WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 1 of Beastars, now available to stream on Netflix.
Beastars' first season pretty much lives up to expectations for fans of the manga. It makes a few changes -- some big, some not that important -- as it details the anime adventures of creatures in an Animal Farm-esque setting at Cherryton High. It's more of a young adult drama than an Orwellian one, though; as mysterious as Gossip Girl, but with a tad more violence.
At the heart of the story is a grey wolf, Legoshi, who tries to win over a dwarf rabbit, Haru. But when the death of an alpaca, Tem, starts a political war between carnivores and herbivores, all hell breaks loose. The drama's upped when Legoshi gets involved in a school play, with the lead Louis (a red deer) trying to impress so he can attain pop icon status as the one true "Beastar." However, when the Lion yakuza known as the Shisigumi kidnap Haru and take her to the Dark Market to be sexually assaulted and then murdered, Legoshi leaps into action in a high-octane ending.
THE WAR ON THE LIONS
Towards Beastars' climax, Legoshi races to the market where he's found by the psychotherapist panda, Gouhin, who believes carnivores should coexist with vegetable eaters. He's been a pseudo-mentor to Legoshi, so he teams up with him to take out the lion thugs around. It's not an easy battle but Gohin and Legoshi get the job done with Legoshi risking his life for the panda.
The lions are beaten up badly and Legoshi races into the Chief's room where he's on the verge of eating Haru after having her shower and toying with her. The wolf breaks through the glass ceiling right when she's about to be killed for fighting back -- the one rule the Chief made when he laid down how her death should be.
LEGOSHI, THE SAVIOR
Legoshi brawls with the Chief but he's reluctant to let his feral form emerge. If he loses his temper, he'll become a lethal wolf and that's something he doesn't want Haru to see as he doesn't want to scare her. Ultimately, he has no choice and he bites down on the Chief's neck, leaving him to bleed out.
He heads off with Haru and they stay at a hotel because if they go back to their dorm rooms in this condition, they'll get in trouble. They attempt to sleep together at long last, but Haru's body keeps trying to be eaten by Legoshi's mouth. This proves how subconsciously uncomfortable with sexual relations they both are, as neither thinks that society will accept their species intertwining. They go back to school the next day as friends, thinking the natural order is for wolves to eat rabbits.
THE DEADLY LOUIS
Interestingly, when Legoshi and Haru were leaving the Chief's room, the latter got up and was about to shoot them, only to be blindsided by Louis. The deer takes the gun from him and blows the lion's brains out. He harbored a deep hatred for the market where he was being raised as livestock as a kid and finally embraces his dark side. Louis watches Haru leave with the wolf, knowing full well he loves her too.
The rest of the lions arrive to see their boss dead, and Louis (who was seen making contact with the mayor, another lion, earlier this season as part of some PR scheme to clean the lions' images up) tells them to eat him. He drops the gun, leaving it unclear if the Yakuza decides to exact revenge or not.
MORE SCHOOL DRAMA
The season ends with the Meteor Fair where Legoshi is applauded by Juno, a fellow wolf who loves him, for his heroics. She wants them to be together and starts getting the carnivores to rally behind them, but Legoshi sets the record straight as he wants unity, instead. He darts off to meet a heartbroken Haru on the hill and he confesses his love to her. She loves him as well, which is made even more remarkable when you factor in she knows he tried to eat her in their first meeting. With everything forgiven, it seems they're set to be a couple.
That's not all though: In a post-credits scene, we see the school, weeks later, unified. Louis has been reported missing, as per the papers, but it's hinted he returns when we see someone's vantage point dropping an empty pack of tablets in the bathroom bin. These are the same pills Louis took for his damaged foot in the plays. The mysterious person walks out, only to be greeted by Legoshi. The wolf says they missed the person and asks why he's smiling, hinting it is indeed a twisted Louis back in school.