golden Wind\u00a0<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">was originally published, it was released in a\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">shonen<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0magazine, but when\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">STEEL BALL RUN<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0was being published, it was moved to a seinen magazine during publication, which is for young adults. So I wanted to make\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">STEEL BALL RUN<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0more mature to reflect the themes of the story, but I also didn\u2019t want to alienate existing fans. It was a balancing act between the two atmospheres.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-size: 16px\">One example was with the onomatopoeia. The original work had a ton of it, and it\u2019s a staple of the series, but to give the anime a more mature aura, I toned down the amount of onomatopoeia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><b>It\u2019s been a while since you\u2019ve worked on\u00a0<\/b><b><i>JoJo\u2019s<\/i><\/b><b>\u00a0directly. What is something new you learned from your time on other projects that you\u2019re bringing to\u00a0<\/b><b><i>STEEL BALL RUN<\/i><\/b><b>?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><b>Yasuhiro Kimura:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0In between\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Golden Wind\u00a0<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">and\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">STEEL BALL RUN<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, I started using a lot of 3DCGI. This took a lot of studying, but I\u2019ve come to be able to make some cuts myself out of the techniques I learned. I got to work on two different anime in between the two\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">JoJo\u2019s<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0projects, and I incorporated those techniques in those shows as a learning exercise.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-size: 16px\">One of the anime I worked on was a volleyball series, and so when making Gyro\u2019s steel balls, I used the same techniques to create the spin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-size: 16px\">I feel like all the learning I\u2019ve done has led to what you\u2019ll see in <em>STEEL BALL RUN<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Editor\u2019s note: Kimura previously directed\u00a0<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">2.43: Seiin High School Boys Volleyball Team<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" data-attachment-id=\"150354\" src=\"https:\/\/anitrendz.net\/news\/2026\/03\/17\/how-steel-ball-run-jojos-bizarre-adventure-anime-was-brought-to-life-with-director-yasuhiro-kimura\/%e2%91%a5pv%e7%ac%ac%e4%b8%80%e5%bc%be%e5%a0%b4%e9%9d%a2%e5%86%99%e7%9c%9f_%e3%83%ac%e3%83%bc%e3%82%b9\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anitrendz.net\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/%E2%91%A5PV%E7%AC%AC%E4%B8%80%E5%BC%BE%E5%A0%B4%E9%9D%A2%E5%86%99%E7%9C%9F_%E3%83%AC%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9.jpg?fit=1920%2C1080&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1920,1080\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"\u2465PV\u7b2c\u4e00\u5f3e\u5834\u9762\u5199\u771f_\u30ec\u30fc\u30b9\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anitrendz.net\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/%E2%91%A5PV%E7%AC%AC%E4%B8%80%E5%BC%BE%E5%A0%B4%E9%9D%A2%E5%86%99%E7%9C%9F_%E3%83%AC%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9.jpg?fit=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anitrendz.net\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/%E2%91%A5PV%E7%AC%AC%E4%B8%80%E5%BC%BE%E5%A0%B4%E9%9D%A2%E5%86%99%E7%9C%9F_%E3%83%AC%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B9.jpg?fit=696%2C392&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-150354\" \/><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-816468b44f05802ae6ff7ef7eb8322ee\">How <em>Red Dead Redemption 2<\/em> Shaped <em>STEEL BALL RUN JoJo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure<\/em>\u2018s Look<\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><b>Araki-sensei\u2019s <\/b><b><i>STEEL BALL RUN<\/i><\/b><b> manga is seemingly influenced by old American western films set in the late 1800s. Does the anime have the same influences? Are there any media that have influenced the team?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><b>Yasuhiro Kimura:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> I\u2019m not exactly referencing any of those types of films for <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">STEEL BALL RUN<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, but in the lead-up, I watched the film <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Far and Away<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> with series director Toshiyuki Kato. But most of all, I watched the <em>Red Dead Redemption 2<\/em> trailer over and over again and played a bit of the game.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I find the coloring of these works really interesting \u2014 the contrast between the red and the black, and the sinking sun at twilight, especially with the characters\u2019 silhouettes imprinted against the bright light. That coloring, especially how the red and black contrast, was something that I wanted to bring to <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">STEEL BALL RUN<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-size: 16px\">We brought in some experts on American culture from universities in Japan to advise on the production and ensure everything was faithful, but really, it\u2019s hard to find any research on that time period to fall back on here in Japan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><b>Do you have any interesting stories from the production that you\u2019d be able to share?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><b>Yasuhiro Kimura:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> For our research, we were scheduled to visit a horse farm in Tomisato, in the middle of Chiba Prefecture, just outside of Tokyo. We were late to the meeting because one of the staff members entered the wrong GPS destination, and we ended up at the wrong horse farm which had a similar name in the same prefecture, though it was actually very far away!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><b>What are some scenes in the first episode that you\u2019re excited for people to see? Without spoilers, of course!<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><b>Yasuhiro Kimura:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> For the first stage, I wanted to emphasize the actual race aspect of <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">STEEL BALL RUN<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, so I made sure that the race was always top of mind. I wanted the audience to feel like they were watching a real race live, complete with the runners\u2019 emotions and the live, exciting commentary.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;font-size: 16px\">The last scene is one that the whole team worked hard on, so I\u2019m excited for everyone to see it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><b>Do you have a message for international <\/b><b><i>JoJo\u2019s<\/i><\/b><b> fans ahead of the premiere later this week?<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><b>Yasuhiro Kimura:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> The team is continuing to do their best to make the series the best it can be, and our fuel to keep going is everyone\u2019s reaction to the show, so please continue to support us!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" data-attachment-id=\"150353\" src=\"https:\/\/anitrendz.net\/news\/2026\/03\/17\/how-steel-ball-run-jojos-bizarre-adventure-anime-was-brought-to-life-with-director-yasuhiro-kimura\/10-sbr_pv06-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anitrendz.net\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/10.SBR_PV06.jpg?fit=1000%2C563&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1000,563\" data-comments-opened=\"0\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"10.SBR_PV06\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anitrendz.net\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/10.SBR_PV06.jpg?fit=300%2C169&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/anitrendz.net\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/10.SBR_PV06.jpg?fit=696%2C392&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-150353\" \/><\/figure>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\" \/>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Please watch out for the second part of this interview later this week, after <\/span><\/span><em><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">STEEL BALL RUN JoJo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure <\/span><\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-size: 16px\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">premieres its first episode on Netflix on March 19! Special thanks to Warner Bros. Japan for their assistance in organizing this interview.<\/span><\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<pre><code>            (function(d, s, id) {\n      var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n      if (d.getElementById(id)) return;\n      js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\n      js.src=\"\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;amp;version=v2.9&amp;amp;appId=269442613521839\";\n      fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n    }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/anitrendz.net\/news\/2026\/03\/17\/how-steel-ball-run-jojos-bizarre-adventure-anime-was-brought-to-life-with-director-yasuhiro-kimura\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a few days, the next era of JoJo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure will be upon us with the release of the first, double-length episode of STEEL BALL RUN JoJo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure. Before the first stage gallops onto screens, Anime Trending had the chance to watch the episode and talk to director Yasuhiro Kimura in both pre- &#8230; <a title=\"How STEEL BALL RUN JoJo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure Anime Was Brought to Life With Director Yasuhiro Kimura\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/?p=24306\" aria-label=\"Read more about How STEEL BALL RUN JoJo\u2019s Bizarre Adventure Anime Was Brought to Life With Director Yasuhiro Kimura\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24307,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/How-STEEL-BALL-RUN-JoJos-Bizarre-Adventure-Anime-Was-Brought.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24306"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24308,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24306\/revisions\/24308"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jubi24.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}