Beastars throws a big curveball these past 2 weeks, with the revealing of Tem’s killer. Honestly, it came out of left field that it actually takes me by surprise how straightforward and quickly Legosi resolves this. But as with the nature of Beastars it’s more about the implication behind the killer’s motive and not really about who the killer is. Before we get to the meat of the mystery, however, let’s wind back to episode 6 to see the calm before the coming storm.
It remains true that this season of Beastars is interested in delving into the duality of Louis and Legosi’s fate as they embark on two opposing roads. Episode 6 finds Louis ends one relationship and opens up to another one, both herbivores who are living in a carnivore world. Both ends the way that is beyond Louis’s calculation. His father Oguma doesn’t budge when Louis points the gun at his face. He regrets the lack of emotional attachment between them and still offers Louis a place to come back to. For Cosmo, she blatantly asks him to run away from Black Market while he can. Everyone knows he is stepping to the land of mine here.
Legosi, on the other hand, goes through the harsh “diet” training and he reaches the point where he learns about the names and origins of all the meats and proceeds to bury them. It’s a step forward for him for sure. And while I can say he’s improved in terms of suppressing his temptations towards meat, I can’t say the same about the way he’s dealing with women. Just like Louis (talking about duality again), he meets two people as well. His meeting with Juno goes (hilariously) awry as Legosi wants to check out her fangs, and accidentally teases her in the process. Poor Juno. Haru again brightens up the screen when she meets Legosi unexpectedly in the library. Their conversations are pretty great. We can sense the frustration on Haru’s part – and she has every right to be, but at the same time the marriage proposal from Legosi takes her by surprise and recomfirms his devotion to her.
If I have criticisms of Beastars’ storytelling so far, it’s that I often find their dramatic events to be rather forceful and one-minded, for the lack of better word. The terrifying drama of Tao ripping Kibi’s arm is one such example. It escalates into such a horrifying atmosphere that I think the show is trying a bit too hard, and it proceeds in a way that it kind of ignores many other factors. The best way to deal with this accident and herbivore/ carnivores tension is to call the supervisor or teacher, right? I have that thought immediately after seeing Kibi in pain but Beastars just glossed over it. I have that same feeling as well when Legosi confronts Riz, the killer bear. Riz intends to kill Legosi right off in the middle of a public place, just in front of the infirmary? What about the Rattlesnake guard? Where is he? He just disappeared after the second episode so I question his role in all this. It’s Pina who jumps in the fight and I am curious to see how Beastars uses him for this herbivore-carnivore ongoing tension.
But even with the clumsily-executed first half, the last half more than makes up for it. The flashback of Riz and Tem is haunting, twisted, beautiful and tragic. It’s sad that big bears have to take drugs to suppress their strength, and that Riz be able to open that up to Tem. In a way, Riz wanted Tem to see the real him, and proceed to devour his best friend out of conflicted love. The saddest part of it is that Riz has no intention of killing him, and he did that out of the desire to be closer to his friend. Such a twisted love but I can fully see the extent of it. This, for me, speaks directly to Legosi and Haru’s relationship. And judge by how things keep getting darker and ill-advised as it goes (Louis included), is there nothing but doomed at the end of this tunnel?
