The Fall 2026 anime season is almost here, and it looks more exciting than ever. It’s the final quarter of the year, which means all major platforms will be releasing new shows for the season. As one of the largest streaming giants across the world, Netflix isn’t going to be left behind either. While the anime industry heavily relies on Crunchyroll for dozens of new releases each quarter, Netflix also expands its library each month. While the Fall anime season usually begins in October, several shows often debut during the last week of September. After massive backlash earlier this year, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run is all set to return for its weekly release starting September 25th, 2026.
It’s one of the longest-standing anime and manga franchises of all time, and its popularity hasn’t diminished at all. As the release date draws near, Netflix dropped a recap trailer for the first stage, while also sharing information regarding the next phase of the story. The recap video highlights some of the most crucial scenes from the Stage 1 episode, which fans need to know before stepping into Stages 2 and 3.
Fans can expect the upcoming episodes to introduce new characters as things get intense during the second stage. The anime is returning with 11 episodes this time to cover the second and third stages of the race. The story will primarily focus on Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli taking on a grueling challenge in the form of a 750-mile-long desert known as the “Devils’ Palm.”
The first part of the race ended with Gyro taking the win, but he is going to face even more challenges from that point on. The premiere episode highlights some strange occurrences during the race that will be explored in the upcoming stages, along with the introduction of new characters. The manga from creator Hirohiko Araki ran for nine stages, which means the anime has a huge chunk of story left to adapt.
Following the controversial premiere of Stage 1, the highly anticipated JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run will begin releasing its weekly episodes. The anime initially premiered in March this year with a 47-minute special episode. It also took a while to confirm a release date for Stages 2 and 3 of the anime. Luckily, the anime will return with a weekly schedule after the massive fan backlash.
The fan criticism was especially severe since fans waited 16 years after the manga’s ending for the anime debut. Weekly releases are crucial to keep the community engaged and generate enough hype around the series to attract new fans. However, with just one episode, the anime was over in no time, and fans had no idea when to expect new episodes. However, it didn’t take long for Steel Ball Run to confirm new updates during this year’s Anime Expo.
