JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 7: Steel Ball Run Stage 2 will premiere September 25 on Netflix, with Tomokazu Sugita voicing Funny Valentine alongside two other new cast members.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure Part 7: Steel Ball Run will return for its second stage on September 25, streaming weekly on Netflix worldwide. The announcement came during an Anime Expo 2026 panel, where Warner Bros. Japan unveiled new trailers and revealed three major cast additions.
The headline addition is Tomokazu Sugita, who will voice the 23rd President of the United States, Funny Valentine one of the most anticipated antagonists in the JoJo franchise. Sugita, widely recognized for his roles as Gintoki Sakata in Gintama and Joseph Joestar in JoJo's own Battle Tendency anime, brings considerable gravitas to the role.
Joining him are Tomoaki Maeno as Mountain Tim, the skilled cowboy Stand user, and Yōko Hikasa as Hot Pants. All three characters play pivotal roles as the Steel Ball Run race moves beyond its opening stretch into more dangerous territory.
The returning cast includes Shogo Sakata as Johnny Joestar, Yohei Azakami as Gyro Zeppeli, Kaito Ishikawa as Diego Brando, Rie Takahashi as Lucy Steel, and Kenta Miyake as Steven Steel.
The second stage will contain 11 episodes released weekly on Fridays, covering both the second and third stages of Hirohiko Araki's original manga arc. The story follows the Steel Ball Run competitors as they cross roughly 750 miles of desert, where ominous incidents force them to realize the transcontinental horse race is far more than a mere competition.
This marks a significant shift from the first stage's debut format. Stage 1 launched on Netflix on March 19, 2026, as a single 47-minute episode that introduced Johnny, Gyro, and the premise of the cross-country race. The move to a weekly 11-episode run signals a more traditional broadcast cadence as the story expands in scope.
David Production continues at the helm, with directors Yasuhiro Kimura and Hideya Takahashi returning alongside series director Toshiyuki Kato, who previously directed Stone Ocean. Character designer Daisuke Tsumagari, composer Yūgo Kanno, and sound director Yoshikazu Iwanami round out the core staff.
Warner Bros. Japan debuted both Japanese and English-dubbed trailers at the Anime Expo panel, giving fans their first look at the new characters in motion. The English dub will presumably continue alongside the Japanese broadcast on Netflix, matching the platform's established simulcast approach for the franchise.
Beyond the anime itself, a Steel Ball Run pop-up shop tour will launch this fall across multiple U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, Seattle, and Phoenix. The tour underscores the franchise's growing footprint in North America, building on the momentum of Anime Expo's packed panel.
Steel Ball Run Stage 2 premieres September 25 exclusively on Netflix, with new episodes dropping weekly on Fridays. The addition of Sugita as Funny Valentine sets the stage for one of JoJo's most complex and memorable conflicts as the race heads deeper into Stand-fueled chaos.
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