theradicalchild | Entries tagged with manga

A Star Among Anime

I've largely been into anime since my younger brother introduced me to Fullmetal Alchemist back in the late 2000s, and the era of streaming television towards the end of the following decade really unleashed my horizons regarding my selection of what to watch. Randomly browsing Netflix, I discovered Beastars, based on the manga by Paru Itagaki, which instantly enticed me given its exclusive animal cast. Disney's beloved Zootopia had also recently came out some time before, with the anime adaptation of Itagaki-san's series, incidentally, having similar themes, yet is enjoyable in its own right in spite of some major flaws.

Beastars occurs primarily at Cherryton Academy, where an alpaca student, Tem, is brutally devoured by a carnivore student, sparking a cold war between the carnivorous and herbivorous animals attending the school. The main protagonist among the former is the wolf Legoshi, and from the latter the red deer Louis, both with strong feelings for a doe dwarf rabbit named Haru. The blooming romance between Legoshi and Haru really, really brings to mind the relationship between Nick Wilde the fox and fellow rabbit Judy Hopps from Zootopia, which truly makes me wonder if Itagaki took inspiration from the animated film when composing her manga.

"Get back here, you little rodent!"

The anime focuses on Legoshi seeking Tem's killer while wrestling with his attraction to herbivores like Haru and dealing with her fellow lover Louis. A lion mafia, the Shishi-gumi, plays part, attempting to dominate the herbivore meat black market, with plenty of violence, naturally, present throughout the series, making it semi an adult version of Zootopia, with some sexual themes abundant also. Legoshi eventually begins to train under the panda psychiatrist Gouhin to ultimately confront Tem's killer at the end of the second season. Another wolf, Juno, has an unrequited attraction to Legoshi.

Beastars is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful animes I've ever watched, with gorgeous animation and excellent music, handsome male and gorgeous female characters, solid English voice performances that fit the various animal characters, and mature themes that really appealed to me. Perhaps the biggest issue is the mangaka's apparent unfamiliarity with the concept of omnivores, which do exist beyond the human world, with Tem's killer, for instance, being of an omnivorous species (I'm not really spoiling anything since the murderer doesn't appear until the same episode they're revealed). There is also the typical laziness of untranslated opening and ending credits, not to mention occasional off dialogue like "Where has that Legoshi gone?"

"Omnivores? What are those?"

Regardless, my love for the anime inspired me to read the original manga, which I equally loved, and I will happily be watching the third and final season when it releases.

RECOMMENDED?
YES

Current Mood: amused

He was 68.

He created the Dragon Ball animanga series and was the character and monster designer of the Dragon Quest franchise and Chrono Trigger, among others. This leaves only Yuji Horii, the scenario writer of DQ (composer Koichi Sugiyama died back in 2021), and it seems the twelfth promised mainline entry (The Flames of Fate) is now far greater vaporware than it was before, and since Toriyama to me is somewhat irreplaceable (and Sugiyama too to an extent), I doubt it will become a Franchise Zombie like other game franchises have become (i.e. Final Fantasy). Rest in peace, Toriyama-san.

Current Mood: shocked

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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Current Mood: busy

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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Current Mood: impressed

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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Current Mood: impressed

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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Current Mood: satisfied

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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Current Mood: pensive

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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Current Mood: busy

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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Current Mood: impressed

BEASTARS, Vol. 14 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As with its precursors, the fourteenth installment of mangaka Paru Itagaki’s Beastars series opens with a synopsis of prior volumes, alongside visual depictions and descriptions of the various dramatic personae. The manga’s action commences proper with gray wolf Legoshi seeking something formal to wear during his visit to the current Beastar, the horse Yahya, who resides in a penthouse at the top of the same building as the police department’s headquarters. Yahya tells his visitor of his vigilantism, suggests society will never accept mixed-species families, and wants Legoshi to beg forgiveness for being a carnivore.

Meanwhile, Legoshi’s former fling, the dwarf rabbit Haru, is a college freshman, befriending other rabbits and moving on despite reminders of her romance with the wolf, noting another mixed-species couple in fellow lapine Ako and the lion Eado. After a tragedy, Haru seeks her former boyfriend, who has sought refuge in the giant panda therapist Gohin’s clinic and the black market. The dwarf rabbit remembers the gray wolf’s eighteenth birthday and visits his apartment. They begin to reconcile, Haru suggesting a visit to the black market.

Itagaki notes that several locales in her universe, including Cherryton Academy, Center Street, and even the black market, are half-herbivore and half-carnivore, with Haru wishing to press onward in her visit despite Legoshi’s warnings. They visit a rabbit meat shop having a contract with a funeral home, which doesn’t shock her, and makes her feel closer to her lupine lover. Legoshi then reunites with his former canid dormmates to visit B-Strike, where beasts can exercise their base instincts. For instance, canids can play fetch with a machine that shoots tennis balls.

Volume 14 ends with Yahya checking on a gazelle therapist and his elephant patient, which bears some twists and accounts for another satisfying entry in the anthropomorphic manga series. Design notes follow for the seal character Sagwan (though he doesn’t appear in this installment), along with some humorous anecdotes alongside Itagaki studying human expressions in movies for inspiration in her art. As with preceding entries, however, the mangaka ignores the gray dietary area of omnivores, though fans of anthropomorphic fiction will find this volume another satisfying yarn.

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Current Mood: amused

BEASTARS, Vol. 13 by Paru Itagaki

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The thirteenth installment of Paru Itagaki’s Beastars manga, like its predecessors, opens with a synopsis of recent important events and visual depictions of the various dramatis personae, afterward continuing where the twelfth volume left off, with gray wolf Legoshi’s maternal grandfather Gosha in a fight that he wins. The lupine himself still works at the Udon Noodle Shop Bebebe and receives the unique task of delivering orders to marine customers that live underwater, who speak a language divergent from that on the surface. Upon first contact, Legoshi has trouble, although a spotted seal named Sagwan, who lives in the same apartment as him, comes to the rescue.

Legoshi becomes friends with Sagwan, who is half-sea and half-land, learning about the latter area of the world. The wolf afterwards goes shoe-shopping with Seven the Merino sheep, with her carnivore coworkers coming and harassing her, though Legoshi gets them to retreat. In the meantime, Yahya the horse, the current Beastar, is on the lookout for the drug BB (Blood and Bones), concocted from the bones and blood of herbivores, ultimately reuniting with his old friend Gosha. Back to Legoshi, he has a run-in with thugs masking the illicit substances as an energy drink, with Louis the red deer entering the scene and the wolf lauded by the police for confronting the drug-dealers.

Volume thirteen concludes with Legoshi receiving a gift as thanks for dealing with the BB salesmen, a box of mochi rice cakes, which prompts him to throw a party to get to know his neighbors, after which he finds a letter from Yahya. Following the main action are anecdotes about Legoshi and Sagwan being nude together in one of their apartments (with the spotted seal forgoing clothes in his apartment since he doesn’t wear them underwater, not to mention a look into the mangaka’s creation schedule, her love of steampunk and gothic fashion, and experience with an airplane ride. Overall, the thirteenth Beastars volume is enjoyable yet shares most of its precursors’ flaws, namely the lack of any omnivorism in the manga’s world.

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Current Mood: impressed

BEASTARS, Vol. 12 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The twelve installment of Paru Itagaki’s Beastars manga opens, as always, with a synopsis of recent events, after which the wolf Legoshi is at a police station interrogated by Captain Papico the ermine and becoming a registered meat offender due to events in the previous volume, with a consequential ineligibility for many colleges and forbiddance to marry an herbivore such as his love interest, the dwarf rabbit Haru. Louis the red deer, in the meantime, is put under house arrest and is to receive a prosthetic leg, with the current Beastar, the horse Yahya, finding the incidents fascinating.

The manga proceeds to a 29-year-old female sheep named Seven who lives luxuriously and works for a sports equipment company and is reassigned to sales, although she is reluctant to work in the department again and is suicidal given the bullying she’s faced, encountering Legoshi during one of her commutes in the carnivore car, with the wolf refusing to let her on. The two ultimately become apartment neighbors and interact, with Legoshi having been one of the first to address her by name in a long time, the lupine having no electricity at the time.

The action then changes to the Maimai Milk Factory, run by snow leopards, where cows produce milk through the medication galactagogue. Here, a zebra affiliated with the Bureau of Labor Management visits, continuing the board’s investigation of species-integrated factories, accusing the management of covering up shoddy working conditions, after which the investigator writes a check for them to improve said disposition of the workplace. Following this is a flashback between Beastars competitors Yahya the horse and Gosha the Komodo dragon, both commended for the drop in the city’s crime rate at the time.

Back to the present, Jack receives a call from Legoshi’s grandfather to find his whereabouts given the refund of his tuition to Cherryton Academy, after the manga shifts to the Udon Noodle Shop Bebebe, where Legoshi works in the kitchen. It had been noted that he had the skill to wait tables, although the storeowners didn’t want customers scarred by his innumerable scars. Although it seemed at first that the carnivores and herbivores that worked the restaurant seemed at peace, the former upon the latter departing for the workday wanted to chance the black market following their shift.

Louis, in the meanwhile, is a finalist for the title of Beastar, although he believes that Legoshi should have the title; however, the police don’t want the story about the loss of his leg to become public. Juno the wolfess attempts to romance the valedictorian cervine afterward, although he believes their love to be unrequited. Gosha finally reunites with his grandson Legoshi, having a talk with him at a restaurant, after which comes a confrontation by other beasts, ending the action of the main story. Itagaki follows with notes about housing in the world of Beastars, along with Legoshi’s farewell letters to his former roommates.

The twelfth volume is overall on par with its predecessors in terms of quality, which is a good thing as it’s still enjoyable, the central narrative continuing not to lose steam, given the engaging characters and recurring themes of bigotry, along with the mangaka’s anecdotes about the manga’s universe alongside her attempts to sketch humans during a vacation. As with the prior volumes, however, there exists the predicament of the total lack of any mention of omnivorism throughout the storyline, since omnivores do indeed exist outside humankind, but I will continue to read the manga towards its conclusion.

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Current Mood: satisfied

BEASTARS, Vol. 11 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As with its precursors, the eleventh entry of Paru Itagaki’s Beastars manga opens with a synopsis of prior events and dramatis personae, after which it dives into the action with Riz the brown bear cooking tomato and soybean curry for himself and his roommates and looks forward to his New Year’s Eve battle with Legoshi the wolf. The day arrives, with Gohin the giant panda suggesting his lupine apprentice de-bandage himself as to not be disadvantaged in the battle, before which he notices he missed a call from Haru the white dwarf rabbit, who is with her family to ring in the new year.

Before the battle, Riz bares his chest that he insists is bloodstained from one of his alleged latest victims, although Legoshi soon finds the truth of this. In the meantime, Louis the red deer and the Shishi-gumi have their own share of issues, getting into a fight themselves with a rival black-market syndicate controlled by wolves, with the cervine wishing to leave the organization, the lions Ibuki and Free at odds as he does. The battle between Riz and Legoshi transpires, with Louis ultimately entering the scene and wishing that his lupine friend devours the leg on which the number four is tattooed from when he was on sale at the black market when younger.

The outcome of the battle is decided, with the police entering the scene and hospitalization necessary, and is overall satisfactory, with the said confrontation between carnivores well depicted and never seeming to pad out the manga volume, given the influx of philosophical points and the bonds among meat-eaters and vegetarians. As with the previous volumes of the manga, however, Itagaki mostly ignores the gray area known as omnivorism, although the opening with Riz does slightly touch upon this, as brown bears in real life are omnivores. There is more action than in preceding volumes, and naturally, those who enjoyed them will very likely enjoy chapter eleven.

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Current Mood: satisfied

BEASTARS, Vol. 10 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The tenth volume of mangaka Paru Itagaki’s Beastars series opens with Louis the red deer and Haru the dwarf rabbit in a romantic situation, with Haru teasing how her lover would taste. The cervine’s reverie a member of the lion-populated criminal organization Shishi-gumi interrupts, with four months having passed since he became head of the group. Carnivore flesh now becomes a trend at the black market, with a crocodile willing to sacrifice part of his body for money, the carnivore/herbivore dynamic somewhat altered in the manga’s fictitious world. One of the Shishi-gumi, the lion Ibuki, is a friend to Louis, and fears he might be suicidal.

At Cherryton Academy, the anteater Kibi’s arm, torn off accidentally by Tao the panther, allows the feline to visit him, wanking to make amends. Riz the brown bear wants to visit as well, with the wolf Legoshi wishing to learn how to combat him with his fists. While in training with Gohin the giant panda, he orders the lupine to consume bugs alive, noting that his own species don’t consume live protein, most carnivores unaware of the taste of living meat growing up. Legoshi obeys to get a “taste of life,” and has a mental conversation with the moth incarnation of the brown larva he consumed, vowing never to eat live protein again.

After a fitful night’s sleep, Legoshi finds that his thickened fur has grown back quickly, attributing it to the larva he consumed. Still having earthly desires, he talks with Haru, with both mutually hugging, the wolf vowing to keep all animals safe and bring Louis back to Cherryton. Battle erupts between Riz and Legoshi, the latter recalling a Komodo dragon from his past that often intervened in interspecies conflicts. Back at his clinic, Gohin tells Legoshi about a vixen Tibetan sand fox whom he had treated for devourment and even dated for a while, afterwards letting her go and not turning her in to the police for her crime.

During school, Pina the ram chats with a fellow female ovine, noting his significant role in the forthcoming play and mistakenly calling her by the name of one of his previous girlfriends. Ibuki and Louis talk in a bar, with Legoshi visiting in disguise, telling him about Riz, with whom he will battle again on New Year’s Eve. After the main story is a biography of Ibuki, a brief scene of Louis’s adoptive father, the mangaka’s visual process in creating a volume of her magnum opus, and notes on each chapter. This volume of Beastars is much on par with its precursors, very much a good thing, although it has the same issues as its predecessors, namely the absence of any kind of omnivorism in the manga’s universe.

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Current Mood: accomplished

BEASTARS, Vol. 9 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As with its precursors, the ninth volume of mangaka Paru Itagaki’s Beastars series opens with a synopsis of prior events and important dramatis personae. The action opens in the drama club, with Pina the bighorn sheep playing the lead role in the forthcoming play, and the manga suddenly taking a dark turn that necessitates conveyance of an affected student to the school infirmary. Legoshi continues to look for Tem the alpaca’s devourer, finally finding the culprit due to their saliva along with that of other carnivores with whom he had associated. The killer promises vengeance, although Pina interrupts and the three briefly converse before separating.

Next is a flashback to Legoshi’s mother’s funeral, her death due to depression-related suicide (with the father of their family having abandoned them), when he and his canine friend Jack were preteens. Back to the present, Gohin the giant panda gives Legoshi his payment for his work, although the wolf feels uncomfortable taking it all and decides to send some to his grandfather, who mostly raised him and with whom he hadn’t communicated for years. Legoshi’s training with the black-market psychiatrist continues, with the lupine wishing to become strong enough to defeat Tem’s murderer.

During his training, Legoshi encounters he old friend Louis the red deer, still serving as head of the lion-populated Shishi-gumi, the wolf accused of being a spy. Nonetheless, the lupine is happy to see him again and is invited to dinner, where Louis asks Legoshi about his relationship with Haru the dwarf rabbit, currently on the rocks, and the wolf tells the deer he’s found Tem’s killer and wants him to return to Cherryton. Following this is backstory on the alpaca’s murderer, with mention that carnivores a certain size must take strength suppressants, with his death a consequence of the devourer forgoing his medications whilst befriending him.

Back at Cherryton, classes are canceled for three days, the schoolboard ultimately deciding to segregate herbivores and carnivores into separate buildings, with integrated scholastic clubs to be shut down. However, the clubs defy the board, with the school newspaper even coming out against the institute’s new policy, the bonds between herbivores and carnivores tested. In the meantime, Juno the wolfess receives positive news about the forthcoming school play, still considered to become the next Beastar (further believing separate-but-equal policy for the animalian dietary factions Is fine as long as they’re friendly to one another) and talks with Haru in the gardening club, asking about Louis.

The ninth volume concludes with design notes about Pina and the manga covers, further noting the three Bs for women in the human world: boy hairdressers, bartenders, and band musicians, which Itagaki notes is similar in her manga’s universe (although they don’t seem to be B’s), showing Louis having altered the rules upon heading Shishi-gumi, and presenting storyboards for prior volumes. This entry of Itagaki’s manga, likely to be her magnum opus, is very much on par with its predecessors, which is a good thing, although real-world animalian concepts like omnivores and predators potentially being prey themselves seem to have eluded her.

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BEASTARS, Vol. 8 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As with its precursors, the eighth volume of mangaka Paru Itagaki’s Beastars series opens with a welcome synopsis of past events and a list of dramatis personae, the action beginning with Legoshi the wolf being absent from school again, returning with the major difference that he’s had his fur shaven off. Since he had been having all-night training with Gohin, the giant panda therapist of the carnivorous black market, he fails to stay awake in class. Part of the lupine’s training involves meditating before dangling meat, resisting the temptation to consume it and transforming his metabolism. Back at school, other students notice Legoshi’s disinterest in stagehand work, with one of the herbivorous drama club members, Pina, attempting to provoke the wolf into devouring him.

Meanwhile, Cosmo the deer works in a strip club, dancing in a stage that the carnivorous customers want removed, with prostitution as a side job. Going outside for a smoke break, she encounters the red deer Louis, who, together with the Shishi-gumi, saves her from devourment. Afterward, the cervine talks to his adoptive father about resigning from Cherryton and getting his signature for approval, even holding him at gunpoint to get him to sign. However, his father remains surprisingly cool, with Louis ultimately deciding to take a leave of absence instead and accepts his foster son’s leadership of the lion-populated criminal organization.

When Louis notices the shaven Legoshi attempting to comfort a wayward child, he disdains his friend’s compassion whilst asserting his leadership of the Shishi-gumi, who then clash with the jaguar-populated rival mafia the Madara-gumi. Back in his training chamber, Legoshi touches the meat that had been dangling before him, and Gohin gives him a bag to take to the beach, whose remnants he buries, even putting names on the graves’ headstones, which elates the giant panda. At school, Juno thinks Legoshi weird for wanting to see the interior of her mouth, noting the greater development of male canines, which he thinks key to finding Tem’s killer.

After losing a tug-of-war involving the use of jaws instead of hands and arms to Bill the tiger, Legoshi flashes back to his second-year physical and notes that his bite has weakened significantly. When he reenters his training, Gohin and his pupil attempt to capture a stray hyena, resulting in one of Legoshi’s arms being bitten. The giant panda has his student attempt to stitch his own wounds, having flashbacks to when he rehabilitated a murderous red fox instead of handing him over to the police (and gives other key backstory), and affirms his sense of justice. Back at school, Haru feels distant from Legoshi, noting that another boy asked her to go out with her, which creates some awkwardness.

The eighth volume ends with a leopardess and an ewe shopping and taking a selfie, hoping to contribute to peace between herbivores and carnivores, and some anecdotes about self-absorbency and a female pop idol group. Like its predecessors, Volume 8 is an enjoyable read, with plenty of endearing anthropomorphic animal characters and some good sociopolitical commentary about divergent groups, although again, Itagaki seems to overlook the concept of omnivorous animals, which would surely be far better liaisons between the warring carnivorous and herbivorous factions rather than a member of one extreme or the other.

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BEASTARS, Vol. 7 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The seventh volume of mangaka Paru Itagaki’s Beastars manga opens, as with prior entries, with a synopsis of events from prior installments and a visual list of dramatic personae. The manga begins proper with a continuation of the meeting by the Council of Living Begins commenced at the end of the sixth volume, with the council’s chamber centered by a large class of liquid into which leaders drop various parts of their body to produce a chemical reaction. The main leaders are headmasters of various schools, with Cherryton Academy principal Gon, a Siberian Tiger, speaking noting that no Beastar has emerged from his respective institution in five years.

Other Council members suggest an herbivore Beastar, although the top candidate from Cherryton, Louis the red deer, is missing, with Gon indicating the hardships of adolescence and suggesting that heroes are born, not created. The devouring of Tem the alpaca that begin the manga comes to light, with the prime Beastar candidate propose to be whoever apprehends his devourer. Back at Cherryton, Legoshi the wolf feels tracked while wanting Louis to return to the school, with his stalker being Six Eyes the giant snake, the academy’s sole security guard who wants the lupine to track Tem’s murderer, suspected to still be at the institute.

Meanwhile, the members of the criminal syndicate Shishi-gumi visit the snapping turtle butcher of the black market, other rival gangs mentioned. Louis, their newly crowned leader, enters, wishing that carnivores not repress their instincts but need forgiveness, suggesting as well that society has only winners and losers. The red deer’s body in the meantime begins rejecting the new substances to which he’s subjected himself including meat, alcohol, and tobacco, Louis himself losing weight, and one of his lion subordinates fearing for him and buying him a salad. Juno appears at the headquarters’ entrance and wishes to see him as well.

The she-wolf and Louis have an awkward conversation, the latter knowing of Haru the dwarf rabbit’s love interest in Legoshi, anticipating deaths at the Meteor Festival as well. Juno becomes angry at Louis for not wanting to return to school, the red deer seen as a pacifist, with a few of the Shishi-gumi lions behind his back plotting to dispose of him once they’ve rebuilt their business. Back at Cherryton, Six Eyes, while wishing Legoshi to capture the killer, doesn’t want direct involvement in the case. At a drama club meeting, other carnivores hear the wolf muttering, angry that he suspects one of them might be Tem’s killer.

A new member of the club, Pina the Dall thinhorn sheep, believes that carnivores can’t be attractive like herbivores, singling out Legoshi, whom his fellow meat-eaters consequentially defend. The carnivorous members of the drama club afterward meet on Cherryton’s rooftop, Legoshi suspecting one of them, even himself, may be one of Tem’s killers, although he finds he’s not used to public speaking and is mocked for his relationship with Haru, to whom he speaks subsequentially, wondering if she still has feelings for Louis and thus wanting to watch her from a distance.

In a flashback, Legoshi awkwardly speaks with Tem about his wool, quickly returning to the present, to his memorial, and violently encountering his murderer. Legoshi’s childhood friend Jack comes to the rescue, with the wolf wishing to take a sabbatical from the school, wishing not to call the police and visiting the black market to visit the panda Mr. Gohin, from whom he seeks advice about unlocking his bestial power. The seventh volume ends with faux VR conversations with Legoshi and Louis, and is enjoyable like its predecessors, though as with them, the lack of gray area between the herbivores and carnivores in the form of omnivores, not just restricted to humans in real life, is jarring.

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BEASTARS, Vol. 6 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As with its precursors, the sixth entry of mangaka Paru Itagaki’s Beastars manga opens with a synopsis of events from previous volumes and a visual list of dramatis personae. The story begins proper with Legoshi confessing to Haru that he was the one who attempted to devour her, with the dwarf rabbit noting that she had a hunch. The morning of the Meteor Festival, they return to campus, with the head of the carnivore dorm angry at Legoshi and wishing not to hear about the Shishi-gumi. Juno the she-wolf, who has a crush on Legoshi and is jealous of Haru due to the fact, opens the festivities, and brings her fellow lupine on state to congratulate him for his heroism.

The sixth volume eventually flashes back to when Legoshi and the Labrador retriever Jack were in lower-grade school, with backstory given about a war between carnivores and herbivores nine decades before, which resulted in the breeding of dogs and cats so they could lose their warlike tendencies and improve their intelligence. Louis the red deer is still missing, and involves himself with the Shishi-gumi, which recently lost their boss, the cervine Beastar candidate attempting to gain the trust of the carnivore group. The comic ends with a meeting of the Council of Living Beings, ready to select the next Beastar.

Overall, the sixth volume of Beastars is largely on par with its predecessors, given its endearing anthropomorphic characters, action, and slight sociopolitical commentary. However, there are a few lingering issues such as the lack of gray area between herbivores and carnivores, with it and the prior volumes not mentioning omnivorous animals at all, which would in my mind be far fitter to bridge the gap between vegetarians and meat-eaters rather than an animal from either conflicting faction. Regardless, the translation team did an excellent job localizing the volume, although names like Shishi-gumi obviously indicate its Japanese origin, although I will continue reading the Beastars manga.

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

The fifth entry of mangaka Paru Itagaki’s Beastars series continues from the previous with dwarf rabbit Haru’s kidnapping by a lion crime syndicate known as Shishi-gumi, with the group’s leader paying particular attention to her because the meat of non-pigmented animals allegedly tastes the best. In the meantime, Louis the red deer converses with the town’s mayor, also a lion (although he had his fangs extracted) and is told to remain silent. As Louis leaves, Legoshi confronts him about Haru’s abduction, although their talk ultimately becomes violent, with the wolf ultimately needing to be restrained.

Taking matters into his own hands, Legoshi visits the black market and asks about the Shishi-gumi, believing them responsible for the power outage during which Haru was abducted, and is accused as a spy, getting mugged as well and having his life threatened. The black market’s panda psychiatrist enters and rescues Legoshi, warning him about the dangers of trying to confront the crime syndicate on his own. The kidnapped Haru in the meantime journals about her impending death, mentioning her experiences when younger with other carnivores, and discussing her numerous past loves.

Haru attempts to fight back against her abductors, with Legoshi and Gohin coming to the entrance of their headquarters, fighting many of its members. After he rescues Haru, Legoshi seeks a hotel to stay at for the night, the volume ending with Legoshi starting to tell her that he was the carnivore early on that attempted to devour her. All in all, it’s another enjoyable entry of the manga, with plenty of action and endearing animal characters along with a solid localization, but there are a few rough spots, for instance, with regards to the name of the Shishi-gumi. Regardless, I will continue reading this manga.

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

As with its predecessors, the fourth entry of mangaka Paru Itagaki's Beastars series opens with a summary of previous events and visual depictions of dramatis personae, afterward commencing with a flashback where Haru encounters Louis in a dream. In the present, Louis is bloody from shedding his antlers and gives her hush money. Haru wishes to care for him until he recovers, becoming intimate, with Legoshi entering the scene and taking shock. Louis and Legoshi go on a walk, with the red deer insisting that he interacts with his fellow lupine Juno, for whom Legoshi has complicated feelings.

Back in the Canidae dormitory, Jack, the Labrador retriever, has a dilemma with his childhood friend Legoshi, thinking he is a pervert given his possession of a small animal pornographic magazine, feeling that falling for Haru has dulled the wolf's hunter instincts. Legoshi and Haru later help with preparations for the Meteor Festival. However, the prep ends early due to news of an herbivore's devouring, after which the wolf and the rabbit run through the subways, catching the attention of others and even the police, before hiding in a bathroom to await their eventual retreat.

Legoshi continues to wonder if Haru feels she is in danger and is afraid of her discovering that he had attempted to capture and devour her in their first anonymous meeting. In the meantime, Bill the tiger accidentally claws Louis, the red deer insisting first aid is enough for recovery, after which Bill confesses that he visited the black market, resulting in Louis threatening him with a gun, insisting they are unequal, and leaving for the infirmary. Haru insists that she and Louis are just friends, although the red deer and Legoshi argue about her, with Louis giving a mandate about the romance.

Juno, in the meantime, hits on Legoshi, who receives accusations of seduction, afterward rehearsing with Louis and expressing her ambition to become the next Beastar. Consequentially, she pins down Louis, who warns her about Legoshi. As the Meteor Day festival approaches, a blackout occurs, with carnivores accused since while they can mostly see in the dark, herbivores can't. After the incident, Louis recalls his past when he was #4 in an underground market, not taught to read, speak, or write until an adult deer purchased his freedom and adopted him as his heir.

The fourth volume ends with Legoshi serving as "secret bodyguard" for Louis when he pins down a leopard attempting to devour the red deer as he visits the memorial for Tem the alpaca, devoured at the very beginning of the manga series. Itagaki further reveals some design notes for Juno, provides notes on responsible mating practices whether interspecies or within the same species and gives a parodic comic sequence on whether Els the Angora goat prefers canines or felines. Overall, the fourth entry of the manga franchise is every bit as enjoyable as its precursors, with superb localization and how it reads from right to left being the sole indicator of its country of origin.

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