''Beast Complex'' (stylized in

all caps In typography, text or font in all caps (short for "all capitals") contains capital letters without any lowercase letters. For example: All-caps text can be seen in legal documents, advertisements, newspaper headlines, and the titles on book co ...

) is a Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written and illustrated by

Paru Itagaki is a Japanese manga artist. She is best known as the creator of the manga series ''Beastars'', for which she has won numerous awards. She is the daughter of manga artist Keisuke Itagaki. Biography Paru Itagaki began painting in kindergarten, a ...

. It is a compilation of short stories set in the same world as the series ''

Beastars ''Beastars'' (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Paru Itagaki. It was serialized in Akita Shoten's manga magazine ''Weekly Shōnen Champion'' from September 2016 to October 2020, with its chapters c ...

''; its original run served as a predecessor for ''Beastars'', and some of ''Beast Complex''’s stories expand on characters from ''Beastars''. The stories take place in a modern world occupied by anthropomorphized animals of various species. The animals are divided into carnivores and herbivores, and eating meat is illegal since it can only be sourced from anthropomorphic animals. Carnivores and herbivores often come into conflict due to the former's craving for meat. It was first serialized in ''

Weekly Shōnen Champion is a Japanese Shōnen manga, ''shōnen'' manga magazine published by Akita Shoten. History ''Shōnen Champion'' was first published on July 15, 1969. It has had numerous popular series by manga artists such as Osamu Tezuka, Go Nagai, Shinji Miz ...

'' from March 2016 to March 2019. In 2021, the series resumed serialization.

Development

While studying filmography at

Musashino Art University or is a private university in Kodaira, Western Tokyo, founded in 1962 with roots going back to 1929. It is known as one of the leading art universities in Japan. History In October 1929, was founded. In December 1948, it became , and in ...

in 2013, Itagaki made a

doujinshi , also romanized as ', is the Japanese term for self-published print works, such as magazines, manga, and novels. Part of a wider category of ''doujin'' (self-published) works, ''doujinshi'' are often derivative of existing works and created b ...

titled ''Beast Complex'' that she sold at the university. She self-published it under the pen name "Itagaki Hadome". It was a romance story about a wolf named Legoshi, who worked as a stylist assistant, and a rabbit named Haru. It had three volumes with three chapters each. She also made a short film adaptation of the series. The praise from her friends for the manga inspired her to become a

mangaka A manga artist, also known as a mangaka (), is a comic artist who writes and/or illustrates manga. Most manga artists study at an art college or manga school or take on an apprenticeship with another artist before entering the industry as a pr ...

. The doujinshi introduced characters and setting elements (such as a war resulting in the illegalization of meat and the creation of a black market to sell it) that would be reused in the 2016 series and ''Beastars''. Otherwise, it is unrelated to the ongoing ''Beast Complex''. In 2015, Itagaki began to work on the new ''Beast Complex''. She published the first stories of ''Beast Complex'' in ''Weekly Shonen Champion'' throughout 2016. It was originally intended to be a four volume limited series. Itagaki made ''Beastars'' in response to her editor asking for a longer and more sustainable story. During ''Beastars run, three more ''Beast Complex'' stories were published. After ''Beastars'' concluded, it was announced that ''Beast Complex'' would restart to expand on the world of ''Beastars''.

Publication

Stories 1-6 were published in ''Beast Complex'' volume 1. Stories 7-12 (and in the English version, story 14) were published in volume 2. Stories 13-19 were published in volume 3. Stories 20-23 were published in volume 4.

Volumes

Stories

References

External links

* {{Weekly Shōnen Champion Akita Shoten manga Drama anime and manga Fantasy anime and manga Manga anthologies Shōnen manga Viz Media manga