Anthropomorphism has been a part of cultures in various forms since the prehistoric age. When it comes to stories its often been used as a tool by writers to disassociate their messages from humanity so they become analogies instead of direct teachings or statements. In case of Beastars the same does ring true too. It allows for a very simple and understandable conflict within the society in the story and keeps it from being openly political. Besides that the tone also remains reasonably light as a result. But what I really like is how the authors genuine passion for the animal kingdom is visible. Well I mean she wears a chicken mask in real life so... But theres a huge amount of details that arent necessary from the wider perspective of the whole story details that just pertain to the species of animals humans are animals too I know by the way and make the manga feel full of life. But Im grateful to Paru for including them without them I could see the story feeling too blunt. The charm of the manga lies in there. But so to conclude this opening segment I feel the anthropomorphism is less of a technique and more of a style when it comes to Beastars. Now before delving into the actual narrative and the story I should say that I highly recommend reading or maybe watching since the anime is great Beastars if youre into character dramas or psychological stories. Although the quality doesnt remain consistently great and drops off a lot in the final big arc of the story its probably worth it to just check it out. BEWARE OF SPOILERS FROM HERE ON For me the highlight of Beastars is definitely the characterwriting hence the list of characters whom I relish is pretty long: Legoshi Louis Haru Juno Bill Sebun Aoba Gosha... and even the very minor characters such as Ako and Airdo. While theyre fleshed out and/or contribute to the thematic core a common aspect between them is that theyre unhappy with their species. Legoshi feels unjustly big and strong next to herbivores and loathes himself for being a wolf. He doesnt see any value in himself a creature thats biologically meant to prey on others. Louis craves confidence and puts on a facade to climb above others and get a feeling of control so he could escape his instinctual fear of predators and his fragility as a deer. Haru wishes that people would treat her as an equal but is patronized and everyone acts as if she needs protection. She sees herself as someone wholl be inevitably eaten and forgotten but she continues to cling onto life for the moments that she cherishes. Bill is proud of being a tiger but is frustrated by the responsibility that comes with his immense strength. He tries to shine in the spotlight but finds that just raw power doesnt cut it. Gosha can never relax because he needs to always mind himself so he wouldnt hurt anyone with his venom by accident. Beastars explores selfesteem and dissatisfaction with oneself. The problems the characters face are amplified though. By the harsh expectations and taboos of society. Its really engaging to see them struggle but mature and discover that theyre not to blame individually. The entire society in Beastars is rotten at its core and the collective issue they all share is what needs to be solved. The society functions on willfully ignoring the fundamental flaws in its design mainly the black market. At least thats how I see the story tackling this topic. Black Market. Just the pure existence of it already puts onto a display that they arent living in an utopia. Despite all of the effort thats been put into creating meals that can keep the carnivores healthy the yearning for meat hasnt disappeared. Of course thats not actually the fault of the society. What is however is that despite it being an open secret it continues to operate. No one dares to bring it up in the daylight and no one wants to risk getting into that taboo. While any individual isnt in the wrong for that because a single person cant be expected to be capable of doing anything about an issue of such magnitude the collective is morally corrupt for not addressing it. Some animals even say its necessary evil to reason with it that theres no way around it. Even if it was true the attempts should still be done and the system of black market should at least be ensured to function on meat that comes from hospitals etc. What is interesting is how weve shown everyones acceptance of it. Aoba for example hes a bird with a good heart yet when he visits the black market with Legoshi and Bill he doesnt really pick a side at first. Hes resigned to the fact that it exists and that hell end up using it. If it wasnt for Legoshi would he have done it and eaten meat there? Would he have committed to it? And its not just carnivores whore accepting of it even herbivores are in the know but dont seem to be taking any action. All of them are just playing the fool and hoping that they wont end up there. Also even more interesting are those whove went there and found a way of making money buy selling parts of themselves. Its just so awfully fucked up but thats why its such an impactful way of building a theme. In truth no one benefits from the black market. The herbivores who avoid it dont because random predation incidents still take place outside of it. Herbivores who sell themselves are basically doing the equivalent of taking a loan but even worse. And even carnivores they just become addicted and Gohin showed us what that might end up in: carnivores eating themselves in their lust for meat or inflicting selfharm because of the guilt. There are no victors in that story. One more thing to say about it the ones who use it arent evil theyve ironically fallen prey to their own desires. Theyre not in the right by any means but they arent absolute ruthless monsters. In conclusion to this segment its a brilliant way of showcasing how hollow the utopia they have truly is. Also I really appreciated the impact on the overall story that the confrontation between Legoshi and Riz had. It wasnt just covered up so Legoshi could continue his school life instead he was suspended and the setting of the story switched to basically life after school. Its nice for such consequences to exist in a story while that sadly is the only really good example its still something I wanna bring up. Also the little story of Ako and Airdo is a really gripping little addition. They founded their relationship on acting progressive and standing out but subsequently it wasnt pleasing for either and ended in a tragedy. In line with the story in its entirety theres no one truly at fault individually. Both of them were thoughtless. Ako pushed herself on Ako who lost himself for a slightest second and bit her. Theres no hero nor is there a villain. But the response from everyone around them is to immediately assume the worst which is understandable but the good response would be to keep an open mind and try to look at the truth. We dont know what happened to Airdo but with how stern the laws in Beastars are his life was probably ever changed. Its neglecting to fix the problem. But the story isnt without a fair share of issues. Most of them are in the latter half of the story. After Melon shows up the story shifts from a slow and somewhat aimless character drama to have a more concrete plot. In theory thatd be great and in my second favourite series Kaguyasama it happens and pays off. But here everything kinda crumbles and falls apart. The pacing jumps haphazardly around many characters Haru in particular lack screentime to make the conclusions for their characters work a lot of fights but no stakes to speak of plotpoints entirely forgotten etc. Worst is that the brilliantly set up conflict between herbivores and carnivores is resolved with basically just a speech from Louis who makes it up on the fly. The intricate buildup of the black market and the dark side of society ends up amounting to almost nothing as it just stops being a problem after Louis has a few words on it and brings it into the daylight. Also almost as bad is how unsatisfying and out of the blue the climax of Legoshis and Harus relationship is being stacked on top of the entire Melon arc where Haru had practically zero screentime. So to conclude the review Beastars is spectacular at start. It devolves into a mess but its still a meaningful story. I dont think that its awful at any point. But I really wouldve wished for a more nuanced ending. But personally Im interested in Parus writing should she start an another manga. Though I do hope that shes been sharpened by this experience