English Dub Season Review: Beastars Season Two

 

Overview:

The second season of the popular Beastars hits Netflix. The aftermath of the first season’s ending has bigger implications than anticipated for Legoshi, Louis, and Haru. Legoshi is still trying to find out who devoured Tem, and Louis struggles with the expectations placed upon him. Is this season better or worse than the first? Let’s get to it and find out. Some minor early episode spoilers might be in there but I will try to keep the major stuff out.

Our Take(Possible Spoilers):

Beastars seems to have an interesting following. A lot of people won’t give it a chance either cause they think it’s “furry bait” or because of the CGI. I am not a fan of CGI in anime and I can tell you it doesn’t bother me in the least in this. In fact, it’s done so well that I barely even notice it unless I am paying super close attention. As for the furry bait part… well I guess there is some merit to it but let me say if you let anything dissuade you from watching this you’re missing out.

There is a lot more action in this season which I was intrigued to see how they handled it. Let me tell you it’s awesome. The fight scenes in this season are really good. There is one, in particular, I really liked and it only lasted like ten seconds. I really like the Sherlock Holmes movies starring Robert Downey Jr. how they show how he plans out his attack. In this one fight, Legoshi does that and I thought it was really cool, especially when we get to see it in fast motion afterward.

If all anime implemented CGI the way Beastars does I probably wouldn’t be so apprehensive. It’s so well done and they also do 2D as well and it all blends together smoothly. As I mentioned there are more fights and I thought that would be a problem but I was really glad to be wrong. This season just took what the first season did well and amplified it, can’t wait for season three.

Back when I watched the first season of Beastars, it was the first thing I had heard Jonah Scott in. Now it seems he is in everything and he really deserves it. The way he presents Legoshi as a calm, wolf that could erupt at any time is great. Legoshi has more of a handle on his emotions in season two but there are moments when the rage comes through and I just really have to tip my hat to Jonah Scott for his portrayal.

There are a lot of big names in this show but for the most part, they play background characters. One of those characters is given a lot more time to shine this season. Riz, the giant brown bear, played by Patrick Seitz. I love Seitz’s work and with Riz, he really goes all out. I think everyone will definitely enjoy his performance and think you should keep an eye (or ear I guess) on how he does.

As far as the story goes it advances in cool and interesting ways. Legoshi gets to go to some really awesome places and I really like how his character arc is shaping up. He’s still trying to locate Tem’s killer, but he also just wants to protect all herbivores. Louis’ arc REALLY goes places and I think people will be really interested in the situations he finds himself in. As for Haru, her and Legoshi’s budding romance is still a thing. If Haru is one of your favorite characters you might not enjoy this season all that much. For being one of the more important characters she isn’t featured as much as she was in the first season.

I can’t tell if Beastars is trying to have a pro-vegetarian message or if I am reading too much into it. Legoshi wants to try to find a way to get stronger without having to rely on eating the meat of herbivores. It seemed a bit on the nose but is an interesting thought when in this world eating meat could mean eating a friend, or classmate.

For being a show about anthropomorphized animals, Beastars is strangely human. The show deals with some pretty serious topics. Characters deal with loneliness and depression and sometimes lash out. They just have fangs and claws to lash out with. Seeing how an animal society handles certain things is as intriguing as the first season, with the game of “jaw wars” being an interesting game of tug of war that carnivores play.

If I had written this review a day earlier I probably would have given it one point lower because of the ending. It ends on a non-consequential conversation between Haru and Legoshi. It definitely gave me a feeling of “that’s it?” that I wasn’t okay with. Luckily, a new anime arc was announced, I don’t know if it will be a new season, a movie, or what but that makes the ending a little easier to swallow.  One more thing, the opening song for both seasons is amazing and I am sure they will both get stuck in your head. Though unfortunately, this season doesn’t do the stop motion that the season one opening did. I definitely recommend you watch Beastars if you haven’t.