Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 7: Steel Ball Run vol. 4

While it looked like Diego Brando’s big secret was revealed in the previous volume, that turns out not to be the case here.  His transformative ability is actually the result of another individual’s Stand who reveals themself as someone who’s also in on the hunt for the parts of the dead saint’s body.  He’s not the only one out to obstruct Gyro and Johnny’s quest (heh), however.  There’s also fellow racer Hot Pants who has their own Stand and aims to keep part of their identity a secret.  There’s also the mysterious gunman known as Ringo Roadagain who’s determined to keep our protagonists from getting any further in this race, six seconds at a time.  However, there’s also the young wife of Steven Steel who’s determined to find out what the real benefactors of this race have planned, all to save her husband.

Two volumes into its new monthly pacing and while the storytelling doesn’t feel any fundamentally different, it does come off as more digestible than before.  That’s to say while arcs like “A Man’s World” may have run to six parts or longer before, there are only three installments here.  Which means we’re not regularly confronted with cliffhangers every twenty pages or so (now that happens every sixty).  I’m fine with that, and the wrap-up to Dio’s arc is solid, with the storyline kicking off at the end coming off as quite suspenseful and promising.  The aforementioned arc in the middle of the volume is also solid; though, between this and the ability of the main villain from “Golden Wind,” I’d be fine if mangaka Hirohiko Araki swore off time-altering Stands for the future.  Seeing them in action isn’t as satisfying as the ones that can alter the here and now.