The Radical Child

I have now filled three hundred-page composition notebooks and a two-hundred-page composition notebook with what I had originally intended to be a rewritten prologue to my original furry fantasy novel. I had bought another two-hundred-page comp notebook in anticipation of this, and I'll begin the next leg of my story tomorrow.

Exodus: A Military Archaeological Space Adventure by Craig Martelle
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The fourth installment of Craig Martelle and Brad R. Torgersen’s Zenophobia series opens with a probe flying through space and the Tigroid Sankar cramped in a holding cell. In the meantime, the enemy vessel Direwolf is stranded in Hinteran space, with another Tigroid, Arbai, wanting to meet the head of the Golongans, another race the aliens had contacted. Next, Doctor Muni analyzes a server in her Oteran computer lab, with a signal leading her to call General Chayken. Arbai eventually meets Commissioner Sachim, while Chayken meets Sankar and wishes to remove the price on his head.

Arbai meets Sachim and wants to help his rebellion as the members of the Veracity Corporation worry about their companion Sankar, fearing he is dead. However, he reunites with them, after which they fly to Golongal and battle Arbai’s forces. Another Tigroid, Ausha, reveals her backstory as a Cadet-Trainer, after which comes a meeting with Commodore Qlovys at a hidden shipyard. The Bilkinmore reenters Golongan space, with its passengers eventually joining the battle among rival factions like the Golongan Peoples Revolution, intelligent machines led by The Overseer, and various religious factions.

Although this entry of the Zenophobia series, like its predecessors, shows promise, given its animal-populated cast, vibrant setting, and intricate backstory, it disappointed me. For instance, a synopsis of prior entries, a list of dramatis personae, and clear indicators and reminders of the species of the various characters would have been welcome. The absence of the Amazon Kindle X-Ray feature hampers the fourth installment as it does previous entries. Thus, I found myself rereading pages, given some confusing dialogue and sudden scene or perspective changes within chapters. Most who enjoyed the last books may appreciate this one; however, while I mostly like books with anthropomorphic characters, I found it inaccessible.

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Messenger by Craig Martelle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The second entry of author Craig Martelle and Brad R. Torgerson’s Zenophobia saga opens with a young Tigroid merchantman killed by a female Tigroid named Arbai, who, with fellow Tigroid Yangis, has the eponymous “heretic” of the preceding novel, the Tigroid Sankar, in her sights. The main chapters begin with Sankar and an elderly Tigroid named Ajerra on a Fasting Hunt, during which they encounter a menace in the dark. Ajerra is injured, with Sankar’s fellow Tigroid ally Junak rescuing them. Another Tigroid named Ocklar helps Sankar in his evasion of authorities.

Meanwhile, Sankar’s other companions, the Wolfoid Bayane, the Goroid Gwarzo, and the Ursoids Akoni and Breon (the latter a newcomer to the representatives of the Veracity Corporation) ponder their next move aboard the spacefaring vessel Bilkinmore. Goroids led by a female named Tico pursue Sankar and Ocklar, with the former affirming his belief that all races across the universe came from nothing, one reason his priestly father had declared him a heretic in the first book. Tico receives injuries in her pursuit, and once she recovers in Sankar’s captivity, the Tigroid abandons her.

Arbai ultimately captures Bayane and Akoni, taking them to an asteroid colony in the Angelos system for general enslavement, during which they meet an aging Wolford called Silverface, with Sankar planning their rescue. Afterward, he wants to retrieve genetic samples from an Angelos lab, with the second entry ending with the revelation of a crucial star map. Overall, I found the second entry of the Zenophobia omnibus to be an improvement over the first and more enjoyable, with plenty of good action and animal characters; however, some of the character name choices are lazy, such as Agosta’s brother Gosta.

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BEASTARS, Vol. 22 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As with its predecessors, the final installment of Paru Itagaki's Beastars manga opens with a synopsis of preceding entries and a visual depiction of the dramatis personae. The main action begins with the media questioning a gazelle who claims to be the father of the half-gazelle, half-leopard villain Melon, and proves to be the key to stopping the riots that have ensued around the black market. The gray wolf Legoshi continues to battle Melon, who invites his lupine adversary to kill him. Gosha, the Komodo dragon, recalls his interspecies relationship with his wolf wife, Toki, which included obsessive disinfection given his poison.

The citizens get a good view of the black market, with Louis, the red deer, wanting the carnivores and herbivores to glimpse the truth. However, their reaction is surprising as Legoshi and Melon continue their battle, with the underground district changing in recent years. Louis wants to involve himself in his friend's battle, with Melon doubting that carnivores and herbivores will never be at peace. After the black market turf war, Legoshi prepares to bid farewell to his spotted seal apartment neighbor, Sagwan, who yearns to return to the seas. Meanwhile, Louis must choose between his deer fiance, Azuki, and his school girlfriend, Juno, the wolf.

Legoshi's relationship with his girlfriend, the Netherland dwarf rabbit Haru, receives resolution, as do many of the other notable characters of the Beastars universe. After the main chapters, Itagaki reflects upon creating her magnum opus, including a deleted scene where Legoshi interacts with Gosha, the giant panda psychiatrist who worked in the black market. Overall, the twenty-second volume nicely resolves the Beastars manga, with the carnivore/herbivore relations reflecting racial tensions in human society. However, the biggest issue remains the absence of any mention of omnivorism, which exists beyond the human world.

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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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BEASTARS, Vol. 20 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The twentieth volume of Paru Itagaki's Beastars manga opens, like its precursors, with a synopsis of recent events and visuals of the main characters. The opening action features gray wolf Legoshi defining the term "tableclothing" as when the snouts of beasts wrinkle and they lose control of their emotions, as he is during his training with the rabbit Kyu. Legoshi had felt the same way when battling the bear Riz, now in an attempt to stop Kyu from rebreaking a giraffe's neck in a cast, which she feels is essential to his training.

During his pursuit, Legoshi gets Kyu's head into his jaws, having removed his dentures before doing so, with the rabbit feeling close to death, remembering when her parents had sold her to the black market. Fasting is also a final component in the wolf's training. Furthermore, he wishes Kyu to command him to "stay" as a human in real life would a domestic dog, and she agrees. Meanwhile, Legoshi's apartment neighbor, Sagwan the spotted seal, tries checking on his friend, he and the sheep Seven, another resident, worrying about him.

Seven deals with a carnivorous client, with his gesture of a handshake frowned upon by others, alongside his openly mentioning the black market. Legoshi and the half-leopard, half-gazelle Melon plan to duel on Happy Meat Day, which is also the Rexmas holiday, where beasts honor a tyrannosaurus rex that received wings after the extinction of the dinosaurs and rejuvenating the world. Haru, the Netherland dwarf rabbit, walks the city streets alone, which is seen as dangerous since the carnivores are showing delinquent behavior, and she can only converse with her love interest Legoshi through his apartment door.

Legoshi continues to train in his apartment, scratching the floor with his claws and understanding that many beasts in winter can survive for extended periods w/o food or drink, with Haru being his source of sustenance. After he leaves, police investigate his apartment, now bloodstained with red deer blood, with Louis, the cervine fitting the bill, believed murdered. On the eve of his forthcoming duel, Melon has nightmares about his mother and notices that his leopard spots have greatly multiplied, attempting to gouge them as the black market turf wars officially commence.

Contrary to what the police and media believe, Louis is alive and begins to speak at his first press conference as head of the Horns Conglomerate with the cover story that he gave blood for charity and wishes to talk about the black market, which has received a giant blockading gate due to the danger posed by the turf wars. Legoshi enters the black market battles proper and begins by fighting the Doku-gumi, consisting of Komodo dragons, which last until the end of the volume. A visualization of a typical Rexmas celebration comes after the main chapters.

Overall, this is another enjoyable volume of the Beastars manga, with its characters continuing to be endearing and satisfactorily concluding Legoshi's training under Kyu, which diverges from what he had received under the giant panda Gohin. However, some elements abound that only Japanese readers would understand, like herbivores seeing the River Sanzu when close to death, and Itagaki, as before, overlooks the gray area between carnivorous and herbivorous diets called omnivorism. Regardless, the manga's action intensifies with this installment, and I recommend it to those who have enjoyed its precursors.

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BEASTARS, Vol. 19 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Like its precursors, the nineteenth volume of the Beastars manga opens with a synopsis of recent events and a visual summary of the chief characters. The main action continues Legoshi the gray wolf’s training with the rabbit Kyu, which he is reluctant to go through given his reluctance to fight back against females. Then comes the revelation that Gohin, a giant panda, who had trained Legoshi before, had rescued Kyu from the black market, after which the wolf and rabbit concur that Melon, a half-leopard, half-gazelle, must be defeated, with a backstory involving his leopard mother revealed as well.

The lion-populated black-market gang, the Shishi-gumi, wish to off Melon, choosing one of their members, Agata, to assassinate their leader. Coincidentally, the melon fruit from which the half-herbivore, half-carnivore received his name becomes popular in the city where the manga occurs, with Legoshi informing the current Beastar, the horse Yahya, that he wishes to confront the gang leader on the forthcoming Meat Day when rival mafias in the black-market engage in turf wars. Legoshi informs his friend, the red deer Louis, of his inventions to confront Melon, during which he hears unfortunate news of his adoptive father, Ogma.

Louis later goes to the Wisdom Soul Festival, where herbivores pray for protection from carnivores. There, he reunites with Haru, who notes that her relationship with Legoshi changed her perspectives and that she had promised Melon at her university to let him devour her. Legoshi then tries to sign up for the Mead Day turf wars. However, he must compete with Melon in a quiz show-like setting and answer questions correctly about animal society or risk death. The nineteenth volume concludes with Kyu attempting to write a letter to her rescuer Gohin, and how her attempt to attack a giraffe with his neck in a cast proves a turning point in training Legoshi.

After the main narrative are anecdotes of Legoshi’s “sideburns,” Louis perusing Ogma’s photographs, the Wisdom Soul Festival, Itagaki’s work-at-home attire, and two of Legoshi’s former roommates taking jobs. Overall, this volume of the Beastars manga is enjoyable as its predecessor; its animal characters are developed well alongside plenty of action. However, the story of Kyu training Legoshi somewhat parallels that of Gohin training him, and the mangaka, as before, ignores the gray area between carnivores and herbivores the real world knows as omnivores. Regardless, I recommend Volume 19 to those who have read and enjoyed the preceding entries.

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BEASTARS, Vol. 18 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Unsurprisingly, the eighteenth entry of the Beastars manga opens with a synopsis of prior events and visual depictions of dramatis personae. The comic begins with a flashback of Gosha telling his grandson Legoshi to enroll at Cherryton Academy, with his best friend Jack taking him and introducing him to his canid roommates. Back to the present, Legoshi is aware his status as a registered meat offender prevents him from going out openly in public. However, his former roommates invite him to stay with them. Cherryton has, since a recent devouring, segregated carnivorous and herbivorous students, with the drama club remaining one of the few integrated school clubs.

When Legoshi visits his former dormmates at Cherryton, Jack is in a depressed mood and is contemplating suicide by eating an onion, poisonous to canids, with the wolf seeking to stop him. Despite the school’s segregation, the dining hall remains integrated since carnivorous and herbivorous students ate with their brethren anyway. Jack is in a small elite class at Cherryton where they learn about the history, dating back to the Carnivore-Herbivore War a century before the manga’s events, carnivores then termed “life eaters” and herbivores “nature eaters,” with the former protective of the latter upon first encounter. The appearance of a whale ended the conflict, although that which did so refuses to share his wisdom with the world again.

In the meantime, Bill the tiger becomes head of the drama club, and, when dining with his friends, cracks open an egg to find it contains a chick in development, a “trauma egg,” which they aim to rescue and ultimately take to a local police station. At the black market, the Shishi-gumi mourn their fallen comrade given the posthumous name Lion Glasses and observe how the district has changed, with turf wars imminent and the head of the leonine Shishi-gumi, the half-leopard, half-gazelle Melon wanting to claim the area of the city for his gang. Red deer Louis, saved from the black market by his adoptive father, talks with his foster son, who quickly visits the area with a visible price on him.

Louis and Legoshi proceed to the abandoned tower of the organization that had initially held the latter captive for devouring, where they discover his old cellmates, the doe rabbit Kyu and the llama San. Kyu agrees to take Legoshi as her disciple in eventually taking on Melon. However, the wolf’s reluctance to punch females is one of his weaknesses, with the rabbit entertaining the idea of creating an “imaginary chimera” to aid combat. Thus ends the manga proper, after which is a humorous scene of Legoshi and his friends eating monja at a restaurant, a comical take on an older chapter, an anecdote about Itagaki purchasing the wrong drawing paper, and an indicator of canid muzzle length being concurrent to age.

Overall, Volume 18 is another enjoyable addition to the Beastars manga, with plenty of action and character development, not to mention a backstory well before the Carnivore-Herbivore War that occurred a century before the manga’s present day. The reunion of Louis with his herbivorous cellmates from earlier in the manga is also a nice callback. However, the need for Legoshi to undergo another round of training somewhat recalls what he had under Gohin. The absence of a gray area between herbivores and carnivores known as omnivores is further unmentioned. Regardless, those into mature animal-themed stories will enjoy this manga.

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BEASTARS, Vol. 17 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As with its predecessors, Volume 17 of the Beastars manga opens with a synopsis of events from prior volumes and a visual depiction of the dramatis personae. The red deer Louis is in college and spends more time with his fiancée Azuki, her father being an executive, and seeks reinvolvement with the Shishi-gumi. Louis introduces his gray wolf friend Legoshi to the triad’s leonine members, whose numbers had dwindled since he had last headed the group. They visit the black market to seek the leader of the Kopi Luwak, a musk cat named Deshico who specializes in producing coffee beans.

Meanwhile, Melon has become an adjunct professor at Haru’s college, lecturing about the first herbivore-carnivore war that destroyed the harmony between the two dietary factions. The gazelle/leopard hybrid openly expresses his desire to devour the dwarf rabbit. Throughout his criminal past, Melon’s horns had gotten him off scot-free for his heinous acts so long as he wore his facemask to conceal his leopard portion. Back to Legoshi, he returns to his apartment to find Haru, with whom he wants to be more honest.

Legoshi ultimately decides to take down Melon himself, their battle starting at the Shishi-gumi headquarters before proceeding through the black market and then Central Street, where the police become involved and automatically target the wolf since they still perceive Melon as an herbivore. Itagaki follows with depictions of Legoshi’s biological changes as he aged, along with the metamorphosis of a two-page comic panel from a previous volume. This installment of the Beastars manga was like its predecessors enjoyable, although the lack of gray between carnivores and herbivores is still noticeable.

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BEASTARS, Vol. 16 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The sixteenth installment of the Beastars series opens, unsurprisingly, with a synopsis of past events alongside a visual depiction of its dramatis personae, following which is a flashback of when Legoshi was in primary school, interacting with his presently deceased mother through a hole in a door before she took her life. However, she still considered her life successful when interacting with her son via his out-of-body experience. His grandfather Gosha has a spat with the current Beastar, the equine Yahya. Afterward comes news that the gray wolf survived his bullet wound and has left the hospital on a special full moon known as a deep night when he engorges himself through food.

The red deer Louis, meantime, ponders reinvolvement with the Shishi-gumi, interacting with the female wolf Juno, whom he has seen more since graduation. They also argue, after which she visits Legoshi for romantic advice about falling in love with an herbivore as he had done with the dwarf rabbit Haru. The scene then changes to a group of diminutive rat vigilantes known as the 500 Cornered Rats Corps, who only steal from other criminals and are arrested, hassling others in jail before Yahya comes and interrogates them, asking about the half-leopard, half-gazelle Melon.

Melon chances a fast-food restaurant, noticing his sense of taste is off, after which he goes to a tattoo parlor where he had gotten tattoos of melon leaves to cover his leopard spots from a sloth artist with delayed conversational responses, Legoshi at the same place overhearing his eventual words to the hybrid. The wolf goes to the seashore to think, during which Melon and the Shishi-gumi mob he heads arrive, with the lupine threatened by the tried mafia technique of cementing his feet and dropping him into the water. Therein arises the promise that if Legoshi survives, they share the vulnerabilities of their leader.

The final chapter deals with Gosha volunteering at a mixed-species daycare center where bat janitors sanitize, only for them to have ulterior motives that tie into a species-purity group known as Kopi Luwak. The manga has significant anecdotes following the main storyline regarding the lighting effects and the respective anime adaptation, among others. Overall, Volume 16 is another enjoyable entry in the series, given its action and revelations. However, as with prior entries, the author overlooks the gray area between species' diets, called omnivorism.

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