A review by arat
BEASTARS 12 by Paru Itagaki

3.0

Beastars is unironically the perfect comparison to works like Zootopia to understand Tolkien's differentiation between "allegory" and "history." It's not as polished as the works disney/pixar or other studios push out, but it's more flexible. The social commentary doesn't run into awkward moments that justify bigotry or fear in the universe. Itagaki is also great at delving into parts of an animal society that storytellers at disney might be afraid to tackle: how certain species benefit or suffer from this world beyond just "carnivores are feared." It feels like if I were to ask the creators of Zootopia a question about the world's history, they'd have to go into a back room and debate the "correct" answer, whatever fits best into the mold the movie is trying to fill. I never got the impression there was passion to answer those questions. Itagaki, on the other hand, went so far as to write additional side stories unrelated to the main plot, and I'm certain any questions asked would yield detailed responses that fit cleanly into the existing world.