Beastars: All Season 2’s Differences From the Manga

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Season 2 of Beastars, now streaming on Netflix, as well as the Beastars manga by Paru Itagaki, now available in English via Viz Media.

In Season 2 of Beastars, Legoshi undergoes a drastic change to gain vengeance for Tem's murder after realizing the bear, Riz, is the one behind it. It hurts deeply as Riz was a friend to all, but Legoshi's story and training with Gouhin intertwines with Louis as the deer takes over the Shishigumi, losing himself to the darkness of the lion gang and Black Market. As both try to fix their lives and ensure they're not consumed by the rage inside, the Beastars anime makes a few key changes from the manga for a tighter story.

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Rokume's Appearance

In the Beastars manga, Rokume is the giant rattlesnake guarding Cherryton Academy, hidden in the shadows. She's stalking Legoshi and eventually crawls out of the vents to confront him and make sure he wasn't involved with Tem's death. She eventually drops key clues for him to chase in places she can't go. The anime takes a while to reveal the snake though, having Legoshi thinking he's nuts and that a ghost is harassing him as he traverses the halls.

The Haru Conversations

Legoshi's classmates are confused by him being a wolf and dating Haru, a white rabbit, so the Beastars manga has them spending a lot of time asking how sex works. In fact, the manga dives even deeper into inter-species dating. The anime, however, changes this direction a bit and gives less time to the guys making derogatory comments about Legoshi's sex life in order to reduce the toxicity of the males.

The Cosmo Incident

Cosmo is an okapi that Louis ends up meeting in the Black Market, bonding with the stripper to understand the sordid place and life better. The Beastars manga had him saving her in the bathroom from a bear that wanted to eat her, but the anime changes this as he saves her when she's on stage instead. The cage drops and carnivores try to feed, but Louis arrives to rescue Cosmo and teach the hungry a bloody lesson with his gang.

Louis' Father Issues

For Louis to leave school, he needs permission from his corrupt businessman of a father. The deer refuses, leading to a huge argument in the manga where Louis yells about him not being there to support his acting career. The anime alters him getting permission as the dad accedes more easily, with Louis not getting worked up after pulling a gun on him. It's less emotional to show how both are cutthroat businessmen now, while also reducing Ibuki's nuanced story as he begins to feel like Louis needs to be let out of their gang.

Gouhin's Therapy Sessions

In the Beastars manga, Gouhin spends a lot of time helping a fox who is in therapy with him for attacking herbivores in public. He wants to condition her so she can return to society without these urges, with the woman eventually admitting she'll turn herself in despite being at peace. The anime, however, doesn't dive much into this or their dinner date where she thanks Gouhin for helping her heal, making it a mere cliffnote so the show can focus on him mentoring Legoshi.

Legoshi's Family Arc

Beastars originally talks about Legoshi's past, which informs why he's not a carnivore as he goes through training with Gouhin to beat Riz. We learn his grandfather, Gosha, was a komodo dragon who married a wolf, before making Legoshi's mother. Sadly, hints are dropped the mother is no longer alive, but none of this enters into Season 2 of the anime -- which is odd, as it would inform the emotional maelstrom within the teen wolf.

The Bloody Aftermath

After Legoshi accepts the offering of Louis' leg, his animal side is able to beat Riz and get him locked up. The manga shows more of the cops grilling Louis and Legoshi, Louis healing in the hospital, and Legoshi being let out of juvie and discovering he's on a meat-offenders list -- which means he can't marry Haru.

Louis also makes amends with his father and attends graduation, while a private investigator, Yahya, starts monitoring the school. The Beastars anime cuts all this, however, producing a rushed ending where Legoshi tells Haru he's dropping out to roam the world.

Tomura Shigaraki
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