Steel Ball Run: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Sixth season of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Steel Ball Run: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure[a] (Japanese: スティール・ボール・ラン ジョジョの奇妙な冒険, Hepburn: Sutīru Bōru Ran: JoJo no Kimyō na Bōken) is the sixth season of the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure anime television series produced by David Production, adapting Steel Ball Run, the seventh part of Hirohiko Araki's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure manga series.
| Steel Ball Run: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure | |
|---|---|
| Season 6 | |
Key visual, depicting Johnny Joestar (foreground) and Gyro Zeppeli (background) | |
| No. of episodes | 4 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Netflix |
| Original release | March 19, 2026 – present |
| Season chronology | |
Like the previous season, Steel Ball Run was released worldwide as an original net animation season on Netflix, with the first episode, referred to as the 1st Stage, having premiered on March 19, 2026.[1][2] The next cours, referred to as the 2nd and 3rd Stages, began releasing on a weekly schedule on September 25 of the same year.[3][4]
Plot
In September 1890,[b] riders from across the globe gather in the United States for the Steel Ball Run, a transcontinental horse race from San Diego to New York City offering a 50 million USD prize. Among them is paraplegic former jockey Johnny Joestar, who joins to study the mysterious "Spin" technique of Neapolitan Gyro Zeppeli after Gyro briefly restores his mobility. Though starting as rivals, Johnny and Gyro become close allies while surviving attacks from ruthless competitors.
Voice cast
| Character | Japanese[5][2] | English[6][7] |
|---|---|---|
| Johnny Joestar | Shogo Sakata | Daman Mills |
| Gyro Zeppeli | Yōhei Azakami | Kaiji Tang |
| Lucy Steel | Rie Takahashi | Frankie Kevich |
| Steven Steel | Kenta Miyake | Jamieson Price |
| Diego Brando | Kaito Ishikawa | Damien Haas |
| Sand Man | Masaaki Mizunaka | Alejandro Antonio Ruiz |
| Pocoloco | Kenichirou Matsuda | Cedric Williams |
| Funny Valentine | Tomokazu Sugita | TBA |
| Mountain Tim | Tomoaki Maeno | Joshua David King |
| Hot Pants | Yoko Hikasa | TBA |
| Mrs. Robinson | Masaya Fukunishi | Alejandro Antonio Ruiz |
| Andre Boomboom | Yoshiki Nakajima | Jamison Boaz |
| Benjamin Boomboom | Jiro Saito | Christopher Swindle |
| L.A. Boomboom | Fumiyoshi Shioya | Matt Shipman |
| Urmd Avdul | Kenta Miyake | Nazeeh Tarsha |
Production and release
In April 2025, as part of the JoJoday event held to celebrate the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure series, an anime adaptation of Steel Ball Run produced by David Production was announced. Key art, as well as character art for Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli, were revealed alongside a promotional video.[8][9] In July 2025 during Anime Expo, the main production staff for the adaptation was revealed. Golden Wind co-directors Yasuhiro Kimura and Hideya Takahashi reprised their roles, alongside returning series director Toshiyuki Kato, while Yasuko Kobayashi is overseeing series composition. Daisuke Tsumagari returns as character designer, and Yugo Kanno is composing the music, with Yoshikazu Iwanami serving again as sound director. As with previous installments, David Production is handling animation production.[10] Additional details, such as the release year and main character castings, were revealed during a livestream event in September of the same year.[5]
Following the premiere of the first episode on March 19, 2026, which covered the 1st stage of the race, Kimura stated that he was not sure when more episodes would be released.[11] Several days later on March 28, a new teaser trailer was released, which revealed that Steel Ball Run would return sometime later in the year.[12] On April 6, Netflix announced that the next cours would be released weekly in late 2026.[13] In July of the same year at Anime Expo 2026, it was announced that the cours, which consist of 11 episodes, would be released weekly starting on September 25. It covers the 2nd and 3rd stages of the race.[4]
The opening theme song is "Spin", performed by Kroi, while the ending theme song is "Shinu ka Ikiru ka" (死ぬか生きるか; lit. 'To Die or Live'), performed by Yuki Chiba.[14][15] This marks the first original ending theme for a full cours in the series that is not a pre-existing licensed Western song. The song itself was heavily panned online, with many considering it lackluster compared to past ending themes.[16]
Episodes
| No. overall [c] | No. in season [d] | Title [17][e] | Directed by [f] | Written by [f] | Storyboarded by [f] | Original release date [3] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Stage | ||||||||||||
| 191 | 1 | "Steel Ball Run" Transliteration: "Sutīru Bōru Ran" (Japanese: スティール・ボール・ラン) | Toshiyuki Kato & Yasuhiro Kimura | Yasuko Kobayashi | Toshiyuki Kato & Yasuhiro Kimura | March 19, 2026[g] | ||||||
|
In September 1890,[b] 3,852 jockeys from around the world assemble in San Diego to take part in the Steel Ball Run, a transcontinental horse race to New York City with a $50,000,000 grand prize. While signing up for the race, Neapolitan rider Gyro Zeppeli duels and defeats a thief with a steel ball imbued with supernatural rotational energy. Johnny Joestar, a former celebrity jockey turned paraplegic after he was shot in his spine, touches one of the steel balls while it is still spinning and briefly regains his mobility. Determined to learn the secret behind Gyro's "Spin", Johnny joins the race and tames an experienced but rowdy horse named Slow Dancer. The first stage of the race is a 15-kilometer dash to a nearby church. Johnny and Gyro approach the finish line in neck-and-neck alongside Sandman, a Native American running without a horse, Diego Brando, a British prodigy, and Pocoloco, a happy-go-lucky racer who initially missed the start of the race but caught up through exceptional luck. Gyro uses the Spin to lift his cape and gain a marginal headwind with his horse, Valkyrie, to seemingly win the first stage. | ||||||||||||
| 2nd & 3rd Stage | ||||||||||||
| 192 | 2 | "The Sheriff's Request to Mountain Tim" Transliteration: "Maunten Timu e no Irai" (Japanese: マウンテン・ティムへの依頼) | Hirofumi Ogura | Shinichi Inotsume | Taizo Yoshida | September 25, 2026 | ||||||
|
Race organizer Steven Steel declares Sandman to be the winner of the first stage, as Gyro is penalized and moved down 20 ranks for using his steel balls as weapons near the end of the stage. Gyro ruins Steven's celebratory gathering as revenge after conceding the result. Before the start of the second stage, the local sheriff deputizes jockey Mountain Tim to investigate the murders of three race participants that occurred during the previous stage. Shortly after the second stage begins, Gyro and Johnny take a shortcut through the desert, which many racers refuse to take due to its lack of water resources. Six hours into their journey, the duo get pierced by multiple rounds of cholla cactus needles as they are tailed by another jockey. Gyro moves to use his steel balls on their pursuer, Mrs. Robinson,[h] who uses his insects' wing vibrations to trigger the cholla needles in any direction he desires. Gyro's deflected Spin completely disrupts the insects' movements, causing Mrs. Robinson to be defeated by his own attack method. Mountain Tim arrives shortly after the battle, confirming that Mrs. Robinson's horse does not match a distinctive hoofprint found at the murder scene. | ||||||||||||
| 193 | 3 | "The Desert-Born Outlaws" Transliteration: "Sabaku de Umareta Narazumono" (Japanese: 砂漠で生まれたならず者) | Shūgo Tsuneoka | Shōgo Yasukawa | Shūgo Tsuneoka | October 2, 2026 | ||||||
|
An approaching jockey, Andre Boomboom,[i] requests help with a venomous bite. Attempting amputation, he asphyxiates himself seemingly to death, luring Gyro to touch his knife. His brother L.A. Boomboom[j] and father Benjamin Boomboom[k] exploit this with a ghostly ability which controls iron. Having failed to kill either, Benjamin recalls visiting a place called the Devil's Palm, a moving geological phenomenon shunned by Native Americans. He disguises himself as Johnny and his horse, which has the distinctive hoofprint, lures Mountain Tim to pursue him with his own rope-based ability. | ||||||||||||
| 194 | 4 | "The Devil's Palm" Transliteration: "Akuma no Tenohira" (Japanese: 悪魔の手のひら) | Kayona Yamada | Shōgo Yasukawa | Toshiyuki Katō | October 9, 2026 | ||||||
|
Johnny and Gyro are pulled backwards off their horse towards the pursuing Mountain Tim, who, realizing the magnetic attack is not theirs, climbs away with his rope ability. He explains it is called a Stand, a power he gained 15 years ago in an expedition to the Devil's Palm from which only he survived. The Boombooms then attack with iron sand. In desperation before his body implodes, Johnny uses the Spin on a spent bullet, but Benjamin kicks his hand aside. Suddenly Johnny's fingernails begin to spin; he involuntarily fires them, killing Benjamin. Mountain Tim acknowledges this as a Stand, the Devil's Palm having caught up to them. As they escape, L.A. explains that the Boombooms were pursuing a bounty on Gyro's head. | ||||||||||||
Notes
- Stylized as STEEL BALL RUN JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
- The universe in which Steel Ball Run and succeeding parts take place is not related to the first six parts in any way beyond references to the names of some of its characters and a scant few recycled Stands.
- Order of episodes in the series continuing from the previous season
- Order of episodes within the season
- Production staff information is taken from the ending credits of each episode.
- Episode 191 is a 47-minute special
- "Robinson" in official English releases.
- "Andrew Boomboom" in official English releases.
- "Laurence Boomboom" in official English releases.
- "Benny Boomboom" in official English releases.