"BEASTARS," which is scheduled for an anime adaptation starting in October, is a coming-of-age ensemble drama featuring anthropomorphized animals. Currently serialized in Weekly Shonen Champion, it's one of the most noteworthy boys' manga of the moment, having won numerous awards, including second place in the 2017 "This Manga is Amazing! 2018" Men's Edition and the 2018 Manga Taisho Grand Prize. We'd like to rank some of "BEASTARS'"'s most memorable scenes.
Top 7 Famous Scenes - No. 7: "Legoshi and Haru's First Contact"
"BEASTARS" depicts the romance between the main character, Legoshi, a gray wolf, and the heroine, Haru, a dwarf rabbit. One of the highlights of the series is its forbidden love in a world where interspecies love between carnivores and herbivores is taboo. The story of how the two first met was shocking, something you'd never see in a romance manga.
The Worst Encounter
Legoshi, a member of the drama club at school, is tasked with keeping watch over night practice one day, where he happens to encounter Haru. The tension of not wanting to be discovered during his secret night practice, coupled with his carnivorous hunting instincts, causes Legoshi to lose his cool and nearly kill Haru. Legoshi manages to stop himself in the nick of time, but the events of that night make Legoshi realize the violent nature of the male gray wolf that lies dormant within him, and Haru realizes that this world is a law of the jungle and that, as a rabbit, he is the overwhelming underdog.
The Two Reunite
Their reunion, in stark contrast to the bleakness of their first contact, is romantic and immersed in a blossoming garden. Fortunately, Haru is unaware that it was Legoshi who attacked her that night. Legoshi ends up helping Haru, but he is overcome with guilt and is uneasy. Then, an unexpected turn of events unfolds for Legoshi. Haru begins to take off her clothes, intending to use her body as a token of gratitude for his help. It turns out that Haru is also having similar relationships with other male animals. Legoshi is shaken by Haru's sudden behavior, but once again, he manages to keep his composure and walks away without doing anything. Haru begins to take an interest in the gray wolf, who behaves in a gentlemanly manner unlike the other males. Meanwhile, Legoshi, who has never experienced love before, begins to feel special in Haru, who is the first to treat him as a "male."
Top 7 Famous Scenes - No. 6: "Chicken Identity"
"BEASTARS" skillfully incorporates the innate abilities of animals into the characters' identities. Not only the main characters, but even the supporting characters are appealing, with their unique personalities and unique personalities that are not stereotypical. The episode featuring the chicken, Legom, is a one-off episode unrelated to the main story, but Legom's character stands out and is emblematic of the series' appeal.
Laying Eggs as a Part-Time Job
Regom is a young hen born with the ability to lay eggs. She works part-time providing the eggs for egg sandwiches at the school cafeteria. One day, she witnesses Legoshi commenting that the egg sandwiches made with her eggs are delicious. This marks a turning point for Legom. Until then, egg-laying was a natural ability for a hen, but now, being recognized by others, it becomes something special. From that day on, Legom began to work hard to lay better tasting eggs, but her fellow hens told her that her part-time job was just a "side job," which made her stubborn. She even turned down invitations from friends to hang out, becoming more stoic.
Egg-laying as a source of pride
Just when she had gained confidence in her egg-laying skills, Legom heard some rumors that the egg sandwiches she made that day had gotten worse. She felt deeply hurt, taking this as a denial of her identity. It also became a good opportunity for her to reflect on her obsession with egg-laying. However, there's actually a twist to this story: Her eggs were so popular that they changed the day of the week when they sold more, and there was no problem with her egg-laying. This episode, in which Hen struggles with her identity as an egg-layer, is very comical, but egg-laying is also a universal story that anyone can relate to, as it symbolizes personal identity.
Top 7 Famous Scenes - No. 5: "Becoming an Adult"
In the world of "BEASTARS," carnivores and herbivores coexist, and meat consumption is forbidden. Legoshi and his friends are well aware of this, but they discover an ugly reality outside of school. While Legoshi and his friends are tasked with shopping outside, they get lost and encounter an elderly herbivore in an alley who suggests they buy and eat his fingers. It turns out that illegal meat consumption is actually tolerated in this world, and there's a huge black market.
The Reality of the Black Market
Legoshi and his friends are shaken, having only heard rumors about the finger, but his carnivorous friends see this as a rare opportunity and offer to buy it and split the profits. His friends insist that all the adults are doing it in secret, but Legoshi strongly refuses, given his past with Haru. His naive insistence falls flat, and he runs away. Legoshi may talk about his ideals, but even he can't completely control his carnivorous instincts with reason. After learning the reality of cannibalism, Legoshi's salivation began to wane uncontrollably, eventually collapsing in the street.
A reality he still refuses to accept
A panda quack rescued him after he collapsed. He was also a counselor for carnivores who had committed crimes to cannibalize. Legoshi explained that living as a carnivore isn't just a pretty story; even the black market, where he doesn't directly harm herbivores, is a necessary evil. Legoshi's romantic feelings for Haru were also condemned as a distorted form of his hunting instinct. Yet, perhaps due to his youth, Legoshi refused to abandon his ideals. After being confronted with the filthy adult world in the black market, he was greeted by Aoba, one of the carnivores he'd been shopping with. Aoba, a carnivore he knew, crossed his mind and ultimately decided against cannibalism. Seeing Aoba, Legoshi realized he wasn't alone in his struggle between reality and ideals, and he was moved to tears.
An Inescapable Reality
In "BEASTARS," meat is a metaphor for an inescapable reality. Even in the real world, there are things we know we can't do anything about. A good example is sexual desire. Sexual desire, like food, is not something we can easily eliminate. That's why businesses exist in the world that cater to sexual desire. In "BEASTARS," the black market clearly has nuances of a red-light district. Legoshi's struggles with this reality are deeply relatable.
Top 7 Famous Scenes: #4: "The Love Triangle Between Legoshi, Haru, and Louis"
Legoshi has a counterpart: Louis the red deer.
Louis and Legoshi
Louis is the captain of Legoshi's drama club, a charismatic figure at school with high aspirations. Unlike the outcast Legoshi, he is pursuing a glamorous path. The two have a relationship like that of light and shadow, and often clash throughout the story. However, at the same time, they are drawn to each other because they possess charms that the other lacks.
The Two Concerned About Haru
In fact, Louis and Haru had been in love before Legoshi met. After Legoshi found out, they became rivals. This love triangle then became turbulent. Haru was kidnapped by the Shishi-gumi, a yakuza gang. Louis realized that Haru would be left to die due to the dirty adult circumstances behind the incident, and that he was too weak to rescue Haru on his own. So when Legoshi, who learned the situation, asked Louis for help in rescuing Haru, he refused.
Light and Dark
Haru was important to Legoshi, but Louis was also a respected senior. Legoshi even believed that Louis was the one who could change this filthy world. Legoshi was enraged by the fact that even Louis had succumbed to the adult world, and he punched Louis. He then declared, "I'm taking Haru," and headed alone to the Shishi-gumi hideout. What's heartbreaking about this scene is that Louis is once again shown the overwhelming strength of carnivores by the Shishi-gumi, who kidnapped Haru, and by Legoshi, who holds the potential to break the status quo. For Louis, who swore he would never succumb to carnivores, this is a double humiliation. This incident reverses the light and dark relationship between Legoshi and Louis. Legoshi pursues the path he believes in, while Louis, having once failed, enters the underworld himself.
Top 7 Famous Scenes - No. 3: "The Truth Behind the Cannibalism Incident"
"BEASTARS" begins with a shocking first episode, in which a herbivore is killed and cannibalized at school. Legoshi discovers that the culprit is Liz, a bear from the same drama club. Liz possesses the toughness of a bear, unique even among carnivores, and Legoshi is no match for her. However, it is this very toughness that causes Liz so much pain.
Liz and Tim
In a world where their carnivorous instincts are nothing but a source of fear, the bear family is forced to suppress their overwhelming violent tendencies with drugs. In other words, this is synonymous with suppressing their true selves. Liz's hidden violent tendencies are discovered by a herbivore. That herbivore, Tim, was killed and cannibalized by Liz. He treated her kindly despite knowing that Liz was hiding her violent tendencies. Liz felt something special about Tim, and knew she could unleash her violent side on him.
A Tragic Friendship
After Liz became overconfident and stopped taking her medicine, her true nature was revealed, and she ended up hurting Tim. At this point, Tim told Liz, "You carnivores are all monsters." This line was also spoken in Episode 1, but the true meaning of those words was very kind. Tim recognized Liz as a monster, but still called her his best friend. For Liz, who had believed that she would be hated if her true nature as a monster was revealed, these words were a real relief. Having now revealed their true feelings to each other, the two share a warm embrace. However, it was actually no embrace at all. Liz, who had not taken her medicine, faithfully obeyed her carnivorous instincts and killed Tim. However, unable to accept reality, Liz decided to think of this as a beautiful memory.
Top 7 Famous Scenes - No. 2: "Louis and the Shishi-gumi"
Louis had been missing since the Shishi-gumi incident, but somehow, he ended up becoming the new leader of the Shishi-gumi. Despite being physically unbeatable against carnivorous beasts, Louis overcomes them with his indomitable spirit and wisdom. The Shishi-gumi changed after Louis became leader. Until now, his only redeeming feature was his carnivorous strength, but now he learns from Louis how to properly use that strength. Louis himself, who had previously believed that carnivores were invincible, also discovers that their weaknesses exist, and begins to see the potential for coexistence between carnivores and herbivores.
Breaking Away With the Underworld
Louis's coexistence with the Shishi-gumi was going smoothly, but when he learned of Legoshi and Riz's duel, he decided to go and rescue Legoshi. However, this also meant leaving the underworld. One person who didn't approve of this was Ibuki, a lion who was Louis's close aide in the Shishi-gumi. Fearing that the Shishi-gumi, which had changed for the better thanks to Louis, would go back to their old ways, Ibuki tried to stop Louis, even by threatening him, but this didn't work on Louis, who had learned the strengths and weaknesses of carnivores. Unable to back down, Ibuki attacked Louis, only to be shot and killed by Free, a fellow Shishi-gumi member. In fact, Ibuki had previously asked Free to stop him if he went berserk and tried to kill Louis. It was the last bluff of a clumsy lion who could only survive by acting tough.
Top 7 Famous Scenes - No. 1: "The Showdown with Forbidden Meat"
On New Year's Eve, the time finally comes for Legoshi and Riz to settle their feud. Despite his extensive training, Legoshi is still at a disadvantage against the overwhelming odds. Meanwhile, Louis rushes to Legoshi's aid. The two escape Riz and begin a conversation. During the conversation, Legoshi confesses that it was only because of Louis that he avoided making the same mistake as Riz. Louis, in turn, confronts his own weakness, which he had been hiding by acting bravely. He then offers Legoshi his cursed leg, the source of his weakness.
True Friendship
In response to Louis's resolve to expose his own weakness, Legoshi accepts the instincts he has been running away from and chooses to eat Louis' leg. This was the result of true friendship, unlike Liz's one-sided cannibalism, which was based on Tim's kindness, despite both being meat eaters. Legoshi's attack, awakened by the meat, allowed Liz to understand and accept her mistake. For the first time, he was also able to face his own weaknesses.
Best Scenes from "BEASTARS"
"BEASTARS" features strong and weak characters in various forms, including physical, mental, and social strengths. It teaches us that the truly strong are those who are able to honestly face their own and others' weaknesses. This is especially important in today's world, where diversity is so highly valued. If you haven't read it yet, now is the perfect opportunity, with an anime adaptation imminent. Please do.
