Beastars

Even if you're not into anime, you should give this a chance. It's brilliant.

This is my opinion. If you agree, that's fine. If you don't, that's still fine too. We all have different opinions.

I first heard of Beastars because of its opening theme. It was a jam to listen to and its visuals were interesting for an anime series. However, I got sidetracked by other movies and shows that I had no time to watch it. Thankfully, after many days have passed, I had four hours to spare and that was where it hit me; this is the perfect opportunity.

Like I said previously, the opening theme was a jam as I sway my hands like I was playing the drums. The opening isn't just where it stops getting good, because as the episodes went on, it just got better and better.

The plot had me interested and from the first episode alone, I realized that this show demanded my full attention. It tackles mature themes that I would expect coming from a Seinen manga, and this is made even better with the interesting use of its characters. Even if they were animals, it got me invested because of the worldbuilding, the depiction of carnivores and herbivores, and the conflicts that the world revolves around in. Also, I find it very interesting that I can empathize with a fictional, anthropomorphic, gray wolf who has anxiety issues. From the first season alone, I can already say that these are well-written characters, especially Legoshi, Haru, and Louie.

The animation was different than what I expected, but in a good way. I would have been fine with the stop-motion animation like in the opening, but the use of 3D animation and CGI were pretty good. A picture is worth a thousand words, and this saying holds true when you pause for a moment and think to yourself: this looks great.

In short, this anime and everything that makes it an anime is great. This is truly worth watching. I might probably read the manga as it got me very curious about what happens next. Hoping the Season 2 continuation will be just as good as its first season.

9.6/10

So I saw that ONE scene from Beastars that everyone probably saw. I honestly thought this is something for furries lol. Than I started to watch it with the thought that this show is gonna be the ultimate cringe for me. And true, some scenes might be weird and uncomfortable to watch, but I really like the concept and binged the first season in one day. Great character development. Intriguing conflicts. Nice 3D animation with a 3D look. So if you're open to anime, but had the same cringe prejudice about this show, give it a chance. It's really worth watching it.

The biggest surprise throughout all my years of viewing animated shows that exceeded my expectations in the best way imaginable. An absolutely rich and beautifully told drama that's engaging throughout featuring phenomenal animation and cinematography, including a killer soundtrack with endearing characters to boot. I don't think words can describe how much I adore this series, it's just that perfect and I don't think I will ever get tired of revisiting it.

Being an anime that involves exclusively anthropomorphic animal characters, Beastars will push some viewers away for the simple fact that its characters associated with furries. However the actual story of a teenage wolf falling in love with a white rabbit in a society that demonizes predators set against the backdrop of a gruesome murder had me engaged from the first episode.

Beastars aggressive narrative of romance, social divides, high school drama, and crime never once felt boring and smartly focused on its central characters while fleshing out the world they live in.

Legosi was an excellent protagonist through and through. His struggle to deal with his primal instincts and act rather timid despite being a grey wolf was the strongest aspect of the story. The rest of the characters, particularly Haru and Louis, were very well written and always took the more challenging route rather than succumb to narrative cliches.

The only complaint I can narrow down on Beastars, aside from how Netflix is releasing it, is with some inconsistent 3D-animation. It does not happen often, but some shots and whole scenes had a few awkward character movements that were to wooden or robotic to ignore. The rest of the anime animation is excellent, especially facial expressions on the characters.

I cannot recommend Beastars enough to both casual viewers and hardcore fans of anime alike, now we just need season 2 to have an official release date and the first season on US Netflix.