Sharpen your claws and prune your feathers, it’s time to watch BEASTARS! BEASTARS is a manga adapted anime that premiered on Netflix on March 13th this year. It was created by a studio named Studio Orange and was adapted from the manga of the same name that’s been in production since 2016. The creator of BEASTARS is Paru Itagaki. A creator who chooses to remain anonymous under a chicken head that resembles a secondary character’s in the series.
The Creator of Beastars, Paru Itagaki
Today, I’ll be giving you an appetizer of episodes 1-2 with a general rundown and a few opinions upon it. Aside from that, I’ll give a few critiques about what could have been improved. To end it all off, I’ll give my general opinion on it. So, without further ado, let’s sink our teeth into BEASTARS!
Legoshi and his friend Jack
We start off episode one with what appears to be a chase scene with an alpaca and an unknown predator. We soon find our little friend wasn’t fast enough and is devoured by a predator. After the incident, tensions are high at Cherryton, the high school, as the divide between carnivore and herbivores grows more. During a scene that takes place in a common setting in the series, the drama club, we get our first glimpse of our adorably aloof protagonist. A grey wolf named Legoshi/Legosi. The following day, we get to see one of Cherryton’s other big faces, the red deer name Louis. We also get to see our deuteragonist for the first time and love interest, a white dwarf rabbit named Haru.
The Majestic Red deer, Louis and Legoshi.
She seems to have a loner vibe about her since she’s not really in any cliques, doesn’t hang around with the other herbivores and seems to eat lunch outside instead of with everyone else (But that could just be because everyone’s a jerk-). Fast forwarding through the rest of the day, we find ourselves at night, where Legoshi is put on lookout duty for Louis who is practicing his lines for an upcoming play with another student. It is then that we finally see the first interaction between Legoshi and Haru but is not as sweet as it seems. Legoshi goes after Haru on an instinct induced hunt and catches her after she trips. Soon we see what appears to be a darkened version of Legoshi, representing his instinctual need to feed on the flesh of prey. In this moment he is resisting this carnal urge to sate his need to need to taste the savory meat of the dwarf rabbit that he has captured here and has partially sunken his long claws into. It’s not long after that something brings Legoshi out of this state and lets Haru go. When the student who Louis was practicing with happened to fall from the stage, he went after him to catch him and ends up hurting his leg in the process. Louis is hurt but it doesn’t stop him from still standing tall in the face of what he phrases as a small issue. But after that night, Legoshi is left with a strange feeling of when he was about to eat Haru. He looks into the mirror and sees darkened Legoshi again, giving the mirror a punch and shattering it, beginning a tale that’s tempting you for more.
Episode two begins in a dream where Legoshi is back where he was the night before, except with a lot more dialogue from dark Legoshi. He tells Legoshi about all the things he’s held back, how he’s not showing his true instincts and more. He is tempted by what is assumed to be his instinct. There’s a small recap from the last episode and then we’re brought back to the current day, where Legoshi stands tiredly awaiting his lunch. Just as Legoshi is reminiscing on the night before, two of his peers start to fight and activate his adrenaline. This little outburst has him pull aggression from one of the two fighter and Legoshi has to think quickly about how to win without winning (He’s going to make it seem like he lost) but is then saved by Louis. From then on, things go normally until Legoshi decides to go get flowers for the drama club’s production. Haru is at the gardening club as its own member and this is where the tension is strung tighter than a violin string. Legoshi is freaking out because of what transpired the other night, but there’s more of a surprise waiting for Legoshi inside the club house. After having helped Haru with the flowers, he’s taken into the club house and is sending mixed signals being nervous. We end off on… something that I wouldn’t wanna spoil for those who haven’t watched the series yet. L
Overall, BEASTARS is a 4-course meal that you don’t wanna miss out on. It’s a delicious course of drama, slice of life, sometimes action and romance that a regular anime could give you, but with the addition of anthropomorphic animals. It takes questions of societal and animalistic nature into its story and gives us the masterpiece that is BEASTARS. It certainly isn’t for everyone if you don’t like the furry aspect of it, but if you give it a chance, you’ll for sure enjoy this story that both carnivores and herbivores alike can enjoy! And if you’re asking for seconds after the 12 episodes on Netflix, then get ready. Late August is when we should be expecting a second course of this series! So, if you’re asking for “more please!” then get ready for a second season in August of this year. Until then, keep your fangs sharp and coat shiny, and I’ll see you in the next review!
Small Post scriptum:
Hi! My name is Pendragon. I am one of the new writers helping HeroHei out on Nyannet. This is my first article on the Netflix anime, BEASTARS and my general thoughts, opinions and small rundowns of the first 2 episodes! I hope my first article is of appropriate standard here on Nyannet. Until next, this is Pendragon, signing out!
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