#beastars the final season: part one

[deuterosapiens]

Finished Beastars, at it stands, and am eagerly (albeit, not strictly patiently) waiting for the other half of Season Three to drop.

Let's dig in, shall we?

So, Legoshi has recovered from his near-death experience and is now continuing his quest to find Melon, who he believes he can change if only Melon would allow himself to be understood. Louis's investigation into the carnivore narcotic has led to him nearly being devoured, though it also leads to him exposing the truth to the public. Bill and Els have gotten approval to run a show of their own during the Festival of the Meteor. And Haru is... kinda there, in the background? Yeah, she's not really given any focus here.

A few highlights:

Sangwan continues to be weird. When Legoshi is the normal one, there's clearly something going on. They share a bath and philosophize about death and the food chain.

Flash, Flash, Hundred Yard Dash has a cousin here, who's a tattoo artist with a mild tendency to endeaden his clients. I've never considered how a tattoo would work over fur, but this one world-building detail is going to haunt me for the rest of the night.

Melon's developing leopard spots, a condition that parallels the affliction that caused Legoshi's mother to take her own life. Melon copes by having tattoos of melon leaves cover them. This bit actually harkens to a Riz moment in Season Two, where after enteethening Tem, his sense of taste is muted (Melon, apparently, has neither the palate of a carnivore, nor an herbivore, which leads him to have no sense of taste). Melon explicitly has no sense of taste, or libido; no desires. He does take exquisite pleasure in the pain Holger's tattooing inflicts upon him (how is this guy in business if he tends to kill clients so much? There's no way Melon pays enough to avoid the liability having this guy on staff would cause).

For some reason, the show chooses to pixilated Louis's lock-picking. This was quite funny, especially since nothing about the framing of this shot would at all be useful to someone interested in learning to pick locks. It's also probably the least illegal thing we have ever seen a character do in this show.

Legoshi fantasizes about going to the beach with Haru. He fantasizes about playing in the water with the Boys from Cherryton. He looks so damn happy to see Sangwan's home.

Ogms confronts Louis outright on the distinct possibility that his son might be gay. Louis, despite having a well known history with women, chooses to change the subject completely. Dude. Bisexuality. Look it up.

Legoshi once again fans the flames by desiring to see Melon naked. This isn't even gay speculation; he's just weird that way.

Melon is a melo(n)dramatic bitch, and I love him. I mean, yes, he's shot Legoshi again (rood), and yes, he did throw him off a cliff into the ocean. But he's so manic and demented that I just cannot not love him.

Melon is evidently a teacher at Haru's university. The plot thickens.

Anyone else see Melon as a Francis Dollarhyde-like figure? I mean, nowhere near as soft-spoken as The Great Red Dragon, but he's like a considerably more psychotic version of him.

Now, I theoretically could actually read the manga. I have a bit of time perhaps before the rest of the show concludes. But my backlog of this I need to read is looong. Still, as the actual ending draws closer, I'll be sad to see it over. They should adapt Beast Complex next.

[gazeopard]

The Fruitboi is HERE

So Netflix just dropped the official trailer for Season 3 Part 1, and holy shit MELON IS HERE.

He is here and he is voiced and he looks AMAZING. Boi is back and here to stay. I haven't hidden my nervousness over the final season in the last few months, but the trailer has gotten me more excited than nervous at this point. Gosha and Yahya look great. I was surprised to hear Yahya's voice, as I always imagined him with a deeper tone, but I still love it. It's really fascinating. Also liked seeing Sagwan and Sebun voiced and animated as well.

I was also surprised to see this:

This scene NEVER happened in the manga. EVER. And neither did the scene where Melon stands over one of the lions after killing one with his knife before the Shishigumi, which leads me to hope we'll get a scene how Melon became the new leader of the Shishigumi pride, rather than the hand-wave excuse from the manga. The fact that this, as well as a few other scenes that happened in the trailer (and the teaser before it), gives me more hope that they're improving and including scenes to bring the rest of the story together in a cohesive finale. Because Beastars started going downhill after the Meteor Festival arc until the Melon arc/Revenge of the Love Failure arc, where the issues from the previous arcs after the Meteor Festival arc began to go up to 11, depending on who you ask. As excited as I am for the season now, I have to remind myself that this is only a trailer and a trailer to Part 1, so the issues I and many others have (Haru's absence, Louis and the Shishigumi's lack of accountability for their actions, Kyuu and San's pointlessness, the Imaginary Chimeras, characters disappearing and never appearing again, plotlines being dropped, zero Gouhin, Legoshi's regressing character development plus ripping out his teeth, the destruction of the Black Market, Legoshi and Haru's lack of proper relationship development in favor of friggin' Louis mostly hogging Haru's screen-time for no reason, Louis and Juno's relationship going nowhere despite their sexual tension, Yahya denying the fish meat, etc) may eventually appear either in this arc or the arc after it. Just because something wasn't shown in the trailer that doesn't mean its not going to be there. As for the screenshot above, it looks like they're improving the scene where Melon meets Legoshi. In the manga, Melon got away because Legoshi was a dumbass and uncuffed him to talk to him outside. But here, Melon is holding Legoshi at knife-point, possibly after Yahya leaves. Since Melon is outside handcuffs here, I'm guessing Yahya decides to look for Melon by splitting up with Legoshi, and Legoshi goes upstairs and ends up finding him, but Melon ends up taking him by knife-point and taking him outside or something. That, or maybe Melon ends up escaping the cuffs himself after talking with Legoshi and forces him to cooperate, where the scene in the manga happens, but differently. Either way, I'm excited to see what kind of directions they'll be going with this.

I feel like... I can finally BREATHE AGAIN xD

[stuff-diary]

Beastars (Season 3)

TV Shows/Dramas watched in 2024

Beastars (Season 3, 2024, Japan)

Director: Shinichi Matsumi

Writer: Nanami Higuchi (based on the manga by Paru Itagaki)

Mini-review:

Finally! We're back to one of the most fascinating shows in the world of anime. I was basically obsessed with the first two seasons, and it feels like it's been forever since then. This third season (I refuse to call it the final one) is somewhat uneventful, but the ensemble and the world-building are so rich that I'm just happy to spend time here. The central allegories also remain as biting and timely as ever, which is certainly a plus. And truly, Orange's mixture of 3D animation with touches of 2D is downright stunning; I feel like no other studio or style could have done this story and world justice. The whole thing just feels so... alive. It's definitely a big part of what makes Beastars so spellbinding. I haven't heard great things about the final stretch of the manga, but I'm still excited to see how this one-of-a-kind story wraps up.

[hotchocolatefanfics]

The show that changed my life forever? Bojack Horseman

This show changed how I feel and write redemption stories. It’s my favorite thing to write about and include in my fanfics, but Bojack Horseman’s final season challenged how I approach it.

Whereas before I would have focused more on the reasons for how and why a villain gets redeemed, I now find myself considering the crimes and evil things they did as villains and how that damage will never really go away. Especially if it involves:

- Abuse or torture (of any kind)

- Lying, manipulating, and gaslighting

- Deliberately causing or contributing to the death of one or more person(s)

Let me be clear here, I love villain characters. I just find them interesting and complex, and that’s largely a credit to how they are portrayed in movies, tv shows, and stuff. There are tons of villainous characters I would love to see do better, put all their demons behind them and live happier lives but I also think it would be a mistake to not include or acknowledge the harm they have caused (assuming of course if the fanfic takes place after they did said actions or even follows canon at all).

Here’s a brief list of villains to give y’all an idea:

- Megatron and Starscream (Transformers)

- Koba, Red, Winter, Sylva, Lightning, and Preacher (Reboot Planet of the Apes)

- Tai Lung and Lord Shen (Kung Fu Panda)

- Drago Bludvist (How To Train Your Dragon)

- Lord Voldemort (Harry Potter)

- General Woundwort (Watership Down)

- Steele (Balto)

- Melon and Yahya (Beastars)

- Cluny the Scourge, Vitch, Slagar the Cruel, and Badrang the Tyrant (Redwall)

The thing is, Bojack Horseman’s last season showed that while a person may have moved on, may truly want to change, and have people supporting them, the things they have done are not necessarily all forgivable. Sure, some things might be forgiven or even understandable depending on the circumstances or reasoning but not everything is.

Most if not all of the villains I just listed have killed people, abused, tortured, enslaved or assisted in the abuse, torture, and enslavement of others, or are total tyrants who crave power and control over other people. If and when I write a redemption story for any of them is now a question of ‘how would it work’ and ‘If they had a chance at redemption, would they actually take it and be serious about it?’.

And how would the people they have hurt feel about it? There’s just so many layers to it that doesn’t necessarily be part of a fanfic-assuming canon divergence there-but if it does follow canon it feels weird to not acknowledge it or include it in the villain’s redemption story.

[c00and]

Thoughts on Beastars Final Season Part 1

It has been a long time since I finished the Beastars manga, so going into the final anime season, I was kind of out of the loop about what really happens in these chapters. Sure, I remember the broad strokes, but not the details.

I'm not sure when I noticed just how off the anime felt, but I think it might have been with the Civet and Kopi Luwak stuff.

The anime is almost nothing like the manga. That is not a bad thing, by any means. They're just incredibly different stories and I feel like I am insane because I have not seen a single person talk about this.

The anime is great (so far - I am on EP 11) and I don't think I could've asked for a better animated season. I think that the team has really come together to create something visually beautiful this season.

Story wise? It's incredibly solid! Each of the leads have had equal and fair screentime, and I love the increased importance of Melon in the narrative. However - and this was honestly the first thing that bothered me but I tried to ignore it - the Kines drug plot is such a choice. I like it, in theory. It works really well for the story the anime is trying to tell but I felt like I was losing my mind watching this season. I did not remember the gang wars being about drugs, or even seeing Melon this early in the story.

I thought that 'oh my mind must be awful' because I did not remember Kines at all. Then I look it up, and found nothing at all about it in the manga. I even checked my volumes. Nothing. I really do wonder why they made this choice - or what say Itagaki had in this decision. Again, it's not a bad one, I was just deeply confused as a manga reader.

I think the shortening of the second act of Beastars to one season instead of two was the wrong choice fundamentally because I will always want more Beastars. I think it does the original story a disservice to shorten it like this HOWEVER. I believe that the anime team has come up with a really creative way to fix the manga's pacing problems and to shorten these chapters into one season and I must applaud them.

I will forever mourn that we didn't get to see the rest of Beast Apartments or Gosha and Yahya's reunion but I think the new scenes we got have been great.

RIP Gosha's granddad classes through.....

[demifiendrsa]

BEASTARS Final Season Part 1 | Official Trailer

Part one of the final season of BEASTARS will stream on Netflix on December 5, 2024.

YU-KA will perform the ending theme song “Feel Like This.”

Key visual

Cast additions

Shinichirō Miki as Yahya

Shigeru Chiba as Gosha

Kōji Okino as Melon

Tesshō Genda as Sagwan

Fumiko Orikasa as Seven

[fromchaostocosmos]

Just watched all of Beastars and I liked it. I need part 2 of the final season to come. Also it is giving like very Queer vibes like does anyone else get that from it. Also something about it just feels BDSM to me. I don't know how to explain it, but the best way I can explain it is like multiple characters or perhaps their society on whole might benefit from some BDSM and/or roleplay. Does that make sense.

Also just started watching Dan Da Dan and I feel bad the boy. The intro theme song is a banger. I usually skip the intros on shows, but not for this one because I like it so much.

I do find it funny that the character with main character hair color is giving off just such obnoxious thinks they are the main character energy and attitude.

If anyone has any recommendations for stuff to watch let me know.

And my recommendation is My Daemon it is really good and bittersweet and has a slight pokemon thing going in the creatures in it like really slight, you'll understand if you watch it.

[fluffytheocelot]

i finally watched beastars here’s Legoshi and werewolf!Carmen doodles

Anxiety riddled wolves that wanna protect people and are deathly afraid of hurting the people they care about

also i did not know season 3 is only part one I was THIS 🤏 close to joining in on CEO season y’all bc what was THAT.

like i was like “first the interactives and everything that happened to nerf the main Carmen series, and now this?” *looking for bow and arrows* “You can fit a lot more words on an arrow than a bullet casing LETS GO” and then i googled it and was like oh ok.

BUT YOURE ON THIN ICE NETFLIX

[ceasarslegion]

I do often wonder now how netflix is gonna cram all that into one final season for the beastars anime. I know they're doing 2 parts but there's over half of the manga left to get through. They didn't even introduce the main series antagonist where the anime left off yet

[tsunflowers]

the beastars final season part one op is so sad bc legosi is falling through a nightmarish cityscape but haru and louis are both reaching out for him and then he wakes up in his shitty apartment alone

[crehador]

brother crab's fall 2024 parting thoughts: uhhhhh basically everything

doing these all in one batch because i have been falling behind big time this season orz

long post under the cut

acro trip & kabushiki gaisha magi lumiere: the two magical girl series i picked up this season, both delightful! my only gripe is i wish acro trip had also gotten a season two, but thrilled to have more magilumi coming eventually

sengoku youko: after the wreck that was biscuit hammer THANK FUCKING GOD THIS WAS GOOD, and it was really. really. really good. it's not the, like, shiniest thing you'll ever see in 2024 in terms of animation, and the story isn't exceptionally unique or anything, but it's a great, classic adventure fantasy that has a really nostalgic feel to it

haigakura: ummmmmmmmm the less said the better. let's move on

tasuuketsu: was it good? no. was it compelling? also no. did i watch all 24 episodes? well. man idk the beginning was a mess, and not even the fun sort of mess, and the situation did not really improve. however i do feel like there's some potential in the characters and death game mechanics here, just fully unrealized potential, which is just... frustrating. anyway. do not recommend

touhai: this one's rolling onwards into a second cour but this is the fun sort of mess. it delivers on its gritty-dark premise in all the ways that yakuza fiance (i'll get to that) doesn't. do i even necessarily like its gritty-dark premise? ehhh... but i do respect it for being just. balls to the wall ridiculous

raise wa tanin ga ii: mannnnn this one probably warrants its own post because i could go on and on about what i found lacking here if anyone wants to hear it, but the tl;dr is i just don't feel like they committed to the yandere-ness of the yandere relationship quite enough. but i did love yoshino and i did love kirishima... 's voice (basically picked this up solely for ishida akira lol) so it was fine. whatever. it was fine

rekishi ni nokoru akujo ni naruzo: surprisingly decent villainess series! for a while it seemed like it was going to fall into the boring old trap of actually the villainess is Good and the heroine is Evil. while our aspiring villainess is clearly not Evil in this, she's at least going about her supposed 'villainy' in a somewhat interesting way

kimi wa meido-sama.: i... i don't know. i think overall i did enjoy this, i remember it having a really strong start, the main characters were both really charming and fun, but it sort of fizzled out for me. i don't really have a problem with the flagrant wish fulfillment-y vibe here, it's just i guess i feel like it didn't really strike a steady balance between the romance, the slice-of-life bits of yuki trying to lead a normal life, and the looming hints of her ominous history. it's not that these things can't all coexist, the show was just a little clumsy about balancing them imo

kamonohashi ron no kindan suiri s2: honestly i don't think this has gotten worse, i think it's just gotten to be not my thing. when ron said "this is the last case i'll ever thought" i said out loud "promise? 🥺" so... i probably shouldn't continue if they make another season. but they did just get suwabe in here so. we'll see

blue lock s2: lol. lmao even

goukon ni ittara onna ga inakatta hanashi: an absolute delight! all the characters wound up being really fun to follow but for me fuji and asagi absolutely stole the show. they were just too good

maou 2099: this has one more episode to go, but i can't imagine my thoughts on it changing much. and my thoughts are it was fun! nothing mindblowing in the end, but solidly fun. you can feel the hpmi all over it

natsume s7 & bleach tybw cour whatever & beastars final season pt1: lumping these together since pretty much all i have to say on them is it's more of the same, which is a very good thing. bleach and beastars quality is staying up, and natsume is still the same natsume we know and love which is exactly what i want it to be forever and ever

dandadan & ranma 1/2 & ao no hako: grouping these together because they're clearly the big names of the season (well idk about ao no hako but i certainly hope it's one, because it deserves to be) and there's not much i can say that hasn't already been said. they look great and were/are (ao no hako is continuing into a second cour) a delight to watch. dandadan does a great job of portraying not just kids being kids but weird kids being weird kids, which is a somewhat rare delight. ranma 1/2 and ao no hako are both peak romance. ranma is also such a visual joy to watch

of the three... ough... i feel like i have to give anime of the season to ranma because it was just such a pleasure to watch, but i have such a soft spot in my heart for ao no hako right now. it's just gorgeous, and the characters feel so wonderfully real. the only thing knocking it down a bit is i don't enjoy love triangles in general, but like if there has to be one, ao no hako's is not (currently) that annoying

anyway this is not my anime of the season post so more on that later

i think... that's... everything? maybe? chi and slf s2 are both excellent, but more on those after their second cour. the one thing i will say about slf s2 for now is nothing has topped the wethermon fight for me yet and phew. it's gonna be tough because that fight was peak

tsumasho, mecha-ude, and murai no koi i've already made separate posts on. some other two cour stuff i'll also save comments on for next season

oh wait

kinokoinu: this was cute but not all the memorable i guess, as evidenced by the fact that i. just. nearly forgot it lol

anyway! i'd say overall this was a very solid season with some seriously underwatched sleeper hits like mecha-ude. anime of the season is... going to be fun to think about. much to consider

[deuterosapiens]

More of Beastars: The Final Season- Part One (episodes 3-5).

So the conflict we are setting up is that the Shishi-gumi have new leader, one who is quite simply actually insane (we have yet to see Melon depicted on-screen, but his off-screen presence is enough). They have been involved in an energy drink crisis which increases aggression in carnivores who have consumed meat. Meanwhile, we have finally met the Beastar, a horse named Yahya who is militant about keeping order in the world. Yahya has a history with a komodo dragon named Gosha, who just so happens to be Legoshi's grandfather.

On to the highlights!

Gosha's reunion with Legoshi is so incredibly weird. If this is the man who raised him, you have to respect that Legoshi is as socially adept as he is.

Louis has become so incredibly zoophagophilic (look at me coining a new word for "carnivore fetish") that he is physically incapable of having sex with his future wife. This is pretty damn funny, actually.

More baby Legoshi!

Legoshi comes out to Louis about having an herbivore fetish. Louis informs Legoshi that the only person who did not know was Legoshi himself.

Upon meeting a leopard seal, Legoshi continues his trend of having his entire personal belief system and world view overwritten by a total stranger.

We meet a Civet drug dealer. While there's all sorts of real-world precedence for this scene, it's still weird as hell.

Oh look, Pina! Aaaand he's gone. Well, that's rude.

Legoshi continues to go the extra kilomile by ripping his fangs out for Yahya. This will obviously not come up weirdly later.

Upon finding out that Legoshi has a job, the drama club jokes that they hope it isn't customer service. Legoshi of course has a delivery job. This bit amused me.

So, we are setting some things up that I expect will be interesting later. Unfortunately for me, gotta go to work. Oof.

[hyzenthlayroseart]

My sister and I finally binged part one of the final season of Beastars (I don't wanna wait for part two 😭) and it made me wanna make kids for Legoshi and Haru. I hope I blended the two species well…I wanted one of them to look wonkier than the others so I gave Riko two different eyes (one has the sclera visible like Legoshi and the other eye is completely dark brown like Haru) and one of her ears is lopsided. Hopefully she still looks cute though, hopefully all of them look cute.

Something I wondered while drawing this is wether or not they'd be immune to komodo dragon venom like their dad.

[stillwill76]

Will’s Anime Watchlist for Fall 2024

Holy smokes, there’s a lot of great stuff coming out this season. Here’s my intial watchlist.

New shows for the season:

Uzumaki (Toonami/Max) (Been waiting on this one for a LONG time. About three or four years I think? First episode was pretty good. Excited to see the rest.)

DanDaDan (Crunchyroll/Hulu/Netflix) (Most anticipated show of the season. I saw the first three episodes in theaters. They were incredible. Anime of the year contender.)

Blue Box (Netflix) (Another highly anticipated show. Also potential anime of the year contender. It or DanDaDan could take best romance.)

Magilumiere (Amazon Prime Video) (I really like the source material but I’m a little worried the anime won’t be as good seeing as their hasn’t been a lot of ads for it, much like what happened with Red Cat Ramen/Ramen Akaneko. Will still watch it.)

Okay, now for returning series. There are a lot.

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War Part 3: The Conflict (Hulu) (LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOO!!! Very excited because a) we’re about to see my favorite Bankai (Kyoraku’s) and b) the talks about additional scenes like an extension of Ichigo’s second fight with Yhwach as well new Ichihime and Renruki scenes has me pumped.)

Blue Lock Season 2 (Crunchyroll) (Hyped for this to come back. I’ve heard the next couple of arcs are pretty great. Still need to see Episode: Nagi.)

Shangri-La Frontier Season 2 (Crunchyroll) (I always love when there’s a video game anime that is just about people playing video games and there’s no life threating stakes. Might need to start the manga for this one.)

Ron Kamonohashi’s Forbidded Deductions Season 2 (Crunchyroll) (Started reading the manga for this one partway into season one last year and am now caught up. Excited to see the anime’s take on the next couple of arcs.)

Beastars: Final Season Part 1 (Netflix) (It sucks that we’re getting this in parts and this part won’t be out till Christmas. But I’ll still enjoy it.)

Shows I might check out:

Toilet Bound Hanako-kun Season 2 (Crunchyroll) (Saw the first season when it came out and enjoyed it. I know a spin-off came out sonce then but I need to see if it’s required watching. May need to rewatch season one because I barely remember it.)

Dragon Ball Daima (Crunchyroll) (I’m not the biggest Dragon Ball fan but I do love the vibes of the OG series and this has a lot of those. Plus, Akira Toriyama was heavily involved before his untimely passing. May he rest in peace. Might also check out Sandland on Hulu.)

Dubs I’m rewatching: currently making my way through Undead Unluck. After that, either Frieren or Mashle.

Anyway, that’s it for my list! I’ll add more if I find any other shows that intrigue me. 😁

[gazeopard]

Long-awaited Thoughts on the Part 1 Teasers

Been a while since I posted anything Beastars-related because I've been trying to focus on my own writing as well as on the damn GED. Having ADHD makes everything so slow and cumbersome...

I saw the teaser trailer back in March when it first came out, including the livestream from the Japanese YT channel (I forgot the name lol). Even though I couldn't understand what they were saying, I was excited (and nervous). I've made it no secret in the past and present that I've become very critical of Beastars' later arcs, especially everything post-Season 1 over the past few months.

Looking back on Season 2/post Vol. 6 these past few months got me noticing many things I didn't consider firsthand, or things that just flew by me due to my brain being off and only focusing on the things in front of me, as well as hearing things others on and off of sites like Reddit had noticed that I didn't initially have also gotten me looking back with a more critical eye.

A part of me is hopeful for Season 3. I have hopes that it'll change and salvage enough of the last two arcs into one cohesive finale, fixing all the bad, weird, or questionable writing decisions on Paru's (and I'm sure the publishers) end.

But after Season 2 basically followed the manga almost exactly, even up to the other strange writing decisions that were made that started the downfall of Beastars, I'm wondering if it's even worth it. If it's even worth holding onto hope anymore. And if I'll just be disappointed and let down again.

At the same time, a small part of me just... doesn't really care about Beastars anymore...? At least, at the moment? Partially because of the long wait. And partially because I've been trying to focus more on my own writing for my "Fireborn" books, trying not to fall into the same traps that others have stumbled into, all while taking bits of what I liked, didn't like and/or thought could have been better, and running with them to salvage them enough to be something worthwhile, entertaining, and memorable. 

Also, I have a feeling that, since it'll be a 2-parter, both parts will consist of only 12 episodes... which makes me more nervous than excited. It probably means the Dropout Arc will follow the manga exactly, while Melon's arc will probably follow the manga exactly the way it did, only it'll have tons of fat removed.

I dunno. I mean, the theory was that the final season would have 24 episodes, and 12 + 12 = 24. Though, I was kinda hoping the final season would be just one season with 24 episodes, as it would have probably broken the 12-episode mold. But breaking it in half seems like the better way to go. I don't know. I'm still kinda nervous.

Again, part of me just almost doesn't really care what happens. If it's good, great. If it's bad like the rest of the manga.... eh...?

I guess it's because I'm too jaded now. Idk. I will probably watch only for Melon. Not that that makes much of a difference anyway, considering what a mess he turned out to be in the end of the manga.

This probably also means Haru is still probably going to get treated as more of a prize to be won, again. And Kyuu's probably gonna still be in it and divert attention away from the more important things (Louis and Juno's development as a couple, Legoshi and Haru's relationship development as a future couple, Melon's development as a villain, etc) to put screentime on things that ultimately won't matter again, the narrative is still not going to hold Legoshi or Louis accountable for their actions, Legoshi's still going to hate himself and pull out his own teeth (only for them to magically grow back making the whole thing pointless) and avoid Haru most of the time again, making them getting together feel unearned, and Melon's still probably going to be an inconsistent mess of a villain and his promise with Haru will be dropped after looking like it'll be important... again. 

Or maybe they'll remove the things that didn't work and replace them with ideas that will work and improve it. Hopefully.

But seeing the official trailer four months ago made me more hopeful and curious. I'll still watch it to see anything is different as well. The animation is still gorgeous.

Also, I loved seeing the return of hellhound/demon-eyed Legoshi again! I remember being disappointed that they didn't really bring that back in Season 2 when I saw it, especially during the fight against Riz, but I'm glad they're reviving it here. Seeing him wake up with red eyes after having a dream about Haru where she was replaced by Louis' foot, all while hearing the red deer demand him to eat it, makes me wonder if they're going to give Legoshi some serious and dangerous consequences from consuming Louis' foot last season? Are they going to give give Legoshi a reason to drop out?? I was wondering if maybe his consumption of Louis' foot reawakens his carnivorous instincts and he finds himself wanting to eat Haru, which causes him to drop out? It also makes me wonder if they'll bring more focus to his meat-withdrawal symptoms. After the water fountain accident, his instincts never really came up again in the manga and were more told to us rather than shown. 

The shot of Legoshi and Haru outside also makes me wonder if they're including a scene where Legoshi sees Haru off to college. It'd be cute if they did. So the implications in this teaser showing him struggling again after seemingly overcoming them… really gives me a lot of hope that they're improving the manga.

Also:

Gosha and Yahya look amazing. It makes me excited to see how Melon will look, and it makes me curious to see who Studio Orange got to voice them.

AND we've finally got a date. December. When in December? Who knows. It's better than no date at all.

All in all, I'm still a bit nervous, but am still hopeful.

[13eyond13]

What are your top 5 fav manga or anime? Why you love them?

omg see I'm kinda bad to ask for this one because I didn't get into anime or manga until my late teens when I watched Death Note (due to no regular TV and very strict rules around what I was allowed to read/watch growing up). I'm also really picky about it, and usually don't finish the series if they don't grab me pretty immediately or if I lose interest in them! So I'm gonna have to include ones I haven't fully finished just to round out this list, but:

Death Note - obviously! And I'm forever yelling at everybody to read the manga, because though I also was first introduced to it via the anime and think there are TONS of things to love about the anime it just has to be experienced in its original format to get the most out of it writing/art-wise, imo

Beastars - ngl I thought this series seemed really cringe when I just watched the first episode of the anime, like Zootopia meets Twilight, and the cheap-looking cgi animation kinda turned me off of it too. But once I switched over to the manga instead I was really charmed by the art style and by how clearly years of love and thought had been poured into this world and the characters by the mangaka, and how strange and dark and complicated the social dynamics of it all were. Finished the whole manga a couple years back, definitely recommend, particularly for the later parts where it moves past just being a high school drama/romance kinda thing

Yuri! on Ice - maybe the only other anime I ever fully finished watching, now that I think of it? Not perfect, but extremely cute and charming, and I loved Yuri as a character a lot

One Punch Man - I didn't watch past the first season, but this show made me lol constantly, and I loved Saitama so much (he has a lil bit of L energy at times). It also got surprisingly feelsy at times, like with Mumen Rider's part!

Mob Psycho 100 - another one I fell off watching whilst waiting for season 2, but I think it's so good and has extremely likable characters and a fun little world to explore (I am just THE LAZIEST about watching shows, so me stopping watching it doesn't mean anything much). It's a bit sweeter and also angstier than OPM, but for some reason I have fonder memories of watching OPM, so that's why it's ranked below it here

Some Bonus Ones I Like but Haven't Finished Enough of Yet to Feel Comfortable Ranking:

Naoki Urasawa's Monster - Very good! Very grim. Very realistic and tense. I am reading the manga rather than watching the anime, and I think it's definitely one I'd recommend if you really like the heavy themes and moral conundrums and crime thriller genre and whatnot that DN incorporates (though it's much less goofy than DN, which is maybe why I have a harder time finishing it... my appetite for goofy/depressing media is tremendous, but my appetite for solemn/depressing media just isn't very big)

Neon Genesis Evangelion - I watched about 1/3 of the anime and read the first 3 volumes of the manga! Really enjoying the manga, but have to wait to make more money before I can pay to read the rest hahaha. Idk how to explain that it kind of gives me David Lynch vibes?? Similarly weirdly dreamy and dark feelings to it. I love Shinji so much too. Idk it's definitely not a feel-good time, but I think it will be one of my top 5 faves after I finally get through the whole thing