I’ve noticed an interesting – if not altogether surprising – development over the past couple of episodes of Beastars.  That is, it’s become easier to take a step back from the analysis and simply experience the story as it happens.  That’s a perfectly natural development, in that as one emotionally buys in to the plot and characters they think less and react more.  But that only holds true in the first place if the writing is good enough to get you to buy in.  I wasn’t totally convinced that was going to be the case with Beastars, but that worry was for naught.

None of that is to say that the metaphorical aspects of this premise have disappeared – they’re always there, just below (and sometimes on) the surface.   But they’re a part of a larger framework now rather than the point of all of it, and as a viewer I consider that mostly a change for the better.  This was a fascinating show as an intellectual enterprise, but the cast has grown beyond the bounds of the social satire and developed a strong identity of its own.

As that has happened, the relationship drama has gotten considerably more complicated.  And then there’s stuff like the introduction of the Mayor (Hoshina Mitsuaki), which has a bit of a Chekov’s gun air about it (he’s a lion, by the way – the  mayor, not Chekov).  I sense there’s an even uglier side to this town than what we’ve seen (which has already gotten pretty ugly at times).  For now, everyone is still more or less superficially getting along , though there are reports of predation events happening and the students are still being ordered to go home before dark.

Things between Haru and Legosi are certainly getting more complicated, too.  While he’s clearly still pouting where Louis is concerned, Legosi can’t help himself acting like a lovestruck pup when Haru is beside him.  And she is a lot this week – on their walk to the subway after he finds her to escort her safely home, on the platform as they’re fleeing the conductor who’s taken their fight for a potential predation incident, even in a stall in the men’s room as they hide.  Not insignificantly Legosi notes that he’s proud to be a wolf for the first time ever when his physical ability helps them escape (which Haru has instigated to try and protect him).  But Haru also makes note of the fact that when Legosi speaks in characteristically gentle fashion to her, he has a carnivorous growl deep in his throat.

When Haru talks about how things are different for her, knowing that she could be a step away from death at any moment, I can’t help but fall back into English Lit mode and try and figure out just what Itagaki is trying to suggest.  Is this class in her crosshairs, or gender politics?  In truth that the two seem quite garbled is probably intentional.  Haru and Legosi have had to flee because she’s well aware (more than he) of the discrimination carnivores face.  But when he asks her if she feels one step away from death when she’s with him, that suggests the eternal dance between the male and the female.

That also happens to be the most emotionally powerful scene of the series so far in my view.  Legosi is being really vulnerable and honest here, for starters.  And that moment when Haru stands up in the bench so that she can properly console him in a bro-like manner – that really got to me.  Sadly for Legosi though, it really felt like the act of one friend towards another, and while he tells himself he’s fine with that it’s pretty obvious that he yearns for much more.  Haru is a fundamentally honest person – she really can’t put on an act for Legosi’s sake here.

Then we have Juno, who has a very interesting scene with Louis in the rehearsal hall.  This was a moment like we haven’t really seen so far, a female carnivore and a make herbivore, and while Juno doesn’t overtly threaten Louis it’s a reminder that their social status is not aligned with their physical power.  Juno makes clear in no uncertain terms that she wants it all – Legosi in matters of the heart, and the beastar role Louis currently occupies currently seems in line for.  He’s an obstacle in her path for social standing, but in romance it’s Haru who’s the obstacle – as Juno sees all too clearly when he rushes to Haru’s side after a blackout in the city (Chekov’s gun again?).  What Juno doesn’t know is that it was Louis’ name Haru called out when Legosi arrived in the dark…

The matter of adolescent romance is certainly complicated enough as it is, but when you throw in their weird dynamics of Beastars‘ premise – however allegorical they may be – this is really a colossal mess.  Interestingly it feels to me as if it’s Louis who’s in the most danger here, not Haru, and to no small extent that’s because he’s someone who clearly thrives on danger.  Louis puts himself in high-risk situations all the time – as an actor he’s practically addicted to it – but he may be caught in the middle of something now that’s too much even for someone as fearless and authoritative as him to handle.