Bestars is one of the most acclaimed and underrated Shonen series of all time. In 2016, the manga, written and illustrated by Paru Itagaki, began serialization in Akita Shoten’s Weekly Shonen Magazine. The manga reached its conclusion in 2020, while the anime adaptation wrapped up the story in March 2026, and all seasons are streaming exclusively on Netflix. The manga has won several awards over the years, including the Manga Taisho Award in 2018. It also won the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize and Kodansha Manga Award in the Shounen category in the same year. The story is set in an anthropomorphic world blending social drama, murder mystery, and romance. In the same year as the manga’s debut, Itagaki also released Beast Complex, a collection of short stories focusing on the characters from the original manga.
Over the decade, the creator has released 25 stories on an irregular schedule. The last chapter was released in July 2024, and Itagaki is all set to return with another story later in Summer 2026. The information was revealed by @MangaMoguraRE, a reliable source of information for all kinds of anime and manga updates. While details on the new story are currently unknown, we might expect new updates in a few weeks or months. The Summer 2026 season will commence in July and continue until August, so the new story will drop anytime between then.
The story is set in a world inhabited by anthropomorphic animals, who have extreme social prejudice among one another. Carnivores are believed to be mindless predators by many herbivores, thus making a peaceful coexistence almost too difficult. The situation only grew worse following the mysterious murder of an alpaca named Tem. The alpaca died within the walls of Cherryton High School, a place where he should’ve been safe. After the tragedy, the fear of carnivores reached an all-time high.
Legoshi, a shy and awkward wolf, goes to the same school and is often feared by carnivores for simply existing. However, when the social bias affects his school life, he has no choice but to confront the gap between herbivores and carnivores. His personal life is also thrown into chaos due to his romantic feelings towards a herbivore, who may be hiding a secret. The story centers around Legoshi’s struggles as he deals with his inner demons while living in an unforgiving society that doesn’t want to accept his kind.
While Legoshi confronts his true nature and deals with his complicated love life, the truth behind Tem’s murder comes to light. All volumes of the original manga have been released in English versions, and the links to their physical and digital copies are available on the official website of Viz Media. Additionally, Beast Complex has released four volumes over the decade, all of which can be found on the same platform.
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