Though we’ve previously reported that the anime adaptation of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run stumbled out of the gate, most fans are now happy enough, having been satiated by a great first episode and news that the season will eventually release weekly, starting later this year.
An itching curiosity has still remained, though: What is the theme song going to be? There’s still no confirmation of what new opening sequence (or “OP”) will accompany this new part of the show. With previous seasons kicking off with bangers like Bloody Stream, Stand Proud, Crazy Noisy Bizarre Town, or my personal favourite, Fighting Gold, there’s a high bar set for the next track to match.
It’s not rare for an anime to launch without an opening theme in its first episode. It’s also not rare for JoJo’s to leave its audience waiting for key information over long stretches of time (this is a series where fans referred to a main character as “Gappy” for months before they were ever given a confirmed name, and major parts have still not been officially translated into many major languages within a decade of release).
But since it is strange for an anime to launch a first episode and then go into immediate radio silence, I’ve been desperate to fill in this mental picture. And so I’ve been revisiting an incredible fan project from 2022, a theme written by JoJo’s fan Nico Bellisario and singer Shihori called Holy Steel. A production so brilliant that it has racked up 24 million plays on YouTube alone, is now regularly thought of as the series’ unofficial theme, and led to the creator being able to work on an actual official JoJo’s project.
I produced this OP inspired by Steel Ball Run and @shihori94 sang it! #JoJosBizarreAdventure #steelballrun #anime #manga #ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 #スティール・ボール・ラン pic.twitter.com/vVgG66srCa
— Nico Bellisario | ニコベ | Producer (@nicobenico) July 18, 2022
I’m not the only one in the thrawl of this song. Comments under Holy Steel’s YouTube video read “No new Op so this is still the official one as of now”, and “A part of me is going to be sad inside that this work of art will no longer be the Steel Ball Run opening everyone thinks about going forward.”
I reached out to Nico Bellisario to learn a little more about how the song came into existence. “The reception of Holy Steel (and the other Jojo inspired songs) has been really surprising,” he says. “I’m immensely thankful and happy that people liked our work and have bonded so much with my composition. I feel incredibly lucky that something I created could resonate with so many fans.”
Bellisario, who has been a locked-in JoJo’s fan since first reading Part 3 (“When I reached the Jotaro vs. Dio fight, I knew I was in for the ride.”), was born and raised in Italy and became interested in music at the age of eight, first picking up a traditional folk instrument called a Du’ Botte, before begging his parents for a guitar as a teenager (“Classical, of course, because my parents thought it was bad etiquette going directly to electric”).
“I started producing much later.” Bellisario says “At one point I had a health scare that might have taken away my ability to play guitar, and it made me realize I had to do something with this passion for music. Eventually I understood that if I wanted to move forward, I would have to do everything myself, otherwise nothing would happen.”
I wanted to capture was the gallop of the horses, and so rhythm-wise I tried to keep that going through the song.“
His first “serious” release was a Naruto soundtrack cover, and after it got some traction it convinced him to keep going and to collaborate with “incredible” other artists for Holy Steel, like singer Shihori (already a successful musician in her own right, though she admits she has since made new fans who are more familiar with Holy Steel than her other songs), and video producer Vettis, who managed to take existing imagery from JoJo’s and present it in such a way that it feels custom-built just for the Holy Steel music video.
“After all… stand users attract other stand users.” says Bellisario.
But why JoJo’s? “Beyond its unique aesthetics and storytelling, there’s something about it that’s hard to pin down,” muses Bellisario. “I remember [JoJo’s creator] Hirohiko Araki once describing JoJo as a celebration of life. In many ways, it reveals a side of humanity we didn’t even realize was there.”
From my first listen of Holy Steel, I was struck by how much it just feels like JoJo’s, but without also feeling like any of the themes that have come before. It’s truly hard to believe that it wasn’t written for the official anime. “The actual composition itself just came out as soon as I finished reading SBR,” Bellisario explains, saying he “literally took the guitar and went ‘steeeeeel, baaaaaal, ruuuuun.’”
I ask how the song manages to capture that JoJo sensation. “I think the first thing I wanted to capture was the gallop of the horses, and so rhythm-wise I tried to keep that going through the song,” Bellisario explains.
“I also wanted to give a sense of ‘stakes getting higher and higher.’ I also tried to incorporate aspects from both J-rock and western rock, as well as some Morricone influences, especially during sound design.” he continues: “I know that Araki sensei draws and writes inspired by music… so I would say that makes a lot of sense that I got inspired back!”
Since the song released in 2022, Bellisario has actually had luck in transitioning his love of JoJo’s to actually working on an official project. “The amazing people behind the game Path to Nowhere reached out in 2024 and asked me to write a song for an official collaboration with the JoJo Stone Ocean anime!” he reveals. “At first I thought it was some kind of joke… but it was true! The song (called Heavy Waves) actually got vetted and approved by the JoJo anime production team! What an amazing opportunity!”
Given this chance to chat, I had to get Bellisario’s opinion on the strangeness of the Steel Ball Run release schedule. “Like everyone else, we’re all eager for the full experience, but I’m just glad it’s happening,” he says. “The news that it will air weekly starting in fall 2026 is exactly what people wanted to know, and now we finally have something clear to look forward to.”
“Personally speaking, it felt surreal being so invested in an anime release,” he says. “Really an amazing thing. The biggest surprise for me was that there was no OP in the first episode!”
I knew that I wanted to talk to Bellisario, just to get the story behind how such a cool piece of work came into existence, but concluding our interview, I’m left with a new appreciation for how the power of creative expression has the capacity to take you anywhere – seemingly, from nearly having to give up playing the guitar, to getting to actually work officially on the series that you love.
“I think that’s what draws people in.” Bellisario says about JoJo’s. ”It has the power to change your life. And if a work can do that, then it’s truly a piece of art.”
What’s next for Nico? “At the moment I am making an OST for a very ambitious music-based JRPG-style game that is going to be called “(A Song) Left Unfinished”). The demo should come up later this year!”
Mat Jones is a Senior Social Producer for IGN based out of London, UK
