Category: Series which were Dropped

After the big reveal in episode 7, we go away from Riz for a more mundane school life story. I’m quite amused by how Legosi gives very little attention to Tem’s killer this week, and like I mentioned in my last post Beastars has this “one-minded” and oblique approach to it. It’s apparent in the way that after the big events, everything just reverts back to normal like nothing ever happened (the end of season 1 to the beginning of this season is one prime example). It’s visible in the way that some characters just disappear for a while and then pop back like normal and it’s apparent in the way Beastars keeps changing the focus from the murder mystery to the school events to the star-crossed love. The shift is jarring at times, but looking deeper it fits to the context of its universe. The normalness of Cherryton Academy is just the facade for the unspeakable tension between the carnivores and herbivores. It’s a crack beneath the beautiful pie which gives you a faux sense of peace on the surface, but crack through it and you can see the tension boiling up.

And the short sweet one-off segment of Shiira the leopard and Peach the sheep further examines that sentiment. Here in Cherryton, it’s trendy to have a selfie of carnivores and herbivores together, and Shiira isn’t comfortable with that as she thrives for more intimate relationships. Comes her sudden impulses of inviting Peach for their shopping mall trip and their bond over the dress code. This segment might be unrelated to what Legosi and the cast has been going through, but it’s a perfect examination of the carnies-herbies relationship and their attempt to go over that facade.

Continue reading “Beastars 2 – 08 [Laughing at the Shadows We Cast]” →

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.

Continue reading “Beastars 2 – 06/07 [Fly, O Corrupt One/ Unforgettable Sweetness]” →

Well, this episode certainly caught me off guard. As Legosi decided to enter the Black Market last week, I didn’t expect him to go back to school this soon, although it makes sense in retrospect. The plot threads of Beastars race and Tem’s culprit are still in there, after all. But more than anything presented so far in this second season, for me episode 5 best captures the essence of Beastars’ second season themes: the duality between Legosi and Louis as they are chasing different paths. There’s an interesting parallel between Legosi’s and Louis’s actions for the past several weeks, and this week it becomes predominant. As Louis is forced to eat meat to retain his social status, Legosi trains himself to go full vegan. As Louis determines to clear every ties to advance his ladder (and to prevent them from getting hurt because of him), Legosi tries to live in harmony with the herbivores. The roles have switched between these two, as Louis thinks and acts like a carnivore, and Legosi behaves like a herbivore.

Continue reading “Beastars 2 – 05 [Call it Like it is]” →

Things escalate quickly for the last two episodes of Beastars, too quickly in fact that we are now moving from school settings to the Black market. Haru and Legosi’s relationship remains in the back seat so far, because this is Legosi’s own journey through and through.

Legosi’s investigation comes to a standstill where he’s pretty much sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong. First, he questions the carnivore members as he thinks they (including himself) are the main suspects for Tem’s murder. It’s one of the “taboos” that no one likes, and dares, mentioning so it doesn’t surprise me that the group members feel unsettling about it. He then encounters – or to put it more correctly, is ambushed – by the culprit and it confirms 2 things, at least for now: 1) Legosi IS NOT the killer 2) the killer is ridiculously strong, even with Legosi he beats our poor wolf to a pulp. Even then, Legosi manages to bite his neck, that means that whoever has that neck injury could be the main culprit, but I have a feeling that this sets up to be a misdirection.

Continue reading “Beastars 2 – 03/04 [Changes / Entangled]” →

Beastars is back (and I am, too. It has been a while). Beastars was one of my favorite anime in the last few years, so naturally I was eager for this next installment. These first two episodes of this new season kinda push a reset button to its core story: Haru has limited screentime, other characters are on their new character arcs. They return to Tem’s murder mystery – which was never the main focus in the first season – and set Legosi up to be the central figure of it all. I do find it amusing for Beastars to tab in different directions, but at the same time it feels as if Beastars takes a detour with a different focus to its carnivore/ herbivore themes. 

But boy was this second episode full of surprises.

Continue reading “Beastars 2 – 02 [The Grey Police Hound Runs]” →