Beast Complex I

Short stories set in the same world as Beastars. All of them have to do with some kind of conflict between the predator and prey citizens. I think maybe I liked this a bit better than Beastars. It has many similar themes and ideas, but doesn’t feel quite so intense and heavy. Still some weird physiology with the animals, and odd ideas: for example, a bat who can stand upright on his rear paws in bipedal stance. Not physically possible and looked very strange, but I was willing to go along with it as some evolutionary thing- I mean, these animals talk and wear clothes and use computers and make laws for their cities so sure, why not have some of them with different physical abilities too?

The stories: ‘The Lion and the Bat’ – a young lion is in the top of his class, student council president, seems to do well at everything. He’s irked when a faculty member asks him to find a student who hasn’t attended classes in almost a year, and convince him to return (I find this an odd situation- wouldn’t an adult authority figure be given this task?). Reluctantly he tracks down Azmo the bat, who is occupying an abandoned building, alone. The lion completely fails to be convincing, but brings Azmo lesson notes, and gradually they open up to each other. The lion learns why Azmo has been avoiding everyone, and feels some sympathy near the end.

‘The Tiger and the Beaver’ – in a town where kids are strictly segregated in school after age ten, this tiger cub and beaver grew up as neighbors playing together and are best friends. Now even though it’s forbidden, the tiger keeps sneaking over to see his beaver friend. One day they overhear something and see a bunch of carnivores bullying a goat to extort money from him. They decide to do something to stop the bigger, older beasts, even though it’s wildly dangerous. And earn the respect of their elders- the school authorities promise to watch out for them, preventing others from harassing them about continuing their friendship.

‘The Camel and the Wolf’ – An older male camel has worked his entire career as a journalist, writing judgmental stuff against carnivores. Especially regarding murder incidents. Then one night he meets a female wolf in a cafe. They start talking and end up having a romantic encounter- which involves the wolf’s desire to devour a small piece of her camel partner (his finger). It’s an eye-opening experience for the camel, who goes back to his work in journalism with an entirely new perspective on things.

‘The Kangaroo and the Black Panther’ – A kangaroo runs a hotel in a part of town that has seen better days. Black market operations seem to creep closer and closer to their neighborhood. One day a young panther comes asking for a room- and she’s not using it for sex work (as he first suspects), she keeps to herself. Rumors fly about more black market gang activity nearby, including a spate of murders. The hotel owner starts to suspect this young panther is somehow involved, so he has to encourage her to move on, even though he feels a bit sympathetic for her plight. He kicks her out but also lectures her and hopes she’ll find a better path.

‘The Crocodile and the Gazelle’ – The two title creatures end up working together on a live cooking show. The program has been struggling and the producers hope to make things more interesting with their new chef- a Crocodile who specializes in making dishes that closely imitate the taste and texture of meat. When he talks up these qualities on live television it makes the gazelle very uncomfortable, so they have lots of heated words- which is controversial viewing and improves the show’s ratings! But the gazelle gets a huge shock one day when she finally samples her co-workers prepared food. (She actually likes it).

‘The Fox and the Chameleon’ – This was the other very strange physiological feature. A chameleon can make such perfect camouflage, that his body seems to actually disappear, that his shirt has no head, etc. His fox classmate doesn’t understand why he shows himself fully in school settings, but disappears with camouflage when out in public. They talk more, and become a bit friendly. Then chameleon learns that the fox is getting harassed by her conspecifics- because she doesn’t behave like the other vixens. He steps in to help her- unseen. This one had a very amusing detail about the camouflage ability that I won’t divulge- you should read it!

I think all these stories address animals discovering that steroetypes about other species aren’t true, or learning what difficulties another might have to live with, how to accept each other and stand up for those who need help or friendship. They’re brief, but good stories – although sometimes quite disturbing- with a bit of depth and some irony just below the surface.

Borrowed from the public library. Completed on 4/29/24.