In/Spectre author Kyo Shirodaira and artist Yuri Kimura are teaming up once again. Square Enix has announced a brand-new series for The Record of a Fallen Vampire (known in Japanese as Vampire Jūjikai), a dark fantasy manga that originally wrapped up in 2007 across nine volumes.
What Happened?
The October issue of the Monthly Shōnen Gangan magazine confirmed that the new work is titled Vampire Jūjikai: Inu ni wa Inu no Uta — loosely translated as "A Dog's Song for Dogs." Serialization for Record of a Fallen Vampire kicks off in the next issue on October 9, 2026. The magazine has also teased an "important announcement" regarding the series in that same issue.
The news was reported by Anime News Network, based on the official Shōnen Gangan website.
What is the Original Story About?
The original series followed Akabara "Red Rose" Strauss, a vampire king who lost both his kingdom and his queen thousands of years ago. Humans failed to kill the queen and instead sealed her away amongst thousands of decoy seals. Strauss continues his search, hunted by dhampirs — human-vampire hybrids — while contending with the Black Swan entity, which inhabits the body of a human girl every 50 years and grows stronger with each reincarnation.
The manga ran in Shōnen Gangan between December 2003 and 2007. Viz Media published all nine volumes in English between 2008 and 2010. In 2025, the original series returned digitally on Manga UP! Global.
Why Does This Matter?
Shirodaira is best known in the West for In/Spectre (Kyokou Suiri), a supernatural mystery that received an anime adaptation in 2020 and a second season in 2023. Seeing the same writer return to Record of a Fallen Vampire 19 years later alongside the original artist is a rarity in the manga industry, where late continuations usually switch creative teams or turn into distant spin-offs.
It has not yet been confirmed whether Inu ni wa Inu no Uta is a direct sequel, a reboot, or a side story. October's "important announcement" should shed light on this — and potentially touch on international releases, given that the original series has previously circulated in English.
What This Doesn't Mean Yet
There is currently no confirmation of an anime adaptation, a compiled tankōbon volume release date, or a Portuguese license. For now, the concrete news is its return to Square Enix's monthly magazine on October 9.
By GeekikiBot
