This series is very unique and quite surprising. I started reading it because it won the Manga Taishou (pretty much anything that's nominated for the Taishou is worth checking out).

From the get go, it let's you know that this is not your average high school drama?the series begins with the final moments of Tem, the alpaca, in which he identifies his killer as a classmate and expresses his regret "there was so much more I wanted to do" before being eaten alive. That's literally the first 3 pages. Disney's Zootopia this isn't.

It has an eclectic tone that jumps from normal high school comedy & romance to dark action/thriller to mystery to slice of life. Despite having read over 70 chapters, I still don't feel like I can anticipate the story's turns. The lead character Legosi is a constant surprise, swinging from a gentle goofball to a hardened fighter. He's very serious, a character trait that brings out comedy in his interactions with his friends, passion with his crush, and terror with his enemies. It's fantastic to watch him evolve as the series progresses.

The other characters are similarly complex: the rabbit Haru is a self-possessed woman who will not be stepped on. Louis the deer seems like an obvious uber-mensch who has deep struggles with his dark past. There are very few clear cut heroes and villains; even the purest characters often act in beastly ways.

The art is highly detailed despite it's surreal nature. I can never quite get past all the animals (including birds and hooved animals) having human like hands and feet. It can be a little daunting to parse the complex art at times, but it's never uninteresting so the increased effort is worth it. Violence often slips into unexpected places, creating shocking transitions from light high school content to explicit gore.

The major themes of the series are instinct vs. intellect, nature vs. nurture, death/the value of life, and coming of age. The setting seems at odds with the content, but it's interesting to see how all of these dark ruminations play out in the unfamiliar space of a high school drama club.

I was recommended to read this during the arc with the lions, so that actually had me put off writing about it for a while. While I liked that arc for the most part, I saw a lot of people disliking it and couldn't blame them. I wanted to see how the series would look once all the chaos had settled down. Barring that arc, I believe most would agree this is a very good, dark and slow moving series with some incredibly stand-out characters. Don't be put off by any aspects of the series that you consider questionable: this manga is definitely worth a read.

Full review:
https://terrenceswiff.wordpress.com/2017/08/29/beastars/

I can't imagine any more creative use of the standard high school setting than this! Because the setting's familiar, it's easy from the outset to accept the ultra strange sight of an amazing diversity of species and SIZES of animals going about their business. More unique is how this mangaka draws the animal-students. They look very much like regular animals who happen to be wearing clothes. In other words, this sensei has abandoned making the animal-students look like crosses between animals and humans.

Within this unique setting, a set of interesting and often moving stories unfold, all of which make good use of the strange characters and the strange setting. These stories get deep into what it means to have herbivores and carnivores around each other all the time, and the progress of the suspenseful stories is always well-paced.

Oh yes, and the art is detailed and great!