Three Idiots, One Mission
The new spinoff, drawn by 冬葉つがる (likely Fuyuha Tsugaru), rewinds the clock on three of The Ayakashi Hunter's Tainted Bride's most popular characters. Benitsubaki Yako (紅椿夜行), 菊大路一成 (likely Kikuōji Kazunari), and Kyōgoku Reiji (京極零時) are second-year students at the Imperial Capital Onmyō School — the training academy that produces agents for the empire's supernatural defense bureau.
Before they became squad captains, the trio were just the school's so-called "Three Idiots." The spinoff's opening chapter wastes no time setting up its central conflict: Reiji injures the son of a military official and faces immediate expulsion. Yako and Kazunari rush to the principal's office to fight the decision, but the deal they get isn't exactly a reprieve. The principal will cancel Reiji's expulsion on one condition — the three of them must investigate and capture a mysterious masked man known as Semimaru (蝉丸), who has been targeting members of the upper class.
It's a setup that puts the trio's bond front and center while giving the spinoff its own identity: part school story, part supernatural mystery.
A Franchise in Full Expansion
The Ayakashi Hunter's Tainted Bride is an original story by Midori Yūma — the novelist behind Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits, which spawned a 26-episode anime in 2018 and a second season in 2025. The main manga, drawn by Fujimaru Mamenosuke, is serialized on Kodansha's Palcy platform and has been running since May 2023.
What makes this new Sirius launch especially notable is that it's the franchise's second spinoff running in Monthly Shonen Sirius simultaneously. The first, Kōkoku no Sōheki: Kizumono no Hanayome Gaiden, launched in the magazine's March 2026 issue with art by Akimine Kamijyo — the veteran manga artist known for GetBackers and Samurai Deeper Kyo. Two concurrent spinoffs in the same magazine signals serious confidence from Kodansha in the franchise's commercial legs.
The main series is set in a world where onmyō agents protect an empire from supernatural threats, blending action with romance. Yako, the male lead, heads one of the agency's elite squads alongside Kazunari and Reiji — childhood friends bound together since their academy days. The spinoff explores exactly those formative years.
Looking Ahead
The new spinoff's first chapter is available now in Monthly Shonen Sirius's July 2026 issue, on sale in Japan as of May 26. No English license has been announced for this spinoff yet.
The main Ayakashi Hunter's Tainted Bride manga, however, is already available in English from Kodansha USA and can be read digitally on K Manga. Print volumes have been releasing since March 2025, making it easy to catch up on the source material before diving into the spinoff — if and when it gets localized.
Given Kodansha's track record of bringing Sirius titles to English-language markets (That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, also a Sirius series, is one of Kodansha USA's biggest sellers), international fans have reason to be optimistic that both spinoffs could eventually follow.