To sum up the review of Beastars: Beastars is a very enjoyable, mature version of Zootopia that has a teenage high schooler wolf as the main character, instead of an adult police officer rabbit. 4/5: very enjoyable, but not without some faults, especially in the story.

Knowing Beastars is a more mature Zootopia was all I knew going into this series, and I think it is all you really need to know to enjoy the series.



But to dive a little deeper, I think there is a lot more in this series that makes it stand out on its own. The first is the world of Beastars. Animals are divided into carnivores and herbivores (there are also sea creatures, but those don't show up that often), and this relationship is very complex, which is a theme that is thoroughly explored throughout the manga. There really isn't a concrete good or evil in this world, and everyone has a little bit of both in them, which I like.

Unlike Zootopia, which is a thinly veiled metaphor for racism, I don't think Beastars has any ambitious social commentary, and overanalyzing it can be futile. Instead, the series takes you into this world and gets you to experience the lives and conflicts of the animals inside it. In Beastars, the conflicts between herbivores and carnivores are much more complicated that in Zootopia. Carnivores are inherently much, much stronger than herbivores, and it is very easy for carnivores to accidentally maim herbivores. It's pretty dark, and the series isn't afraid to show you surprisingly graphic images. But this all adds onto what I think is the strongest part of Beastars, which is the worldbuilding.

There are a substantial amount of chapters that are written just to explain what the life of a specific species is like (the one with the Legom hen is a favorite of mine), and those are some of the most enjoyable chapters of the entire manga. They really add to the world, and you see how each animal uses their own characteristics to help the overall society. Chickens sell eggs to the food market, canines sell their fur during shedding season, and some impoverished animals sell their body as food, just to name a few examples.

However, like most series that I rate a 4/5 (or a 9/10 on MAL), this series is great but not completely perfect. My biggest criticism for this series is in the story, which unfortunately isn't the best. It bites off more substantially more than it can chew, and there are numerous examples of when the author tries out an idea only to drop it a few chapters later (JoJo stands basically appear towards the end of the series for no reason, Legosi randomly undergoes Shounen training arcs, and the author also tries to set up some dumb love triangles that are quickly dropped, thank God). There are also many potential plot points that just aren't resolved, like who will be the next Beastar, or what is the Beastar exactly. The story also mentions a brief history of the world including a long World War, which was very interesting but also only mentioned twice.

But, in my eyes, this isn't too big of a deal, because the narrative is much more character driven than event driven. There honestly aren't really any characters that I dislike in any way (except maybe the final villain character Melon), but there are a ton I love. Some standouts include Legosi, Haru, Louis, Gohin, Gosha (Legosi's grandfather), and Jack, who are all great. It's very interesting to observe how all the different creatures of the world live their lives, and the relationships between animals because of their species.

Something else that I haven't seen the other people mention very much is the humor of the series. The manga is actually surprisingly very funny, the Paru Itagaki does a great job of drawing those anime reaction faces (especially on Haru).

Story: 7

Reasons stated in the main review above. It can get a bit messy sometimes, and many concepts are introduced but never explored.

Art: 9

Pretty good art. It definitely looks and feels unique, and although it can feel a bit rough sometimes, overall I think the art is very well done.

Character: 10

The main driving force behind the series. The characters and their relationships are why you should read this.

Enjoyment: 9

Really, really enjoyable.

Overall: 9 (4/5)