A Carrier Tie-Up Timed to Netflix's Friday Drops
NTT Docomo, Japan's largest mobile carrier, has named the campaign the "Steel Ball Run JoJo's Bizarre Adventure × NTT Docomo 2nd & 3rd STAGE Launch Commemoration Campaign," and it runs from October 9 to November 23. The campaign follows the anime's return: 2nd & 3rd STAGE started streaming worldwide on Netflix on September 25, 2026, with new episodes arriving every Friday across an 11-episode run.
Docomo has split the campaign in two. One half is free giveaways at participating Docomo shops. The other is a prize draw limited to specific Docomo rate plans, and it holds the higher-value items.
Free Cards, Tin Badges and Life-Size Standees
At participating stores, customers who fill out a survey receive an original illustration card. Both new and existing subscribers to Bakuage Selection (Netflix), Docomo's subscription-bundle program, receive a campaign-exclusive mini tin badge. Select stores are also putting up life-size character standees, according to ITmedia Mobile.
The prize draw is restricted to subscribers on the Docomo MAX and Docomo Poikatsu MAX plans, who can apply to either of two benefit courses. Winners get invitations to a talk show featuring voice actors from the anime's main cast, plus signed scripts, iridescent acrylic boards, and the life-size standees themselves. Applicants who miss out are entered into a second draw for 500 d Points, Docomo's loyalty currency, with the usual period and usage restrictions attached.
Docomo has not said which actors will appear at the talk show. The 2nd & 3rd STAGE cast is led by Shōgo Sakata as Johnny Joestar and Yōhei Azakami as Gyro Zeppeli, with Kaito Ishikawa as Diego Brando, Rie Takahashi as Lucy Steel and Kenta Miyake as Stephen Steel. The series is animated at david production, the studio that has handled every JoJo TV anime since 2012 and also made Fire Force and Cells at Work!, with Yūgo Kanno on music and Yasuko Kobayashi on series composition.
97 Made-to-Order Designs and a Bib-Number Chase
The retail side extends past Docomo's own stores. Pop-up shops are planned for Tower Records Shibuya in Tokyo, Tower Records Abeno Hoop in Osaka, and Tower Records Fukuoka PARCO. Those locations and select Docomo shops will carry the collaboration goods, including a semi-solid-state mobile battery and phone cases in a choice of designs.
Five product types make up the made-to-order lineup, 97 designs in total. Prices are tax-inclusive, as listed by Docomo:
- Slim Protection Case (32 designs): ¥670 each
- Premium Square Case with Magnet Ring (32 designs): ¥6,980 each
- Wireless Earphone Case (11 designs): ¥3,480 each
- Smartwatch Band (10 designs): ¥3,480 each
- Premium Ring Stand (12 designs): ¥3,480 each
Purchases of ¥3,000 or more on eligible limited goods come with one randomly selected card from a 12-type set of racer cards printed with bib numbers. That set is not sold separately. Araki's seventh arc is built around a transcontinental horse race across 1890s America, so the bib numbers tie the novelty directly to the story.
Looking Ahead
Everything here is Japan-only and store-based, so there is no international component to the campaign itself. The anime is the part global fans can actually reach. Netflix holds worldwide exclusive streaming rights for Steel Ball Run: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, with 2nd & 3rd STAGE releasing weekly on Fridays and the 47-minute 1st STAGE special already on the service since March 19, 2026.
For readers who want to run ahead of the broadcast, Viz Media publishes the manga in English as JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 7 - Steel Ball Run, a 12-volume deluxe hardcover line that began with volume 1 on May 27, 2025 and collects two Japanese volumes per book.
Docomo has not announced which stores will stock which items, or how many designs each pop-up will carry. Those details tend to land close to the start date, so the October 9 opening is the next thing to watch.