Quick TakeArticle at a glance
- Steel Ball Run's 2nd Stage started streaming on Netflix in the early hours of Friday, September 25, 2026, picking the cross-country horse race back up right where March's premiere episode left off and adding three new riders to the field.
- Three new competitors were revealed for this batch of episodes, each voiced by a returning JoJo cast veteran.
- The new episodes follow Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli as they push deeper into the Steel Ball Run's 1890s route across North America, a race with a $50 million prize and nine total STAGES.
Steel Ball Run’s 2nd Stage started streaming on Netflix in the early hours of Friday, September 25, 2026, picking the cross-country horse race back up right where March’s premiere episode left off and adding three new riders to the field. Netflix confirmed the drop covers the anime’s second and third STAGES back to back, with new episodes releasing every Friday through early December.
What’s New in the 2nd Stage
Three new competitors were revealed for this batch of episodes, each voiced by a returning JoJo cast veteran. The biggest reveal is Funny Valentine — not just a racer, but the sitting President of the United States, who is quietly backing the Steel Ball Run for reasons the race’s other 999 riders don’t know about yet.
| New Character | Japanese Voice Actor | Role in the Race |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain Tim | Tomoaki Maeno | Wyoming cowboy and early race favorite who moonlights as a deputy sheriff investigating murders along the route |
| Hot Pants | Yoko Hikasa | A competitor with an aristocratic bearing whose age and background the show keeps deliberately vague |
| Funny Valentine | Tomokazu Sugita | The U.S. President, publicly a race sponsor and privately pursuing his own hidden agenda |
Where Johnny and Gyro’s Race Picks Up
The new episodes follow Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli as they push deeper into the Steel Ball Run’s 1890s route across North America, a race with a $50 million prize and nine total STAGES. This batch adapts up through roughly chapter 32 of Hirohiko Araki’s manga and, according to the anime’s own marketing, ends with the cast “heading into the 4th STAGE, where the story will really begin to pick up.”
How and When to Watch
New episodes post to Netflix weekly, dropping at 1 a.m. PT / 4 a.m. ET every Friday. This 11-episode batch is scheduled to run without a break, with the 3rd STAGE wrapping up around December 4, 2026. For the full week-by-week breakdown, see our Steel Ball Run episode schedule, and if you’re catching up on the five earlier parts first, our JoJo watch order guide has the full sequence.
Why This Premiere Is a Bigger Deal Than It Looks
Steel Ball Run didn’t need the hype: with a single episode available, it was already the No. 2 most-watched anime on Netflix worldwide for the first half of 2026, logging 8.3 million views — just 1.1 million behind Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3’s full-season total, according to Netflix viewership data reported by Outlook Respawn. That a nine-STAGE horse race adapted from a 20-year-old manga out-drew most of the spring 2026 slate on a single episode is the clearest sign yet that JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has crossed over from cult favorite to mainstream Netflix anime.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Steel Ball Run’s 2nd Stage premiere?
It began streaming on Netflix on September 25, 2026, at 1 a.m. PT / 4 a.m. ET.
How many episodes are in the 2nd and 3rd Stage?
This batch is 11 episodes covering the 2nd and 3rd STAGES back to back, releasing weekly every Friday.
Who are the new characters in Steel Ball Run’s 2nd Stage?
Mountain Tim (voiced by Tomoaki Maeno), Hot Pants (Yoko Hikasa) and Funny Valentine (Tomokazu Sugita), who is revealed as the sitting U.S. President secretly involved in the race.
When does the 3rd Stage conclude?
Netflix’s weekly schedule has the 3rd STAGE wrapping up around December 4, 2026.
Is Funny Valentine really depicted as the U.S. President in the story?
Yes — within Steel Ball Run’s fictional 1890s setting, Funny Valentine holds the U.S. presidency while secretly steering the race for his own ends.
