English Dub Season Review: Beastars Season One

Our Take:

I kept hearing going in that Beastars is Zootopia but much darker, and I will say, yes, it is. While Zootopia’s conflict between predator and prey felt very surface level (it focused more on the buddy cop dynamic, which was fun but still took center stage), Beastars delves very deeply into a world where animals are expected to coexist– even animals that are supposed to eat each other.

The view of society shifts the longer that you watch the show, too. At first, it seems like a harmonious place, where both members can coexist peacefully, but that isn’t the case at all. While that is the current way of things, that is a peace long fought to happen, and one many people are unhappy with. Although you feel bad for the predators for being forced to hold back their instincts, you feel bad for the prey for living a life of constant fear. It’s also clear that violence still happens, too. The Black Market for carnivores is a frightening place, even if it feels necessary. The image of the homeless man selling his fingers for money is a haunting one, but despite how chilling it was, the students still felt tempted. The underground is run by ‘gourmets’ who kidnap herbivores and consume them regularly, who have enough power that the government can’t do anything about them. It’s a rough world out there.

Of course, the story centers around Legosi, a wolf who is mild mannered, anxious, and gentle, but still has his predatory instincts to deal with. He becomes infatuated with a rabbit named Haru, and struggles with this fact. Is his infatuation him confusing his predatory instincts with romance, or is it actually love? Someone who is as socially withdrawn as Legosi is has a very hard time figuring out the difference. At times, it’s hard to find a character who’s too passive likable, but Legosi does want things, but he is constantly denying himself these things. While some of the other predators are more prideful and willing, Legosi is the exact opposite, but is compelling enough to still keep the story going.

And I like all the characters. The cast is all diverse but different, from the drama club that Legosi is part of who worry for him but still care for him, Haru who struggles with her own agency and her sexuality surrounding that, Louis who has so, so much going on beneath his harsh demeanor- the cast is good. This is a genuinely fun show, and I’m inclined to go check out the manga after this. Not only is this show clever, but creative as well.

Also, the animation is gorgeous. This studio is the same studio that also animated Land of the Lustrous, and just as it was there, the CG here is also gorgeous. The models are all done really well, from the backgrounds to the lighting, and it makes the show really stand out. As I’ve mentioned in previous reviews, sometimes anime CGI looks very stiff, and obvious that it’s computer graphics over traditional animation. Here, while I could still tell it wasn’t traditional, sometimes I forgot it wasn’t, because the images flowed so smoothly. Some CG looks very clunky, bulbous, or stiff, but these all meshed together quite well. This animation studio has a lot of upcoming talent, and is definitely going somewhere.