#legoshi be like ''i'm an herbivore stan''

[nattikay]

yeah so YouTube randomly decided to recommend me some Beastars analysis videos and it inspired me to get off my chest some thoughts I’ve been holding on to since finishing the manga a few months ago. So uh if you haven’t watched/read Beastars (and there will be brief manga mentions so maybe vaguely spoilery for anime-only folks) go ahead and keep scrolling cuz this probably won’t make sense lol

anyways, here’s my hot take:

I think carnivores should be allowed to eat meat.

Like, they shouldn’t be allowed to murder, obviously. Predation is still bad, the livestock rings are still bad, the body-parts-hyperdrugs thing is still bad, and yeah those should all remain hecka illegal.

But barring those awful cases, the majority of the meat from the back-alley market is supposedly (secretly) donated by hospitals and funeral homes--in other words, from animals who have already died of natural causes. And I think carnivores should be allowed to eat the meat of animals who have already died so long as they’re not being intentionally killed for the purpose of consumption.

The reason for this is carnivores kinda biologically need meat to thrive. We’ve all seen those "owners trying to force their cats/dogs to be vegan” posts. Doesn’t end well. Sure, you could argue that the animals in Beastars have evolved past that need and their hunting instincts are merely residual--but if this is true I think could only be partly so, given Jack talking about how over the years carnivore bodies have been “shrinking” because they can’t eat meat. See also Gouhin telling Legoshi that there’s only so far training can take his strength as a wolf without adding a bit of meat to his diet.

Basically, the carnivore population is, to some degree, being legally malnourished and uh...yeah, it’s really no wonder that the back-alley market is such a big thing that almost every carnivore uses at some point in their life.

Unless their society can craft an adequate fake meat that actually fulfills all the nutritional needs of a carnivore (which is more than just protein--I know for example that taurine is an important thing with dog and especially cat foods, and vegan humans usually need B12 supplements so probably some of that as well, etc.), which they clearly haven’t given that these issues still persist--yeah, I think they should be able to eat real meat.

You could also argue that it’s not right to eat an herbivore even after they’ve died of other causes because they were a sapient being that may not have wanted their body eaten without their permission, and sure, that’s fair. So think of it like organ donation. Have a form a living herbivore can fill out, if they are comfortable with it, that says “yes, when I die you may use my meat”. There ya go. If it was a known and open thing how vital meat is to carnivore health, there’d probably be plenty enough donors while those who are genuinely uncomfy with the idea can easily opt out.

And with carnivore’s nutritional needs being better met and openly accepted, they won’t have to repress that side of themselves quite so much and therefore there’ll be less of an issue with said side bursting out via predation incidents. Heck, throw some more places like B-Strike in there too, and give carnivores a way to use their hunting instincts in a non-lethal way--kinda like the way you let your cat chase a feather wand to give it the thrill of a hunt without actually killing any small animals. Their hunting instincts are being satisfied in a safe way, and their nutritional needs are being met ethically--predation should drop a fair bit (won’t disappear completely because of course there will always be criminals, nothing you can do about that unfortunately, but should still drop) and everyone'd be healthier.

This is why I wasn’t super crazy about the back alley market getting demolished at the end of the manga, because while yes there was some nasty stuff going on back there that needed to be cracked down on, destroying the market...doesn’t really solve the root of the problem (that being that carnivores in this society are essentially malnourished/their hunting instincts are not being safely satisfied). If anything, it just delays it a bit and I wouldn’t be surprised if a few years down the road the market just starts coming back up again.

I mean, maybe it won’t be as bad because I guess they’re allowed to eat fish now?? idk that part was really glossed over so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  (yyyeahh the ending was...a bit of a mess...let’s just say it’ll be one of the few cases where I won’t mind if the anime makes some changes lol)

And honestly this was the issue I had with the second half of the series. If Legoshi doesn’t want to eat meat, that’s fine, and if he personally wants work crazy hard to completely purge himself of his hunting instincts and become as strong as he can without meat, cool goal man...but he needs to get off his high horse and stop trying to force that on everyone else. It was even hard to root for him a few times because I just...didn’t really agree with him lol. Carnivores (well, most of them) usually resort to going to the back-alley market not because they’re inherently corrupt, but because they have a legitimate nutritional deficiency that needs to be addressed, whether they consciously realize it or not.

Legoshi is a good character and all but dood ya gotta chill

aaaand yeah carnivores should be legally allowed to eat meat

so uh yeah there’s my (unpopular?) Beastars opinion, hope you enjoyed ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

[eradicatetehnormal]

Just Finished Season 2 of Beastars (Pretty late I Know)

MOB BOSS LOUIS? AND HE WAS OUT HERE KILLING IT GO LOUIS GO. Bruh, he's my favorite character, I love him so much. Him realizing he loves carnivores and that he loves Legoshi, BRO, BRO. Beautiful scene. I didn't understand where Legoshi x Louis stans were coming from, but now I do. I'll bring it up more later.

Little side tangent here, but is it just me, or did season 2 get a lot gayer? Like, we had that scene of the frickboy Ram wanting Legoshi to consume him after he backed him into a corner and turned off all the lights, that entire backstory with the Alpaca boy's killer and how he romanticized it, and then episode 9 being episode 9. It's wild. Of course, though, the things I just mentioned can be read to mean many different things.

Anyway, I'm Legoshi was a real jerk to Haru early on. Asking her about an old "lover" and then asking her to marry him? What kinda move was that? Then again she did later ask about Louis after she told Legoshi she loves him. So it evens out I suppose. I'm hoping for the best for them, and I hope that Legoshi's odd decision to drop out of school won't put a dent in him protecting her and her being happy with him.

I really enjoyed that episode with the Cheetah and Juno. The Cheetah being upset about having to conform to standards she didn't fit into and had no interest in doing so, and then having a relaxing little outing with that sheep and seeing them find out small things about each other like certain fabrics on wool causing static, and cheetahs not being able to wear clothes with patterns. It was all really wholesome and really relatable to me. Juno spending time with Haru was great too and just seeing them interact and Juno seeing Haru as someone who should be protecting (there are those semi gay undertones again) was a good little development for her character. Kinda sad for Haru though, considering how she feels about being seen as sympathetic and weak. Honestly, I'm really rooting for Juno. I don't know why but if not Legoshi, I really want to see Juno become the next Beastar.

Aside from the main story beats there's also the overall question of "What does it mean to consume someone?" and "What does it mean for a carnivore and a herbivore to be friends?" I'm getting tired while writing this so this section might be short.

So for the bear, until the final episode, it meant taking someone's entire being in order to live with themselves. Kinda like those selfish friends who have good intentions but take up your entire life due to over-attachment or greediness.

For Legoshi, it means an act of great understanding and only taking a part of them, enough for them to function, and enough for you to be stronger as a person so that you can continue to protect them.

For that ram guy... IDK might just be some weird fetish. Someone feel free to give me a deep dive into his character.

I thought the ending with Legoshi and Louis was beautiful. After coming to terms with himself, Louis runs to Legoshi, opens up to him, and through Louis literally giving a part of himself Legoshi, Louis is freed from the shackles of his past and the two of them come out stronger because of it.

[cooplagoop]

Hey so did you read chapter 174 yet? I'm not going to give spoilers but all I could say is i felt so depressed for Melon. If you did, what were your thoughts?

I did. It took me some time to calm the fuck down. Like the second I saw that image of buff Melon all 1 of my brain cells were assassinated, stabbed, shot & absolutely evaporated within half a second. Then the translations came out & just no.

This whole transformation literally overnight is one massive plot convenience. Ever since Melon’s introduction he’s been using his herbivore traits to decieve others & the one that’s fallen for this trick the most is Legoshi. Now that he doesn’t look that much like a gazelle Melon’s deception won’t be nearly as effective as it used to. 

Therefore, things are unfairly in Legoshi’s favour with Melon being more frantic than ever & not being able to exploit Legoshi’s bias for herbivores. How am I suppose to root for Legoshi to prevail after failing so many times when Paru screwed over Melon on the very day the duel is being held? What herbivore bias is Legoshi gonna overcome now that his oppenent has become more carnivore-like?

Even if we factor in Leano it just doesn’t work because it wasn’t really explained that well in the first place why Leano was suddenly changing when she’d already gone through puberty & if we use the doctor’s explanation it says

that Melon should be taking after his dad instead of his mom. 

Also I think now would be a good time to bring up that Melon is 24. Why did he go through a second growth spurt at that age?

Alright, I’m chill now. Let’s talk about Melon the rest of the chapter.

I found it endearing how Zaguan was pretending not to know landspeak. Real friends would never sell you out. 

It was interesting seing Melon desperately cling to his mom’s “love” & I loved his reaction how can you hurt him so much Paru

Wasn’t too invested in the reveal that Louis was alive. Nobody trusted Paru enough after the tomato juice thing between Haru & Legoshi for there to be enough suspense not counting the Louis stans.

In conclusion, I couldn’t protect Melon from Paru & am a failure as a human being.