10 - great // 7 - good // 5- average // 3 - bad
SPOILER FREE -- Beastars is in my opinion a more interesting take on an animal society theme than Zootopia or even the more recent BNL. Unlike Zootopia where predators and preys live decently well together and bursts of aggressions seem like outliers in a somewhat pacific world, and BNL where there's a clear split between humans and animals and again, aggression is restricted to small groups of fanatics on both sides, Beastars doesn't show a "perfect society". In Beastars the tension between carnivores and herbivores is real.
Despite carnivores being able to refrain from hunting and calmly attend school with their preys, eating soy hamburgers and egg sandwiches instead of their schoolmates, their natural instinct are there, maybe even accentuated by hormones, after all, they are still in high school.
This is why I don't think this anime is about prejudice as Zootopia and BNL are, as this would imply there's no real reason for herbivores to be afraid of carnivores in day-to-day basis, only your fringe individuals or organizations. In Beastars there're many reasons to fear and the show explores them. They happen through illegal activities or criminal groups, sure, but they aren't distant in a fictional "hidden gang lurking in the shadows-way", they are more like those real cases when you and everybody (including authorities) know "these people are up to no good and you shouldn't get close" kind of way.
The visuals are good for a CG anime, regular movements fill stiff, but the camera rotations are cool and when animations are supposed to be exaggerated, they look good. I don't care about music so, it's probably ok. The OP is nice though.
I thought it was great, a setting we've seen before but treated differently with a dark tone and good character moments.
