Steel Ball Run Anime Arrives on Netflix This March

Highlights

• Release Date: Steel Ball Run premieres on March 19.
• Main Character: Johnny Joestar is a paraplegic ex-jockey who regains the ability to walk.
• Race Participants: Notable racers include Diego Brando and Sand Man.
• Special Abilities: Characters possess unique abilities called Stands to gain advantages in the race.

We finally have a release date for Steel Ball Run, the next Jojo adventure: March 19.

The date was revealed at a Jump Festa panel for the anime, which also had a new trailer highlighting the main cast. Set in 1890s America, our hero is Johnny Joestar (Shogo Sakata), a paraplegic ex-jockey who gains the ability to walk again after touching a powered-up steel ball. The owner of said ball, Gyro Zeppelli (Yohei Azakami), is participating in the titular cross-country horse race run by promoter Steven Steel (Kenta Miyake) and his wife Lucy (Rie Takahashi), so Johnny also joins.

Other notable racers include British horse racer Diego Brando (Kaito Ishikawa), Indigenous runner Sand Man (Masaaki Mizunaka), and Pocoloco (Kenichiro Matsuda). Like in previous Jojo’s series, the main characters have their own special abilities called Stands: Gyro can channel energy into steel balls, for example, and each Stand gives their user a leg up during the race and in the moments where they face off against each other. When $50 million and fame is on the line, you need every advantage you can get in a race like this.

The “first stage” of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run arriving in March is a 47-minute long premiere, and it’s unclear whether new episodes will follow in the weeks after in a weekly way, or months down the line. We’ll have more on the release schedule as news emerges.

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.