Bungo Stray Dogs is one of the less talked about anime series, but its strong cult following has lead it to getting a new spin-off manga.
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According to a report from Anime News Network, a new spin-off manga series based on the novel Bungo Stray Dogs Side Story: Yukito Ayatsuji vs. Natsuhiko Kyogoku, has launched on Kadokawa’s Young Ace Up online magazine.
The spin-off story is based off the 2016 novel and follows Detective Yukito Ayatsuji, who’s named after the novelist who wrote Another (a title that should be familiar to horror anime fans for its Final Destination-esque story), as he chases after the necromancer Natsuhiko Kyogoku, who’s named after the author of Moryo no Hako (which follows a string of mysterious crimes in two small towns).
The series often features characters endowed with super abilities based around the literary authors their named after and the works they’ve produced. For example, Ryunosuke Akutagawa wrote stories that inspired acclaimed director Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon, and in the series, he has the ability to turn his cloak into a monstrous being. With that in the mind, the spin-off manga pits two horror mystery stories against one another, so there is no telling what kind of crazy tricks and powers the two main characters will debut.
For those unfamiliar with Bungo Stray Dogs, the series was created by Kafka Asagiri with illustrations provided by Sango Harukawa. The series follows the members of the Armed Detective Agency, a group full of individuals with super powers and use them to solve mysteries, and carrying out various missions for the mafia. The series is most well known for naming its characters after famous literary authors like Edgar Allen Poe, Agatha Christie, Mark Twain, and Akiko Yosano.
The series began its run in Young Ace magazine in 2012 and has been collected into 12 volumes so far. Yen Press has licensed the manga for an English language release. Bungo Stray Dogs was also adapted into an anime series by Studio Bones.
The first 12 episodes of the series ran from April to June 2016 and a second batch of 12 episodes that aired from October to December 2016. It was directed by Takuya Igarashi, written by Yoji Enokido, and music composed by Taku Iwasaki. Bungo Stray Dogs is currently available for streaming on Crunchyroll.