Beastars, Volume 21

[theradicalchild]

BEASTARS, Vol. 21 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The penultimate entry of mangaka Paru Itagaki's Beastars series opens with a synopsis of recent events and visual depictions of the dramatis personae. Protagonist Legoshi, the gray wolf, wins the trust of the Doku-gumi populated by Komodo dragons, becoming an official turf war contender, the leonine Shishi-gumi keeping watch on him while facing the Madara-gumi composed of jaguars. The lupine's next opponents are the vixens of the Inari-gumi; however, Legoshi struggles due to his reluctance to battle females, ultimately settling on dressing in drag to battle on equal terms, which he finds difficult.

During the war, rain begins to precipitate despite no prior indicators of cloudy weather, a so-called "sun shower" that extinguishes all torches in the black market. The main antagonist Melon, the offspring of a male gazelle and female jaguar, has flashbacks of when his mother wanted to take baths with him, which involves a childhood trauma of seeing the backprints on her fur resembling swarming insects. Meanwhile, Louis continues his press conference as the new president of his adoptive father's business, the Horns Conglomerate, where he openly speaks about the black market and accuses members of the press of having been to it alongside other carnivores in the city.

Consequentially, the madness transpiring in the black market begins in the city streets, with a battle for supremacy between carnivores and herbivores. The rain causes a blackout that gives the former group an advantage, with the current Beastar, Yahya, the horse, walking between them as a gesture to the carnivores. The power does return, with Legoshi continuing his battle with Melon; the Shishi-gumi also use Legoshi's rabbit trainer, Kyu, as bait, in which case she attempts to escape. Louis is eventually forced from his address for inciting riots, although the Shishi-gumi come to his rescue, the police giving chase as well.

The twenty-first volume ends with Legoshi and Melon's battle undecided, with Itagaki afterward including story panels where she ponders the conclusion of her manga, along with brief bios of the Inari-gami and Madara-gami. Following these is a Japanese word chain game and a list of the background music the mangaka listened to while producing her series. In summation, this entry of the Beastars series is enjoyable as its precursors, with endearing characters, action, and twists. However, as before, Itagaki ignores the gray area between carnivores and herbivores since omnivores do appear outside the human race in the animal kingdom.

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