 At a high school where the students are literally divided into predators and prey, friendships maintain the fragile peace. Who among them will become a Beast Star, a hero destined to lead in a society naturally rife with mistrust? Hey everybody, welcome to another exciting episode, another edition of A Week in Geek, them here on YouTube and this time we're going to be talking manga. Yes, we're talking Beast Star's Volume 1. This is one of my most anticipated reads of 2019, one of the best reads of 2019 that you'll have, or if you're seeing this in the feature, whatever year you might be on. So yeah, Beast Star's Volume 1. I got into this because of the anime adaptation, I'm going to be completely frank with you guys, I had no intention of picking up this book but I was curious enough to check out the anime. I watched the first episode and I was hooked. One of the best opening songs ever in the animation, I was already there. I was a little bit iffy on the CG anime because I'm not a huge fan of that, but it won me over. It looks fantastic. But we're not talking about the anime, we're talking about the manga, right? So a couple episodes in, I'm like, damn, I really need to get the manga of Beast Star's because it just started coming out over here in the US so I wanted to jump on that before any books go out of print, all that crazy nonsense. So I got Volume 1 and as of this video, I have the first two here. Yeah, Viz, come on. I mean, these are signature editions, they're taller than your regular manga, but I mean, put them out at a faster rate please. I mean, Japan already has like 15 plus volumes. Let's try and do catch up. We're already on Volume 3. Let's pick up the pace. Anyways, Beast Star's. What the heck is Beast Star's? I've been rambling. Beast Star's is a pretty interesting title. In a nutshell, this is an alternate reality. There are no humans. Every creature here is, you know, anthropomorphic animals going about their business and, you know, they're divided in classes, omnivores, herbivores, carnivores, all that fun stuff, and they live in this society where eating, like the carnivores, eating other species is strictly forbidden. They coexist and there's this frail tension throughout the book that at any point in time, things could snap. Yes, it is a perfect society, if you will, but as you keep reading, you find out about its underbelly and how how nervous every character is in this book. I found that really interesting and it reminded me of real world issues and how frail of a society we live in, that the tiniest spark can match a giant forest of trouble. And in Beast Star's, we get that spark, that match, that initial fire at the Cherryton Academy where students, you know, even though they have their clicks, you see all the mice hanging around together, you see all the canines, you know, the dogs and jackals and wolves and all that stuff hanging around on a separate click, they're meant to inhabit the same space. And we follow a series of protagonists throughout the story, the first one being Legosi and I think I said that right, even though it's spelled with an hi at the end, I do know that it is inspired in Italian. So Legosi, I don't know, maybe I'm saying it wrong, but we follow our main wolf, which you see here on the cover and on this back cover as well. I really like that drawing and he is pretty huge. Wolves are pretty damn big if you've seen one in real life. Not that I've seen one in real life, but you know, pictures and videos and all that stuff. And he is sort of this gentle giant. He is part of the drama club as part of the technical staff and all that stuff. And he is just the sweetest boy. I think he's 16 or 17 or something like that. And he is just minding his business when all of a sudden there is this murder on campus where a carnivore has eaten a one of the herbivores. It was an alpaca called Temp and already suspicion and paranoia creeps into the faculty and the students and all that stuff. So you see characters looking at a big wolf like Levosi and they're accusing him of maybe he might have done it because he's a wolf. And you know, you get this wonderful critique of racism and social class and stereotypes and all these elements that plague our society today. And they've always done done so in the past, but now, especially in today's time, it's, you know, the climate is there for that social injustice. All these accusations get thrown around and the characters are put through the ringer because of just how they look. And the character, our main wolf, he is reserved, shy, timid, but at the same time, he's very, he's a strong, he's physically strong and has a very genuine heart to the way he expresses himself. Even though he's shy, he is, he's a gentle soul. And I cannot recommend this series enough. Not only do you get a really cool examination of social cliques, but with the traits of the animal kingdom and the way characters behave like a cat or a dog or a rabbit or a deer and all these other wonderful species, it really is a giant metaphor for the human condition and how we behave in a society with other people, our paranoia and how mass hysteria can set in when something like this happens, when in real life you get a hate crime or a genocide or stuff like that. And our preconceived notions can be our downfall when it comes to interacting and socializing with people and how the globalization effect has evolved through time. Right now, I'm speaking to you. You might be anywhere across the world and you might be looking at this video. So that in and of itself speaks volumes of how we have evolved as a species that we can communicate through technology. And I do like that Beastars reminds me of that, even though, you know, at first you look at their outfits and it looks very 50s, 60s oriented. I thought it was going to be like a period piece, but it's actually modern because they use cell phones and all that stuff. So that was interesting. Also, one of the cooler aspects of this series definitely has to be the artwork. This is done by Paido Itagaki. And she is fantastic. The mangaka just does a really cool job with the artwork. And what I love about it is that if I showed you this, you would not think this is a manga. You would say, oh, this is like an indie comic in black and white. Like this reminds me of Black Sad or a comic book like that with animals. And it has that European sketchy drawing aesthetic to it. Like, for example, right here, it just looks straight out of the European comic, Timmy. And I think that lends itself for the title to get a bigger appeal worldwide. I get it. Not everybody is going to be excited to pick up a manga, but they see something like this and it might pique their curiosity. I like in the story that we follow legacy, I mean, look at that sweet wolf. He's such a good boy. We follow all these animals in the theater club, and they're putting on this play, and you get, you know, you follow them as they have to deal with the murder of one of their classmates, and how do they grieve and how do they proceed from there? All these interesting notions, all these interesting philosophical ethical questions are asked in this book. You also have the introduction of one of the series's best characters. This is Louis the Deer. He is aiming to be a Beast Star. If you're wondering what the heck is a Beast Star, I read it from the description at the beginning of the video, basically like the All-Star Summa Cum Laude character at the school that later on goes on to acquire top positions at the government, stuff like that. So an honorary student that embodies the spirit of the academy and is an example for the other animals to follow. Louis is extremely methodical, interesting Machiavellian and just wonderfully written and his interactions and how powerful he is. Even though he isn't as strong as legacy or other characters like that, how powerful he is and how, you know, he is sort of like the hot boy that everybody looks up to. All the girls love him, all the guys want to be like him, and he is a red deer species. And, you know, you would think he would be a calm, soothing presence, but he has that over-the-top regal performance to him, you know, which I thought was really freaking fascinating. And last but not least, you have Haru, the White Dwarf Rabbit, which you can see over here. She, you know, some things happen in the book. I'm not going to spoil it. She gets into a gossip rumor throughout the whole school and she gets bullied a lot and it leads to a faithful encounter with this guy right here in a fantastic, beautiful sequence of events that the anime did a wonderful job as well. And it sort of brings out some desires on certain characters and you have that morality dilemma of whether a carnivore can stay put as he is because these characters, like they go to the cafeteria and they eat soy products and bread, eggs, stuff like that. So he can keep these characters, can keep their composure. I don't want to ruin it, but I think you know where I might be headed if you have no idea about this series. So yeah, do check it out for the social criticism, the wonderful artwork, European style, just really deluxe, gorgeous looking books that I highly recommend and easily one of the best releases of 2019. Beastars is an excellent series and you're right on time to start collecting. If you're watching this and you're interested, there's only like three volumes as of this video, go ahead and pick it up. You will thoroughly enjoy it in my honest opinion. Have you read Beastars? If you have, let me know down below which is your favorite character. I know my favorite character right here. I tend to do videos like this that are spoiler free because I don't like spoilers when I look at reviews for stuff or discussions or opinion pieces. So eventually I do want to do like a spoiler heavy take on the series, but I just wanted to keep it brief. You know, just in case you're new, you're watching this channel for the first time, you don't know who I am. Yeah, I just like doing spoiler free takes on stuff I'm reading, playing and watching and all that stuff. So if you have read it, let me know in the comments section down below. Guys, thank you so much for liking, commenting, subscribing, following me on your favorite social media platform. You can talk to me there, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. And as always, I have got more stuff to read and review for you guys. So I will catch all of you on our next episode.