Beastars

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, Imean, 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

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 provokedthe 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.

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 thatbeastars 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