Steel Ball Run Anime's 2nd Stage Sets September 25 Netflix Premiere

What was announced

At its Anime Expo 2026 panel, the team behind the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime unveiled a second trailer for Steel Ball Run and locked in a firm release plan. The "2nd Stage" of the series begins streaming on Netflix on September 25, 2026, with new episodes arriving every Friday. According to the official announcement, this run spans 11 episodes and adapts the race's second and third stages, continuing the story that opened worldwide on Netflix earlier this year.

Funny Valentine joins the cast

The panel also confirmed a marquee casting. Tomokazu Sugita voices Funny Valentine, one of Steel Ball Run's central figures and a name fans have waited to hear attached to the anime. Alongside that reveal, the production introduced additional racers set to feature in the new episodes, including the veteran cowboy Mountain Tim and the rival competitor Hot Pants, widening the field as Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli push deeper into the transcontinental race.

What the new episodes cover

Steel Ball Run is the seventh part of Hirohiko Araki's long-running saga, reimagining the JoJo universe as a brutal horse race across an alternate United States. The second stage sends the competitors into a punishing desert crossing and its feared "Devil's Palm," where a string of ominous incidents makes clear the race is far more than a simple contest. Netflix has framed the release as a split-cour rollout, so this batch represents the next scheduled block rather than the full remainder of the series.

Where and when to watch

The anime remains a Netflix worldwide exclusive, and the September 25 date gives it a fixed weekly slot after a stretch in which the streamer's rollout plan had been a point of confusion for fans. New episodes drop every Friday, and the platform has also prepared an English-language version of the new trailer for international viewers. For anyone catching up, the earlier episodes that launched the anime are already available on the service.

Behind the production

According to Anime News Network, the anime is produced at David Production, with Golden Wind co-directors Yasuhiro Kimura and Hideya Takahashi directing and Toshiyuki Kato serving as series director. Yasuko Kobayashi oversees the series scripts and Daisuke Tsumagari handles character designs. The anime's first episode premiered globally on March 19, 2026, which makes the September return its first sustained weekly run and the point where the story's most anticipated arc finally begins.