Well, it's been forever since I've done a journal and since it's something I rarely do anyways, I decided to make it about something special I recently enjoyed. It's been a little bit since the international release date, so I decided to do a little review of it since I'm sure it's saturated already. Since I haven't read the manga, which is still ongoing, and the anime obviously skipped over or is saving stuff for later, please do not jump in on spoilers if you've read the manga. Spoiler comments will be deleted.


Overall
I absolutely love this series, Beastars has a dark Zootopia vibe to it, with very interesting complex characters with plenty of intrigue, romance and violence to keep it all going. The artwork is gorgeous! It's a good start with some minor issues that you can overlook with the hopeful assumption that things will be explained and any production problems will be fixed by next season.

Plot
So season 1 has basically been the introduction to the series, especially to those like me who have not read the manga. So, to make a long story short I'd describe it as: star-crossed awkward and tense teenage lovers form an awkward lovers triangle during a tumultuous time in their adolescent years whilst bad stuff goes on around them.

It's been a good plot, from introducing the intrigue of Tem's murder, the onstage fight between Legoshi and Bill, to the showdown with the Mishigumi, its been pretty engaging. The romance between Legoshi and Haru is interesting enough in the usual melodramatic way of having ups and downs; will-they won't they, though their internal monologues are really the driving force of how interesting they can be with all their anxieties and sexual tension. If anything this was probably done to really establish their relationship before expanding to other things by next season.

Whilst the murder mystery being put on the back-burner was a little bit of a bummer, I understand the reasoning behind it, and it has intrigued me where it will go with the clues they've handed out so far.

Characters
Basically everyone is either a self-hating mess or outwardly confident but internally nervous wreck, peppered with douchebag types, so it's the perfect high school ensemble. Also I loved it!

The main cast work well, particularly in how much they are the same but also in their differences. Whilst Legoshi, Haru and Louis all share certain anxieties and beliefs you can tell that their different personalities are going to lead them down different routes, probably to the same end.

Legoshi wants to fit in despite essentially having to always be in control of his predatory instincts and his temper.

Haru wants to be treated as an equal and individual despite her helpless size/appearance.

Louis is the controlling ruthless prince of the school, traumatized at youth and basically being groomed for the life of leadership whilst having very clear bias against carnivores and by all accounts has thrown it all away to "do what must be done" and "to make a point".

They all will no doubt be making the next season an interesting one when in all probability we will be seeing the fallout of the events of season 1 and the investigation into who killed Tem is underway.

World-building
Probably the most anemic aspect of the anime is the world-building, much like Zootopia it throws out certain concepts but either doesn't explain how they work or contradict them later. Indeed, whilst the anime does go a little into detail on some things, it tends to raise more questions than it answers. Now, this of course can be attributed to adapting a known source to the screen, so how much they assume the audience already knows or simply have to cut for time is understandable.

That being said, so far the world-building has at least been decent. The protein-heavy diets of carnivores, the taboos and crimes between carnivores and herbivores, the blackmarket and the consequences of carnivores getting a taste for meat, the relationship between carnivores and herbivores, and the hints at the politics of the world, they all work though they leave open further questions.

It was a missed opportunity to use the school to actually teach us how the world works and basically undercut the school's existence to little more than their home for the season. Hopefully the next season addresses some of this and the world-building as a whole.

Art style, Direction and Technical Stuff
As I've said already, the art is amazing in its own right. Clearly a lot of effort went into it to make it look so good and give this series life. No doubt some of the scenes were obviously lifted from the manga for their 'iconic' look. They follow the usual anime style as far as facial emotional expressions go, though probably not diving into it as deeply as other animes have.

There are some questionable directorial choices for the transitions and time framing. If you weren't paying attention, you'd forget this story is taking place between May and July before rushing to the end of August in the last few minutes, and that some scenes were flashbacks to stuff that happened previously. There was at least one cut/transition in the middle of a conversation! I'm going to assume either inexperienced or rushed decisions led to these choices. Overall they luckily do not hurt the series in any way that makes it incomprehensible.

Predictions!
The main trio are going to be finding themselves being pushed towards the Beastar mantle one way or another, which means dealing with the mayor and principal, probably Louis' father and his industrial empire, and thus we finally really get into the politics of this world as Legoshi moves towards leaving school.

Probably no sex between Haru or Legoshi, just more melodrama about how they need to get over their instincts and awkwardness whilst living apart since he'll still be in school. The love between Louis and Haru will no doubt be the next big issue they need to get over; though I won't rule out a polyamorous relationship just yet.

We're going to get more of Legoshi's past, considering it was largely overlooked. I'm sure it'll be a mixture of sad and odd considering that's been his life story.

I'm sure Haru will have to deal with all the extra drama entering her life along with whatever else gets thrown in to try and break her will to live. Possibly get some more back story but we'll see. I'm guessing she'll be finding a place to live and will be getting a job as a florist or at least something menial to hold her over till then.

Louis is gonna have to deal with the fallout of his actions; at the least from his father, probably become the new head of the gang he just executed using his experience as the iron-fisted ruthless head of the drama club. I'm sure the female betrothed to him will make an appearance. He'll probably do plenty to cause problems for Legoshi but we'll see how they get along over the course of the season.

Juno is going to be Louis' replacement at drama club and will probably be doing her worst to try and break Legoshi into loving her. If anything she'll probably try to become the Beastar that Louis threw away. She'll be the big problem inside the school for the loving couple.

The Murderer: No doubt the entire next season will be everyone searching for the identity. Whether or not there is another murder, I'm guessing they might not figure it out till the very end or if they're really ambitious they'll solve it but can't prove it/a cover-up. I don't think they'll resolve it in one season but maybe I'm just thinking too hard on drama formula.

As far as current hints go, I'm guessing it's probably Bill.