One of the biggest mysteries in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is, by far, the connection between Steel Ball Run and the universe created at the end of Stone Ocean. Since Steel Ball Run immediately follows Stone Ocean, many people believe the new universe with Irene was the future of Steel Ball Run’s reality, but there has never been explicit evidence, and it’s remained a point of contention among fans, even now.

Whether there’s a true connection between Stone Ocean and Steel Ball Run is unclear, but the anime might have finally solved the mystery. Steel Ball Run is officially getting an anime, and while there isn’t much to see beyond a basic announcement trailer, the first trailer for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run might have indirectly answered whether the Steel Ball Run universe and Irene’s universe in Stone Ocean are the same. There still isn’t anything concrete, of course, but even getting something like this after 20 years is plenty great to see.

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Might Have Finally Answered Steel Ball Run's Biggest Question

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The initial teaser trailer for Steel Ball Run shows the universe being reset due to Made In Heaven accelerating time along with a counter for the years, and when it circles back to 1890, the key visual for Steel Ball Run is finally shown. That implies that the Steel Ball Run universe was created in direct response to Made In Heaven, and as such, the teaser trailer for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run all but confirms that the Steel Ball Run universe is the universe created at the end of Stone Ocean by connecting it to Made In Heaven.

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Having confirmation that the Steel Ball Run universe is the same universe Stone Ocean ends with would be great, but it’s more complicated than one might think. In defense of the argument, nothing that happens in Steel Ball Run, JoJolion, or The JOJOLands conflicts with the end of Stone Ocean, and since the Joestar family is much bigger in the Steel Ball Run universe, Irene could easily exist without being involved in any major story events. The way the Steel Ball Run universe is constructed doesn’t necessarily exclude a connection to Stone Ocean, and that’s still true after 20 years.

There are some strong arguments against it, however. The way Made In Heaven’s time acceleration works is that when time loops back around, the universe is fundamentally the same, and even though Emporio killing Pucci changed the universe, it’s implied that Irene and the other lookalikes are still Jolyne and her friends, just in different forms. Add in how Steel Ball Run is presented as an alternate reality in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Eyes of Heaven and other extended media, and there’s just as much evidence disproving a connection between Steel Ball Run and Stone Ocean as there is ing it.

The biggest argument against it comes from why Steel Ball Run was written in the first place. Series creator Hirohiko Araki was suffering from creative burnout with Stone Ocean, so JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure after Stone Ocean to give himself a fresh start in a setting that wasn’t bogged down by everything that came before it. Insisting that the Steel Ball Run universe is the universe seen at the end of Stone Ocean goes against the very reason Steel Ball Run was created, so in that regard, it might not make sense for the theory to be true.

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While many storylines in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s original continuity do play into each other and benefit from long-term investment in the series, at the end of the day, each part of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is generally written in a way that allows them to be enjoyed on their own and doesn’t have to be tied to previous parts to work. Steel Ball Run, being in its own continuity, is the perfect embodiment of that, and overall, there’s no real reason to try and change that simply to satisfy a particular headcanon.

More to the point is how great Steel Ball Run is as a story. Steel Ball Run is still one of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s most popular installments, and if it could do that without being tied down by prior continuity, then Steel Ball Run’s enduring popularity is proof that it doesn’t need to be tied to JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s original continuity to be a success. The theory about it being tied to Stone Ocean is still nice to think about, but overall, it probably makes sense to accept Steel Ball Run as a fresh start in every conceivable way.