Of all the anime that premiered a few months ago during the Fall 2019 anime season, Beastars stands out as one of the most inventive, gorgeous and well-animated shows of the bunch. Anime fans across the globe took notice, hyping the show up prior to its premiere. Unfortunately, while many airing anime is licensed by overseas streaming companies who then simulcast the show on the same days of its weekly Japanese release, Beastars had no such luck. Instead, the highly anticipated adaptation of Paru Itagaki’s manga was licensed by Netflix, and while the Japanese branch of the company simulcasts their anime, overseas Netflix branches instead opt to release the entire series in one batch months after it finishes airing. It happened to Little Witch Academia, and it happened to Carole & Tuesday, and now Beastars has been stricken with the same fate.
The furry murder mystery romance Beastars finally drops March 13th! Join anxious wolf boy Legosi on his journey to solve a friend’s murder and, even harder, understand his feelings toward dwarf rabbit Haru. #Beastars pic.twitter.com/EtFhUMmcB0
— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) January 13, 2020
Thankfully, we now know how much longer we’ll have to wait before we can officially stream the show, as Netflix recently announced that the series will debut on Netflix outside of Japan on March 13. The news was shared via the NX On Netflix Twitter account, alongside a clip from the gorgeous stop-motion-animated opening for the series. While no other info about the release was shared, it’s safe to assume that the international Netflix release of Beastars will also come with an English dub, as the rest of their anime releases have done.
While this method of overseas release for anime licensed by Netflix isn’t a new practice, it still ends up surprisingly plenty of people when they find out about it each season. Case in point: the author of the Beastars manga had no idea the show was only available on Netflix in Japan, either, expressing their surprise on Twitter.
really!!? only Japan Netflix !? https://t.co/jvf9E4dPvs
— 板垣巴留Paru Itagaki (@itaparu99) October 11, 2019
While overseas fans are itching to finally get a taste of the first season of Beastars, Japanese fans have been acquainted with the show for almost half a year now. The first season of the anime debuted on Netflix in Japan on October 8, followed by a television premiere on Fuji TV’s Ultra+ channel and TV Nishinippon on October 9. Japanese fans are already looking toward the future of the show, as well, thanks to the confirmation of a second season. Th 12th and final episode of the first season ended with a message that production on a second season has already been green-lit, although broadcast and character details have not yet been shared. The series is produced by Studio Orange, the studio previously responsible for Land of the Lustrous and Dimension W.
Beastars is an adaptation of the Itagaki manga of the same name. Itagaki launched the manga in Weekly Shonen Champion magazine back in September of 2016. Akita Shoten is in charge of publishing the compiled book volumes of the series and released the 16th volume of the manga in Japan on December 6. Viz Media, meanwhile, licensed the manga for overseas distribution in late 2018 and has been releasing the series physically and digitally since then. They describe the “animal-human drama” series as follows:
At a high school where the students are literally divided into predators and prey, it’s personal relationships that maintain the fragile peace. Who among them is a Beastar—an academic and social role model destined to become a leader in a society naturally rife with mistrust?
Last night at Cherryton Academy, an herbivore student was killed and eaten. Among the members of the drama club, the herbivores’ suspicions naturally turn to their carnivore classmates… The prime suspect? Legosi, a large wolf. But he wouldn’t hurt a fly—or would he? And will dwarf rabbit Haru bring out the beast in him? Or are his feelings for her…something else?
The manga has received numerous accolades over the years, having most recently won the 11th Manga Taisho awards in March of 2018. In March of that year, it also won a New Face Award at the 21st Japan Media Arts Festival Awards. Further back in December of 2017, just over a year after Beastars debuted, it also ranked at #2 on the Kono Manga ga Sugoi! male readers list.
While the staff and crew for the second season of Beastars have yet to be confirmed, much of the team from the first season is likely to return. Shinichi Matsumi directed the first season of the anime, having previously been an episode director on Rurouni Kenshin and Rage of Bahamut Genesis, as well as an assistant director on Pom Poko and Porco Rosso. Scriptwriting eas handled by Namami Higuchi, who was previously a writer for Little Witch Academia and Ninja Slayer From Animation. Nao Ootsu, the firearm designer for Saga of Tanya the Evil and sub-character designer for Banana Fish, was the character designer for the show. Eiji Inomoto was in charge of CG directing and previously worked on Kan Colle and Ghost in the Shell Arise. Finally, Satoru Kousaki was the music composer for the first season of the show, with previous credits on Wake Up, Girls!, both seasons of Oreimo, and Monogatari Series Second Season.
