Reviews

For a story about anthropomorphic animals, Beastars says a lot about humankind and the importance of communication to break through differences. Although the concept and themes of Beastars are strong with philosophical and psychological layers to unpack, the series isn’t always sure of it's own identity. During the mid-way point of Beastars characters and plot lines are all too frequently forgotten for new ones- I understand the need for the story to go past Cherryton Academy for the larger message of interspecies relationships but main characters are barely in the story anymore. The character writing of Beastars was a strong point, each character had great themes exploring their insecurities with their animal identities in different ways but after a while this development goes in circles. The conclusion of their archs doesn’t feel right despite having a lot of meaningful matter. That aside, the good still significantly outweighs the bad. Beastars is still a great manga that could have been one of the best, it just lost its way but there was never a time I thought it was outright bad nor undeserving of a read. The analogies for twisted parts of our own human society are Beastars strong suit and make me wish I could score it higher.
Beastars is a constant battle of brain vs brawn and it’s still worth your time.