It is truly a sad day. We won't get anymore amazing intro and end sequences with Beastars. I am not biased when I say that the intros and outros to this anime were the best anime have seen. As far as I can tell, the animation budget was mostly used on those and the spare change was then used for the rest of the anime.
Nothing will ever top the stop motion doll into to the first intro that got half the internet and all of the furries hooked on this fandom... But the outro is a very decent second place.
Before I get into my extremely obsessive analysis, can I just say that "Tiny Light" by the band SEVENTEEN is just so fun and pretty? It has an upbeat and hopeful tone that is suiting for the finale of this series that is mostly about Legoshi keep getting bat break after bad break and finally gets a tiny break.
Anyway...
We start off with Legoshi being sent towards Haru's direction by his mother who then disappears. It is fitting as she is his mother. If his life is a journey then she is the one who started it for him... but unfortunately she did not much but that as her tragic suicide as well as self isolation because of her mutation meant that she was a very little part of his life, which is why she disappears right after Legoshi took two steps away from her.
She also hold a bunch of dandelions, but we will get to that later.
Haru and Legoshi are seen walking down stairs to reach each other, but the stairs are revealed to be escalators that starts moving the lovebirds up and away from each other. In the background, we see a construction side that becomes very relevant in what we see next.
Legoshi and Haru are balancing on steel beams that aren't even actually connected as we see the city(society) below. It symbolizes how the society they live in has been constructed so that it is not only NOT in favor of their romance, it makes it as difficult as possible, they have to balance and be careful not to trip as they try to reach each other.
And Legoshi did trip.
He is falling(in love :P Sorry, had to), falling and still falling, father and father away from Haru...
... And he lands in everyday adult life, no longer wearing his school uniform. The choices he made in school resulted in him dropping out and having to get a cheap apartment and a job.
We then get even MORE symbolism, served with meal methaphores.
We see Haru serving herself to him. That plate might as well have been made of silver! Fitting as Haru has done that since the first day they met, both as a casual sex partner, a lover and finally as a girlfriend. And Legoshi looks startled by her forwardness that is in contrast to her careful and overthinking nature that is a big factor in their relationship, often is a big factor in the LACK of their relationship.
We then see Legoshi trying to give Louis a bowl with fresh delicious-looking vegetables that the deer is refusing despite the wolf practically begging him to take it. Legoshi has often in the series tried to reach Louis as a friend and comrade as he holds him in high regard, much to Louis' annoyance.
Also, the lion who sits being Louis? Pretty sure he is wearing glasses, you know? :)
We then see Legoshi eating tomatoes with Rizz, the red fruit symbolizing blood. Rizz is ready to viciously devour the fruit(tomatoes are fruits, look it up) but Legoshi makes him calm down. Behind the two predators sits the herbivores they ate. Tem who Rizz ate because he was naïve enough to think his instincts were not that big a deal, which made him go down a destructive spiral. And Louis who Legoshi was given permission to eat, creating a bond between the wolf and deer. Tem is a burden that will always be on Rizz's back while Legoshi will carry both guilt but also spirit of Louis no matter where he is.
Legoshi with his first two adult friends in the "real" world. There is no food on the table as they expect nothing from him, they just enjoy his company and Legoshi feels relaxed in their company. And we see Sebun drinking a beer, showing how relaxed she is compared to how tense she is compared to when she is with other animals who belittles her.
We then see Yafya pushing his plate with a melon to Legoshi, making his problem into Legoshi's problem. And we see a very angry Legoshi shouting at the old horse and removing himself from him as he has no wish of being a part of the Sublime Beastar's world of violence and control. He walks away from Yafya and his plate with melon on it...
... Only to be lead into danger by Melon who, like he did in the manga and anime, plays the wolf into going towards obvious danger, like when he tricked him into the ambush that nearly turned the young wolf into shark food.
We see a bunch of fingers pointing towards directions for Legoshi to go towards. Right next to the wolf hand with stylish nails(his mom) is a big lizard one. Yes, his mom is there at the start line, but it is Gosha's hand that Legoshi leaps from because he is the most important (arguably only) parental figure in his life. He gave the wolf so much love that became the foundation of his life.
Legoshi runs after being given directions by Gosha, like when his mother gave him directions. But unlike his mom, Gosha is still there, waving and looking happy as he watch his grandson walks towards a light that represents a bright future. A ship is behind Gosha as he came from a faraway country. And like his daughter, Gosha is also holding a bouquet of dandelions.
Let's talk about the flowers.
... But at this point of the blog, I'm taking a break because I haven't written this much in months and need a break because HOLY SHIT.
...
Okay, I'm good. Just ate an apple.
So, dandelions.
Part of the song "Tiny Light" goes like:
"Your smile’s a gentle shower
Heart blooms into a flower"
So the dandelions we see represents hearts.
And dandelions are famous for spreading everywhere, like the love we share with others, including friends, family, lovers, even acquaintances.
Leano, Legoshi's mom, holds all of her dandelions. It could represents how she withdrew out of fear and too scared to share her love, even sharing it with her son. She killed herself at a relatively young age and her dandelions faded away with her.
Gosha also have a lot of dandelions. Maybe because most of the ones he shared his love with are gone, including his wife, daughter and who knows how many friends and family in his old country.
We see Legoshi running past a lot of people in his life, all of them holding a flower, maybe because Legoshi shared his heart with them in one way or another.
Tem is holding Rizz's hand. They are both holding dandelions because despite the violent... incident, they were friends. And Tem will always be a part of Rizz's life, for better or worse.
Legoshi finally takes a break from running as he reaches Louis, his most trusted friend and ally, who gives him one more direction to run towards, even smiling at him.
And finally, FINALLY(!!!), Legoshi reaches Haru who holds her dandelion, her heart, that she wants to share with the wolf.
In the background is a bright bathed in bright light, representing the tow of them being connected despite a (metaphorical) ocean between them.
Also, I love the felt-like animation, did I mention that?
DAMN, so much love and detail goes into the making of these intros and outros. Sure, the intro for this final part of season 3 is nice too, but this outro is a god damn masterpiece!!!
... And now I'm going to bed XD This blog got to be much longer than expected. I don't even think I covered everything.
Just finished the final season of Beastars… kinda sad they cut so many scenes. I’d honestly love to see a continuation—maybe with Legoshi’s kids and everyone else.
My sister and I are finally watching part two of the final season of Beastars and it gave me the idea to draw Legoshi's mother Leano if she had lived and fully lost her fur. I also drew her wearing a mask and hat to hide her wolf traits in public.
Oscar the Grouch (Sesame Street) vs Leano (Beastars)
Oscar the Grouch
Leano
Voting ended onFeb 22
Info / propaganda under the cut!
Oscar
Oops! No submissions! (Kind of - @ishnar suggested him in my ask box when I belatedly asked for one more suggestion after submissions closed though).
Mod propaganda: listen it’s Oscar the Grouch he lives in a trash can. Apparently he never leaves the can. He’s a willing shut-in just because he doesn’t like people or whatever. Idk I’ve never seen the show but we all know who he is right
Leano
“she spent a majority of her life after hitting puberty shut in her room due to scales appearing all over her.
[Propaganda]: shes so sweetie :[“ - anonymous submitter
Mod note: From my own research, to elaborate, she is half-wolf, half-Komodo Dragon but was born looking entirely wolf and only started growing scales later in life. She was so ashamed of her scales, and of the fact it showed she’s a hybrid - which is very stigmatised in the Beastars world - that she shut herself in her room once she was unable to hide her increasing amount of scales. She wouldn’t even allow her young son to see her like that (that son being Legoshi, the protagonist of Beastars - Leano exists as his backstory, basically). Tragically, this culminated with her committing suicide.
