'Steel Ball Run' faces hiccup after first episode

The Steel Ball Run has hit an unexpected pause with its second episode still missing weeks after a highly anticipated debut.

The Netflix original anime premiered on March 19, 2026, with an extended 47-minute opening episode, bagging a strong viewership. 

Fans had expected a weekly rollout, with episode two arriving around March 26, but no release date has been confirmed and the series has been absent from the platform’s official schedule.

Director Yasuhiro Kimura addressed the delay in recent interviews, admitting that even the production team does not have a clear timeline. 

 “I want to see it soon, too! When will it be? I don’t know. It takes a lot of time to make just one episode, but production is going smoothly,” Kimura told AniTrendz in an interview. 

The director also elaborated on episode pacing and structure, revealing that the first stage was kept tight and free of traditional cliffhanger endings. He revealed that the team intentionally avoided  cliffhangers in the premiere to reduce viewer stress.

This decision could mean the series may go with a batch-release strategy rather than a weekly schedule, similar to the approach used for other JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure installments.

Set in 19th-century America, Steel Ball Run introduces new technical demands for David Production, particularly in animating detailed horse racing sequences. The workload necessitates thousands of animation cuts per episode and leads to slower turnaround times.

No official update has been issued by Netflix or the studio regarding the release plan.