AnimeJapan 2026: The biggest announcements for Steel Ball Run, One Piece, and more

3 hours ago 2

Published Mar 28, 2026, 12:42 PM EDT

A lot of announcements are coming out of AnimeJapan 2026

Pocoloco panics after realizing that he's late for the race in Steel Ball Run

AnimeJapan 2026 is in full swing, and that means a lot of release date window announcements for some of the most popular anime around. We now have a better idea of when One Piece's next arc will begin, when Steel Ball Run's second episode will air, when Netflix's Dandelion adaptation will debut, and more.

Steel Ball Run JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 2nd Stage

Steel Ball Run made a big splash upon its release this month, but it was unclear when exactly we would get more. Thankfully, the wait shouldn't be too long, as Netflix released a teaser trailer for the 2nd Stage episode of Steel Ball Run, confirming that we'll be getting more JoJo's Bizarre Adventure before the end of the year, and that it will follow Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli as they race across Devil's Palm.

Dandelion

Also coming to Netflix is Dandelion, an exclusive anime based on an early one-shot manga by Hideaki Sorachi (Gintama) about angels helping people pass on. At AnimeFest, Netflix revealed Dandelion's first teaser trailer and an April 16 release date. It's releasing worldwide at the same time, so Western audiences won't need to wait or find clever ways to watch it early.

One Piece's Elbaph Arc

Hot on the heels of One Piece's second live-action season debuting, the next arc for the anime version of One Piece will begin in Japan soon. At 11:15 p.m. JST on April 5, the Elbaph Arc will begin in Japan and sport a new opening theme called Lumines performed by AiNA The END.

This only scratches the surface of everything at AnimeJapan, as there are plenty of other updates on notable anime too:

A second season of Sentenced to Be a Hero is in production.
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End season 3 premieres in October 2027.
Hell Mode comes back for a second season in July.
Blue Box Season 2 begins on October 3.
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation season 3 premieres on July 5.
Hono no Tokyujo: Dodge Danko will get an anime adaptation in July.
Psyren will premiere in October 2026.
Reincarnated as a Sword Season 2 airs in October.

It's a really good time to be an anime fan, as many popular anime will be airing new episodes throughout the rest of the year with the full support and backing of major streaming services like Netflix and Crunchyroll.

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