RoDio Roller: The Epitome of Cosplay Community

If you or a loved one were anticipating March 19th for the premiere of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run on Netflix, you have my sympathies. In case you missed it, the first episode of the new arc dropped in March and then practically disappeared. Those who were expecting another episode or – how dare they – a regular full season were gutted to find out that the rest won’t actually be dropping until the end of 2026. That’s quite a bit of time to wait. However, I have something that many JoJo’s fans can use to scratch that seven month itch in the meantime. Have you heard of RoDio Roller?

Every year on September 25th, fans of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (JJBA) cosplayers especially gather to share their creative takes on what their original characters would look like in the iconic series. This day is known as RoDio Roller, created by the famed multi-fandom cosplayer @rinnegoddess. RoDio Roller is based around the Steel Ball Run arc of JJBA, a western themed parallel to the usual timeline of the series, but in the same pop culture themed world.

While I have yet to read said arc, like many fans of the series, I await the arrival of September’s end with anticipation every year. Especially now that we basically got a forty minute teaser for the new season. That being said, I just had to pick the brain of the woman responsible for what has become a social media holiday in the cosplay community.  

Who created “RoDio Roller”? What is it?

Kayla – best known as @rinnegoddess on all social platforms – is a JoJo’s fan unlike any other. Described as a cosplayer, content creator, and streamer, she does a little bit of everything. “Kinda whatever chaos pops into my head,” as she happily put it. 

Like many others in this community, Kayla has been cosplaying since early 2020 and has elevated her content over the years to the level of a trailblazer. If you were on anime TikTok between 2020-2023, you’d probably recognize her as one of the standout cosplayers of that era.  

Like any other fan of the series, she entertained the thoughts of what-if? “What if I made a JJBA character? What would they look like? What would their powers be?”. It began as curiosity but has now transformed into an exciting day of self expression without rules. She said, “I feel like it would be so fun if there was a day where we could just dress up as our own original character, because you really wouldn’t have an excuse to do that any other time.”

With the intent of giving JoJo’s fans a day to have fun and bring their ideas to life, it’s safe to say she succeeded! Five years in, hundreds of posts across social platforms brandish the #RoDioRoller tag in an to show off their skills and meet other likeminded creatives. Drawings, cosplays, skits, and concepts give the day more variety than even Kayla was expecting. Here’s what she had to say about the whole experience when I got to sit down with her:

Girltaku: What are the rules?

Kayla: There are no rules. The only thing we do is keep a Western theme around it because that’s Steel Ball Run’s theme, but you can do anything. There have been people that don’t cosplay, but they do art. So they’ve drawn their stand, drawn their OC… You can do whatever you want for RoDio Roller. It’s such a fun cool day.

What does your creative process look like? 

As scary as it is, I think of the powers afterwards (laugh). I feel like it’s easier to think of a theme or to pick a song first. A lot of the time I knew what I wanted to do – like I knew I wanted a Destiny’s Child one and a Prince one. I said okay, for him I’ll have to do purple and the album 1999. So usually it’s the song or the theme first. I was thinking of the “let them eat cake“ Marie Antoinette theme first and then I thought of the song afterwards.

Usually it’s the powers that I think of last and I’m scrambling to think of a stand (laugh) like two weeks before we have to do this. And then I’m like, what if I don’t think of anything? But yes, usually the process is the song or the theme and then the powers are last – which you would think is the first thing, but it’s not.

How long does it take you to shoot? Does it help to have a limit on pictures?

I mean, normally I just have an idea of how I want the pictures to be. And usually I try to set up or do those poses and that content first, but usually it takes me like the same amount of time as a cosplay that I normally plan for. So for filming, it could be like three to eight hours. It depends on how much content I want to do or like if I get in front of the camera and then my lighting seems weird, I’d have to change it. So sometimes it’s not always that I have five hours of footage. It just took me five hours to get three pictures that I like.

Shoutout to everyone making content after work. It’s not uncommon to hear that cosplayers shoot anywhere they can squeeze in time, especially in the wee hours of the morning.  Kayla emphasizes the need to take snack breaks between is an absolute necessity when working that long. Don’t forget to stay hydrated folks!

Since 2026 will mark the sixth anniversary of RoDio Roller, do you have a favorite look that you’ve done? 

I really do like the Prince one that I did. I thought that was really aesthetically pretty – also it was Prince! But I was also inspired by Cher. There’s this one picture of her where she’s kneeling on the ground that I saw on Pinterest and I was like, I need that bodysuit. I need to make a bodysuit just like that.

Which characters are you looking forward to seeing in Steel Ball Run?

Of course Gyro. Can’t wait to see him, Diego and Hot Pants. I’m really curious to see how they’re going to do. Funny Valentine— and I don’t wanna spoil it for anyone who’s just an anime only, but for people who have read it – you know what I’m talking about. He’s different at the beginning and he’s different at the end, so I’m really interested in seeing how they do it. And they’ve hidden him! We’ve only seen a couple of characters in clips so I’m most excited to see Funny Valentine.

Can you give us some pop culture references you’d love to see for next year? 

There were some musical references, like Hamilton, that were so cool to me, so keep those up. I would like to see somebody do something trinket based, like Smisky, Sunny Angels or a Labubu. Something where their power is like a blind box — I feel like that would be really funny.

How has this event challenged you creatively?

It’s pretty challenging because I feel like what I do is always based around something – whether it’s an anime, comics, or TV show – so I can pull references directly from the source. Whereas with RoDio Roller, I kind of have to think of it all on my own. Which I feel like isn’t hard because I like a bunch of different things that I could pull from, but I’ll think to myself “is this dumb?“ I don’t know if this is good or if this is stupid and I kind of have to go with it and hope that it lands.

Do you feel like it’s more challenging to make an OC rather than cosplaying an existing character and meeting those expectations of the fandom?

Honestly, I feel like it’s easier to do an OC because there’s not an expectation there for people. And I feel like and my audience is just kind of happy with whatever – because they know I’m going to think of something crazy. If I don’t think of something weird or crazy then I’m not gonna do it.

I feel like it’s more stressful to do cosplay that’s referencing a character because it’s like I have to do this. I have to have this hair color exactly right and people will ‘um, actually’ and say that shade is off, or your eye color isn’t right. And it’s like my God I’m trying, I know! So I feel like doing an OC takes the stress out of trying to match something. And you’re just free to do whatever you want with it because my hair could be whatever color I want and nobody’s going to tell me that it’s wrong.

Since you’re such a huge Jojo fan, when did you first get into it?

I actually started watching in quarantine. I was already on TikTok making videos and then people were saying “you have to watch JoJo, you have to!”; so I said OK I’ll watch this… (laughs) weird thing.

Wow. You go so hard I fully thought you were a lifelong fan. In that case, how do you feel the show has influenced your music taste?

Oh my God, so much! I’ve gone back and listened to so much music. Not that I hadn’t listened to Queen and other bands before, but I literally went back and listened to so many old artists that I wouldn’t have had the reason to or just thought of before. My 80s bag grew insanely with watching and reading Jojo’s.

You’ve discussed on our web series your experiences with racism in the anime community as a black woman. How does it feel to have created a community that has a majority of BIPOC participants? 

I’m obviously happy. Not even just for RoDio Roller, but just in general. With my audience and community I want everyone to feel welcome and able to express themselves. I love that. I absolutely love that I get to see so many black people – black boys, black girls – so many that participate that are usually othered. Especially black girls! And you know you can’t be anything other than a black girl; like you can’t be weird, can’t be into anime, can’t do this, can’t be alt. So for it to be a little space where you can nerd out and do what you wanna do and be comfortable and be championed and have people supporting you…

My favorite part is when I see other people interacting, following each other, and saying ‘I found them last RoDio Roller’. I love that. I love that so much, it’s the sweetest cutest thing ever and I’m so happy that it’s just a day of wholesomeness. I’ve never had an experience yet where somebody was rude or had a bad experience with this. It’s literally just all other black creatives meeting each other, seeing each other’s work, talking about JoJo’s, and whatever else after. If y’all just become mutuals and friends, I think it’s the most amazing thing.

Any final remarks? 

Thank you to everybody who’s been supporting RoDio Roller and me and all the other creators who participate. That’s the most important part to me – that people who participate in it get supported and get eyes on their art and what they do. And a big thank you to the people who participate because I know that it’s not easy.

You’re spending your money, your time— even when you’re just thinking about your stand. That is a lot to ask of somebody! I know that it’s a lot to ask, so huge thank you to everybody that makes something, or dresses up. If y’all didn’t do it there wouldn’t be a RoDio Roller, so big hearts and thanks to them.

It may not be a new season, but it might be what you need! 

I know how disappointed so many of you are that you’re not getting new JoJo content right now. Yes it’s coming later on in the year, but tomorrow is not promised so make it today. Start planning your RoDio Roller submission, fire up those hot glue guns, get to scribbling — just make something! Honor your creativity with a community that’s already waiting for you! There’s no fandom like Jojo’s. And even better, when RoDio Roller goes live, there’s no judgement! 

If you find yourself unfamiliar with the themes of JJBA, I recommend watching some YouTube videos on how it succeeds at being camp, using pop culture references, and a breakdown of the stands. And of course, check the #RoDioRoller hashtag on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. You can even find some of the Girltaku girlies amidst the submissions! 

Thank you to every Rodio Roller participant thus far, every creative that put aside their perfectionism to try something new, and to Kayla of course for sharing her imagination and passion with us.

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