For those of you familiar with the BEASTARS anime series on Netflix, and with its original manga series by author Paru Itagaki— “Beast Complex”, as described by Akita Shoten‘s Weekly Shōnen Champion magazine, is “the origin of BEASTARS”. And now, “Beast Complex” is set to get a new manga mini-series in January 2021. This news was revealed on Thursday on the 45th issue of the magazine. More details about the mini-series will be known to us in future issues of the magazine.
Itagaki first published her debut manga “Beast Complex” in Weekly Shōnen Champion in March 2016, with Akita Shoten releasing one volume for the manga. Viz Media, who originally licensed the 2016 manga, will be releasing the 2021 volume. Here’s how Viz Media describes the manga:
“A tiger and a beaver who grew up together defy peer pressure to end their friendship and join forces to fight injustice. A camel journalist who spent his career passing judgment on carnivores spends a life-changing night with a seductive wolf. A saltwater crocodile and a gazelle must find a way to work together as chef and assistant on a cooking show with flagging ratings. A fox and a chameleon wrestle with stereotypes about each other—and themselves. And much more…”
Shortly after, in the same year, “BEASTARS” manga was published. Both of these manga series are set in the same universe with anthropomorphic animals, except that “Beast Complex” is a collection of seven unrelated short stories. The new mini-series will also be just as short, with five or six chapters.
The “BEASTARS” anime series first debuted on Netflix Japan, Fuji TV, and TV Nishinippon in October 2019; and it later had a global release on 13th March. The second season is scheduled for a January 2021 premiere, and air on Fuji Tv again for its Japanese release. Both the manga and the anime have received a wide audience response and gained acclaim.
