Episode 1 left off with Legoshi holding onto Haru, who knows with what intentions. Episode 2 starts the morning after with Legoshi feeling worse than ever to the point one of his roommates realizes he’s not his usual self, even though no one comments on it. On this episode we get a bit of world-building with the explanations of the school menus to both type of students and the definition of what BEASTAR is. We also get to see more of Haru and Louis, who seem to be the other main characters besides Legoshi.
There were quite a few intense scenes in this episode although the most noteworthy one is definitely Legoshi’s fight with his inner beast while he’s holding onto Haru and he’s about to hurt her until he get interrupted. It makes me wonder if he had anything to do with Bem, but most likely not. One thing that I want to comment on is the fact that Legoshi seems to be unnafected by hervibores, but Haru seems to have a particular effect on him, both as a herbivore and as a female, since later on in the episode it may be possible there is a crush situation going on with Haru.
It’s interesting to know that eating meat is criminalized in this universe, but it makes sense because it’s the way to create trust between the herbivores and carnivores, but I do wonder what they do about the milk and egg production. Either way, the general problems of animal cohabitation such as size difference and aggression are presented as regular part of the school life and it adds a pretty nice touch to the overall narrative of the show.
I honestly don’t know how I feel about Louis, I want to dislike him because he seems kind of evil in how uptight he is, but just as Legoshi says, he is under a lot of pressure holding the precarious balance of the social structure of the school. When he gets injured, he has to remain poised and act as if nothing is happening in order to maintain the schedule for the most important event of the year and sacrifice his own well-being. It seems he’s the perfect candidate to become a BEASTAR, which is a member of the student body who represents the students. I suppose it’s sort of like a school president or something like that.
Haru is quite a surprise for me, she’s a very interesting character. Maybe her promiscuous nature is due to her being a rabbit, but she seems disappointed when she offers herself up to Legoshi at the end, but at the same time it seems like the most natural thing in the world. It’s also interesting that she doesn’t remember the attack, maybe a instinctual defense mechanism is at work here? Either way, her contradictory nature really captivates me and it continues to be an extension of her being someone different from what people expect her to be.
Legoshi seems completely lost with Haru. He can talk to her like normal, but he has a very rich inner life plagued with the anxieties of a teenage guy. I liked how the contrast went from his attack during the night to a more submissive nature during the day when they’re in the flower garden. This was also exquisitely represented in the opening credits which weren’t included last week. I must say I really like the effect of the OP animation. I’m really looking forward to Legoshi’s reaction next episode, this story really is good at managing cliffhangers!
Hopefully there’s more interesting stuff in store for us next week.