Warner Bros. Japan took the stage at Anime Expo to announce that the STEEL BALL RUN anime — the latest arc in the long-running JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure franchise — will enter its “second stage” on September 25. New episodes will drop every Friday, and the second and third stages combined will total 11 episodes. An English trailer was also unveiled at the panel.
New Characters and Cast
Three new characters were introduced alongside their Japanese voice cast:
- Mountain Tim — voiced by Tomoaki Maeno
- Funny Valentine — voiced by Tomokazu Sugita
- Hot Pants — voiced by Yōko Hikasa
Main Cast
- Johnny Joestar — Shōgo Sakata
- Gyro Zeppeli — Yōhei Azakami
- Diego Brando — Kaito Ishikawa
- Lucy Steel — Rie Takahashi
- Steven Steel — Kenta Miyake
- Sand Man — Masaaki Mizunaka
- Pocoloco — Kenichirō Matsuda
Staff
The anime is produced at david production. Golden Wind co-directors Yasuhiro Kimura and Hideya Takahashi return to direct, with Toshiyuki Kato — who helmed Stone Ocean — serving as series director. Yasuko Kobayashi is overseeing series scripts, and Daisuke Tsumagari (Golden Wind animation director) handles character design. Yūgo Kanno composes the music, and Yoshikazu Iwanami returns as sound director. Sub-character designers include Yui Kinoshita, Grand Guerilla, Minoru Murao, and Chii.
Broadcast Format and Pop-Up Tour
Netflix confirmed the series will follow a split-cours format, meaning it airs for roughly three months, takes a break of three months or more, then returns for another run. Additionally, Warner Bros. Japan announced a pop-up shop event tour launching this fall, with confirmed stops in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Phoenix, with more locations to be revealed later.
About the Manga
Hirohiko Araki’s Steel Ball Run manga originally launched in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 2004 before moving to Ultra Jump in 2005. It concluded in 2011 across 24 volumes (volumes 81–104 of the overall JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure series). Viz Media holds the English license and released the first volume digitally and in print in May 2025.
The story follows Johnny Joestar, a former jockey paralyzed from the waist down, who witnesses a duel by the mysterious Gyro Zeppeli and momentarily regains the ability to walk. Desperate to understand this power, Johnny joins Gyro in a continent-spanning horse race across the American frontier.
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