Beast Complex

Beast Complex (ビーストコンプレックス) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Paru Itagaki. It is a compilation of short stories set in the same world as the series Beastars; 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 from 2016 to 2019. In 2021, the series resumed serialization.

Development
While studying filmography at Musashino Art University in 2013, Itagaki made a doujinshi 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. 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. Chapters 20 - 23 have not yet been published in a volume.