I’ll admit, this was a bit of a weird finale with the way the episode was structured. I know the message they were going for with the parallels between Riz and Tem’s friendship, and Legoshi and Louis’, as well as their clashing ideals of what and who a carnivore should be. I just think the direction of the episode, or the fight mostly, was kind of sloppy. It went back and forth from action, to talk, then action, then talking again, then another short action moment, and an abrupt end to the fight. But the ending in general felt pretty rushed and pretty underwhelming.
I know the fight wasn’t the main focus, the bigger picture were the themes presented as well as Legoshi and Louis’ growing friendship, but the set up was pretty strange. The ending itself was very abrupt as well.
I do love that the episode opened up with the ED one last time as it was very appropriate, setting you up for the inevitable feels of what will happen afterwards. I knew the quick conversation between Ibuki and Free was significant, but I actually didn’t expect Free to pop in like that but it makes sense. These two did make a deal after all. And this was the only way Ibuki saw to face Louis one last time, but I was at least right that death was the only out Ibuki saw. I mostly just feel bad for Louis, especially later on when he weeped for Legoshi because he saw Ibuki in him. I’m glad he was finally able to let out a really healthy cry. Imagine losing two people you care about all in the same night? I’ll be honest, my favorite scenes from this episode were all the ones with Louis in it. I did think Ibuki’s death was sad, and I do believe Louis’ feelings, but it felt rushed. I feel like there were more interactions that we never got to see that I felt would have made their relationship even stronger, even though I still liked it. In general, the whole thing was rushed, not just Louis’ side.
Now…I know I complained about the shounen-ness of the first season when Legoshi fought the lion boss, but this moment felt double the shounen. Spiky hair Legoshi was…something. And I feel like I’m confused? I thought Legoshi wanted to face Riz in his own way with his own strength, and he made a vow to never eat meat. I know that Louis was the one that brought it up, and that Legoshi eating that certain foot would set him free from his own shackles. I guess the argument would be that Legoshi saw this and put aside his beliefs in order to help his dear friend. I guess I can see that, that’s basically what happened. But in a way, it sort of made Legoshi’s training all for naught in this moment because the only reason he could keep up with Riz was because of the supercharge from Louis. Which…I guess in turn made Riz realize he lost when he saw how strong their friendship was? Like…I get it, but it’s off. I feel weird about it but maybe I’m thinking about it too much?
In the end, Louis is hospitalized and both Legoshi and Riz were arrested. I feel like they also skipped through things with the epilogue, such as Legoshi’s time in prison as well as everyone’s testimonies that led to his earlier release. Would have been nice to see all of that too. So now with his new life and a record staining his life, Legoshi wants to drop out of school and find his own path. What exactly is that and what will it lead to? And how will that affect his relationship with Haru that…led to nowhere? I guess this really opens things up for whatever a third season would be.
FINAL IMPRESSION
The finale was underwhelming with some things glossed over, and I guess I can say that about other certain parts to this season as well. I did enjoy seeing Legoshi’s growth, but I’d lie if I said I didn’t want to see more on Louis’ side. That’s probably something I said repeatedly and I was always glad when he and the lions showed up on screen. Unfortunately it was kind of brief sometimes, but they’d usually be my favorite parts. Watching Legoshi grow was fine but some things on his side didn’t lead to too much, such as the segregation stuff (though that could lead to season three), the Beastar situation, Legoshi and Haru’s relationship seemingly not growing as much, Pina’s character, etc. Along with the school’s segregation issue, the other things may be more important if there’s ever going to be another season. Oh yeah, and where the hell did Hexeye go?
Still, there were some great things here. Again, everything about Louis. Exploring the different ideals of each character and watching it come together at the end was well done, and Riz himself was an interesting character as well. His episode is still my favorite from this season, and one of my favorites in Beastars in general. Orange continued to deliver amazing direction and cinematography, and Yoasobi’s songs this season enhanced the story as well (such as the ED). Pina didn’t do that much in the story, but he was pretty entertaining and gave me a laugh. The incident with Tao and the short scene in the hospital was beautiful, and in general this season was still fun and had compelling moments and great worldbuilding moments.
Still, there’s something missing from this season. I didn’t dislike this at all, I still enjoyed this season but there’s something holding it back from being as good as the first season. I think the reason I keep going back to is that it felt rushed at times, and maybe the story wasn’t as strong as the first season’s. There’s something missing from giving it that spark to me, but in the end I did like it. Maybe in the end, I find Louis to be a more compelling character than Legoshi too. Yeah, that’s probably another huge reason.
It’s not like I dislike Legoshi, but I feel like there’s other characters that outshine him right now. I wouldn’t mind if we could take a break from him for a bit, but the ending doesn’t exactly point to that. Oh well.
This season was a good 8/10. Still some great stuff, not as good as the first season, but a great sequel. I’m not really sure where the story will go from here when the biggest mystery was dealt with. It seems like the most important things were solved so I wonder what could be next. Next would be the situation in the school I suppose, which I would look forward to because it could focus on other characters. We’ll see, until then~
