Beastars

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Well, so long Beastars. I have followed you since the first chapter. And you should had been gone earlier, when you were great and not now. You were supposed to be the chosen one! Either way, time to start my filled with spoilers review:

The setting is pretty much the world we live in nowadays but instead of humans, we have animals of any kind. It's quite interesting and sometimes you can see small details like tiny stairs for mouses, divisions in police force regarding size of the animals (big ones, small ones) or abilities like flying, digging, etc... and worldbuilding in general that makes the ... whole world more interesting. Sadly, the author doesn't really explore that and besides a few odd chapters, she puts more attention to the characters which is not a bad thing but it gets tiring after a while because the whole drama is about mixed species animals and interspecies relationships which gets tiring. There was the whole sea animals topic the author didn't really explore and it could have been wonderful, way better than the whole arc about Melon and how dumb is Legosi.
Ah yes, Melon. I don't really know why the author created a character like him but geez, he is the example of a character that should have died 30 chapters earlier. A mixed species animal who is a BPD psycho that everyone fears for some reason even when he is pretty weak compared to most carnivores. We also have Legosi, part lizard part wolf and well, of course Legosi when the series starts and Legosi when the series ends are different in many ways. Mainly in how dumbass he gets to be but also in his confidence. His character really changes a lot in the series but not in the best path in the final run (he gets to be really dumb and nearly killed a few times). There are also Louis, Haru and the others characters in the school who after a certain arc, their importance is barely any except in the ending and it is still pretty eh, like most people actually forgot a few characters exist im sure, like Bill. Haru doesn't seem to be like a real love interest for Legosi and more like a fetish with the way it is described in his mind. And he is always scared of eating her??? So why the heck does he agree in going out with her?! As a note, i find Haru the most realistic character out of everyone and probably my favourite. She's been using boys to validate herself for wo lont at school, and then suddenly Legosi comes along and lifts her up, but she still wants to have her own agency. She wants to have a relationship with Legosi that's male and female as well as carnivore and herbivore (chase me, Legosi) but also she wants him to desire her.
Legosi and Haru are both complicated and flawed characters and they both probably overthink everything. Their relationship may never be easy, but they're so deeply entangled now, they know they'll never be able to be away from each other. Haru is doing her level best to make sure that what they have isn't co-dependent. She wants to have her own self-validation, and she wants Legosi to be able to be a complete person outside of her as well.
The author also does some huge ass pulls that makes you think she is a hack but some of them can be kind of reasonable but stuff like Louis becoming the boss of the lion mafia is just absurd. Or the ending when the whole city unites to destroy the black market of meat and everyone becomes friends. Yeah no, there must be several more cities or countries and destroying one alley where they sell meat isn't gonna stop anything. In the first chapters you could see a really poor animal selling his fingers as a way to get by. Who says there won't be more cases of that in the future?
Nor the ocean animals saying they will trade their dead ones. Why didn't they think of that earlier?
I feel that the series suffers from ending fatigue and that the author should have sticked with the psychological side instead of going full shonen with epic anime fights. Not matter how you put it, a wolf beating a bear in a fist fight is plot armor or the tournament in the black market at the end of the series. It was absurd. I feel that the last arc would have been way better with Legosi struggling to be an adult, his relationship with Haru and others plotlines of characters we already know about. Melon was just a plot device that didn't make much sense from my perspective. He was all over the place and also, the dumb promise Haru made with him amounted to nothing.
Anyway, I give to this series a 6/10. The first arcs are really enjoyable and well done but it gets worse after those arcs, has some ups and down in quality with the ending being quite mediocre in my opinion but not as bad as the ending of Game of Thrones. My main complains are that the author focused too much on Melon, the bpd mixed species and so little in side characters that were quite interesting like Juno.
The art is quite good and evolves. Just compare the first and last chapter.
Overall, this series is enjoyable as hell. Read it.

I wasn't expecting much of this manga at first, but it got really good pretty fast, and it keeps getting better with each chapter, so I can currently say that it is very much underrated.

The characters, specially the main ones, are very deep and interesting, so it's always exciting to get to know more about them, their personalities and their secrets, as the story progresses.
It's a bit ironic how they all feel much more human than the average character from any other high school story, even though they're all animals... but I really mean it, it's very easy to relate to them and ... their struggles, one way or another.

The world in this manga is very interesting as well, it has many layers to it and many aspects of it contribute to a feeling of dread, while it addressees the topic of discrimination and "cultural differences" in very interesting (and sometimes gruesome) ways. To put it very, very simply, it's like the dark and gritty version of Zootopia we never got to watch, but with differences that add to its complexity and originality.

My only complaint would have to be the art, or at least it was at first, but I've grown to like it quite a bit so it's not really that much of a problem, it's charming and very distinct, and it doesn't fail to send the message across, specially when it comes to its visual cues, which might be my one of my favorite parts of this manga, they're really well executed and make me feel like they'd be great in anime form because of how dramatic and meaningful they are, and there's plenty of them, since the story keeps jumping from one dramatic scene to another almost constantly, specially during the latest chapters.

My point with that is, do not dismiss this manga right away, because it's definitely worth a read.

Ps: Protect Legosi.

An incredibly complex manga about humanity's many facets, portrayed in an unusual way. At first glance, you might not expect this to be a deep series, but it dives into the core of society, interactions between individuals and how cruel and beautiful the world can be. The thing that surprised me the most is how incredibly well written all of the characters are, everyone has an interesting side in this story. The narrative is exciting, has many unexpected fun twists and turns, as the main protagonist Legosi faces many challenges in this wild world he lives in. The art has a very uniquely strange feel ... to it, but it manages to be striking and effective at showcasing a huge range of emotions, the mangaka really managed to master drawing facial expressions.

This feral world of animals is very similar to our human world, but the peculiar relationship carnivores and herbivores have was a very different perspective for me.

The carnivores have to suffer because they can't eat the food that is the most nourishing and delicious to them, they can substitute meat with other things but it is never satisfying enough and they have to always struggle with a unique type of hunger, an endless painful hunger that drives many of them mad.

Herbivores have to live in a constant painful fear since most of them are much weaker than carnivores and because the carnivores can randomly go crazy from their thirst for their natural source of nutrition, there is this constant danger that you'll be devoured by a beast gone insane.

Both the carnivores and the herbivores are suffering, but in different ways.

The whole society is restless because of these core factors and there doesn't seem to be an easy way to fix these problems and that's what makes this story so shockingly captivating, emotional and breathtaking.

I was going to give it a high score. I really was going to. But I just can't anymore.

Story:1
The story is very mediocre, non existent in consistency and the backstories just come in big bulks later on in the manga. Very bad development, nonsensical motives for everything that happens. It just is not enough to hook me on.

This is one of the manga that tries to be seinen, as the genre suggests, and some very philosophical elements were showing up. But then all of that was ditched for a mediocre plot that was bland and lacked any real value for reading

Random things just pop ... out of nowhere, to a point that it is fairly nonsensical

Now the main thing is how the story is name BEASTARS yet for some reason it isn't mentioned anywhere other than the start. Oh my fk I'm just going to kill my self from this lack of consistency

Art:7
Art is good, characters are made well, just some psychological parts are drawn pretty weirdly

Character:3

For some reason, I can't get a good grasp on characters as they always have a shift in personality

But something interesting I noticed was their correlation to sin

The wolf character is enduring a self conflict as he has the role of a carnivore, he must not act upon his desires to eat meat and has to follow by societies rules, were the carnivores are mostly considered outcasts, the people who always commit crimes while herbivores and such hold a high status. He tries to eat the bunny yet is not able to do so, and starts liking the bunny. This character is pretty annoying and pestering and the bunny seems to start h aving feelings for him. Overall he is a badly made character and I am fairly disgusted at the sight of him yet...

This character represents gluttony, lust

The bunny is the worst of the lot, a slut, someone who has a lot of sexual partners. She hides everything through her innocent looking face, and then turns seinen mode by stripping and doing random shit with everyone. It seems a lot of people have fallen victim to her and so she is constantly bullied for being the primary person in peoples affairs. She just claims she wants to be an equal but it is pretty obvious she is trying to aim higher up in status, as if her status as a herbivore was not enough. She is evil and my eyes would definitely bleed at the sight of this character.

This character represents envy, sloth

The deer dude is the student council president that is seen to be the boss for things the wolf enrol in, and he wants to be a beastar, something that allows the student to get a free pass to a high social status and such. He is a pretty annoying character.

This character represents pride, greed, wrath

Sorry if this hypothesis is wrong.

Enjoyment:6
I was still able to read this in one setting, so this should be slightly enjoyable, as it is not seinen to the point where it is disgusting

Overall:
This manga is not decent, which is a four, so I am giving it a three. It could have been better, but it was executed very very poorly. Very poorly. And so, I suggest that you don't read this shit.

Anthropomorphism has been a part of cultures in various forms since the prehistoric age. When it comes to stories, it's often been used as a tool by writers to disassociate their messages from humanity so they become analogies, instead of direct teachings or statements. In case of Beastars, the same does ring true too. It allows for a very simple and understandable conflict within the society in the story and keeps it from being openly political. Besides that, the tone also remains reasonably *light* as a result.
But what I really like is how the author's genuine passion for the animal kingdom is visible. Well, I ... mean, she wears a chicken mask in real life, so...
But there's a huge amount of details that aren't necessary from the wider perspective of the whole story, details that just pertain to the species of animals (humans are animals too, I know, by the way) and make the manga feel full of life. But I'm grateful to Paru for including them, without them I could see the story feeling too blunt. The charm of the manga lies in there. But so, to conclude this opening segment, I feel the anthropomorphism is less of a technique and more of a style when it comes to Beastars.

Now, before delving into the actual narrative and the story, I should say that I highly recommend reading (or maybe watching since the anime is great) Beastars if you're into character dramas or psychological stories. Although the quality doesn't remain consistently great and drops off a lot in the final big arc of the story, it's probably worth it to just check it out.

***BEWARE OF SPOILERS FROM HERE ON!***

For me, the highlight of Beastars is definitely the character-writing, hence the list of characters whom I relish is pretty long: Legoshi, Louis, Haru, Juno, Bill, Sebun, Aoba, Gosha... and even the very minor characters such as Ako and Airdo. While they're fleshed out and/or contribute to the thematic core, a common aspect between them is that they're unhappy with their species.

Legoshi feels unjustly big and strong next to herbivores and loathes himself for being a wolf. He doesn't see any value in himself — a creature that's biologically *meant* to prey on others.

Louis craves confidence and puts on a facade to climb above others and get a feeling of control so he could escape his instinctual fear of predators and his fragility as a deer.

Haru wishes that people would treat her as an equal, but is patronized and everyone acts as if she needs protection. She sees herself as someone who'll be inevitably eaten and forgotten, but she continues to cling onto life for the moments that she cherishes.

Bill is proud of being a tiger but is frustrated by the responsibility that comes with his immense strength. He tries to shine in the spotlight but finds that just raw power doesn't cut it.

Gosha can never relax because he needs to always mind himself so he wouldn't hurt anyone with his venom by accident.

Beastars explores self-esteem and dissatisfaction with oneself. The problems the characters face are amplified though. By the harsh expectations and taboos of society. It's really engaging to see them struggle but mature and discover that they're not to blame individually. The entire society in Beastars is rotten at its core and the collective issue they all share is what needs to be solved. The society functions on willfully ignoring the fundamental flaws in its design, mainly, the black market. At least that's how I see the story tackling this topic.

Black Market.

Just the pure existence of it already puts onto a display that they aren't living in an utopia. Despite all of the effort that's been put into creating meals that can keep the carnivores healthy, the yearning for meat hasn't disappeared. Of course, that's not actually the fault of the society. What is however, is that despite it being an open secret, it continues to operate. No one dares to bring it up in the daylight and no one wants to risk getting into that taboo. While any individual isn't in the wrong for that, because a single person can't be expected to be capable of doing anything about an issue of such magnitude, the collective is morally corrupt for not addressing it. Some animals even say it's necessary evil to reason with it — that there's no way around it. Even if it was true, the attempts should still be done and the system of black market should at least be *ensured* to function on meat that comes from hospitals etc.

What is interesting is how we've shown everyone's acceptance of it. Aoba for example, he's a bird with a good heart, yet when he visits the black market with Legoshi and Bill he doesn't really pick a side at first. He's resigned to the fact that it exists and that he'll end up using it. If it wasn't for Legoshi, would he have done it and eaten meat there? Would he have committed to it?
And it's not just carnivores who're accepting of it, even herbivores are in the know, but don't seem to be taking any action. All of them are just playing the fool and hoping that they won't end up there. Also, even more interesting are those who've went there and found a way of making money buy selling parts of themselves.

It's just so awfully fucked up, but that's why it's such an impactful way of building a theme.

In truth, no one benefits from the black market. The herbivores who avoid it don't because random predation incidents still take place outside of it. Herbivores who sell themselves are basically doing the equivalent of taking a loan but even worse.
And even carnivores, they just become addicted and Gohin showed us what that might end up in: carnivores eating themselves in their lust for meat or inflicting self-harm because of the guilt. There are no victors in that story.

One more thing to say about it, the ones who use it aren't evil, they've ironically fallen prey to their own desires. They're not in the right by any means, but they aren't absolute ruthless monsters.

In conclusion to this segment, it's a brilliant way of showcasing how hollow the utopia they have truly is.

Also, I really appreciated the impact on the overall story that the confrontation between Legoshi and Riz had. It wasn't just covered up so Legoshi could continue his school life, instead he was suspended and the setting of the story switched to basically life after school. It's nice for such consequences to exist in a story, while that sadly is the only really good example, it's still something I wanna bring up.

Also, the little story of Ako and Airdo is a really gripping little addition. They founded their relationship on acting progressive and standing out, but subsequently it wasn't pleasing for either and ended in a tragedy. In line with the story in its entirety, there's no one truly at fault individually. Both of them were thoughtless. Ako pushed herself on Ako who lost himself for a slightest second and bit her. There's no hero nor is there a villain. But the response from everyone around them is to immediately assume the worst, which is understandable, but the good response would be to keep an open mind and try to look at the truth. We don't know what happened to Airdo, but with how stern the laws in Beastars are, his life was probably ever changed. It's neglecting to fix the problem.

But the story isn't without a fair share of issues. Most of them are in the latter half of the story. After Melon shows up, the story shifts from a slow and somewhat aimless character drama to have a more concrete plot. In theory, that'd be great, and in my second favourite series, Kaguya-sama, it happens and pays off. But here, everything kinda crumbles and falls apart. The pacing jumps haphazardly around, many characters (Haru in particular) lack screen-time to make the conclusions for their characters work, a lot of fights but no stakes to speak of, plot-points entirely forgotten, etc.

Worst is that the brilliantly set up conflict between herbivores and carnivores is resolved with basically just a speech from Louis who makes it up on the fly. The intricate buildup of the black market and the dark side of society ends up amounting to almost nothing as it just stops being a problem after Louis has a few words on it and brings it into the daylight. Also, almost as bad is how unsatisfying and out of the blue the climax of Legoshi's and Haru's relationship is, being stacked on top of the entire Melon arc where Haru had practically zero screentime.

So, to conclude the review, Beastars is spectacular at start. It devolves into a mess but it's still a meaningful story. I don't think that it's awful at any point. But I really would've wished for a more nuanced ending. But personally, I'm interested in Paru's writing should she start an another manga. Though I do hope that she's been sharpened by this experience

Are you a furry? Do you love Zootopia? If you answered yes to either of those questions, give this manga a shot. Need any more info? Well, ok...

Beastars is about animals living in a very human-like society. The story centers around Legosi, a sensitive, honorable young wolf who struggles to overcome his nature and form meaningful relationships. His story begins at Cherryton high school, and that comes with a murder mystery, a taboo romance, tested friendships, bloody brawls... things you might expect from a shonen. But the strong writing and characters always keep it engaging.

Once he leaves school, the world-building really expands and we get ... to see the darker and stranger sides of the animal world. Without spoiling anything, let's just say street gangs, cannibalism (sort of), slavery, sex abuse and organ harvesting are involved. Despite all this, it's never explicit.

There's a lot of social commentary to be found here, and it's delivered in a refreshingly subtle manner. There's a large diversity of animals (mammals domesticated and wild, small and large, various reptiles, avians, marine life later on) with their unique struggles, like a komodo dragon who's shunned because of his poisonous mouth, or a small lamb who's always talked down to ...uh, literally and figuratively. But it's also quite funny at times, and has no shortage of funny panels to show out-of-context like, for example, a large, hairy carnivore in heels and a dress.

The art style is certainly unique, possessing a more sketchy and cartoony style than typical manga, but to the artist's credit, she's great with drawing action shots and large, intimidating animalistic figures with gnarled fingers.

If I had one complaint, it's about the ship-teasing. You know, when two characters are about to confess their feelings to one another, or a big reveal is about to be made, and something always comes up, or we shift focus to another character for a while. But maybe that's just a problem with manga in general.

How to make a furry anime melancholic, when all the past evidence suggest that anthropomorphic animals are reserved for satire bits and comedic relief? Paru Itagaki, the Mangaka for Beastars, accomplished this feat via capsizing the outward facade of modern society to reveal its unsightly underbelly and its multitude of (un)conscious biases. She then interwove society’s biggest failings — as she saw it — into the narrative structure of the Beastars universe to open up a dialogue that most are unwillingly to entertain in today’s politically charged climate. It was provocative. It was slightly awkward to read. And it provoked ... the reader to consider social issues in a new light and reconsider previously held beliefs. The fact that Paru utilized an animal society to confront these issues was quite clever on her part because it dissuaded the reader from identifying with their own ethnic lineage; thus, permitting an impartial viewpoint in which all sides were consider in relatively equal fashion.

Legosi, the meek protagonist of Beastars, is an introvert par excellence. His aspirations are nothing to be emulated, as it mostly included staying out of troubled and avoiding unnecessary conflict. Yet this unfortunate disposition is not unlike the average, non-jock experience while in the throes of high-school. It wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that most readers could vicariously live through Legosi’s experiences, because they may have been there themselves: navigating through a ‘jungle’ of teenage angst and pent-up hormonal urges. Yet the expectation to maintain one’s composure whilst preparing for a life long vocation is no easy task, as exemplified through Legosi’s inner tumult.

The catalyst for Legosi’s journey begins, unsurprisingly, with a woman. Unable to contain his lust for meat, Legosi attacks an unsuspecting female rabbit, Haru, in the dead of night. On the surface, it is a carnivore attacking a herbivore to satiate his craving for meat — which is a crime in the Beastars society — however, as noted by later clues, this incident is more akin to sexual assault. In fact, Legosi outright asserts this notion when prowling the streets with Panda to reign in predatiorial offenders. But rather than simply analogize these two parallel concepts, it would be more instructive to examine the root cause for these abhorrent acts to understand why they happen, and what Paru wants us to learn from them.

While society mostly dismisses sexual predators as vile individuals who are beyond redemption, Paru takes a different tact. She ‘humanizes’ the characters to demonstrate that abhorrence comes from an inner vexation with one’s own ‘failure.’ The ‘failure’ referenced is, of course, sexual frustration. A pervasive sentiment amongst today’s young men as they find themselves beholden to a women’s decision. But it is deeper than this, much deeper (excuse the inadvertent pun). The underlying concern arises from the need to feel emotionally connected to another individual. Teenagers tend to disconnect from their parents in an effort to establish themselves; thus creating a void in which they must find someone who understands them, and provides constructive challenges to improve their overall disposition and happiness.

Legosi falls into this sexual/emotional pit early on due an absent father, and a mother who prematurely took her own life. Consequently, despite his aloof personality, he desperately seeked acceptance from others; hence his conciliatory approach toward social situations. But this was not sufficient. He wanted what everyone wants: someone to accept him…for him. Legosi’s high-school journey, however, was mired in persistent bullying and social rejection; as a result, an inner ‘monster’ swelled deep within him and unleashed its repugnance in the most heinous way imaginable. At a later point in the manga, Legosi divulge this information to the ghetto psychiatrist, Gouhin. Upon hearing this, the large panda immediately scolded Legosi for conflating his feelings of love with predatory instincts — which is an interesting choice of words. Because Paru could have easily written ‘carnivore instincts,’ but she chose ‘predatory’ in an attempt to parallel predatorial offenders with sexual offenders (as mentioned earlier).

Another individual who falls ‘prey’ to the strictures of modern culture — much like Legosi — is Riz, the brown bear. Now, to understand Riz is to broach a topic that is relatively taboo in modern times: that is (homo)sexuality. While most industrial societies are becoming increasingly tolerant of such relationships, there is still an undercurrent of social pressure that intimidates young boys, in particular, to chase after women instead of exploring other inclinations. Whether it be a stern father or a group of friends, manhood — as they will tell you! — cannot be ached through homosexuality. Hence, bicurious men mute certain aspects of their personality via passive behavior to dissuade the notion of divergent proclivities. This correlates to how Riz takes force limiting pills to minimize the fearsome aspects of his personality. In both scenarios, the individual projects a persona in which they are not; yet this all changes when Riz fosters a relationship with Tem, and begins to contemplate the idea of revealing his true self.

But Riz’s confession does not yield the result he was looking for, causing him to divorce himself from his abhorrent predatorial incident via reimagining what happened. This pivotal moment is akin to a man coming out of the closet, and how the rejection could warp his sense of reality and self. The theory that Riz is an allegorical representation of an emergent homosexual is supported by the following evidence: 1) When Legosi kissed Riz in chapter 60, the brown bear was in a missionary position over the wolf and subsequently ran away in embarrassment; 2) Riz licked Pina’s fingers in a sexually suggestive manner, and Pina was the first person to (repeatedly) visit the bear in Juvie; and 3) when Riz reminisced about his predatorial incident, he imagined Tem gazing at him with affection and an erect tail (a tail that was drawn to look phallic).

In addition, the decisive battle between Riz and Legosi was rich in subtext. Legosi’s predatorial incident, in which he ate Louis’ right leg, could be viewed as a bicurious, sexual act; especially considering Legosi’s subsequent remark: “Louis-senpai is here as we speak…and…he’s inside me.” To which Louis responds with the ‘climatic’ exasperation, “GO, LEGOSI!!!” Unlike Riz, however, Legosi and Louis are not gay…not quite, at least. According to Ritch Savin-Williams, a professor emeritus of developmental psychology, sexuality exist on a spectrum in which no one person is one-hundred percent gay of straight. In fact, given the correct circumstances, literally anyone could have a same-sex encounter. What Paru brought to the reader’s attention, is that shunning those desires — like Riz and Legosi did — is not healthy from an emotional or psychological standpoint.

After the ‘Murder Incident Solution’ arc, things quelled down a bit for Legosi. Until the grey wolf came into contact with the current Beastar, Yafya, who did not take kindly to Legosi’s predatorial incident. He then insisted that the grey wolf apologize for being born a carnivore. One could liken this confrontation to an example of white-privilege…or, let’s call it herbivore privilege. To exemplify this point, consider the following: Louis pulled a gun on Bill in school and later killed the leader of the Shishigumi (right or wrong, murder is murder), yet the red dear was never charged with a crime; Legosi, on the other hand, with the permission of Louis, ate his right foot to defeat Riz and solved the year long case surrounding Tem’s death…yet, he was criminally charged with the status of predatorial offender and considered a menace to society. In fact, because certain barriers were put in place for carnivores, many of them felt maligned and henceforth drifted toward the criminal underworld.

Speaking of which, this brings up the most complex character in all of Beastars…the not so sweet gazelle-leopard, Melon. To talk about Melon, however, is to also discuss Leano, Legosi’s mother; as both tackle a challenge that was forced upon them at birth. This is not to claim that Melon or Leano’s parents were in the wrong for deciding to have a ‘bispecies’ child — although the latter couple were ill-suited for other reasons — nevertheless, it brought about unforeseen dilemmas that were not easily reconciled. For Leano, she went through a physical transformation that destroyed her beauty, leading to her suicide; for Melon, he could not savor the taste of food (particularly meat), causing him to indulge in hazardous activities and masochism. Melon also displayed symptoms of ennui and weltschmerz (a depressive state in which the world does not reflect your ideal vision). This is why Melon splurged ‘spicy mustard’ into the ‘bland’ bowl of life. He wanted to feel something! He wanted to feel alive! And if he couldn’t…he’d kill himself in the process. This is not to excuse his ghastly behavior — but like Riz and Legosi — understanding where this behavior originates from is the first step in mitigating its influence over society.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the message Paru attempt to impart to the audience: understanding…or, lack thereof. If members of all societies could take a moment to vicariously think about the challenges of others, then we’d all be better off! And the reason this message is incredibly powerful and effective, is because it never pointed the finger, never felt forced, and it never drew the line between ‘right and ‘wrong.’ Paru simply presented each allegorical situation as a case study, allowed events to play out, and gave the reader the opportunity to interpret the outcomes as they saw fit. Nothing more, nothing less. Just like life. And the brilliance of it all was that Paru embraced all of the tropes and clichés that were mentioned in the introductory statement. She engaged the ‘casuals’ (who seek excitement above all else) and the ‘elitist’ (who engage in contemplative, artistic works) into the perfect marriage. Think about it: Beastars is a meta allegory about the anime fandom itself! — bringing together two incompatible groups of anime enthusiasts and turning them all furry!

…And that people, is called jazz.

To the credit of this manga’s art and worldbuilding, it takes a while for the thought to settle – but it’s actually just immature and dumb. This is my second attempt at a review of Beastars, because the first one was a detailed analysis it didn’t deserve. After my nerves had calmed down, after the dust had settled, I understood that I was essentially arguing philosophy with a loud tween, just dressed in a fancy suit and with a list of hot twitter hashtags of the year on a crumpled paper in the sweaty palm.

I am pretty sure that the author uses the protagonist of ... Beastars, Legoshi, for erotic daydreaming and/or fiction. According to an interview, he has been her roleplay character for long and she likes to put him into different contexts. The setting has also been her playground for a while – it was first introduced to readers in her debut work, a collection of short stories Beast Complex. Nothing wrong with this, by the way, it’s a privilege to see someone’s favorite toy persona – their designs tend to be good, backstories extensively developed. But their author needs either to commit and stick to honest erotica or to detach enough to write their beloved in a consistent setting without destroying the balance, which is hard – and hasn’t happened in Beastars.

About 60% of its writing is dedicated to showing Legoshi off. He’s a wolf, but stronger than lions, he’s an inexperienced school student, but with an in-built fighting talent, he’s somehow a werewolf with his constantly growing 6 cm claws and attunement to moon and he’s a vampire, because his name is a reference to Bella Lugosi and carnivores get strength by consuming the flesh of others. He wakes up and we see his fluffy morning fur, long muscles and a happy trail between a raised T-shirt hem and two elastic bands of pajamas and briefs. He’s hot. All men and women want him. Dozens of characters constantly comment about how powerful, heroic and pure our supposedly awkward misunderstood schoolwolf is.

Beastars doesn’t actually have a plot, the narrative is just a string of cool situations for Legoshi to explore in the chosen setting. A subplot usually takes about 20 chapters, the tone and the genre jump around wildly: romcom to battle shounen, mafia wars to comedy, slice of life to superhero, family drama to martial arts, ecchi to thriller. In later chapters the author may switch to other characters, but Legoshi will still save the day somehow in the end.

Whatever commentary about the real world you expected to salvage from the herbivore-carnivore opposition, it would necessary fail because of the constant need for sexualization. The joke about “eating for nourishment - eating sexually”, extremely insensitive in the context, is not only repeated each 10 pages or so, it’s the principle of writing. Eating herbivores, sex and gender roles get uncomfortably intertwined in a manner which is fun for porn, but utterly destroys any hope for social study. To be fair, sexual topics, like preferences clashing, coming out, sexual awakening, acceptance, fetishes, healthy and unhealthy practices, are the stronger side of the writing, probably because they’re more organic to the initial concept of the world. The female lead suffers from equating her self-esteem to sex appeal, secondary male lead is heavily coded as closeted, the male lead thinks he has a fetish – all try to live with what they got, self-search, suffer and explore. It's interesting and truthful.

Real life zoological connections also fail. Omnivores are a non-entity, for example. Hyenas are called canines in the beginning. Hippos are carnivores now (they are opportunistic carnivores irl, but c'mon). Sizes make no sense, with birds and reptiles as big as mammals, an adult red deer smaller than a wolf, yet mice being correctly tiny.

Sure, since this manga happily dives in everything – whatever goes: from a martial artist back alley psychologist panda to an infiltration of a queer masquerade orgy, from a voluntary organ selling castration auction to a milk factory with sentient cows – occasionally Beastars hits the mark, touches an interesting theme or develops the world believably. The author understands gender discrimination, can comment of racism properly sometimes. The main antagonist is imposing and deliciously unusual.

It never lasts though. The rule of cool and the partisan porn sentiment destroy all. Beastars has a very serious immersion-breaking problem with cheapening violence and whitewashing crime. Characters are way too hands-on between themselves, physically restraining, attacking or even hurting others is seen as barely a misstep. Later the black alley market with its butchery becomes the main location, evidently because it’s “mature” and “gritty”. One of the major characters gets involved with a criminal group in meat business (essentially killing, organ harvesting, likely slavery), but he’s still sympathetic and an ally, the mafia is used for comedy, they’re such lovely loyal guys. There’re uncomfortable generalizations about gender (“women are scary”, “wow, women are capable of such things”, “she’s a slut, so she’s scarier than a predator”). I am not sure about the constant toying with biological determinism and indulging in instincts (this manga gyrates between saving friends, “living as best as you can in whatever way” and “being born to be eaten/you wanting to eat me makes me feel alive”). And for all the good points about racial prejudice, the herbivore-carnivore hybrids are well, uh, complicated. Some things are purely silly too, like real fighting on a stage of a school theater during a play, an ex spec ops shirt-ripping grandpa defending a kindergarten from evil bat invaders, accidentally tearing someone’s arms off, or a schoolgirl who “also has special circumstances, she was a dominatrix”. The flow of the story is poor – it’s just way too slow, cloggy and masturbatory theatrical.

Another selling point of the manga, the unusual art, mostly holds up. The distinct lack of moe makes it stand out, the rough dirty linework gives it endearing charm. It has its doze of ugly: the author can’t draw footwear at all, so shoes look like loafs of bread on sticks, attempts at eroticism often have the opposite effect - this drawing style just isn't conductive to sexy bunny girls. But animal faces are expressive, appearances varied, there’s a couple of very nice designs we’ll see for a while as avatars (Legoshi, the deer, Beastar, the antagonist). The author tries to insert pleasant worldbuilding details in backgrounds, like toilets of different size or stylish haircuts for lion manes, even though,to be honest, it’s not enough to make their world believably accommodating to its many creatures. The art develops alongside the story too.

Beastars is memorable and not without high points, especially in art, but its writing is raging trash fire: the characters aren’t relatable, the world falls apart, the narrative grates and flows poorly. If readable at all, it's by treating it as an entertaining tranwreck in uncommon style to flip through in any quantity and any order that doesn't make your brain hurt.
Failures are proportionate to ambitions tho. Beastars didn’t stay at the territory of lighthearted action. When it engaged in conclusions about the nature of discrimination and the role of biology in social behavior, it stepped into the arena of psychological writing, one with higher expectations and higher responsibilities. There it took sensitive topics, hammered them into submission to a self-insert character with heavy edgy yiff pulp – and tried to sell the result as a statement, wrapped, misguidingly, in homely whimsical art. It tried to have its commentary about inequality and turn it into hot furry action too. I really don’t like how misleading its narrative is and how it pushes bad takes on readers through emotions. Together with weak characterization, poor believability and lack of narrative integrity – meaning: extremely poor writing overall – this makes it hard for me to recommend Beastars.

Story 4/10
I find the author ideas very interesting, my problem is the execution of the same ideas, the world can be cool and compelling but it used it purely for very stupid plots, from a coming of age with murder mystery we jump into a romcom and then a war against the yakuza and then Buddhist martial arts of herbivores return to the Slice of life and then start a whole story with batman horse and an attempt to we live in a society with cheetah / gazella

Everything is very stupid, jumps genre in each arc and the tone is the most meme of existence

Art ... 8/10
The author's style is very European, I like it a lot

Character 7/10
I like all the cast except Haru, Legosi has a lot of chemistry with all the characters except her, their relationship seems atrocious and boring but the author continues to force them to be together as tired as possible

Enjoyment 5/10
Meh

Overall 5/10
Overhyped but the worldbuilding is 10/10

It had some good potential, but not only got prolonged, but also rushed at the end?

It started very good and simple, with a weird but creative Animal world and a murder mystery, but it got to a point where not only that conflict was resolved, but also everything else was going in circles

What started as a School Mystery ended up trying to be a new Fighting Shonen with power ups, Instant healing and Special habilities and all that.
There were LOTS of things AND EVEN CHARACTERS that got introduced but then were never seen again or never mentioned! And it wasn't just a minor thing, ... but they spent whole chapters on it. So it ends with none of that having any sort of importance to the plot at all!

The worst thing was how all of the Main characters had nothing else to say and were going in circles, as mentioned before. Specially with Legosi and Haru's relationship. Legosi's character went from a Depressed wolf but average at best to a Stupid wolf who does the most stupid things and can't do anything properly. The best character in my opinion was Haru, since she was the only one who had 0 issues with saying the truth or moving things foward, and not only with Legosi.

The last arc was ATROCIOUS. Melon is the most boring and annoying villain and the last and final chapters were SUPER RUSHED and offer no satisfying or clear resolution to anything. I don't know if it was because the series was cancelled or something, since it had proper pacing until that last arc.

Overall, it was entertaining to follow at it's time, but it made me mad to spent so much time and wait for every chapter for months just to get such a dissapointing ending with huge amount of conveniences and rushed as hell.

And my second manga I write a review for. Sadly beastars last arc severly drives down the score, just as it did in magi, Are last arcs cursed? well what do I know.
BEFORE YOU BOTHER WITH MY STEAMING MESS OF A REVIEW, Please make sure to read this way better one as I agree on pretty much everthing said in it https://myanimelist.net/reviews.php?id=360258
Beastars was my first manga, and hell did I fanboy for it for a long time.
Story:____6 9 for the Arcs to be covered in the anime and the hidden Condo arc. 4 for Melon, you joker dumsterfire of doom.
The Main problem is that ... beastars increasingly went more shounen as it went on and decidely less slice of life. But that stilll could have worked if the last , and sadly very long arc actualy went anywere, but it was just a random bumbeling, indroducing and discarding ideas all over the place. From a certain point the series just plain needs a rewrite, Introduce some themes, work towards a narative goal, pick up the pace, and either use or loose the funky additions.
Art:______10 I freaking love Paru's Artstyle, although the early pages do look quite jarring looking back, first manga tho, so learning expierence, this also applies to the story btw, lets hope paru improves with her next manga^^
Character:_7 They are enjoable enough I guess, Haru is big chad, Legoshi is big dumb, Louis is big maniac. The problem is that they dont get enough develpment due to the shounen angle.
Strangly enough I found myself beeing more fond of some of the supporing cast, namely Gouhin , the badass metal gear Panda and Juno in later chapters. Incedentaly my favorite chapter was 136
And as much Sebun/Seven was a minor character, I enjoyed every panel with her in it.
Enjoyment:7 Pfew this is a hard one. Im gonna give it one point more than I personaly did, cause I think bingereading will alleviate some frustration with the spotty job towards the end.
Overall :__ 7 As You might notice on reading my other reviews this is even less organized than usual, this is intentional as I didnt as much wannna find things to critque, but to give my closing thoughts on the manga straight after the last chapter.
If youre gonna look at just one page from this Manga, at least treat yourself to the beauty that is Chapter 169 Page 18

This manga is hard to rate because it gets worse as it goes. It can't even decide what genre it wants to be. They can't even keep the motivations of the main character straight. Honestly, it's like three different people group wrote this manga and none of them could agree what they wanted it to be about.

Plot: Mystery -> Romance -> Thriller -> Slice of life *rinse and repeat*

The plot and setting actively change for the worse. Eventually, all logic and reasoning is tossed out of the window and this story becomes... infuriating.

Art

It's okay, sometimes it's extremely well-drawn other times it's sketchy and looks ... like it was done in a rush. But the characters are expressive and you can tell what's happening often enough.

Characters

The author is wishy-washy about what drives her characters forwards, self sabotages them, and all-around fucks up as many characters as she can to be "edgy." A shit ton of characters are introduced only to never appear again or are permanently put to the side even though they were big deal characters that still have an ongoing plotline.

Legosi is one of the worst written characters I've ever seen in my life. A constantly revolving door of selfishness, stupidity, and contradictions. One of the most self-destructive characters I've ever seen... I mean he literally ripped out his own teeth without even thinking it over and acted like it didn't even hurt. He's constantly trying to justify committing crimes even though he spends 40+ chapters at a time being so faithfully against those crimes just to throw it away in like two pages of a chapter. He's shallow, and causally explains away his stupidity as "fetishes," and repeatedly disappoints and hurts the people around him. Worst off he never learns his lesson or changes. I give Legosi a 1/10, the inconsistent writing of this character has ruined the manga for me

Haru is a slut for normal bullying and self-worth issues that never get resolved or reflected on.

Louis's character and reasoning abilities were chucked into a fire as if they never existed in the first place.

Also, they do things that don't make any sense, like introducing a snake security guard that wants to help him catch the bad guy who literally never shows up ever again.

Overall

This manga can't even get one genre right, let alone the 5ish it tries to push down your throat and the reason is that the authors can't layer plots for shit. They introduce new plots before they're done with the old plots and are constantly changing the motivations and drives of their main characters.

Complicating characters and plot can be good if the author has the skills to keep their goals and their personality in check.

I'm only on chapter 129, but every chapter gets harder to read, but I'm so far along that I want to finish it. But as far as I can tell everything that happens after chapter 50ish becomes less thought out and more erratic. Such a disappointment. *reads next volume*

I have never been so shellshocked by an ending since Magi. Why? Because both the endings have been total ASS. I've been putting off my review as I digested my emotions.

Beastars was my underdog pick when it came to that next "sleeper" hit. I knew due to its subject matter (anthropomorphic animals), it probably wouldn't have become something as big as a regular shounen series. It comfortably sat in this niche that was neither superbly mainstream nor was it unpopular. Initially, I had highly recommended the series to many of my buddies due to its excellent art, interesting characters, and what I found to be ... absolutely stellar world building.

The world of Beastars is so charming and dynamic. The history and lore teased briefly in the few chapters always had me curious for the entire history. How did the Beastars come about? What exactly is the sea world like? How's life outside the main city? I've never been as enamoured with a world and I could only compare such passionate curiosity with the world of One Piece.

Yet, it ended on such a weird, whimper of a note. Beastars ended with so many questions left unanswered and a world left completely unexplored. It was such a wasted opportunity that I can only imagine that the author has found themselves burnt out of the creative process and had axed the series themselves. Beastars...such an unfortunate finale for what could have been one of the classics. This will be a series I've find myself thinking about for a while and I keep shaking my head at "what could've been".

All in all, I'd read if you're curious but just mentally prepare yourself for the inevitable: "Really? That's it?"

Because yeah, really. That's it.

Story: 5. While many of the psychological themes presented are brilliant, it really lacks coherence. There's not much "driving motion" in the story.

It also suffers heavily from characters making obviously terrible life decisions that they're fully aware of because of some sort of superficial ideal of empathy that isn't fleshed out enough to be believable. While it helps bring out some of the psychological themes, it feels extremely unrealistic and makes it hard for a reader to get invested in the story.

In essence, it feels like a story created mostly for the sake of social commentary.

Art: 10. Nothing to complain about. Very expressive. Anthropomorphic animals ... look weird, but that's nothing to complain about.

Character: 6. The characters are not particularly likeable, but they are fairly unique and interesting. There are many points where they don't feel particularly emotionally realistic, as mentioned above; they sometimes appear to be insane when they're being portrayed as idealistic and heroic and that dissonance hurts.

Enjoyment: 8. It's a lot more dark than it needs to be so it can be uncomfortable and frustrating at times. But overall, it's quite enjoyable due to its novelty and charm.

Overall: 7. Don't read this with a full stomach at night.

In a genre saturated with over the top action sequences and cliche plot points, Beastars is a breath of fresh air. A light-hearted romance/action/drama that effortlessly pulls you into its world and refuses to let go.

Art - 8/10

Most of the panels are breathtaking. Gorgeously detailed characters and intricately designed world bolster the story to new heights. Minute details like adding tiny doors for smaller sized animals or safety warnings around the city for herbivores; improve the world immersion exponentially. Some of the artwork might get too minimalistic or the characters are over-expressive (similar to Tezuka's artwork) which might be offputting to a few readers.

Story - ... 10/10

This is where Itagaki shines the most and what I feel is the most heartwarming and genuine story I've read in years. The emotions or plot points don't feel forced or cliche. Seeing the characters stumble their way through love, failure, passion, and life itself feels so natural. The slice of life/romance elements are done perfectly. It is so pure and true to its characters that it leaves a smile on my face without fail. The shounen/action elements are a bit rushed but it's a nice change of pace compared to the slow build-up. The side stories act as a world building mechanism, but it is done so well that it doesn't even feel detached from the main story.

Characters - 9/10

Itagaki really cares about her characters. The detail to their emotions, behavior, reactions, and backstory leaves me in awe. Unlike an over powering righteous shounen protagonist, these characters are beautifully flawed. Legoshi and Haru's struggling love life feels so honest. Louis's haunting past and his relationship with various father figures is heart-wrenching. Even the supporting characters and one-off characters are so unique and interesting.

This is an oxymoron in itself but, they feel so human.

Now that Beastars has come to a (personally somewhat unexpected) abrupt end after its 4 year journey, I want to contribute my own review for this Manga. Beastars is Paru Itagaki's first long-lasting piece of literature, which makes it quite impressive that the series went on for its course of 196 chapters in a total of 22 volumes! There may be slight spoilers in my wording but I will try to keep it to only necessary parts.

As the synopsis suggests, the setting of Beastars is a world populated by anthropomorphic animals, a society on a comparable level as our own. Even though the characters in ... this story are animals, they also manage to display many human emotions and thoughts. But, unlike or rather significantly more than in other recent stories with similar background (namely Zootopia), there are problems splitting the worlds inhabitants apart, resulting in a tense society. How do carnivores and herbivores peacefully coexist in a world where predators still have their carnal desire for meat and prey still have their instincts of fear? This issue turns out to be the driving point of Beastars' narrative, as Paru tells the stories of several characters of this world over roughly 5 distinct story arcs:

Story:
Everything starts out in Cherryton Academy, an inclusive high school with mixed education, suggesting herbivores and carnivores get along. This would not be possible without strict behavioral rules and etiquette for both parties, as we are shown over the course of this first story arc - it displays the main characteristics of this world in a closed environment (the school), from where on out you are introduced to each of the characters, their personalities, mindsets and relations. The first main problem, the murder of one of Cherryton's students, the alpaca Tem, quickly kicks off plot and introduces our main character Legoshi. He is a big and menacing gray wolf, a predator, who is rather introverted and sullen and was a close friend of Tem in the Drama Club, which quickly pushes suspicions onto him. From here on out we are shown more and more of the cast, including Cherryton's seemingly perfect student represent and heir to a large conglomerate, Louis, the small but fierce dwarf rabbit, Haru, who partakes in physical relationships solely to feel as equals and face her own self-worth, and many more characters to come.

Overall the story is kept interesting throughout the entire course of the Manga. This paragraph will have a few minor spoilers. After a really promising start in the school setting, it shifts towards the bigger picture as the plot progresses, allowing the readers to get several perspectives into Beastars' world. This shift was really enjoyable, as it happened quite a bit into the story, where the school setting had already had its share. The slice of life pacing throughout the arcs is also well distributed, making some passages quite enjoyably wholesome to consume, while others manage to keep you tense for what is to come, especially more towards the climaxes. My main issue with the story as a whole is that it feels like it strode off its path towards the end, which can be attributed to the shounen tag, with a sort of Tournament Arc happening in the last arc. Some characters feel more and more left out and the progression is all over the place, all in all resulting in a feelingly rushed and abrupt ending, especially concerning the romantic relationship between Legoshi and Haru, which was the main driving point throughout the first two thirds of the story. Almost all characters do have their conclusion in the end, but in my opinion there could have been a few more chapters to finalize these things. Sadly, this leaves a small sour taste, as the ending (arc) could have been better.

Character:
Now, having talked enough about the story, let's move onto the characters, which are simply put really great and are essentially the main focus of the story's narrative. Everyone has a unique personality, individual beliefs and evolves throughout the story. There's Legoshi who manages to overcome and later embrace his menacing role as a gray wolf, Louis who grows past his ideallistic views and Haru who overcomes her self-worth problems. There are way too many characters to delve into here, but doing so would probably spoil some bits of the story - in conclusion, there are not many boring characters and almost all of them keep their significance throughout the story. This keeps it interesting for the reader, as you are able to experience the world from many viewpoints.

In short and without spoilers: the main characters of this story all have their individual problems, mostly concerning their role in society, which is why the anthropomorphic setting works so well. Everybody tries to find out where their place is, how they should be and who they want to be, sort of a story about self-exploration. Diving into each of these points would probably not fit here and would be boring/spoiling to read, so it's best to experience it for yourself!

Art:
The characters aren't the only aspect of the Manga that evolves! The art style starts off rather rugged looking, but has its own unique charm. There are lots of details where environment is shown and especially the character designs are really well done. Since this is Paru Itagaki's first Manga (next to Beast Complex), it's not unsurprising that the art style changes over the course of the 4 years it was worked on. In my opinion the art gets better as the chapters progress. All in all, this Manga is enjoyable to look at - it's not focused on visuals, but rather on discussions lots of times, but the art style manages to keep up.

Enjoyment/Overall:
In general this Manga is really enjoyable if you are into character-driven stories. There's drama in inter- and intrapersonal conflicts, there's romance, friendship and disagreements, there are parts full of suspension that keep you enticed and there are parts full of wholesomeness and calm that balance it out. What weighs down my enjoyment is, as mentioned earlier, the last arc, which to me feels like it derailed the story at times, shoved some characters to a point of near non-existence, introduced others which were quite blatantly not needed and seemed to obstruct the pacing, and finally ending very abruptly. I would have really liked to see more of a conclusion, after such a long and somewhat irritating arc, but overall I would still say I really enjoyed the Manga, as all parts prior were quite well done.

Do check out this work if you are interested, it's a great telling of a "what-if" society, with interesting characters, and a nice art style. The story is told by the characters. Even if the final arc isn't as rewarding as the first majority of this Manga, it was still something I gladly enjoyed reading each week. The first major arc of the story was adapted into anime-version by Studio Orange (the ones that made Houseki no Kuni, specializing on CG art), and turned out to be a great introduction into the world of Beastars. So if you're still unsure, check out those 12 episodes and decide for yourself, in my opinion it's a story worth experiencing. A second season of the anime is still in production at the time of writing this review.

beastars, beastars, beastars.

beastars is an overwhelming balance of embarrassing high-school romance, several murderers, questionably homoerotic scenes, and rabbit boobs. its so crazy. like i don't know how to lay it down other than to say this manga is just kinda bonkers. it feels like it comes from a mind of a person who's watching everything upside down. i don't know if ms. itagaki has seen all of the world or none of it at all. it juggles so many random genres, characters, and plots at once in such a bizarre fashion that it just, works.

(fyi im writing this at 5am fresh after finishing the ... last chapter so it might sound trash)

beastars takes on the oh so iconic anthropomorphic allegory of human society so beloved and yet shunned within the world of media. don't be mistaken, this isn't some zootopia type business, as beastars has no intention of conveying one message that speaks out against the cruel injustices of this society. it just kind of presents a world: its beauties and its struggles in all its glory.

first and foremost, i gotta talk about the world building in this manga. itagaki sets up the beastars universe to be a society modeled after humanity, while also being completely detached from it. it's so thought out and thorough, it makes the world they live in feel so real and so easy to put yourself within. and it only gets progressively better throughout the story as we learn countless perspectives of said society. adding dimension after dimension so that the world is, at the end, very up to the interpretation of the reader. and i think that's so important- while it explains the drastically differing POVs of several characters, from high-school girls to mass murderers, they're never presented as "right" or "wrong". they just "are".

story wise, i'm really conflicted on this one. because wowza, it is OUT THERE. don't go into this manga expecting one set plot, or even 5. it jumps storylines and genres like a newborn changes moods. and yeah, that leaves a lot of room for plotholes, characters brought in for one chapter and then left completely untouched, and some unsatisfying conclusions. but, you won't be disappointed. or rather, you won't be indifferent. because while there are a lot of different arcs and character stories that are juggled at once, you'll care for each and every one of them. you'll be happy and sad for them, you'll be invested. each one ties together ever so intricately, and they each bring something new to the story. the story writing itself is just incredible. each twist feels so fresh, not just in its genre, but comic storytelling in general.

which, hell, that is saying a LOT. but i can't stress this enough, you won't find another manga like beastars.

i mean, i feel like you can infer that from the cover alone. but really, it's one of a kind. it hardly follows tropes, touches topics that are rarely covered in other popular books, and is an all around unique manga from its character design to authors notes. truly something worth reading if i've ever picked up a book.

something i'd also like to mention about beastars is its author, paru itagaki. daughter of the author of BAKI, sure, but what i'd really like to talk about; she's a woman. something surprisingly and unfortunately very rare in popular shonen work, especially one that contains as much violence, sex talk, and adventure as beastars does. the way she writes characters is remarkable, each main character even apart from legoshi, our protagonist, has an insane amount of development. skimming by louis, a work of art, and juno, one endearing mf, i'd like to talk about haru the rabbit.

renowned and dishonored for her record of sleeping around, beastars takes on the topic of slut-shaming head on. to be honest, i was really shocked by such a modern take in a manga as big as beastars, especially one that's more known for its netflix anime. the way itagaki writes her story, explaining and justifying haru's actions not only as a woman, but as a rabbit, is holy shit, incredible. the creativity one must have to write about such a human topic within a nonhuman world as naturally as itagaki does it, it really makes me appreciate this manga that much more.

this is getting really long as per usual, so i'm just gonna close with my thoughts on the art and overall.

the art. i really don't have to say a lot here, it's beautiful. sure, in the first volume every time legoshi appears i nearly piss myself, but that kind of makes looking back that much more enjoyable if not amusing. the covers are a treat, bonus artworks adorable, and in general, a really beautiful manga.

i've already said all i've wanted to say; beastars is just something that you really don't want to miss out on. even if you don't end up liking it, i can't imagine someone would leave this series gaining nothing from it. truly a work to be reckoned with.

One of Beastars's best points is its storytelling. This manga is placed in the world of herbivores and carnivores. These two types of animals try to coexist, but is difficult because of the urges carnivores get because they want to eat herbivores. Even though we follow the lives of animals, they are still relatable and go through their daily lives just like us. They still have problems, hobbies, and good friends they enjoy to hang out with. Legoshi is a gray wolf, a carnivore, and he definitely does not want to eat any type of meat. There are many parts of this world that are ... similar to ours. For example, there is a black market, which carnivores use to buy illegal herbivore meat. Some of them might even get addicted to it and go insane. The characters in the story are one of my favorite parts about it. Legoshi's love interest, a dwarf rabbit, is introduced very early in the story. She sleeps with various animals and does naughty things with them because of her inferiority complex. All of these characters evolve throughout the manga and try their best to change themselves for the better. Another aspect of the story I love are the conflicts. I can't spoil anything, but the conflicts in the story bring about reasonable consequences afterward. You never feel as if the main character is getting special treatment, which does not happen a lot in other manga. I highly recommend this manga to anyone. I would also recommend reading the manga instead of watching the anime because the animation is in 3D, which I was not too fond of. If you do enjoy 3D, then still read the manga because of just how good it is.

This story starts as a seinen, but partway through abruptly shifts into a more shounen style of storytelling. The things that stay true throughout the series are the fantastic worldbuilding, endearing cast, engaging character dynamics, and extreme sexual tension whenever people are mad at each other.

I loved this series. Like any story, there are flaws (I've had people complain they're tired of predator/prey dynamics being poorly likened to racial divides in furry series, which I think is fair criticism), but the strengths are Really strong. It hooks you from the very start with a great mystery, draws out these fascinating character relationships that all exist ... under complicated waves of tension, and rolls out interesting stories that range from dramatic to adorably domestic.

At some point (maybe 1/4 of the way in, around the fourth arc), the narrative tone starts to shift until it feels like a completely different genre. More specifically, it starts to feel exactly like reading My Hero Academia?

Suddenly, animal characteristics start to be described like superpowers. Powerful figures are introduced like superheroes. The framing, the pacing, the way cliffhangers and chapter introductions are done...it all feels like reading a popular shounen manga. That's not even getting into how there start being training arcs and elaborate fight scenes, a fighting tournament, and even a 'nearly die and get inspiring speech from a dead person' chapter. You don't get much more shounen than that.

Personally I like shounen and MHA, so I didn't necessarily dislike the tone shift, but it still definitely threw me off and made me struggle to stay immersed in the story at times. What kept me hooked was the continuing world-building and my love for the characters: I was already so invested in this incredible world, and wanted to continue learning about it. And you keep learning over the entire course of the story, up to the very end.

If you're here after watching the anime you need to read Beastars now, anyway on to the review. This is my favorite manga, the story, the characters, the setting, and just the vibe I get from Beastars is amazing. I don't know how to describe it but have you ever had that feeling from a manga or any piece of media when you just feel empty after you finish it? I had that feeling for a month after I caught up with this manga. Many people stray away from this manga or anime because they think it's for furries and while yes, furries probably love ... this but Beastars is the most captivating thing I've ever watched and read, this is not just for furries but for everyone there is no person who I wouldn't recommend watching this. The only problem I have with Beastars and this is not the authors fault because under the context of the story this had to happe but I dislike the sexual scenes and let me repeat these are sex scenes but it still makes me kind of uncomfortable watching sexual scenes that have animals in them but other than that this is my one of my favorite manga and anime.