Anime Review: Beastars Season Two
This review will contain SPOILERS for Season One, so you might want to check out that review if you haven’t seen that season first.
In a world where various species of animal people share an uneasy co-existence, Cherryton High is considered a prime example of integrated education. Tensions have been running high between carnivores and herbivores in the student body since Tem the alpaca was found dead and partially devoured. Legoshi, a gray wolf member of the Drama Club, is interested in solving this murder, but has also been dealing with his feelings for dwarf rabbit Haru.
As the second season begins, several events remind Legoshi and the other students that Tem’s devourer is still on the loose. Legoshi gets the sense that someone’s been following him in the shadows. Finally one of the school’s adults directly asks Legoshi to look for the murderer. This investigation, and Legoshi’s preparations for a confrontation with the killer, take up most of the season.
Meanwhile, Louis the red deer has survived his encounter with the Shishigumi (“Lion Gang”) but now finds himself in a precarious position in the Back Alley Market district. He’s going to need all his pride and cunning to make it through these next few months!
As before, the animal people in this setting allow the story to address various social issues in a metaphorical way while not being a one-to-one correspondence to any real-world groups. Wolves are not black people, rabbits aren’t Jews, sheep aren’t people on welfare. But the animal stereotypes and how they affect other people’s attitudes do have resonance.
For example, Juno the female grey wolf genuinely wants to use her carnivore strength to protect herbivores, and urges others to do the same, but also favors segregated education. When she finally spends some time interacting with Haru, Juno realizes that her prejudices and romantic jealousy may have blinded her to certain possibilities.
While in the first season Legoshi’s growing but complicated relationship with Haru largely pushed the murder plotline to the background, the opposite happens this season. This means we get relatively little interaction between the young sweethearts, and much more of Legoshi getting into fights as he trains physically and mentally for the challenge. Hope you like shirtless wolfmen! (There’s also a little male-oriented furry fanservice.)
There’re also little side bits, like the cheetah girl who starts bonding with a sheep girl over clothes shopping, as both of them have difficulties with it.
It’s still an intriguing setting, with mostly fascinating characters, though Six-Eyes is more of a plot device than a person.
Content note: Cannibalism is a recurring problem in this world, and we often see violence and blood. There’s an okapi stripper named Cosmo who we see naked from behind, and at one point an audience member tries to eat her (which also plays like a sexual assault.) There is underage smoking and alcohol use. Gouhin the panda uses rough language. Senior high viewers on up should be okay, but sensitive folks might want to give it a miss.
Overall: Still a very good series.
