'Beastars' Review: Can carnivorous instincts be replaced by love and sex?
Adolescence is a particularly difficult period, fraught with internal conflicts, burgeoning sexuality, awareness of the opposite sex and the fear of being isolated from the peer group. And it's this turbulent time that forms the premise of Netflix's 'Beastars', an anime series based on the manga comics.
Welcome to the school of Cherryton, where humanoid animals are caught in their own petty rivalries, emotional fluxes and....strange as it sounds -- sex games. Yet, this strange and bizarre world is perfectly normal. It's nothing out of the ordinary. Society is divided into two--- carnivores and herbivores. A young alpaca is murdered and devoured in the first episode, and this raises the hackles of the herbivores. All carnivores are suspects, and the environment is fraught with tension. Who could it be? We know instantly who it is--- it's a wolf named Legoshi. But he isn't a bad sort by any means....or rather that's what the show wants you to believe.
He has ignored his carnal instincts for years, but it is now overwhelming him. By nature, he's a timid and shy wolf, and is considered 'odd' by his classmates. He is rattled by his classmate's death, and decides to fulfill one of his wishes, passing on a love letter to another classmate. Yet, the predator instinct in him is still very much present, and it gnaws at him like a painful disease. He has to confront the darker parts of his psyche: Does he really want to kill?
To add to his dilemma, there's a seemingly promiscuous dwarf rabbit named Haru, who is at the center of the story, due to a very intense relationship she shares with Legoshi. Never thought that you would see that in a sentence? (Well, after the first few episodes, this humanoid animal world begins to grow on you). She is mocked by her classmates for her sex drive, and she knows how to give it back. As revealed later, she is tired of being considered small and fragile, and somehow these acts of intimacy make her feel wanted. There's a particularly disturbing scene where she is seen as a sexual object from a lion's perception. This is sexual desire mixed with carnal needs as well.
She can't seem to understand Legoshi, and is yet drawn to him. He is sexually attracted to her, but doesn't quite know how to go about the process.
While these entangled tales continue, there's the added concept of the 'Beastar' itself. It's a badge of honour given to an individual who can achieve this level of supremacy and greatness in society. We see Ruis, a brazen and authoritative deer, an example of toxic masculinity. And of course, he has a running thread with Haru.
The show is a curious and peculiar one and is not everyone's cup of tea. The themes are ones that we might be familiar with - part high school drama, wrapped up in a murder mystery, set in a world where we are told to question our prejudices, get pulled back by our own demons (literally) and the role society plays in feeding into our inherent biases. It takes on bold themes and executes them with panache. The animation and sketches are quite impressive and the emotions are very clearly etched on the animals' faces.
'Beastars' is streaming on Netflix.
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