Beastars is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Paru Itagaki. It has been serialized in Weekly Shōnen Champion since September 2016, with its chapters collected in 19 tankōbon volumes as of July 2020. The story takes place in a world of modern, civilized, anthropomorphic animals with a cultural divide between carnivores and herbivores. The series takes its name from the in-universe rank of Beastar, an individual of great talent, service, and notoriety. Beastars has won multiple awards, including being the first Akita Shoten title to take home the Manga Taishō Award. The manga is licensed for English release in North America by Viz Media, while the anime is licensed by Netflix. An anime television series adaptation by Orange aired from October 8 to December 26, 2019, on Fuji TV's +Ultra programming block. A second season is scheduled for release in 2021.
Plot
Legoshi, a large gray wolf, is a timid and quiet student of Cherryton Academy where he lives in a dorm with several other carnivorous students including his outgoing Labrador friend, Jack. As a member of the school's drama club, Legoshi works as a stagehand and supports the actors of the club headed by the star pupil Louis, a red deer. Out of nowhere, Tem the alpaca is brutally murdered and devoured in the night, setting off a wave of unease and distrust between the herbivore and carnivore students. At the same time, Legoshi has a fateful encounter with Haru, a small dwarf rabbit who has been in love with the red deer Louis, and begins developing complex feelings for her.
Characters
Legoshi Haru Louis Juno Gohin Jack Bill Collot Voss Miguno Durham Sanu Kai Els Dom Kibi Sheila Aoba Ellen Mizuchi Legom Tem Zoe Tao Gon Mayor Ogma Ibuki Free
Media
Manga
Paru Itagaki launched the manga in Akita Shoten's shōnen manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Champion on September 8, 2016. The series has been compiled into 19 tankōbon volumes to date. During their panel at Anime NYC 2018, Viz Media announced that they have licensed the manga. In a September 2019 interview with Spanish website Ramen Para Dos, Itagaki stated that the manga would have "at most twenty volumes." In a January 2020 chapter's author's note Itagaki commented that the "end is in sight".
Volumes
Anime
In the 10th issue of 2019 of Weekly Shōnen Champion, it was announced that Beastars would get an anime television series adaptation animated by CG studio Orange. Shinichi Matsumi directed the series, with Nanami Higuchi handling series composition, Nao Ootsu designing the characters, and Satoru Kōsaki composing the series' music. The series aired from October 8 to December 26, 2019 and aired on Fuji TV's +Ultra anime programming block and other channels. The first season was 12 episodes in total, with the Netflix release outside of Japan on March 13, 2020. At the conclusion of the TV broadcast, a second season was announced. Animation studio Orange will be returning to produce the second season, which will be released in 2021. ALI performed the series' opening theme song "Wild side", while YURiKA performed the series' ending theme songs "Le zoo", "Sleeping instinct", "Marble" and "Floating Story on the Moon". Beastars was released on March 13, 2020 on Netflix outside of Japan.
On December 4, 2019, the first 2020 magazine issue of Weekly Shōnen Champion announced that a stage play based on the manga was in development. It was originally scheduled for an April 2020 debut running through May in Tokyo and Osaka. In late March 2020, it was announced that the play has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there are plans to have it postponed instead.
Reception
The series had 1.3 million copies in print as of April 2018. In December 2017, the series placed second in the list of top male-targeted manga for 2018 in the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! guidebook, placing after The Promised Neverland. The series won the 11th annual Manga Taishō Award in March 2018, the first time a series from Akita Shoten took the award. In April 2018, it won the New Creator Prize at the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prizes. In May 2018, it won the award for Best Shōnen Manga at the 42nd annual Kodansha Manga Awards. It also won a New Face Award at the Japan Media Arts Festival Awards in March 2018.
