Manga Review: Beastars, Volume 1, by Para Itagaki

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5-4

Publisher: VIZ Signature (VIZ Media)

Release Date: July 2019

Volumes: 15+

Spoilers?: Yes, for the very beginning of the volume.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. RightStuf.

Volume: 2.

Goodreads Synopsis:

At this high school, instead of jocks and nerds, the students are divided into predators and prey.

At a high school where the students are literally divided into predators and prey, it’s personal relationships that maintain the fragile peace. Who among them is a Beastar—an academic and social role model destined to become a leader in a society naturally rife with mistrust?

Review:

I went into this volume not knowing much about it. So seeing the death at the beginning of the volume was a surprise, and definitely set a tone for the series. It perfectly warrants the worry and terror and suspicion that follows.

This is set in an animal world, where animals are separated by prey and predator, and yet are going to school together. This is a boarding school, and our main character is a wolf. He's tall and quiet and brooding; he's a tech guy for the drama club. And now the drama club is dealing with the new prejudices and suspicions, and yet still putting on this play.

It's hard to know who to trust, because the predator student who killed that sweet prey animal could be any of them. It's hard to know whose side to be on, who to help or root for.

Meeting the sweet bunny sets a potential dynamic, but it could be good or very bad for our leading wolf.

I can't deny the reference to Zootopia here. I love that movie, only now we're following the predatory animal. There's also a lot of quiet moments and thoughtful scenes, and we get to see both sides of the animal here—the sweet and the scary. And the artwork is very particular—it's a bit sketchy of a style, and yet very pretty, and I really like it.

I'm definitely intrigued. I liked this first volume, and I want to see where it's going next.

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!