Why You Need To Be Watching Netflix's Next Big Anime

It’s easier than ever for people to stream anime, and surprisingly, Netflix has become one of the best sites for it. While Netflix was once infamous for relegating everything to untimely batch releases, they’re now much more consistent about weekly releases; add in a great library of licensed and original programs, and there’s always something great to watch.

With a slate of new hits and returning favorites in the wings, 2026 is poised to be Netflix’s biggest year yet; they’ve already released a few major hits like Cosmic Princess Kaguya! and the final half of Beastars season 3, but there’s one show in particular that stands out as their biggest and best release in every regard.

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run Is A Visual Masterpiece

Few anime in 2026 have received more hype than Netflix’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run, and sure enough, the premiere more than lives up to everything. Visually speaking, the artwork is some of the best of any JoJo anime, and while it pales in comparison to the manga, it’s still great that it looks as good as it does.

The animation is also nothing short of astounding, as nearly every scene is filled with fluid action and creative camerawork, even by JoJo’s standards. Granted, a few scenes did come off as being a little stiff, but considering the massive scale of Steel Ball Run’s visuals, that’s to be expected, and fortunately, it didn’t happen too often.

The actual race was especially impressive, as nearly every scene was filled to the brim with incredible direction and energy, with Pocoloco’s scenes being some of the biggest standouts, by far. Horses are infamously one of the toughest things to animate, but Steel Ball Run did a fantastic job at every turn, and that’s great to see.

What’s also notable is how the series reunites directors Yasuhiro Kimura and Hideya Takahashi and animator Daisuke Tsumagari, the main staff of Golden Wind, which was the most visually consistent and all-around gorgeous installment of the franchise, by far. It’s essentially an all-star team for JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Steel Ball Run is already benefiting from it.

Steel Ball Run Has JoJo’s Best Story In Ages

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run looks amazing, but what truly makes it stand out is the writing. For starters, following the ending of Stone Ocean, Steel Ball Run kicks off a complete continuity reboot; that arguably makes it one of the most accessible parts in all of JoJo, and that’s incredibly welcoming for newcomers to the series.

Beyond that is the actual story of Steel Ball Run. Just the basic premise of a cross-country horseback race is the exact kind of bizarre story one would expect from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and even with just one episode, the series has gotten plenty of mileage out of it with a great assortment of characters and unique action set pieces.

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Everything great about the story, of course, goes back to its two leads, Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli. Johnny, being a tragic and melancholic anti-hero, is perfectly balanced out by Gyro being a comedic and imposing show-stealer, and with how great their chemistry is after one episode, future installments will surely make them the best duo in all of JoJo.

Steel Ball Run has always been praised for having some of the best writing in all of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and the anime is already perfectly capturing that with its blend of levity, maturity, and all-around charm. Things will only get bigger and better from there, and for fans old and new, that’s sure to be great to see.

Is JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Steel Ball Run Already A Modern Masterpiece?

Johnny in episode 1 — JoJos-Bizarre-Adventure-Steel-Ball-Run-Episode-1-Johnny

The premiere of Steel Ball Run was amazing in almost every regard, and that begs the question of whether it’s a modern masterpiece in the making. The series premiere gives a great look into what to expect from Steel Ball Run, and with Steel Ball Run even beating Frieren on MyAnimeList, there are plenty of reasons to be excited.

If there’s any hurdle Steel Ball Run will need to overcome, it would be in its release schedule. Stone Ocean was infamously subjected to batch releases that all but killed the hype surrounding it, so if Steel Ball Run has a similar release schedule, then it could also be doomed to fail, no matter how good it might be.

At the time of writing, there’s been no confirmation of Steel Ball Run’s release schedule, so it might be receiving weekly releases like some of Netflix’s more recent hits. If that were the case, that would all but ensure that Steel Ball Run will become a hit, so hopefully, an official announcement will be made soon.

Steel Ball Run is, inarguably, one of the most hotly anticipated anime of 2026, and both visually and narratively, the series is already more than living up to its hype. Of all the new anime coming to Netflix, Steel Ball Run is one of the best choices, and hopefully, that won’t change for the rest of its run.