Beastars, Volume 8
BEASTARS, Vol. 8 by Paru Itagaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
As with its precursors, the eighth volume of mangaka Paru Itagaki’s Beastars series opens with a welcome synopsis of past events and a list of dramatis personae, the action beginning with Legoshi the wolf being absent from school again, returning with the major difference that he’s had his fur shaven off. Since he had been having all-night training with Gohin, the giant panda therapist of the carnivorous black market, he fails to stay awake in class. Part of the lupine’s training involves meditating before dangling meat, resisting the temptation to consume it and transforming his metabolism. Back at school, other students notice Legoshi’s disinterest in stagehand work, with one of the herbivorous drama club members, Pina, attempting to provoke the wolf into devouring him.
Meanwhile, Cosmo the deer works in a strip club, dancing in a stage that the carnivorous customers want removed, with prostitution as a side job. Going outside for a smoke break, she encounters the red deer Louis, who, together with the Shishi-gumi, saves her from devourment. Afterward, the cervine talks to his adoptive father about resigning from Cherryton and getting his signature for approval, even holding him at gunpoint to get him to sign. However, his father remains surprisingly cool, with Louis ultimately deciding to take a leave of absence instead and accepts his foster son’s leadership of the lion-populated criminal organization.
When Louis notices the shaven Legoshi attempting to comfort a wayward child, he disdains his friend’s compassion whilst asserting his leadership of the Shishi-gumi, who then clash with the jaguar-populated rival mafia the Madara-gumi. Back in his training chamber, Legoshi touches the meat that had been dangling before him, and Gohin gives him a bag to take to the beach, whose remnants he buries, even putting names on the graves’ headstones, which elates the giant panda. At school, Juno thinks Legoshi weird for wanting to see the interior of her mouth, noting the greater development of male canines, which he thinks key to finding Tem’s killer.
After losing a tug-of-war involving the use of jaws instead of hands and arms to Bill the tiger, Legoshi flashes back to his second-year physical and notes that his bite has weakened significantly. When he reenters his training, Gohin and his pupil attempt to capture a stray hyena, resulting in one of Legoshi’s arms being bitten. The giant panda has his student attempt to stitch his own wounds, having flashbacks to when he rehabilitated a murderous red fox instead of handing him over to the police (and gives other key backstory), and affirms his sense of justice. Back at school, Haru feels distant from Legoshi, noting that another boy asked her to go out with her, which creates some awkwardness.
The eighth volume ends with a leopardess and an ewe shopping and taking a selfie, hoping to contribute to peace between herbivores and carnivores, and some anecdotes about self-absorbency and a female pop idol group. Like its predecessors, Volume 8 is an enjoyable read, with plenty of endearing anthropomorphic animal characters and some good sociopolitical commentary about divergent groups, although again, Itagaki seems to overlook the concept of omnivorous animals, which would surely be far better liaisons between the warring carnivorous and herbivorous factions rather than a member of one extreme or the other.
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