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Steel Ball Run Episode 5 just turned the race into a war zone — and finally told us who Gyro Zeppeli really is
Episode 5 of Steel Ball Run, titled “The Terrorist from a Faraway Country” (Tōi Kuni kara Kita Terorisuto), dropped on Netflix this morning (October 16, 17:00 JST), and it’s the episode where the race stops being a race. A bomber is hunting Gyro across the riverbeds, every puddle is a landmine, and by the end of the hour, the show finally answers the question it’s been teasing since Episode 1: why does an executioner’s son from Naples ride in this race at all?
Catch-up if you’re new: Johnny (now armed with his newly awakened Tusk nail-bullet Spin from the Devil’s Palm) and Gyro survived the Boom Boom Family ambush in Episode 4, thanks in part to gunslinger Mountain Tim, who’s still riding with them. Episode 195 of the JoJo anime overall was storyboarded around the duo pushing deeper into the Arizona territory with their horses Slow Dancer and Valkyrie.
Oyecomova: the most patient villain of the season
The episode’s antagonist is Oyecomova, and he debuts with one of the nastier Stand concepts David Production has animated: a power that turns ordinary matter — water, cloth, mud — into ticking aquatic bombs. Every river crossing becomes Russian roulette. Every splash is a fuse. The effect on screen is exactly the kind of slow-terror setpiece the 2026 adaptation has built its reputation on: quiet, dread-soaked wide shots of the desert suddenly full of things that can kill you.
And his motive is personal in a way most JoJo villains aren’t: Oyecomova is a terrorist from the Kingdom of Naples with a vendetta against Gyro’s noble bloodline. He isn’t racing. He isn’t after the prize money. He crossed an ocean to make the Zeppeli name pay for something — and that grudge is the door into the episode’s biggest reveal.
The Gyro reveal: an executioner in exile
Here’s the emotional core of Episode 5, and the reason JoJo fans have been waiting thirty-plus manga chapters for this anime moment: Gyro Zeppeli is an executioner in exile. The heir of a Neapolitan execution dynasty, he abandoned his station and his country — and the episode finally explains the vow underneath it. Gyro rode into the deadliest race in America to save an innocent boy condemned to death, a secret he’s carried alone since the starting line.
It recontextualizes everything. The Steel Balls aren’t just a family technique — they’re the tools of a trade he refused to let define him. Johnny watching Gyro explain it, mid-firefight, in the least dramatic way possible, is peak JoJo: the most sincere conversation in the show happening while bombs are going off.
The riverbed ambush: nail bullets vs. water mines
The action beats this week are all about the new duo dynamic. Johnny’s nail-bullet Spin — barely a day old — gets its first real stress test against Oyecomova’s minefield, and the choreography sells the desperation: Johnny firing nails to detonate traps from a distance, protecting the horses, improvising tactics while Gyro counters the bomber’s spatial advantage with rotational trickery. Mountain Tim gets solid beats as the witness to all of it, and the episode uses him well as our window into how insane these two look from the outside.
Where the race goes next (Episode 6 preview)
The clash with Oyecomova reaches its conclusion next week as Gyro and Johnny finally synchronize their abilities — Steel Ball rotation plus Johnny’s nail projectiles — for a combined counterattack. And beyond the gunfire, the shadows are lengthening: government agents dispatched by President Funny Valentine are closing in on the race, and whispers of the Holy Corpse relics begin surfacing along the trail. The Devil’s Palm was only the beginning.
Verdict: 9/10
Five episodes in, Steel Ball Run is racing past the hype. Episode 5 delivers the season’s best villain concept, the franchise’s most human Gyro moment, and the cleanest action-to-character ratio of the run so far. Netflix’s weekly Friday drops are going to make Fridays unmissable through December.
What time does Steel Ball Run air new episodes?
New episodes stream Fridays on Netflix worldwide from 17:00 JST (8 AM UTC / 4 AM ET).
Is Steel Ball Run on Netflix?
Yes — the 2026 anime streams weekly on Netflix globally, including the first two stages covering the race’s Arizona legs.
Is Gyro Zeppeli a villain?
No — he’s the co-protagonist. Episode 5 reveals he’s an exiled Neapolitan executioner racing to save an innocent life, not the cold-blooded heir his family name suggests.
Should I read the Steel Ball Run manga after Episode 5?
Yes — and honestly, you’ll want to. Episode 5 adapts one of Part 7’s most beloved emotional reveals, and the manga goes much deeper from here. Steel Ball Run Vol. 1 is on Amazon, and the deluxe hardcover editions are gorgeous.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, BakaBuzz earns from qualifying purchases made through links on this page.
More from BakaBuzz: our complete JoJo watch order, the Episode 4 recap (Johnny’s Tusk awakening), and 25 best Steel Ball Run quotes.
