A review by rosewelsh
BEASTARS, Vol. 18 by Paru Itagaki

4.0

Oh man, this volume really dives into the realism of Beastars and how society has shaped students' futures. In order to hide out for a bit, Legoshi heads back to Cherryton Academy and stays with his best friend Jack the Labrador. When he gets to the Academy he realizes so much has changed since he was kicked out. Herbivores and Carnivores now attend classes separately and the carnivore students feel free to talk about going to the Black Market and eating the same species as their Herbivore friends. Jack is an elite student, one of only five, and all are dogs. He talks to Legoshi about how dogs are the only animal bred for intelligence and how bioengineering of domesticated dogs, like him, has caused them to be bred for their uses rather than letting them be who they want. It gets pretty heavy as Jack seems to be one of the few people who knows the real history of their world because he's elite, and he is clearly bogged down and depressed by learning about the real world.

This volume is bonkers. We get a lot of Legoshi and Louis (my king!) which is wonderful but gosh, this series just gets darker and darker. We meet some characters who were locked up with Louis back in the day, 3 and 9, and how they have taken to being fighters in order to survive. I don't know what is going on with Legoshi but he clearly has a thing for rabbits judging by his dealings with Kyu, the fighter female rabbit, through the end of this volume. It's badass and I am terrified of her but also in awe of her skill.

There's another shorter section regarding the Black Market and the civil war of sorts that breaks out monthly among the different gangs. Everything is business as usual until Melon jumps in and takes control and he is absolutely terrifying and bonkers. Some people are going to die violent, violent deaths soon.
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