Since I’ve mentioned the name earlier, why not start with that? I was a big fan of the manga. As an admirer of the original show, the news of anime adaptation is always exciting and terrifying at the same time. What if they execute the show poorly? Anime watchers would assume the original manga must be bad. It’s fun to start reading the original show after finding the anime adaptation amazing, but not the other way around.
So when the viewers came back with great reviews, I was utterly relieved then got overjoyed. Of course, they did, with the beautifully drawn agony of herbivore and carnivore characters, their emotional struggles of adolescence, and harsh animal instincts. Studio Orange shows such a delicate combination of CGI and hand-drawn pictures that the whole show looks almost like a piece of art. I personally liked how they depict the main character (a tall wolf) Legosi’s eye level and when he adjusts to the level of Haru, a petit bunny whom he has a crush on. Even for a manga reader who knows the storyline beforehand, the filler dialogues and scenes help deepen my understandings of the world they all live in. I get to identify with more characters while watching each episode. This is an impressive example of anime adaptation from the manga.
Did you know the manga artist of BEASTARS, Paru Itagaki, is a daughter of Keisuke Itagaki, the author of Grappler Baki? Weekly Shonen Champion, Japan’s major manga magazine, which has both titles, have kept the secret for a long time, but officially announced with their interview
together on September 2019, a month before the anime aired in Japan. Besides the obvious PR opportunity for the new anime, the magazine’s editor must have been confident enough by the time that now no one would accuse the young mangaka of getting special treatment because of
his legendary father anymore.
