Beastars

In a civilized society of anthropomorphic animals, an uneasy tension exists between carnivores and herbivores. At Cherryton Academy, this mutual distrust peaks after a predation incident results in the death of Tem, an alpaca in the school's drama club. Tem's friend Legoshi, a grey wolf in the stage crew, has been an object of fear and suspicion for his whole life. In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, he continues to lay low and hide his menacing traits, much to the disapproval of Louis, a red deer and the domineering star actor of the drama club.

When Louis sneaks into the auditorium to train Tem's replacement for an upcoming play, he assigns Legoshi to lookout duty. That very night, Legoshi has a fateful encounter with Haru, a white dwarf rabbit scorned by her peers. His growing feelings for Haru, complicated by his predatory instincts, force him to confront his own true nature, the circumstances surrounding the death of his friend, and the undercurrent of violence plaguing the world around him.

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Adaptation:	Beastars
Sequel:	Beastars 2nd Season

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Legoshi

Main

Kobayashi, Chikahiro
Japanese

Louis

Main

Ono, Yuuki
Japanese

Haru

Main

Senbongi, Sayaka
Japanese

Gouhin

Supporting

Ootsuka, Akio
Japanese

Jack

Supporting

Enoki, Junya
Japanese

Juno

Supporting

Tanezaki, Atsumi
Japanese

Bill

Supporting

Torashima, Takaaki
Japanese

Legom

Supporting

Ando, Sakura
Japanese

Dom

Supporting

Muro, Genki
Japanese

Collot

Supporting

Ootsuka, Takeo
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Matsumi, Shinichi

Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Kyougoku, Takahiko

Episode Director, Storyboard

Kuno, Yoko

Episode Director, Storyboard, Key Animation

Sokuza, Makoto

Episode Director

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Opening Theme

"Wild Side" by ALI

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Ending Theme

	1: "Le zoo" by YURiKA (eps 2, 5, 8, 9)
	2: "Nemuru Honnou (眠れる本能)" by YURiKA (eps 3, 7, 10)
	3: "Marble" by YURiKA (eps 4, 6, 11)
	4: "Tsuki ni Ukabu Monogatari (月に浮かぶ物語)" by YURiKA (eps 12)

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Reviews

Dec 31, 2019

Injenss

Not Recommended

I hate this anime. It was doing so good, and then in the final few episodes it just got so stupid and illogical. I do not know why such a logically broken anime has such a high score. Is it because of cute animals? I don't know, but the ending was just frickin' dumb.

WARNING: MAJOR STORY SPOILERS AHEAD.

The anime started off well and was a bit surprising. I went into this thinking it was a comedy, but it's a drama. There's a little humor, but mostly it's a serious anime that imagines what the relationship between carnivores and herbivores would be if ... they had a human society. In the midst of this, the likable MC, Legoshi, falls for a rabbit, Haru, basically because she talked to him once in a greenhouse. Even though he tried to eat her the first time they met. This is the first logic break, because he's apparently attracted to her forward and outgoing nature, when everyone around him seems to be outgoing and he's the only introvert in the show.

But, you can ignore this logic flaw and still get into a pretty bizarre, but definitely good story. Legosi struggles to define his feelings for Haru, while struggling to contain his own predatory nature. There's a bit of a love triangle going on with Legoshi, Haru and Louis. Louis is a very irritating and overconfident deer, who is tapped to be the Beastar, which, I'm still not quite sure what it is, but it has some kind of power over society or something. Because Haru is a rabbit who feels like she's weak, she sleeps with everything that moves. (Screw like rabbits. hardy har har, I guess.) She slept with Louis because of this and tried to sleep with Legoshi, because she'll sleep with anyone who wants it. This triangle with Louis, Legoshi and Haru provides some intrigue. Through this situation, you wonder if the anime might take a dark turn due to jealousy. I watched every episode wondering how this was going to go south, especially once the second grey wolf, Juno enters the anime, who has a thing for Legoshi. It really seemed like it might go the "School Days" route, because Legoshi could just eat Louis and Haru if he wants to and he seems psycho enough to do it. Or, Juno could eat Haru, or something. The wolves were kinda nuts.

But, just as this love square seems to hit a crescendo, between predators and prey, BOOM, they throw a completely stupid curve ball at you that destroys the story. Haru the Rabbit, is suddenly kidnapped by a group of lions who plan to feed her to their boss. (Which, BTW, the lions should've been females, they're the hunters. Males don't hunt for other males.) But, this is when it gets incredibly stupid.

What was a weird, animal, high-school, romance drama, suddenly turns into Die Hard, as Legoshi goes all Bruce Willis (Complete with the wife beater and broken glass) to rescue the rabbit. And with only a crossbow wielding Panda by his side, he somehow defeats THIRTY-FIVE LIONS. A wolf beating one lion is stupid. A wolf beating 35 lions? Come on, man.

The entire world's lore broke with these ridiculous episodes. The chief world breaking issue is the fact that suddenly, the lions have guns and the panda has a crossbow. Now, this entire world is based upon that idea that strong carnivores are a massive threat to helpless herbivores. But, if there are GUNS then why the hell are the herbivores so scary and helpless? SHOOT people who try to eat you. The playing field is level with guns, so the whole concept of the society falls apart and becomes senseless.

So many logic breaks happen after this. Just, so many. The Leo Group (The lions) are supposed to be terrifyingly powerful, but are easily beaten by two people. The Leo Group goes through all the trouble of kidnapping a tiny rabbit for the boss to eat, and they let her live like ALL NIGHT LONG. I mean, I get felines play with their food, but, seriously... The kicker, is after Legoshi is done doing his Bruce Willis thing, Louis shows up and kills the boss and then gives himself up to be eaten to two other armed lions while laughing like a nutcase. And it is barely mentioned. Louis was not a minor character, and his role in the anime was supposed to be extremely important, like a MLK bridging the gap between carnivores and herbivores. (Still not sure how). He disappears, and it might be mentioned 3-4 times by others. You'd think the whole city would freak out, but, nah...they're good.

But, the biggest plot hole in no one seeming to care? Is that of everyone who doesn't really care, it is Haru herself who seems to care the least. As she does not mention Louis again even once after he disappears. Rabbit thot is all about Legoshi now, like she never knew a deer named Louis. She was supposed to love him. That was established many times in the anime. But, I guess Legoshi was so manly in his Bruce Willis tee, she just completely forgot all about Louis.

I can't even explain all of the logic gaps this anime contained. Why is it unnatural for a rabbit to bang a wolf, but it's natural for it to bang deer, foxes, dogs and whatever the hell else Haru slept with? And why the hell do animals with keen senses of smell not know how to find people unless its convenient to the plot? What the hell happened to the Panda after the miracle fight? Did he just leave Legoshi to fight the boss? Is he dead in a pool of his own blood? Why the hell would he even follow a guy he had one conversation with to fight the most feared Mafia in the city? Why is a student from a love-story suddenly fighting a mafia anyway? Why does smelling scents make Legoshi stronger than frickin' lions? I don't know...

Then we get to the ending. The non-ending. The no reason at all for it to be a non-ending, ending, but is a non-ending ending, anyway.

After rescuing her, Haru is prepared to slut out for Legoshi a second time, but then her "instincts" make her jump into his mouth to try and be eaten by him, instead. I'd like to know what kind of animal instinct this is, that causes prey to jump into the mouth of their predators? I've never seen it in the wild, and I love nature documentaries. I was completely unaware that animals developed instincts to jump into predator's mouths, when they get horny. Just a completely dumb reason for them to not have sex. Especially dumb when you consider this rabbit has slept with dogs and foxes, who also hunt rabbits. No mouth jumping there?

After the awkward "I want to make love to you but my body told me to commit suicide, instead" scene, we flash forward to the festival, where Legoshi tells Haru he loves her again and she runs away (Even though she just tried to screw him less than 24 hours ago) which causes Legoshi to chase her to the mandatory "hill overlooking the city" scene, where he tells her AGAIN that he loves her, like it's the first time. And then, even though she tried to bone him TWICE, even though she said she can't live without him now, they DON'T get together. Instead, Legoshi says he'll become stronger for Haru so he can overcome his instincts and society that says they shouldn't be together. And what a specifically racist society. Only wolves and rabbits can't hook up. Rabbits and deer are fine. We can even have inter-species love hotels. But, no rabbits and wolves! Bigots.

Her response to Legoshi's declaration of becoming strong enough to apparently not have the instincts of a wolf, is "I'll wait." (Although she had no interest in waiting yesterday.) Why? Why are we waiting? Is he NOT going to be a wolf at some point? Hasn't he already NOT eaten her many times? And seeing how she jumped into his mouth and he still didn't eat her, shouldn't he be waiting for her not to be the world's dumbest rabbit?

This anime teaches us all an important lesson: If you're going to get drunk, do it after you finish episode 12, not episode 9.

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Dec 25, 2019

Karhu

Recommended

Beastars is an anime about prejudices, self-discovery and life under idealistic totalitarian rule where carnivores and herbivores supposedly dwell in harmony, and all of this takes place in a certain school's drama club. Everyone is already acting and then they try and act some more.

**Before we continue, in case you lean to the right side and consider yourself red-pilled, you most likely are at least on some level avoiding this anime like plague. I had my fair share of skepticism before going in, but I conclude this series is not driven by any pre-set political agenda. Social commentary exists, you can take it as ... political satire, call its world building neo nazi enigma, see the similarities to Stalin styled communism, laugh at how it practically labels food chain fascist, acknowledge the furry-relations, or entirely watch the series as an independent, stand-alone work that may have real life influence to back it up, but rather than preaching already discovered answers, it raises questions. It creates thought-provoking situations and presents them from multiple different perspectives, leaving room for the viewer to make their own interpretation. More than anything, it is what you make of it. What do we call this? Showing respect towards the audience.

There are three main cast members who all are vastly different from each others. They each have their own complex and shallow sides, inner and outer personalities; the one they are inside and the one they show to others, there is a clear portray of each individuals' self-image, fair bit of awareness of what their self looks like to the outside eye, even inner monologue filled with reflecting exist, and the list goes on. The character-centric focus is highly psychological while the presentation itself is partially toned with philosophical questions. This level of detail and accuracy is highly uncommon for anime characters even in psychological anime series. There is more depth, detail, planning and polish that one would expect or let alone see at first glance. The cast members all come with self-awareness and ideas that come from within the person. There are no moments in the narrative where a thought or piece of behavior seems out of place or controlled by the author behind the 4th wall. While some of the supporting cast members (such as mixed breed rabbits) clearly appear as devices in the narrative instead of being sincere individuals, the main cast members do not come with any type of compromises.

Our trio consists of Legoshi, Louis and Haru. Legoshi is the main main character, a cautious and sensitive wolf who faces prejudices that are about his supposed wolf-like nature. He aims to counter this by censoring himself and acting almost like the polar opposite of what is expected of him. This causes some inner psychological struggle and visible bounce in forms of his nature overwriting his supposed raw personality. Louis is a deer whom seems to have not only overly egotistic behavior but narcissism, superiority complex and manipulative skills. His ego is no less than enormous, but what makes him vastly different from common student who is narcistic is that his near flawless self-image carries thru making wide masses around him actually genuinely believe he is the greatest person alive, which is due to his skill to manipulate people on individual level and in masses but still not entirely limited to this. On a side note: I'd love to see how he puts on a buttonless t-shirt considering those massive antlers. They never explain that.

Our last main character is Haru and she is perhaps the most disliked character. She is a rabbit and literally a slut. She sleeps with everyone and is widely hated by girls for supposedly stealing their men. She is the most controversial character in the series and many seem to despise her. Despite her getting bullied, assaulted and violeted, it seems to be rare for viewers to feel any sympathy towards her. I think that's her true genius, because most people - at least in my generalization - love attention from the opposite sex (or their sex of interest) and are more than willing to make love with sexually attractive people, but we do not appreciate this feature in others. This is the viewer's moment to reflect. Haru is a bit pushy self-victimizer, and her ideas seem to be some type of double edged sword where she'd want to see someone see her inner personality, but her outer behavior tends to ratiate only the slutty features she has. She is practically a self-caused illness, but this is still fascinating thing to follow, because she is nowhere near a weak person. By weak, I mean both: not weakly-writter nor the opposite of strong. Without her the series would definitely not be the same, and she is essential because what makes the cast so incredibly strong is not really their stand-alone personas, but how they interract with each others and develope relations. In these moments, when you have high understanding of these characters, even their smallest actions come with profound slow-burn effect.

As far as the writing goes, the premise and world building are basically wit wonderlands. The psychological side is accurate and clever, the animal prejudices -which are used as metaphoras- along the societal structure and way the world works, do not only have their real life relevance and political satire factors in them, but do hell of an impressive job creating the anime's very own universe. One of its main ideas seems to be that healthy ideals do not necessarily create a healthy, functioning world. When a wide portion of society doesn't feel well, it tends to backlash, leaving room for extremist, anti-government activity, havoc and, more specifically in this case, create downunder societies and black markets for the products that are banned. Where's the funny in this, then? Because the herbivores blame those who cannot digest this; not the nu-food nor the bureaucratic bs and paints them the "bad guys."

The actual plot could be said to come with its fair share of simplicity, and certain events play out with some level of convinience, which shows that not every bit has been thoroughly planned to hold water (this is the series' sole biggest weakness), but as a whole, its writing has "attention to detail" type of approach, and when considering this, it's quite hard to give justified criticism of its shortcomings when they come out as attributes rather than flaws. However, it should be noted that some of the story events are heavily slice of life oriented, and during these fractions, the series can side track from its actual main content quite a bit. In case you cannot accept more baseline vanilla plot events that are simply beautified with detail, it may be hard to find Beastars' story significant and it may not appeal to you. If you can look past this rather niche and superficial issue, I promise what you see is a brave attempt succeeding and living up to its potential. I can only try and imagine the moment when the author wrote this and realized it's actually good. I am sure not even she planned this all to work so well in her favor. It all just kinda happened, fitted together like compounds of a vaccine. For this reason, it may be easy to overanalyze the series: give its intellectual side more credibility than it deserves. But on the other hand, the lack of strong inprint from the author makes the series seem far less pseudo-intellectual than majority of series that are supposedly aimed for smart people. More than being a tool thru to which the author tries to prove her own genius, Beastars does what was already once said: leave room for viewer's own judgement.

Some of the questions this raised in me were: Is equality the first step towards inequity? Are societal norms and values the very roots of human double standards? Can a person truly escape the mold that shaped him? Was Mufasa from Lion King actually wrong (you must take your place in the circle of life)? And most importantly, why do we so rarely get anime series that not only show us multidimensional characters, but tell a meaningful story? My final judgement: AOTY.

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Dec 25, 2019

Krunchyman

Recommended

“Ewww….this animation is gross.” — a naive Krunchyman

Coming into Beastars, I was a bit skeptical. That’s because I saw the 3D animation and immediately thought of Berserk 2016. Granted, the previews for Beastars were enough to convince me otherwise, but I was still leery. It’s not say that 3D aesthetics are terrible in general, but an artistic essence, if you will, seems noticeably absent — as compared to 2D aesthetics — making the 3D visuals seem a bit lifeless. Also, Japanese artists (unlike Western artists), draw 2D characters, which makes the conversion process to 3D look unnatural and wonky. Furthermore, ... the multitude of anime with horrendous 3D animation has soured expectations in the anime community, making a preponderance of fans jaded to the very notion.

Taking that all into consideration, I must say that Beastars far and away exceeded my expectations; as I was thoroughly impressed and astonished by its brilliant imagery. Episode 4 was the high water mark for the series, with its expressive color palette, remarkable camera angles, and phenomenal still-shots. It literally felt like someone painted a masterpiece, over, and over, and over again; stitching each stunning image into one cohesive product, that we call an episode. This, in my opinion, is the mark of a great film/series. One that leaves lasting images in the viewers memory long after the viewing experience. The shot with Louis extending his arm to Legosi — similar to Michelangelo’s, ‘The Creation of Adam’ — was simply marvelous. Also, the scenes with Haru and Legosi in the hotel bedroom featured poignant shots that expressed the emotional/sexual tension between the two. A tension that felt eerily relatable to the human condition, as each one of Legosi’s awkward advances were mired in insecurities. While there were hiccups here and there with the various character movements (the fight between Legosi and the Shishigumi boss comes to mind), it did little to diminish the dazzling visuals on screen.

That all being said, images only go so far, as a thematically rich story with well developed characters is needed to create a truly great work. Fortunately for the viewer, Beastars does just that. Starting with our main character, Legosi, he is a tortured soul that has a strong, innate urge to eat meat (which is considered taboo at school). In episode 2, we see the metaphorical demon that dwells within Legosi, and how that shapes him as a person. Because for Legosi, displaying any signs of aggression, in the presence of an herbivore, is unacceptable; thus, he represses this facet of his personality, in exchange for a timid persona that exudes little-to-no confidence. But while this calm, socially-withdrawn facade may put his fellow students at ease, it is tearing him up inside (resulting in self-loathing).

This was highlighted in episode 4, when Legosi and Bill (the bengal tiger) put on a ‘performance’ in front of the student body. But what appeared to be acting, was really subtext for the act that carnivores put on while in the presence of herbivores at school. An act that Legosi will need to acknowledge if he is to ever break free from his self-imposed constraints. Needless to say, it will be interesting to see how Legosi confronts this dilemma, especially as his affections for Haru proliferate.

One of the other major character arcs in Beastars is that of Louis; a male deer who is the antithesis of Legosi (strong-willed, confident, and self-affirming). His dilemma, however, is not unlike Legosi’s — in which he feels insecure in his own skin — causing him to overcompensate with a brash attitude to conceal his ‘weaknesses’ as an herbivore. In this regard, Louis and Legosi are two sides of the same coin; wanting they cannot attain, but not appreciating what was given to them. They are both putting on an act that they cannot sustain, as all shows must come to an end — and after the show, comes reality.

Speaking of reality, Louis’ past reality is a tragic one. But it is worth remembering in understanding how that shapes his future self (it is also worth remembering for its stunning, visceral images). Because while it seems that Louis is always composed and in control — in truth, he is not. Louis is a slave to his perceived fragility, creating an identity crisis in which he desperately seeks power to prove himself to others. It is a quest that will, most likely, lead to self-destruction if he does not accept his limitations.

Another herbivore that seeks to transcend her limitations, is Haru. A bunny-girl that feels looked down upon (physically and emotionally) by society. This was accentuated beautifully in episode 10, when Haru chronicled her life’s story in the anticipation of impending death. But her plight for acceptance is different from Louis, as she utilizes lust to achieve ‘equality.’ A desire that provides temporary benefits, yet no lasting returns. And this self-destructive cycle not only precludes an endearing relationship, but it also tarnishes her reputation among her classmates — creating social isolation. All in all, Haru does more damage to herself via overcompensation. A theme that is pervasive in all three main characters (four, if you count Juno).

Needless to say, I was completely engrossed by the changing dynamics of Beastars, and how it utilized symbolism and subtext to emphasize its core themes. While the show featured different species of animals to underscore the hardships of carnivores and herbivores living together, it really showcased the same trials and tribulations that we face as humans. Hence, why it is crucial to watch these types of anime for proper perspective.

“The tendency to live within one’s own reality is a dangerous notion, and without proper grounding from outside influences — we can easily foster our own emotional seppuku.” — Krunchyman

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Poll: Do you think Beastars is a slice of life anime? fluffycow17 - May 23	10 replies	by Feretereitor »» 7 hours ago
Poll: Beastars Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) Stark700 - Dec 25, 2019	189 replies	by ToTheGyz »» Yesterday, 10:41 AM
Poll: Beastars Episode 11 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Dec 18, 2019	126 replies	by slimyyyyy »» May 29, 6:47 PM
Poll: Beastars Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Nov 27, 2019	113 replies	by _kukiyomenai »» May 28, 12:03 AM
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Beastars

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