DISCLAIMER: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is a currently ongoing series with (at the moment of writing), 7 complete parts and one ongoing one. It's important to first make the distinction that this is NOT one ongoing story split into parts, but rather 8 stories in the same universe following the Joestar bloodline, that share similar elements, plot points, and even motivations in some cases.
Due to that, this and my other JoJo reviews will follow an unique JoJo rating system, since in my opinion it cannot be easily compared to other manga, done in a beginner-friendly way so as to illustrate whether or not it is worth it to get invested in the series, and how it compares to other parts of it.
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After a gap year following the last chapter of Stone Ocean, Araki puts out the newest JoJo part after the world reset in Stone Ocean, which is Steel Ball Run. It's often ranked as one of the best JoJo parts and honestly, I have to agree with that. It does away with everything that was bad, and doubles down on everything that was good, starting by giving it a full, proper story with a justification for the stand fights beyond "hired henchmen with stands".

That justification is a race across the United States for US$50.000.000.
Of course they'd fight with everything they got to get that prize.

Johnny Joestar is an amazingly complex protagonist. He starts off relatively similar to Jolyne in that he's a douchebag, but throughout the 24 volumes (a full 7 volumes more than the standard JoJo amount) he develops into the most human character in the series.
Gyro Zeppeli (once again, Joestar-Zeppeli dynamic similar to parts 1-2) is an equally amazing character, albeit far less complex. He serves not only as a rival, but also a mentor and ALSO as a comic relief during the brief moments of respite where Johnny and Gyro can rest during the race.

The art and style is outstanding, and miles above even Stone Ocean, which leads me to believe Araki used his gap year to hone his skills a bit further. It also has some of the best pin-up style covers.

This time, the "stand user of the week" formula is like previously stated, not intrusive at all, as these are merely other competitors in the race trying to get ahead for the 50m dollars. The battles are even more interesting than usual due to a few key facts:

1) The number of humanoid stands went down by a lot. Stands are now mostly abilities or objects with abilities. Way less punch ghosts.
2) Not only are there stands, there's also Spin, which is the new universe equivalent of the Ripple, albeit far more interesting and with far more use than simply breathing so hard you catch on fire.
3) Due to the fact that they're traversing an entire country, the amount of places to fight in and situations to be in are more diverse than ever, resulting in the most interesting matchups in JoJo history.


And of course, last but not least, we have the main villain, who is one of the (if not the) favorite for a lot of people. His motivations make complete sense to the point where I found myself questioning just how wrong he really was for doing what he did, considering unlike most previous villains, he seemed to have a genuine goal in mind that he wanted to achieve, complete with a method of how to achieve it.
The plot twists and the final fight are by far my favorite from all of JoJo. Not only because it encapsulates what makes the final fights so good, but because they take it a step further and make it interesting the whole way through, moving through different places and giving the chase a sense of urgency, complete with one final GIANT twist afterwards, resulting in a fight that spans almost eight whole volumes without ever feeling like it drags on. I would compare it to defeating Liquid Snake in MGS only to, a few minutes later, hear him proclaim IT'S NOT OVER YET as you fight one last time for your life.

This is, one of the best JoJo parts, and to me, it shares a spot with Diamond is Unbreakable as my favorite. The art is better than ever, there are no bad characters, everyone's motivations are sensible and heartfelt, and it's full of emotional moments, which is something that JoJo usually lacks.
It's by far the most complete, and the most satisfying to read through of the parts, and by the end of it, it's one of the few that manages to make you feel like you truly reached the end of an adventure alongside Johnny.