I am dyslexic, therefore there may be one or two spelling and grammar errors but ill try my best to keep them to a minimum.
I watched season 1 of Beaststar's and found it very enjoyable, probably a 8/10 so I was looking forward to the 2nd season. I wanted to see the show explore a world in which predators and prey live together in a uneasy collaboration where the massive power imbalance between carnivores and herbivores stokes civil unrest in a way that mirrors the real world to a certain extent. Additionally the characters that were introduced and built up were appealing and I
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wanted to see more of them especially the very unusual love interest Haru.
So in what ways does season 2 of Beaststars fail? (since you can see I only gave this season a 3/10)
It fails in almost every respect, the characters I found interesting have been destroyed, the world has been watered down and is completely contradictory and there is essentially no interesting social commentary.
This will be the end of the spoiler free section, I have explained very vaguely my problems with season 2, from here on out im going to get a lot more specific.
*SPOILERS*
Ok im not sure exactly where to start here so ill just start with the characters.
Legoshi is an introverted and mostly kind hearted wolf who has some seriously problematic urges and viewpoints, some of those originating from his carnivores instincts like the desire to essentially own Haru as property (and in doing so protect her) or just straight up consume her. he's kind of a stand in for the quite nice guy exemplifying toxic usually masculine behaviors. He was defiantly a flawed character but this wasn't necessarily a bad thing as it gave us a complex character who was trying to better himself. By the end of season 2 Legoshi is a selfish, self-consumed, toxic, aggressive introvert who doesn't care about anyone but himself and maybe Haru if she happens to be on screen at the time. He works out the identity of the murder and instead of turning him into the police, as any reasonable and moral person would have done, he instead confronts the killer which gets a innocent bystander involved putting someone other than himself in serious danger, he then keeps the murders identity hidden for weeks or possibly MONTHS for some reason without telling the police putting everyone in the school in danger and then finally he challenges him to a 1v1 which if he had lost would have allowed the killer to get away with it. He turns the gruesome murder of his friend into a selfish personal vendetta making everything about him, he obviously didn't respect his friend otherwise he would have contacted the police immediately. Additionally Legoshi plays with Juno's feeling at multiple points for some reason, he isnt ignorant of her feeling for him but he refuses to address them and asks things of her which are simply unfair taking her feelings into account. This character has been ruined which is a real issue as we see the world mostly through his eyes, this only exemplified the problems present which I will go into later.
Haru was a very interesting love interest, most love interests are innocent virgins who dote after the main protagonist and have no regrets, so usually there not really fully fleshed out people. Haru is a sexually promiscuous "slut" who has zero interest in the main character till near the end of season 1 and has feelings for someone else while also being funny, confident and driven, she gets bullied by classmates and is defiantly at the bottom of the social hierarchy. She is a person and a genuinely likable one at that, being herself instead of who people would like her to be. By season 2 she has attained the powers of invisibility and is actually in every scene at least that's what i assume has happened because the only other explanation is that she is essentially not in season 2. she probably gets about 2min of run time and the time for which she is on screen she is a shell of her former self, not as bad as Legoshi tho. Her fear of Legoshi is gone, *poof* its nowhere to be seen which is very convenient, very shallow and unsatisfactory. Her love for Louis, gone apparently. Hows she coping with being kidnapped and almost eaten, very well almost as if it never happened. Like wtf this isn't how Haru would have acted, she has instead been shoehorned into more of a traditional love interest to suit the direction of the show and that really sucks.
Louis is one of the only characters that remains mostly unchanged during season 2 but even then he gets completely destroyed in the final episode. Louis is one of the few herbivores in this school with a position of power, he gives off the illusion of physical strength but his real power is that of the pen which he himself realizes and hates about himself perceiving it as weakness. Louis has a need to feel superior to offset his perception of himself as a weak herbivore. He's a manipulator who is lacking strongly in morals. quite a interesting character to watch. by season 2 hes the same character, he become the head of a criminal syndicate (how this happens is really stupid and disappointing btw), manages to level the playing field between herbivores and carnivores by obtaining a gun, even goes so far as to consume meat to feel superior. this is the case till the final episode where the power of friendship triumphs, he sees the error of his ways, comes to Legoshi's aid... who he should hate. He took his love interest away and knocked him out in front of the school demonstrating his weakness to all of them humiliating him. his character collapses in the final episode but at least he lasted till then, additionally the whole arch where he was a mob boss amounted to nothing and was therefore a huge waste of time.
The final character I can be bothered to even mention is Juno who resembles the typical love interest much more then Haru but who Legoshi isn't interested in. She was a great addition in season 1 however is season 2 she also gained the power of invisibility because she is essentially not in season 2. shes in season 2 more then Haru but that's not saying much. Her character is mostly the same but her drive to become the beaststar has disappeared for some reason. Mehh on Juno shes kind of there but not really.
Any other character from the show is ether one dimensional or simply isn't a person and therefore isn't worth mentioning which btw is a lot of them. There's no excuse for this, other anime like "my hero academia" are able to flesh out a much larger cast in a much shorter span of time.
I feel as though i also have to make specific mention to all the lost potential of the show like the numerous different things that are introduced and then dropped never to be mentioned again:
- The Beaststar plotline, mentioned once at the start never mentioned again. Nor the fact that the person who catches the killer would be made the Beaststar. (which is stupid btw, a school would NEVER agree to this)
- The segregation of the school, mentioned a few times, everyone gives VERY basic one sided opinions on the fact they oppose it, never mentioned again. it would have been nice to hear from the opinion of someone supported it. (other then Juno who's reasoning is shallow also)
- Haru and Legoshi's relationship, dropped almost entirely, barely mentioned.
- cosmo the stripper, dropped never to be seen again.
- Jacks strained friendship towards Legoshi, dropped after 2min.
I also need to mention all the really stupid things that happen:
- Kai ripping of kibi's had coming to such a simple resolution. kibi doesn't have any fear of kai/ carnivores like he should to, herbivores are needlessly understanding considering that could have been them.
- Riz being the killer was insanely obvious.
- Bills inter species relationship with a herbivore called Els, mentioned but never expand on much like a whole bunch of hinted inter species relationships which go no where.
- Rokume is introduced and then never mentioned ever again, only used as quest giver for the protagonist and is therefore a stupid addition.
- pina is a stupid character, he isnt deep hes just dumb.
- The mob boss underling being in the exact right place at the exact right time for no conceivable reason other then plot convenience to shoot Agata saving Louis's life.
- Legoshi not being recognized and killed by the mob immediately, taken for dinner and then left alone with the mob's boss. How insanely stupid can a criminal organization be?
As you can see im very disappointed with this season, I felt a strong compulsion to write this review as I believe people are giving it way too much credit. But in summery this season destroyed everything the previous season built up, its messy, there were clearly too many chefs in the kitchen when this was being made, there are too many plot-lines and most get dropped minutes after being introduced, previous characters have been destroyed and turned into something else. Its really quite bad.
Jul 21, 2021
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I am dyslexic, therefore there may be one or two spelling and grammar errors but ill try my best to keep them to a minimum.
I watched season 1 of Beaststar's and found it very enjoyable, probably a 8/10 so I was looking forward to the 2nd season. I wanted to see the show explore a world in which predators and prey live together in a uneasy collaboration where the massive power imbalance between carnivores and herbivores stokes civil unrest in a way that mirrors the real world to a certain extent. Additionally the characters that were introduced and built up were appealing and I ... May 7, 2015
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