For more than a decade, JoJo's endings came from a crate-digger's record collection: Yes' "Roundabout," The Bangles, even a Jodeci song. Steel Ball Run broke the pattern with an original song by a rapper. The fans have not been kind about it.
## What happened The ending is "Shinukaikiruka" ("Dead or Alive") by Yuki Chiba. It debuted with episode 2 on Sept. 25, when Netflix started running *Steel Ball Run* weekly on Fridays, per JoJo News. Chiba wrote the lyrics. Dr. Luke composed and produced it, Serban Ghenea mixed it, and it's out on Warner Music Japan and 300 Entertainment Japan.
Per Electric Bloom Webzine, it's "the first original song to be used as a regular ending for the series," and it's Chiba's first song written for an anime.
## The backlash By Sept. 26 there were more than 187,000 posts about it on X, with "netflix change the outro" as the running joke. Electric Bloom sums up the main complaint: "Many simply call the song uncool and too low-energy for JoJo." The producer credit added to it. Fans brought up Kesha's 2014 lawsuit against Dr. Luke; he denied the allegations, and the two settled in 2023.

## Who Yuki Chiba is to our audience If the name sounds familiar, it should. Chiba's "Team Tomodachi" got a remix with Will Smith and Bun B, he's on Megan Thee Stallion's "Mamushi," and in July he did "JJK" with mgk. He's one of the Japanese rappers with the most American crossover right now. His connections to American hip-hop are exactly why a label and a streamer would put him on a global anime slot.
## The take Two things are true here. JoJo has always taken its cues from Western music: the Stand names come from band names, and the endings came from old Western records. Giving the slot to a Japanese rapper with real American rap co-signs is a logical next step. But JoJo's ending themes were beloved because they were a surprise and a deep cut, like somebody's uncle's vinyl. An original song made for the slot, and a Dr. Luke production, is a different thing. Fans aren't mad at rap being there. They're mad the digging stopped. Netflix hasn't said anything about changing it.
## Sources - Electric Bloom Webzine, Sept. 26, 2026: JoJo fans reject Yuki Chiba's Steel Ball Run ending - JoJo News, Sept. 25, 2026: Steel Ball Run reveals "Dead or Alive" ending theme by Yuki Chiba - AnimeTV, Sept. 25, 2026: Creditless ending theme video - Crunchyroll News, Sept. 25, 2026: Steel Ball Run ending theme song - YouTube (official, Warner Bros. Japan Anime): Steel Ball Run creditless ending – Yuki Chiba "Shinukaikiruka"

