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Manga Anime

Steel Ball Run 2nd Stage Hits Netflix on 25 September

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JoJo fans, mark your calendars: Steel Ball Run’s 2nd Stage launches on Netflix on 25 September 2026, with new episodes dropping every Friday. The date was locked in at an Anime Expo 2026 panel at the Crypto.com Arena on 3 July, where a brand-new trailer dropped and composer Yugo Kanno performed live — the biggest Steel Ball Run news since Stage 1’s 47-minute premiere special back in March.

What the Steel Ball Run 2nd Stage Covers

A Steel Ball Run character in an intense action moment from the anime
Image courtesy of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Animation SBR Project

The 2nd Stage sends Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli into one of the race’s most brutal stretches: nearly 750 miles across the Arizona Desert through a region locals call the “Devil’s Palm,” where racers have been found dead under unexplained circumstances. The trailer preview revealed looks at Hot Pants and Mountain Tim, two fan-favourite additions who take on significant roles from here, as well as a first glimpse at the growing menace of President Funny Valentine.

Eleven episodes will cover Stage 2 and Stage 3 of the Steel Ball Run race combined, meaning the adaptation moves through a significant chunk of Hirohiko Araki’s manga at a tight but purposeful pace.

Watch the 2nd Stage Trailer

STEEL BALL RUN 2nd Stage Official Trailer (2026) — via ONE Media + on YouTube

JoJo Fridays Return — and the Production Team Behind Them

Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli in the Steel Ball Run anime
Image courtesy of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Animation SBR Project

The weekly Friday release schedule — “JoJo Fridays” — is back for the first time since Golden Wind. For Singapore JoJo communities that ran Friday watch parties during the Golden Wind run, this is a proper homecoming. Directors Yasuhiro Kimura and Hideya Takahashi (who helmed Golden Wind) are returning, as is composer Yugo Kanno, who gave both Golden Wind and Stone Ocean their sonic identity. English dub voice actors Daman Mills (Johnny Joestar) and Kaiji Tang (Gyro Zeppeli) also appeared at the panel.

Steel Ball Run is consistently ranked by fans as the peak of Araki’s writing — a race across 19th-century America that gradually reveals itself as one of the most emotionally ambitious stories in the franchise. The confirmed date and weekly cadence mean Singapore fans can now plan around it properly.

How to Watch in Singapore

Steel Ball Run 2nd Stage streams on Netflix from 25 September 2026, new episode every Friday. Netflix is available in Singapore with no regional restrictions on this series — it’s a global simultaneous release. Stage 1 (the 47-minute opening special from March) is already on the platform; catch up before the weekly run kicks off in September. Find more anime and manga news in our coverage hub.

Manga Anime

Daemons of the Shadow Realm Cour 2 Starts July 4 — FMA Creator’s Anime Hits Its Peak

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The wait is over. Hiromu Arakawa’s Yomi no Tsugai — known internationally as Daemons of the Shadow Realm — launches its second cour tonight, with episode 13 airing in Japan on 4 July at 11:30pm JST and streaming on Crunchyroll in Singapore shortly after. If you’ve been sleeping on one of Spring 2026’s most talked-about shonen anime, this is the best possible moment to catch up.

Daemons of the Shadow Realm Cour 2 key visual
Image courtesy of Hiromu Arakawa / Square Enix / Aniplex / Bones Film

What Arakawa Has Built Since Fullmetal Alchemist

Hiromu Arakawa needs little introduction to Singapore anime fans. Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood remains one of the most beloved anime productions ever made, and Arakawa-sensei has been busy since: Yomi no Tsugai (黄泉のツガイ) has been serialised in Square Enix’s Monthly Shonen GanGan since 2021. The anime adaptation — announced in July 2025 and premiering on 4 April 2026 — has been worth every year of the wait.

The story follows twins Yuru and Asa, raised apart in an isolated mountain village that appears, at first, to exist in feudal-era Japan. Yuru is a skilled hunter; Asa has been confined indoors since childhood, assigned a mysterious duty by the village elders. When armed attackers descend hunting specifically for Yuru and kill the village adults, the siblings are forced to flee — whereupon the outside world reveals itself as entirely modern: helicopters, firearms, mobile phones, contemporary cities. The village’s isolation was deliberate, concealing both the twins and the ancient supernatural creatures they’re bonded with: the Daemons of the title. Cour 2’s key visual — stamped with the phrase “Defy your fate.” — suggests the reckoning with that hidden truth is about to arrive.

Daemons of the Shadow Realm — Cour 2 Main PV, via Aniplex on YouTube

The Bones Film Team That Made Brotherhood

Daemons of the Shadow Realm promotional visual
Image courtesy of Hiromu Arakawa / Square Enix / Aniplex / Bones Film

The production pedigree here is exceptional. Bones Film handles animation — the studio behind FMA: Brotherhood, My Hero Academia, and Soul Eater. Director Masahiro Ando worked on both the original 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist series and Brotherhood. Character design is by Nobuhiro Arai, who was part of the Brotherhood animation team. Series composition belongs to Noboru Takagi, whose credits include Attack on Titan, Golden Kamuy, and Kuroko’s Basketball. Music is composed by Kenichiro Suehiro (Vinland Saga, Chainsaw Man).

Voice cast highlights: Kensho Ono as Yuru, Yume Miyamoto as Asa, Misaki Kuno as the daemon Gabby, and Rikiya Koyama as Migi. An English dub launched simultaneously with the first cour on Crunchyroll.

New Themes Signal a Tonal Shift

Daemons of the Shadow Realm Cour 2 visual
Image courtesy of Hiromu Arakawa / Square Enix / Aniplex / Bones Film

Cour 2 arrives with a new pair of theme songs. “Back Shot” by Masanori Otoda takes over the opening slot from Vaundy’s Tobu Toki, and Kei Sugawara’s “Kujaku” (Peacock) closes episodes in place of Yama’s Tobō yo. Both were previewed in the Cour 2 main PV released on 27 June — and if the track choices are any indication, the back half of the season is going darker and harder than the first.

How to Watch Daemons of the Shadow Realm in Singapore

Crunchyroll is the streaming home for Singapore and Southeast Asia, with Muse Communication holding the regional licence. The full first cour — all 12 episodes — is available now in both Japanese with English subtitles and English dub. Episode 13 lands shortly after the Japanese broadcast on the night of 4 July JST, putting Singapore fans only hours behind Japan each week.

Elsewhere, Netflix begins streaming the series for subscribers outside Asia from 4 July, bringing the anime to a much wider global audience. If you’re in Singapore, Crunchyroll is your platform of choice — and with cour 1 fully available right now, there’s nothing stopping you from a weekend binge before episode 13 drops.

For more anime coverage, check out our Manga Anime section.

Manga Anime

Thunder 3 Anime Hits Netflix 8 July — What to Expect

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If your Netflix queue needs a fresh weekly obsession this July, Thunder 3 (サンダー3) might be exactly that. The isekai mystery series — based on Yuki Ikeda’s manga from Monthly Shōnen Magazine — debuts globally on Netflix on 8 July 2026, with Singapore subscribers able to stream from day one.

What Is Thunder 3? The Manga That Just Ended

Thunder 3 ran in Kodansha’s Monthly Shōnen Magazine from May 2022 to June 2026, wrapping up its complete 8-volume run literally weeks before the anime adaptation premieres. Written and illustrated by Yuki Ikeda, the series sits at the intersection of isekai, mystery, and science fantasy — a more interesting combination than it might first sound.

Panel from the Thunder 3 manga showing Pyontaro and Hiroshi
Image courtesy of Yuki Ikeda / Kodansha

The story follows three inseparable middle schoolers — Pyontaro Tezuka, Hiroshi Ochanomizu, and Tsubame Azuma, nicknamed the “Small Three” — who stumble upon a mysterious disc belonging to their teacher, Dr. Doc. Playing it unleashes an alien dragonfly from their TV screen, and in the chaos Pyontaro’s younger sister Futaba and the family pet are dragged into a parallel world and captured by its extraterrestrial inhabitants. What starts as ordinary boyhood friendship turns into an interdimensional rescue mission.

Netflix, Fuji TV, and a Surprising Director

Thunder 3 | Official Trailer — via Netflix Anime on YouTube

The TV anime premieres on Fuji TV’s +Ultra block from 8 July 2026, broadcasting every Wednesday night, with Netflix handling global streaming from the same date. Singapore viewers can jump straight in on launch day — no region restrictions.

The creative team is worth noting. Per the Anime Expo 2026 press release coverage, Hiroyuki Seshita directs — the same filmmaker behind the bleak, atmospheric sci-fi of Blame! (2017) and Ajin: Demi-Human on Netflix. Series composition is handled by Hiroshi Seko (Witch Hat Atelier, Rooster Fighter), with studio UNEDN producing the animation. That pairing of a hard-sci-fi director with a chibi-inflected adventure story is one of the more unexpected creative decisions of the summer anime season.

The Small Three — Pyontaro, Hiroshi, and Tsubame — in the Netflix Official Trailer for Thunder 3
Image courtesy of Thunder 3 Production Committee

North American Premiere at Anime Expo 2026

Thunder 3 gets its North American premiere at Anime Expo 2026 on 4 July — Room 408AB at the Los Angeles Convention Center, 3:15 PM PDT — with Seshita and Seko present for the panel. For Singapore fans weighing up a new seasonal watch, that screening lands just four days before the Netflix global drop, so any buzz coming out of LA will be very fresh when the series goes live on 8 July.

Character close-up from the Thunder 3 anime promotional video 2
Image courtesy of Thunder 3 Production Committee

How to Watch Thunder 3 in Singapore

Thunder 3 is a Netflix exclusive in Singapore from 8 July 2026, with new episodes dropping weekly. The manga source is fully concluded at 8 volumes — available digitally through Kodansha USA’s Azuki platform for anyone who wants to read ahead or revisit the story after the credits roll. Browse more anime picks on GameTrader as the summer season gets underway.

Manga Anime

THE ONE PIECE: WIT Studio’s Netflix Remake Gets Its First Teaser

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Three years after the project was first announced at Jump Festa 2024, Netflix and WIT Studio have finally dropped the first official teaser for THE ONE PIECE — a full anime remake of Eiichiro Oda’s legendary pirate saga launching worldwide in February 2027. The teaser was unveiled on 24 June 2026 at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival in France, and it has already set One Piece fan communities across Singapore and the region ablaze.

Monkey D. Luffy in THE ONE PIECE anime remake by WIT Studio
Image courtesy of Netflix / THE ONE PIECE Production Committee

What Is THE ONE PIECE Remake?

THE ONE PIECE (ザ・ワンピース) is a brand-new anime adaptation that retells Luffy’s journey from Chapter 1 of the manga — this time produced by WIT Studio, the house behind the first three seasons of Attack on Titan and Spy x Family. It is a five-way collaboration between WIT Studio, Shueisha, Toei Animation, Fuji Television, and Netflix, with a single mandate: deliver a definitive, filler-free version of Oda’s world that modern and new audiences can actually finish.

The original 1999 anime is beloved but notoriously difficult to recommend to newcomers. Filler arcs, pacing stretched across thousands of episodes, and decades of accumulated lore make it a hard sell. THE ONE PIECE is designed to fix all of that — going back to the very beginning with updated animation, faithful manga pacing, and none of the filler.

THE ONE PIECE announcement poster featuring Windmill Village — Netflix 2027
Image courtesy of Netflix / THE ONE PIECE Production Committee

What Season 1 Covers

Season 1 runs to seven episodes totalling approximately 300 minutes — roughly the same runtime as three feature films — and adapts the opening chapters of the manga, covering the East Blue saga from Romance Dawn through the early Baratie arc. Episode 1 is titled Romance Dawn: Dawn of Adventure, and the official key art confirms we’re going all the way back: young Luffy, the Windmill Village, and Red-Haired Shanks at the tavern.

All seven episodes will drop simultaneously on Netflix in February 2027. Worldwide. That means Singapore fans watch at the same time as viewers in Japan, the US, and Europe — no waiting, no spoilers leaking from another region first.

THE ONE PIECE Episode 1 Romance Dawn key visual — Netflix 2027
Image courtesy of Netflix / THE ONE PIECE Production Committee

Watch the Official Teaser

THE ONE PIECE | Official Teaser | Netflix — via Netflix on YouTube

The teaser opens on the iconic Fushigi Yami Bar scene and immediately shows off WIT Studio’s approach: cleaner, sharper character designs that hew closer to Oda’s original manga art than the 1999 anime ever did, combined with dynamic modern animation. Luffy’s Gomu Gomu no Mi powers look genuinely elastic and powerful in a way that feels new. Fan response since the reveal has been overwhelmingly positive.

The Team Behind the Remake

Director Masashi Koizuka leads the project, with series composition by Taku Kishimoto. Character designs are by Kyoji Asano and Takatoshi Honda, who spent months painstakingly studying Oda’s pen strokes. Asano described the process in an interview covered by Game Rant: “We repeatedly traced Oda-sensei’s art. After two full months of thoroughly studying his style, we finally achieved a level of quality that even the director was very satisfied with.”

WIT Studio CEO George Wada spoke to the reason Oda himself backed the project, as reported by Game Rant: “The reason we decided to produce a remake came from a reflection by the original author… He felt a certain regret about this and wanted younger audiences to discover and follow the story.”

On the voice cast front: Mayumi Tanaka, who has voiced Monkey D. Luffy since the original 1999 anime, is returning for THE ONE PIECE. In her official statement, Tanaka said: “I had a lot of fun recording, so I want many people to see it. The release starts in February 2027, so please look forward to it!”

Mayumi Tanaka returns as Monkey D. Luffy in THE ONE PIECE Netflix remake
Image courtesy of Netflix / THE ONE PIECE Production Committee

February 2027: Mark Your Calendar, Singapore

One Piece has one of the most loyal fanbases in Singapore and across Southeast Asia, and THE ONE PIECE is the remake this community has been quietly hoping for. Whether you stalled out in the original’s early arcs, drifted away during Dressrosa, or simply want the cleanest possible entry point into Oda’s world, this is it.

Netflix’s worldwide simultaneous release model means no geo-blocking headaches and no spoiler anxiety from watching regions getting the episodes first. The all-episodes-at-once drop also means the full East Blue saga will be there on day one. February 2027 is the date to watch — for now, the teaser is on Netflix’s YouTube channel. Check out our anime and manga coverage for more as the premiere approaches.

Manga Anime

Steel Ball Run 2nd Stage Key Visual — Anime Expo Reveal on 3 July

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The Steel Ball Run race is still running strong. Warner Bros. Japan unveiled a brand-new key visual for Steel Ball Run: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure 2nd Stage on 26 June, and confirmed that further details about the upcoming series will be announced at Anime Expo 2026 in Los Angeles on 3 July — just one week away. The 2nd Stage arrives on Netflix in Fall 2026 with weekly episodes, and Singapore fans streaming on Netflix are in line for the ride.

Steel Ball Run JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 2nd Stage key visual featuring Johnny Joestar and Gyro Zeppeli
Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Japan

Steel Ball Run Anime 2nd Stage: A New Key Visual and What It Signals

The new key visual, released by Warner Bros. Japan, is the clearest sign yet that production on the 2nd Stage is moving at pace. The adaptation is produced by David Production — the same studio behind every previous JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure anime season — and continues the story of former jockey Johnny Joestar and mysterious outlaw Gyro Zeppeli competing in the Steel Ball Run, a punishing cross-continental horse race across 1890s America for a US$50 million prize.

The 2nd Stage is set to premiere on Netflix with a weekly release schedule. That delivery format is a direct response to fan frustration over the 1st Stage debut — a standalone 47-minute special that dropped on 19 March 2026 and left the community waiting months for clarification on what came next. In April, Netflix and Warner Bros. Japan confirmed Fall 2026 weekly episodes, and the new key visual now arriving signals that the countdown is on.

STEEL BALL RUN JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure 2nd STAGE | Official Teaser | Netflix — via Netflix Philippines on YouTube

Into the Devil’s Palm: What the 2nd Stage Covers

The 2nd Stage takes Johnny and Gyro into the harshest stretch of the race yet — a 750-mile desert crossing centred on a supernatural location the locals fear as the Devil’s Palm. As the competitors press deeper into this cursed ground, unsettling incidents begin mounting among the other racers, and a shadowy culprit lurks within the contest itself. The 2nd Stage teaser shown at AnimeJapan 2026 in March framed the arc as both a survival test and a murder mystery, raising the stakes of the race well beyond prize money.

Steel Ball Run JoJo's Bizarre Adventure 2nd Stage announcement visual
Image courtesy of Warner Bros. Japan

Anime Expo 2026: What Singapore Fans Should Expect on 3 July

Warner Bros. Japan confirmed that new information will drop at Anime Expo 2026 on 3 July in Los Angeles. The convention’s main event days run 4–7 July, but major studios routinely hold press-only reveals on 3 July ahead of the public opening. For Steel Ball Run, that announcement could mean a firmer Fall 2026 premiere date, a full trailer, or additional character details for the Devil’s Palm arc. There’s no confirmed Singapore or SEA-specific announcement scheduled, though Netflix’s global delivery model means Singapore subscribers on Netflix will receive episodes simultaneously with the rest of the world once the weekly schedule begins.

Stay tuned — we’ll cover whatever drops on 3 July. In the meantime, check out our other anime news for everything else Singapore fans are watching this season.

Steel Ball Run JoJo's Bizarre Adventure on Netflix
Image courtesy of Netflix / Warner Bros. Japan

Manga Anime

Sakamoto Days Season 2 Is Coming to Netflix in January 2027

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Netflix just dropped the first teaser for Sakamoto Days Season 2, and the world’s most lovable retired hitman is trading his corner shop for a full-blown assassin academy. The second season arrives in January 2027 on Netflix worldwide — Singapore fans, mark your calendars.

Sakamoto Days | Season 2 Teaser Trailer — via Netflix Anime on YouTube

Undercover at JCC — The Season 2 Story

Season 2 picks up with Taro Sakamoto and Shin going deep undercover at the Japan Clear Creation (JCC) — the country’s elite assassin training institution. Their mission: gather intel on the mysterious figure known only as X, or “Slur,” a name that sent a chill through the final episodes of Season 1.

The execution is brilliantly absurd. Sakamoto disguises himself as his wife Aoi and poses as a student teacher, while Shin enrolls as a regular student. If Season 1 was already a masterclass in mixing domestic comedy with brutal action, Season 2 is pushing the premise to its logical extreme — and it sounds like it works perfectly.

Shin from Sakamoto Days Season 2 with blue lightning energy
Image courtesy of TMS Entertainment / Netflix

While Sakamoto and Shin navigate the academy, ORDER agents Nagumo, Shishiba, and Osaragi head to Kyoto on a separate mission — only to be ambushed by an unexpected assailant. Season 2 also reportedly digs into the shared history of young Sakamoto, Nagumo, Rion, and Slur, giving the anime the origin-story backstory the manga’s fanbase has been hungry for.

New Director, Same DNA

The behind-the-scenes lineup sees one key change: Season 1 director Masaki Watanabe steps into a Supervising Director role, handing the reins to Daisuke Nakajima — who directed the standout episode 22 of the first season. The rest of the core team is back: Taku Kishimoto on series composition, Yo Moriyama on character design, Yuki Hayashi composing the score, and TMS Entertainment handling animation production.

Nakajima set expectations high in a statement published on Netflix’s official newsroom: “I will spare nothing in depicting the stylish action and individual aesthetics of Suzuki-sensei’s uniquely vivid cast of assassins.” Based on the teaser alone, TMS looks to be pushing the visual quality up another notch — the Shin close-up alone has more crispness and energy than a lot of what Season 1 delivered in its quieter stretches.

Taro Sakamoto in the official Season 2 teaser for Sakamoto Days
Image courtesy of TMS Entertainment / Netflix

For more anime news and previews, head to our Manga & Anime section.

Where Singapore Fans Can Watch It

This one is easy: Netflix, available in Singapore from day one. Sakamoto Days Season 1 spent ten consecutive weeks in the Netflix Global Top 10 for non-English series when it launched in 2025, making it one of the platform’s biggest anime hits. Season 2 carries no region lock and no local distribution deal to wait for — if you have a Netflix subscription, you’re sorted the moment it drops in January 2027.

The teaser was revealed at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival alongside the full official key visual — a clean, bold poster of Sakamoto and Shin standing back-to-back under the words “NEXT STAGE,” with January 2027 stamped at the bottom. It’s confident, and for good reason.