Both take place on worlds inhabited by anthropomorphic animals that live largely in harmony with each other, the only thing that separates them is their diet. Both focus on the relationships between two opposites, one being the natural enemy of the other. Ultimately, Beastars' dark tone and thought-provoking and complex storyline make the experience more satisfying than Disney's 2016 hit.
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After months of anticipation, the series finally arrives on Netflix today. It's the last major anime made in the last decade, a significant technical feat from a studio that's quickly building a reputation for making the impossible happen.
Based on the award-winning manga by writer and illustrator Paru Itagaki, Beastars follows Legoshi, a shy, timid, and unlike his appearance, shy gray wolf. A member of the drama club at Cherryton High School, Legoshi has spent much of his life playing the wimp, doing his best to avoid conflict. While some animals scold him for downplaying his wildest instincts and friendly relationships with herbivores, Legoshi displays solemn maturity, highlighted by Chikahiro Kobayashi's winning voice performance.
When their friend Tem, an alpaca, is eaten by an unknown animal in what is known as a "predation" incident (the worst crime in the world), the school naturally suspects the wolf among them. Legoshi, used to this type of treatment, plans to keep his head down, keep his teeth hidden, and stay away.
Things get tough when he meets Haru, a snow-white dwarf rabbit. Much bolder than his appearance suggests, he is well aware that he is always one step away from death. Haru is the only member of the school's gardening club and an outcast fellow with a reputation for promiscuity. Legoshi falls in love with her, but Haru only has eyes for the drama club's leading man and the school's most popular animal, the proud and charismatic red deer Louis.
Ready to rise to the position of 'Beastar', an animal that transcends prejudice and fear, Louis is everything Legoshi is not. The deer admires everyone around him, looks down on other animals, and is disgusted that Legoshi is hiding the alpha within him. His animosity towards Legoshi is due to the fact that, as a deer, he will always be considered prey by half the population.
Throughout the series, Legoshi navigates this interspecies love triangle, trying to figure out if Haru is his first true love or his future prey.
A kidnapping plot brightens things up in the second half of the season, but it felt a bit out of place and not very plausible. Fortunately, it is resolved rather quickly and we return to the true power of the story, the complicated and strange relationship between the shy wolf and the fearless rabbit.
Last month, we passed an important but overlooked milestone in anime history. February marked the 20th anniversary of Kenichi Maejima's A.LI.CE, the first full-length CG anime film. Computer graphics in the anime have improved a lot since Osamu Dezuki used it in Golgo 13: The Professional; Just watch Promare and Kazuki Akane Stars Align's soft tennis drama for recent examples. However, a respectable and accomplished full CG anime series seemed unattainable, that is, until the arrival of Orange.
With Land of the Lustrous and now Beastars, Orange has become the standard bearer to which all other studios producing full CG series will be compared. Hopefully the material continues to adapt and is as ambitious as the medium itself.
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