Steel Ball Run Return Brings 11 New Episodes to Netflix

The Steel Ball Run return is here. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fans waited six months after the cinematic opening, and the gap felt a lot longer. The wait ended September 25, when STEEL BALL RUN JoJo's Bizarre Adventure began streaming its 2nd and 3rd STAGES on Netflix. The 11 episodes roll out weekly on Fridays, picking up the story of former jockey Johnny Joestar and the mysterious Gyro Zeppeli as they ride across the American frontier. The new run continues the 47-minute opening chapter that premiered March 19, which introduced the cross-country horse race at the center of Hirohiko Araki's seventh arc.

The Friday rollout was confirmed at Anime Expo 2026, where the JoJo panel also showed the second trailer and unveiled new character visuals. It lands in a stacked fall season that already includes Black Clover's new season and Tougen Anki's new season. The event carried the message JOJO FRIDAY IS BACK, marking the series' shift from its theatrical-style opening to a weekly schedule. ComicBook.com notes the Steel Ball Run return arrives after months of fans asking when the story would continue, with a special recap trailer helping viewers catch up before the new run began.

A new opening and a new ending

The new opening theme is SPIN by Japanese five-piece band Kroi, and the announcement itself was a show. The band revealed the news September 23 during the encore of the sold-out final show of Kroi's JUNGLE tour at Zepp Haneda in Tokyo. A video appeared onstage, the crowd erupted, and bassist Masanori Seki launched into a bassline as the band played SPIN live for the first time. For that performance only, fans in the audience were allowed to film, and the footage has been spreading across social media since.

According to Anime News Network, SPIN arrived on streaming and download platforms September 24 at 12:00 a.m. JST, alongside the creditless opening video on YouTube. Kroi said in a statement that the band was honored to take on the theme and practically jumped for joy when first approached, before working through trial and error to put the series' cross-continental race to music.

The new ending theme is Shinukaikiruka, performed by Yuki Chiba, reported by ComicBook.com. The clean ending video streamed online the same week the new run began, giving fans the full bookend of the show's new sound. The credits animation plays over the new song, with visuals that tease the darker turns the race is about to take.

Who joins the race this time

The new stages push deeper into the Steel Ball Run race itself, an approximately 750-mile contest across the American frontier with supernatural forces and political interests closing in around it. New faces enter the competition this season, including the cowboy Mountain Tim, Hot Pants, and United States President Funny Valentine, all arriving with the Steel Ball Run return. The official synopsis flags the Devil's Palm, a feared and mysterious location in the desert crossing, as one of the key dangers the riders face as conditions turn harsher.

The Japanese cast carries over the leads, with Shogo Sakata as Johnny Joestar and Yohei Azakami as Gyro Zeppeli, joined by Kaito Ishikawa as Diego Brando, Kenta Miyake as Steven Steel, and Rie Takahashi as Lucy Steel. Masaaki Mizunaka voices Sand Man and Kenichiro Matsuda voices Pocoloco, while Tomoaki Maeno plays Mountain Tim and Tomokazu Sugita plays Funny Valentine. Longtime JoJo studio David Production is behind the animation, with Toshiyuki Kato as series director, Yasuhiro Kimura and Hideya Takahashi directing, Yasuko Kobayashi on series composition, and Yugo Kanno returning to score the series.

The anime adaptation of Hirohiko Araki's Part 7 manga was announced during a livestream event in April 2025, with Netflix handling worldwide streaming. Steel Ball Run is the seventh part of the JoJo saga and one of the most requested adaptations among manga readers, thanks to its self-contained western story and its reputation as a favorite arc. With the weekly run now underway, fans finally get to follow the race in full. Like Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle hitting streaming the same week, the Steel Ball Run return makes fall one of the busiest anime stretches of the year. The manga is frequently cited by readers as the saga's peak, and this is its first screen version after years of fan campaigns asking for an adaptation.