Seemingly out of nowhere and fondly shorthanded as “Zootopia But Anime,” Paru Itagaki’s Beastars took the anime community by storm when it debuted in 2019. The anime quickly garnered a fanbase, with many immediately getting invested in the central budding romance between the wolf Legoshi and the dwarf rabbit Haru.
That said, it wouldn’t be surprising to know that very few people even knew of Beastars before its first trailer dropped. Like its manga counterpart, Beastars initially inspired curiosity before this exploded into adoration and praise. Before jumping to Season 2 or catching up from the very start, here are some things about Beastars you have to know first.
10 The Manga Is Already Finished
As of this writing, Beastars’ second season isn’t even halfway through its run. The anime is nearing the midpoint of the Murder Incident Solution storyline, where Legoshi tracks down Tem’s killer with the goal of bringing them to justice. While this may look like the perfect ending arc for a long-running story, Beastars is far from over.
Without spoiling anything important, the anime has two more arcs’ worth of material to adapt. The longest arc – the Revenge of the Love Failure – just concluded this year while also serving as the manga’s finale. For impatient viewers who don’t mind spoiling themselves early, Beastars’ manga wrapped up with a total of 196 chapters in 22 volumes.
9 Beastars Is A Shonen Manga
Believe it or not, Beastars is officially classified under the same category as Dragon Ball and One Piece. Despite its borderline adult content, Beastars was published in Weekly Shonen Champion and marketed towards predominantly male teenagers. Then again, the magazine proudly featured unconventional shonen titles like My-HIME, Squid Girl, and Yowamishu Pedal in the past.
Because of its overtly sensual themes, occasional bouts of bloody violence, and heavy emphasis on romance, Beastars is almost always mistaken for a slightly edgier shojo title or a different kind of seinen manga.
8 Beastars Has A Stage Play
Due to its continually rising popularity, Beastars didn’t just get even more anime seasons, but a stage play as well. First announced back in December 2019, the live-action adaptation was set for an April to May 2020 run, with showings in Osaka and Tokyo.
Unfortunately, Beastars: The Stage was put on indefinite hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally, the play was canceled but after some consideration, it was postponed instead. This was done for the safety of the performers, crew, and audiences. Refunds were given and as of this writing, the play still has no rerelease date.
7 Beastars Started Out As Beast Complex
Before Legoshi and Haru’s romance became the award-winning sleeper hit that is Beastars, their world was first shown in the short-lived doujinshi Beast Complex. Comprised of ten chapters, Beast Complex is an anthology of short stories featuring different animal characters living their daily lives. Itagaki submitted this to Weekly Shonen Champion, which convinced them to serialize Beastars shortly after.
Beast Complex isn’t too different from Beastars. Both show how modern life would be for anthropomorphic animals while emphasizing interspecies relationships (both romantic and otherwise). Just this year, Beast Complex was confirmed to be making a return, this time focusing on the tenants of the Hidden Condo that Legoshi lives in. That said, Legoshi himself is older than Beast Complex as he was created way back when Itagaki was a teenager.
6 Beastars Was Inspired By Disney Movies
Jokes have been made about how Beastars is just an R-Rated Disney movie, and this comparison isn’t farfetched at all. In truth, Itagaki was inspired by Disney cartoons that often starred talking animals, with Beastars being her interest’s final form. This also explains Beastars stylistically having more in common with Western stories than anime, since Itagaki preferred Disney movies over manga.
A common misconception is that Beastars was directly influenced by Disney’s Zootopia. The thing is, both were released in 2016, so it’s logistically impossible that one copied the other. It’s just by pure luck and coincidence that two critically praised stories about anthropomorphic animals took the world by storm in the same year.
5 Louis Was Named After The Bags
The would-be Beastar and proud Louis is the exact opposite of Legoshi, as he exudes wealth and pride whereas Legoshi would prefer to stay in the background. Louis’ elegant nature stems from his name’s origins, which Itagaki derived from the opulent king Louis XIV and, more famously, the Louis Vuitton bag line.
Louis is also the one character Itagaki finds the hardest to draw, but not for the reasons one would expect. The one thing more difficult to draw than his antlers was his character and personality, especially since Itagaki can’t exactly sympathize with the arrogant stag. However, she finds it easier to draw him whenever the scene calls for his vulnerability.
4 Haru Shares Some Similarities With Paru Itagaki
Sometimes, a fictional character will share some similarities with their creators; it’s just a fun fact of life and the creative process. While Itagaki identifies with Legoshi, some details of her personal life undeniably influenced Haru’s creation.
Aside from their names rhyming, a major similarity between the mangaka and the dwarf rabbit is their family dynamic. Both have two older siblings and are close with their parents. Interestingly, Haru is the only character in Beastars who’s shown to have a complete nuclear family, whereas almost everyone else is an only child raised by a single parent.
3 Legoshi Was Named After Bela Lugosi
In a tankobon’s side materials, Itagaki revealed that Legoshi was named after Bela Lugosi, the actor most synonymous with Dracula. She first heard his name as a child and it stuck in her mind ever since. To her, “Lugosi” sounded “elegant” yet “suspicious,” which she thought was a good fit for Legoshi. Fittingly, Lugosi had a role in The Wolf Man as the fortune teller.
Additionally, Legoshi’s name became a source of confusion since the original fan translations often read it as “Legosi,” while others insisted on “Legoshi.” After VIZ Media secured the localization’s rights, “Legoshi” was established as the official way to spell the wolf’s name.
2 Paru Itagaki Is Fiercely Private
Mangaka keeping their identities and personal lives private isn’t anything new, but Itagaki took this a step further. To date, she has yet to reveal her face to the public. In all her press appearances, Itagaki donned a giant chicken mask that looks exactly like Legoshi’s hen classmate Legom.
All that’s known about her is that she was born in 1993, studied filmmaking in college, doubled down on her manga-making hobby after failing to land a movie-related job, and is (unsurprisingly) a furry. This didn’t stop her from launching the manga/autobiography Paru’s Graffiti, which retells her growing years. That said, she still obscured her identity by drawing herself as a human/chick hybrid.
1 Paru Itagaki’s Father Created Baki The Grappler
For the longest time, manga readers joked that Paru Itagaki was the daughter of Keisuke Itagaki, the mangaka behind the hit martial arts manga Baki the Grappler. The speculation came from their last names and the fact that Paru never confirmed or denied it. This changed when in September 2019, Paru casually mentioned that her father is indeed Keisuke.
Understandably, Itagaki kept this connection a secret, only planning to reveal it after she became an established author to avoid accusations of nepotism and falling under her famous father’s shadow. By the time she confirmed her parentage, she was already a critically acclaimed mangaka and Beastars was at the height of its popularity.