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Something a little different this week.

So, this year, I’ve been trying out different streaming services, and I was gifted a Netflix gift card that lasted a few months. Right before my account expired, I decided to watch Beastars. A few of the voice actors were guests on one of the Hunicast streams (If you don’t know what Hunicast is, they’re YouTube livestreams where some of the Hazbin Hotel crew members and voice actors get together to put on a live charity event. They’re really funny, and if you’re a Hazbin Hotel fan, I highly recommend you check them out.) In addition to their appearance on Hunicast, people were also saying that if you like Zootopia, you’ll probably like Beastars because they explore a lot of the same concepts. And me, I’m a big Zootopia fan. Lilo & Stitch and Zootopia are my two all-time favorite Disney movies. So, between the Hunicast appearances and Zootopia comparisons, I figured why not give Beastars a shot?

I binge-watched all of season 1 in a day. I LOVED the first half of the season, then had mixed feelings about the second half. But, overall, I enjoyed the show and was glad I gave it a watch.

If you want me to elaborate, I’ve written my thoughts on Season 1 below:
These are just my own personal thoughts and takeaways on the Netflix series. Please note that with a series as unique as Beastars, everyone’s going to have vastly different viewpoints on the many topics the series addresses.

For me, the first half of the season was a delight to watch. First, we have to talk about THAT INTRO. By far the intro is my favorite thing about the show. I can jam out to Wild Side all day, and the stop-motion animation featured in the intro is absolutely gorgeous. The change from the fast-paced, dark and tense atmosphere to the sunny, cheerful dancing is just beautiful. Everything about Beastars’ intro is incredible, and it’s unlike any other intro I’ve ever seen. The opening scene is really well-done too. The show starts off by showing an intense chase between a herbivore animal and a carnivore animal. The scene is very darkly-lit as to not show the carnivore’s face. The herbivore locks himself in the school’s auditorium, and the scene goes pitch-black. I absolutely love the way they animated this scene. On a solid black background, they animate a blue outline of the herbivore and the only other color present is the bright red blood stains on the character.

After this incident, we are introduced to our main character a gray wolf named Legoshi. I really like the way Legoshi is characterized at the beginning of the show. All the other students, especially the herbivores, think Legoshi is a creepy and dangerous carnivore. But, after a few scenes of tense buildup, it is revealed that Legoshi is really just a gentle, kind, and socially awkward wolf. Legoshi doesn’t have many friends. However, he does have a great best friend: Jack the Labrador. And I’m just gonna go ahead and say it: Jack steals every scene he is in. He is just a wonderful character.

One element I really enjoyed from the first few episodes was Legoshi’s theater/drama club. Legoshi works as a stage-hand in the club, and it’s through this club, we are introduced to Louis the deer. Louis is another character I really enjoy, but I’ll talk more about him later. Louie is getting his own drawing, and I’ll discuss his character when I post that piece. But, I really like the drama club scenes, especially the scene where Legoshi fights Bill the Tiger onstage during a play because Bill had a vial of rabbit’s blood in his pocket.

And that brings me to my next point, what they did with the black market in this show was genius! I really think that the idea of the black market is what separates Beastars from Zootopia. In Beastars, herbivores and carnivores co-exist and live in peace, just like in Zootopia. And like Zootopia, Beastars acknowledges that carnivores may struggle with their natural instincts. They may develop the urge to eat herbivores. However, in Zootopia, the carnivores express a strong sense of self-control. From what we see no carnivore actively tries to eat a herbivore in Zootopia. The only reason the carnivores go savage is because of the night howlers. In other words, no carnivore in Zootopia consciously made the decision to hunt and eat a herbivore. On the other hand, there’s Beastars. In Beastars, the carnivores publicly act like the carnivores from Zootopia: civil, well-behaved citizens full of self-control. But, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

In this show, carnivores “control” their instincts by privately buying and eating herbivore meat from the black market. When Legoshi and some of his carnivore classmates stumble upon the market, Legoshi is appalled and disgusted when his classmates try to buy this meat. No one had ever told Legoshi about the market, and this was the first time he was seeing it for himself. The scene that follows is profoundly powerful. Legoshi’s classmates yell at him, telling him he needs to grow up. Legoshi questions everything in that moment. He realizes that the “peace” between carnivores and herbivores is false, and he gestures towards the market asking the other carnivores, “Is this what it means to be an adult!?” Legoshi decides that if taking part in the market is a symbol for reaching adulthood, then he’s not ready to become an adult. Legoshi runs away, stopping in a nearby alleyway. There he collapses to the ground, heartbroken and sobbing.

Those were really the stand out moments for me while watching Beastars. I think I enjoyed the first half of season 1 so much because I liked the character development for Legoshi. I thought he was a very relatable and likable protagonist. I also enjoyed the world-building set up in those first few episodes. I, personally, didn’t care for the second half of the season as much because it seemed to REALLY emphasize the romance aspect of the show. You guys know I’m ace. So, while 95% of the time the show was fine, there were two or three scenes that made me a bit uncomfortable, and one scene I had to just skip altogether.

Regardless, I think Legoshi x Haru is a perfectly fine ship, but I need to see Haru’s character grow a bit more before I can totally be sold on it. Right now, the relationship doesn’t feel as balanced as I’d like it to be. Legoshi without a doubt loves Haru, and him saving her at the end of the season was a very noble thing for him to do. But Haru, doesn’t care for Legoshi nearly as much as he cares for her. Sometimes, she seems to like him, and other times she just seems neutral about him. However, when something happens that advances their relationship, it almost seems like she treats Legoshi in the same manner she treats Louis. It feels like she doesn’t realize yet that Legoshi and Louis are two completely different individuals with opposite personalities. She needs to understand that being in a relationship with Louis is not the same thing as being in a relationship with Legoshi. In trying to become closer to Haru, Legoshi developed as a character. He became braver and less timid. But, I would like to see Haru develop an arc for Legoshi as well. Their relationship is still pretty new and in its early stages, so it’s not a big deal right now. But, I can’t be 100% on board with their relationship until Haru herself is 100% on board with the relationship. But, I’m sure this element of the show will be given more screen-time to develop in season 2.

So, overall, I had fun watching season 1 of Beastars, and I’m interested to see where they take the story from here in season 2.

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Impact

Description

Something a little different this week.

So, this year, I’ve been trying out different streaming services, and I was gifted a Netflix gift card that lasted a few months. Right before my account expired, I decided to watch Beastars. A few of the voice actors were guests on one of the Hunicast streams (If you don’t know what Hunicast is, they’re YouTube livestreams where some of the Hazbin Hotel crew members and voice actors get together to put on a live charity event. They’re really funny, and if you’re a Hazbin Hotel fan, I highly recommend you check them out.) In addition to their appearance on Hunicast, people were also saying that if you like Zootopia, you’ll probably like Beastars because they explore a lot of the same concepts. And me, I’m a big Zootopia fan. Lilo & Stitch and Zootopia are my two all-time favorite Disney movies. So, between the Hunicast appearances and Zootopia comparisons, I figured why not give Beastars a shot?

I binge-watched all of season 1 in a day. I LOVED the first half of the season, then had mixed feelings about the second half. But, overall, I enjoyed the show and was glad I gave it a watch.

If you want me to elaborate, I’ve written my thoughts on Season 1 below:
These are just my own personal thoughts and takeaways on the Netflix series. Please note that with a series as unique as Beastars, everyone’s going to have vastly different viewpoints on the many topics the series addresses.

For me, the first half of the season was a delight to watch. First, we have to talk about THAT INTRO. By far the intro is my favorite thing about the show. I can jam out to Wild Side all day, and the stop-motion animation featured in the intro is absolutely gorgeous. The change from the fast-paced, dark and tense atmosphere to the sunny, cheerful dancing is just beautiful. Everything about Beastars’ intro is incredible, and it’s unlike any other intro I’ve ever seen. The opening scene is really well-done too. The show starts off by showing an intense chase between a herbivore animal and a carnivore animal. The scene is very darkly-lit as to not show the carnivore’s face. The herbivore locks himself in the school’s auditorium, and the scene goes pitch-black. I absolutely love the way they animated this scene. On a solid black background, they animate a blue outline of the herbivore and the only other color present is the bright red blood stains on the character.

After this incident, we are introduced to our main character a gray wolf named Legoshi. I really like the way Legoshi is characterized at the beginning of the show. All the other students, especially the herbivores, think Legoshi is a creepy and dangerous carnivore. But, after a few scenes of tense buildup, it is revealed that Legoshi is really just a gentle, kind, and socially awkward wolf. Legoshi doesn’t have many friends. However, he does have a great best friend: Jack the Labrador. And I’m just gonna go ahead and say it: Jack steals every scene he is in. He is just a wonderful character.

One element I really enjoyed from the first few episodes was Legoshi’s theater/drama club. Legoshi works as a stage-hand in the club, and it’s through this club, we are introduced to Louis the deer. Louis is another character I really enjoy, but I’ll talk more about him later. Louie is getting his own drawing, and I’ll discuss his character when I post that piece. But, I really like the drama club scenes, especially the scene where Legoshi fights Bill the Tiger onstage during a play because Bill had a vial of rabbit’s blood in his pocket.

And that brings me to my next point, what they did with the black market in this show was genius! I really think that the idea of the black market is what separates Beastars from Zootopia. In Beastars, herbivores and carnivores co-exist and live in peace, just like in Zootopia. And like Zootopia, Beastars acknowledges that carnivores may struggle with their natural instincts. They may develop the urge to eat herbivores. However, in Zootopia, the carnivores express a strong sense of self-control. From what we see no carnivore actively tries to eat a herbivore in Zootopia. The only reason the carnivores go savage is because of the night howlers. In other words, no carnivore in Zootopia consciously made the decision to hunt and eat a herbivore. On the other hand, there’s Beastars. In Beastars, the carnivores publicly act like the carnivores from Zootopia: civil, well-behaved citizens full of self-control. But, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

In this show, carnivores “control” their instincts by privately buying and eating herbivore meat from the black market. When Legoshi and some of his carnivore classmates stumble upon the market, Legoshi is appalled and disgusted when his classmates try to buy this meat. No one had ever told Legoshi about the market, and this was the first time he was seeing it for himself. The scene that follows is profoundly powerful. Legoshi’s classmates yell at him, telling him he needs to grow up. Legoshi questions everything in that moment. He realizes that the “peace” between carnivores and herbivores is false, and he gestures towards the market asking the other carnivores, “Is this what it means to be an adult!?” Legoshi decides that if taking part in the market is a symbol for reaching adulthood, then he’s not ready to become an adult. Legoshi runs away, stopping in a nearby alleyway. There he collapses to the ground, heartbroken and sobbing.

Those were really the stand out moments for me while watching Beastars. I think I enjoyed the first half of season 1 so much because I liked the character development for Legoshi. I thought he was a very relatable and likable protagonist. I also enjoyed the world-building set up in those first few episodes. I, personally, didn’t care for the second half of the season as much because it seemed to REALLY emphasize the romance aspect of the show. You guys know I’m ace. So, while 95% of the time the show was fine, there were two or three scenes that made me a bit uncomfortable, and one scene I had to just skip altogether.

Regardless, I think Legoshi x Haru is a perfectly fine ship, but I need to see Haru’s character grow a bit more before I can totally be sold on it. Right now, the relationship doesn’t feel as balanced as I’d like it to be. Legoshi without a doubt loves Haru, and him saving her at the end of the season was a very noble thing for him to do. But Haru, doesn’t care for Legoshi nearly as much as he cares for her. Sometimes, she seems to like him, and other times she just seems neutral about him. However, when something happens that advances their relationship, it almost seems like she treats Legoshi in the same manner she treats Louis. It feels like she doesn’t realize yet that Legoshi and Louis are two completely different individuals with opposite personalities. She needs to understand that being in a relationship with Louis is not the same thing as being in a relationship with Legoshi. In trying to become closer to Haru, Legoshi developed as a character. He became braver and less timid. But, I would like to see Haru develop an arc for Legoshi as well. Their relationship is still pretty new and in its early stages, so it’s not a big deal right now. But, I can’t be 100% on board with their relationship until Haru herself is 100% on board with the relationship. But, I’m sure this element of the show will be given more screen-time to develop in season 2.

So, overall, I had fun watching season 1 of Beastars, and I’m interested to see where they take the story from here in season 2.

Fonts Used:
Impact