#beastars meta

[writing-biting]

You know what. Fuck it. Trans beastars headcanons breakdowns and essays considering a variety of options and possibilities but somehow not actually including the actual headcanons:

Legoshi:

If Legoshi were trans, one of two things would happen:

1. She'd just act like she was a girl the whole time, just show up one day as a girl. Completely unbothered. If people ask her about it she'd either give them the most panicked, rambly explanation ever, or just be like "found out I was a girl." She has bigger problems she don't give a fuckkk. The only thing that might break her chill is the realization that Haru might be straight.

2. She misinterprets her desire to be a woman as a desire to be a herbivore and has a fucking guilt spiral over it. And then goes oh wait! This isn't nearly as bad as having a herbivore fetish. And then proceeds to do option 1.

Anyhow this is just building up to me saying that I don't think Legoshi is trans, because if he was he'd just. Be a girl.

"What if he's transmasc and transitioned socially already?" Yeah, I can get behind that. Absolutely nothing would change in canon from that.

"What if Legoshi is non binary?" Yeah, absolutely, I can get behind that. The main difference is that Legoshi would get the full range of insults and regular demands to know if they're a boy or a girl.

"Would Legoshi respect my pronouns?" Legoshi would pick fights with people who used the wrong pronouns for you behind your back.

Listen Legoshi is the kind of person who went I think I'm a girl/boy at age 4 and was immediately accepted by family.

There's also the fact that Legoshi is very comfortable with his masculinity. Like could he be trans? Absolutely. Do I think it would be difficult for Legoshi to come to terms with being trans? Fuck no.

Haru:

The first thing Haru would do after realizing he's trans is contemplate suicide. The second thing he'd do is repress it for as long as possible. He'd get really bitter about the guys close to him being "allowed to be men". He'd have a lesbian phase to try to repress it.

Either way, I don't think Haru has ever thought about her gender identity even once. I believe firmly that her reaction to someone suggesting to her that she can be a boy would be "but I'm a girl?" Her gender is an immutable fact to her.

"What if Haru is transfemme and transitioned socially pre-canon?" Then she would be slightly more careful about who she has sex with and would live in fear of people finding out <3 and obviously people would fuck her over and the bullying problem would be so much worse <3 that fucking lion would perform bottom surgery on her with his teeth and she'd be fucking grateful for it <3

"What if Haru's is non binary?" Haru would tell absolutely no one <3 and live in discomfort and pain until eventually coming out to Legoshi, who would become increasingly tortured by not being able to defend Haru when Haru is misgendered. And would probably accidentally out Haru at some point <3

"Would Haru respect my pronouns?" It would be so fucking hard for her. She'd try but she'd be uncomfortable and confused. She'd probably eventually think it over and realize she was being shitty and then overcompensate by yelling at anyone who got your pronouns wrong.

I feel like Haru has a lot of internalized misogyny, and it would make being trans very stressful for her.

Louis:

Immediately starts considering self harm when she realizes! Before actually thinking about it and hey. She doesn't have to JUST chop off her leg.

She can become someone else entirely. She can leave it all behind again for no one but herself. She doesn't have to just lose her leg, she can take her identity by the throat and claim it.

Is she allowed to be someone other than the person she was molded to be? Is transitioning loosening her grip or tightening it?

"What if Louis is transmasc and transitioned pre-canon?" The only way this could happen is if he made a throwaway comment about it when he was younger and his father went 'a boy is better than a girl!' and forcemasced him. Otherwise, if Louis had the freedom to transition pre-canon, he would be um, a lot saner in canon.

"What if Louis is nonbinary?" Then Louis would try to solve gender dysphoria with consensual cannibalism and it would go badly.

"Would Louis respect my pronouns?" He doesn't care enough to notice if he is or not. If someone corrects him, he'll grit his teeth and comply.

Louis' whole thing is his autonomy and freedom, and to a degree reclaiming a body that was bartered and sold and used. Which makes him being trans very compelling regardless of the direction.

Juno:

Fuckkk this ruins his meticulous plan to become beastar fuckkk. Can trans people be beastars? His life is ruined. It's fine. It's fine. He's got this. He can just tell no one ever and he'll be fine.

Oh god does this mean he's a fucking faggot. No. Nooo. Nope! He's a woman and that's it. He's a cute fucking girl that's making headway for women everywhere, a woman who's going to leave a mark on the world.

The biggest case of denial this beautiful world has seen.

"What if Juno is transfemme and transitioned pre-canon?" Then she's going to become the fucking face of transgenderism. She's going to be the first trans beastar. She's going to singlehandedly destroy transphobia. If anyone rejects her it's specifically because they're transphobic, and if anyone hates her it's for the same reason. She's going to claw her way to the top with the sweetest smile and the prettiest look the fucking world has seen.

"What if Juno is non binary?" If Juno ignores it very very hard maybe it'll go away! Everyone knows that if you just double down on being a girl you'll stop wishing you were something else.

"Would Juno respect my pronouns?" To your face? Yes, absolutely. It's called being nice. In private? Depends on how the conversation is going and what'll make her look best. Sticking up for you looks best more often than you'd think

Juno is all about her image, so being transgender is a hurdle she wouldn't appreciate. If she can spin it her way, she's keeping it. If she can't? It's repression time babyyy

Azuki:

Gender is a choice and he is CHOOSING to be a man, actually. Nobody has to know about it obviously, but he wants this. He wants to want this. He's not ashamed of himself. A secret doesn't have to be shameful

"What if Azuki is transfemme and transitioned pre-canon?" Nobody knows and nobody will know, unless they've slept with her. Also she probably thinks that Louis finds her repulsive because of it.

"What if Azuki is non binary?" Then Azuki will take that to Azuki's fucking grave.

"Would Azuki respect my pronouns?" Yes. Without hesitation or a single mistake. In fact, the way she'll respect your pronouns will be so fucking exact and effortless that everyone who ever fucked them up will look like a pathetic fool.

Azuki is a person who values reputation above all else, and won't let personal distress or discomfort keep her from achieving her goals. And nothing about her is anybody's business, especially not her fucking gender.

[everymeloneveryday]

I'm thinking of Melon and Legoshi's relationship again specifically in the early pre-"evil does exist" stages they make me so ill. Legoshi wants to save him soooo bad.

it's soooooo funny bc up until that point, legoshi HAD saved everyone (excluding the shishigumi boss who he was too much of a baby to ACTUALLY mortally wound). as far as legoshi is concerned, Melon is just another Riz. someone who, if he could manage to empathize and reason with, would at least Reconsider his actions and turn himself in for treatment. which is of course exactly what melon laughs at him for 💖 because he sucks and has spent the last dozen or so years reinforcing the same noxious beliefs in himself over and over and over again 💖

though to be fair to legoshi, Melon IS similar to riz in a lot of ways. it's because of this that I believe a loss of taste is linked directly to feelings of trauma and guilt, which, well. you don't actually learn how early on in melons life he'd been isolated and assaulted, we just know it'd been happening for a long time, and while he was Very Young. while Melon himself says his lack of taste is because of his mixed genetics, there is no actual proof that that's the case. also both Melon and Legoshi are unreliable narrators LOL neither of them know shit for fuck about the world in two entirely different ways.

anyway legoshi shouldve spent more time with his grandpa and volunteered at that mixed daycare too, then he really would've been able to meet more like himself and his mom. ALAS!! he and haru BOTH wanted to be soooo nicies and save the world's most miserable 24yo because he just so happens to be a representative of the Potential they want to bring into the world, unaware of course that he took his trauma and doubled down on the worst parts of what others saw him as.

[nekojarashishi]

@xj-frost

If those panels from my previous post (shown in chapters 56 and 131 respectively) are chronologically accurate, that would mean Agata's birthday is sometime between September - early April.

This also means that all the other Shishigumi lions besides Free and Ibuki have birthdays in mid April - August

[ariadneknowstheway]

One of the many well-done sides of Beastars is that no character is overlooked. They're all described well and even if it's not made explicit, they have their own emotional spectrum that shines through in the drawings.

Bill is a recurring character, so I'm not surprised that he continues to appear in the manga even after Louis graduates and Legosi is gone... I do like that he's explored in depth like this though.

On the other hand, I was surprised by Aoba, who says practically nothing in these two panels other than "Bill" and "It's my treat" and yet you can tell that Bill's words affected him and that he's thinking about it, and will think about it later.

It's nice when side characters aren't so minor after all

[guineapigsinwinter]

Beastars headcannon: Dogs to any other animal look just wrong. Most of the time no one could tell you just what it is, just a sense of wrongness/unnatural, very much uncanny valley.

Legoshi doesn't notice due to his hybrid nature, qnd with Collot it is very pronounced in his eyes hence them being covered.

Bit late to work this into my fics fully except maybe that some dog breeds have it that were early experiments.

[bootlickerhawks]

Beastars, metaphors and mixed signals

2 disclaimers before I start:

1) I haven’t read the entirety of the manga and I only watched season 1, so there are probably things that I’m missing and/or don’t have the full context for. I merely want to share my impressions about the allegories behind the herbivore/carnivore dynamic as depicted in Beastars season 1.

2) It’s not my intention to discourage people from watching Beastars and/or “cancel” Beastars by pointing out its problematic elements. Like I previously stated I merely want to share my impressions and write, what I believe is, a fair critique of Beastars. 

Now with that out of the way here’s my meta about the allegories and metaphors behind the herbivores/carnivores dynamic in Beastars.

/!\ Warning: discussion of racism and sexual assault (nothing graphic) /!\

1) Racial tensions and the inconsistent portrayal of the Class divide

One of the first elements we’re introduced to in the world of Beastars is the tension between herbivores and carnivores. At the start of the show tensions are at an all-time high because of the murder of Tem, a herbivore, at the hands of a carnivore. What stands out about Tem’s murder is that the scene makes it very clear that Tem had known his murderer for years and that they were classmates. Tem remarks that herbivores are just food for carnivores regardless of any prior emotional bond, even going so far as saying that carnivores are incapable of viewing herbivores as anything other than prey. 

In the manga Tem also states that carnivores are the “inferior species”, which shows there is a sense of hierarchy between herbivores and carnivores. This hierarchy is further shown in the cafeteria scene where it’s revealed that carnivores are forbidden from eating meat and have to eat vegan. This shows that herbivores have institutional/legal power over carnivores.  

At first glance this seems like a straightforward allegory for racism and prejudice however very quickly we run into several problems:

Using predator animals as stand-ins for minorities is inherently flawed. Pseudo biology has often been used by white supremacists to justify their bigotry against minorities however biology is a key component to animal behavior (and no reasonable person would blame an animal for acting on its instincts). Beastars gives us a story where animals act like humans, live in a humanlike society, but are still shackled by animal instincts. However, by portraying minorities as predators it gives the herbivores/white people stand-ins reasonable cause to discriminate, which muddies the anti-prejudice message and misrepresents the causes of racism. (If you want a more in depth analysis of this issue in media check out this video).

The metaphor of the Black market in Beastars. The first time I watched the Black market scene I assumed that it was a commentary about how the working class sacrifice their bodies (think intensive manual labor) for the benefit of society. In the previous scene Legoshi marvels at the fact that the carnivores and herbivores are coexisting peacefully only to come to the harsh realization that the only reason for that is because of the Black market. The herbivores sacrifice their bodies to make sure the carnivores behave. However, this somewhat contradicts the previously established worldbuilding (ie. Herbivores having supremacy over carnivores) and if we apply the race allegory here, implies that reverse racism is real (which… you know… it’s not).

2) Traditional gender roles and the unintentional(?) message the author conveys

The second most prominent metaphor concerning herbivores and carnivores is how they seem to represent traditional gender roles, which is why Legoshi and Haru are considered outliers.

Legoshi is a large gray wolf, (which is treated as a big deal in Beastars), who is shy and socially awkward, and he’s often criticized for acting like that. He is frequently encouraged to be more assertive and “act like a carnivore” and throughout the show it’s clear he struggles with his carnivore instincts.  

Haru on the other hand is headstrong, blunt and brave. Because of her appearance she tends to get coddled by others which frustrates her, and so she resorts to sexual encounters to be treated as an equal. This leads to her getting a reputation as a “slut” and being bullied however Haru states that she doesn’t regret it cuz she would rather be ostracized than be pitied.

I believe that the theme of instincts frequently mentioned in Beastars is a reference to Carl Jung’s theory of the Shadow. For those unfamiliar the Shadow is the aspect of one’s personality that we don’t consciously acknowledge. It is the “unknown dark side of our personality” and it has been frequently compared to being our more primitive animal instincts, sound familiar?                                                 In Jungian psychology the process of individualisation necessitates multiple steps involving the Shadow: encountering the Shadow, merging with the Shadow and assimilation of the Shadow. I firmly believe that Legoshi’s character arc will echo these steps. However, I’m not here to talk about Legoshi’s character arc but about how the notion of instincts relates to the traditional gender dynamic between the herbivores and carnivores. 

I know some people may disagree with me on this, but I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the carnivores eating herbivores could be a metaphor for sexual assault. In fact, I think episode 10 makes it quite blatant (that’s the episode where the leader of the shishigumi won’t shut up about how shame and humiliation makes the meat tastier 🤢). So if we use this metaphor then the theme of instincts takes a much darker tone. Throughout the show we’re shown that carnivores frequently struggle with their instincts and that they inherently crave eating meat/herbivores. Which makes sense since they’re animals but given that Beastars uses the dichotomy between carnivores and herbivores as a commentary about the traditional relation between men and women in society, if we follow this line of thought to its natural conclusion then Beastars is implying that men are inherently rapists.

In conclusion,

I think Beastars had good intentions and wanted to convey a positive and encouraging message that love is what helps you overcome your inner darkness and helps bridge the differences that separate us (via Haru and Legoshi’s relationship) but it gets muddled by the clumsy use of metaphors. 

[guiltybystanders]

Beastars has ended! Two days ago, but I didn’t realize until today... And that ending... I have thoughts about it. Mostly that Beastars was a great story that completely lost its way in the last arc.

Warning for spoilers for the whole series, though this is focused more on a few big picture problems instead of individual characters and plotlines that got shafted.

I still really like Beastars, even if I'm no longer as gung-ho about recommending it to people after the last arc. The characters (when being paid adequate attention) were complex people with compelling flaws and fascinating worldviews. The worldbuilding (apart from a few bits of weirdness and the end) was some of the most interesting and thought-out I've read this past year, especially for something that starts as a slice of life story. And the commentary on gender (because this is definitely a story about gender) was nuanced and explored from many angles, and honestly a very thoughtful take on (non-toxic but still distinctly masculine) masculinity. Tho, for a story about gender and forbidden love, the fact there was next to no acknowledgment of LGBT themes was strange and actually made it a weaker story. Louis should have been gay tbh. Overall, there's a lot there to recommend.

Unfortunately, the best parts of the series (the complicated worldbuilding and how that society affected the characters, and the psychology of those characters) were less focused on than external forces and fighting towards the end, as the pacing rocketed up and many subplots were dropped to speed to the ending as soon as possible. Beastars was never super realistic in its drama (Haru was captured by the fucking mafia back when it was still mostly slice of life) but before the last arc, it still mostly felt internally-focused—it was a character-focused drama despite crazy action subplots. For instance, Legosi's training arc was undeniably an anime training arc, but more so it was about him struggling to be strong without eating meat, culminating in the scene where he does take a life by eating a bug. Even when shit got shonen, it was still a story of masculinity and finding your place in society, and I didn't mind the crazier aspects of that because it still felt mostly dedicated to the characters' emotional states (and the crazy shit was often sick as hell tbh.) I didn't feel the same way later on—Legosi still thought about what he was feeling, but almost always through dramatic monologues (often during fights) instead of moments of true self-reflection, and many of the supporting characters were sidelined with their potential wasted (such as Haru, who not only was never given her own storyline like she deserved, but also was still treated as Legosi's main motivation and yet was barely shown in his life.) The plot wasn't what drew me to Beastars—the characters and world were—but the plot is what got the focus in the end. And with the ending and the worldbuilding; the complete destruction of the Back Alley Market after one single moment felt pretty antithetical to a lot of other parts of the series—the Back Alley Market was challenged throughout the whole series as something to change and overcome, but we were also shown it was not so simple to completely end carnivore urges. To wrap it up in one big dramatic moment kind of destroys a lot of the best aspects of the worldbuilding, which was so horribly morally complicated.

There are parts of the last arc I did like, or at least think had potential if done differently, but none are enough to justify the last part of the manga. I liked Melon, at first. I think he brought some fascinating ideas to the story, ones that would have really shined had his arc been better written and paced. As it was, he became less compelling to me as time went on and the story became about defeating him instead of who the characters were as people, and his own character became more melodramatic. I liked the story of Legosi's mom, which only came after Melon's introduction. But then the part with Gosha's wife's suicide didn't really make much sense and felt shoehorned in to me. I liked Yahya’s introduction and his dynamic with Gosha. But I feel like his character was never fully unpacked, and his past with Gosha (while fun) sometimes overshadowed learning about his ideals or what it meant to actually be the Beastar. I loved seeing the "world of adults" in the city, and all of Legosi's neighbors. But they were largely written out as well, just as surely as most of the Cherryton students were. And the Cherryton characters were written out, even ones that seemed important, like Juno and Bill. The most egregious example of a character being written out was Haru: she started out as one of the three main characters with her own complex problems and worldview—and it was Legosi's feelings about her that motivated him throughout the entire story—but by the end, she was barely even a character, her own problems inconsistently addressed and glossed over, mostly showing up just for Legosi to Feel A Thing He Needs To For Plot. As it is... I can't help but think that it would have been best to end the story when Legosi caught the killer and left school, when things were relatively tied up, even if that would have come at the expense of some parts I really did like.

The ending dropped the ball on a lot of accounts—forgetting subplots, sidelining characters, oversimplifying the worldbuilding, bizarre pacing—and that really is a damn shame. However, I still like the beginning and the middle enough that I like this series overall, and in the end I'm glad I read it.

[jomeimei421]

While I am here, what do you think of number 9 for Haru ? 🥺

9) What calms them when they are upset?

This would vary wildly based on what she’s upset about and what point in her character arc she is at.

Haru is extremely expressive, as if she’s using 100% of her energy to emote. She’s larger than life; it’s one of the many ways that ItaParu used to show Haru is true to herself and lives exactly the way she wants to.

As such, it’s pretty easy to tell when Haru is upset about something because she will either yell about it and stomp around, or be blatantly passive aggressive and evasive.

If something really is bothering her, she usually takes action immediately, often recklessly. For example, when talking to Louis about her relationship problems in the manga, she reveals that she thoughtlessly promised Melon that he could eat her because she wasn’t used to being singled out and coveted carefully the way Legosi treats her. She felt like she was straying from her “herbivore way,” which was to be comfortable as one of a million identical others.

Haru finds comfort in normality and in being one of millions of others. But that’s slowly changing due to Legosi, the nature of their relationship, and the way he values her.