I love Beastars. They could give me a whole volume of nothing and I would still be happy. I liked that we got some more backstory in this volume and the interaction with his grandfather was nice too. Looking forward to volume 13!

Beastars is a series about an anthropomorphic animal world of carnivores and herbivores that has captured readers with its varying genres and more importantly, its character dynamics. Created, written, and illustrated by Paru Itagaki, Beastars Volume 12 is the latest in the series and focuses on Legoshi’s ramifications for the events of the last volume, where he devoured Louis’s leg—with his permission of course. But with the society trying to maintain the fragile peace between the carnivores and the herbivores that means that there is no longer a place for Legoshi.

Beastars Volume 12 is published and localized in English by VIZ Media’s Signature imprint. The volume is translated by Tomo Kimura, adapted in English by Annette Roman, and features touch-up art and lettering by Susan Daigle-Leach. In this volume as a consequence of his savage battle with brown bear Riz, doors begin to close for gray wolf Legoshi, and he must strike out on his own. Barred from returning from school and forced to live with the denomination of “meat offender” on his permanent record. Forced into society and into an adult at the same time, Legoshi has to find his own way in the world now. Find an apartment, find a job, and somehow find a way to survive in a world that has now barred him from the future he wants most: marrying Haru.

But that isn’t the most stunning part of Beastars Volume 12. Sure Legoshi’s struggle with temptation after adjusting back to society after eating meat is interesting, as is a new sheep character who literally has a death wish, but it’s what happens in the volume’s last chapters that really set the tone for the series going forward. First, we get to meet the current valiant Beastar, horse Yahya, who shares a history with Legoshi’s family. Like Legoshi and Louis, Yahya strives to make the world a better place—but he does so with a calculated callousness that both shows his strength and his bias against meat-eaters. Then, we get to meet Legoshi’s grandfather, a komodo dragon, and get to see the most explicit display of discrimination because of this.

Beastars Volume 12 is a phenomenal entry into the series and in it, Itakgaki does the heavy lifting when it comes to establishing what the world beyond the Cherrytown Academy looks like. While we caught small glimpses of this with Louis’s time with Shishigumi, and through Legoshi’s time at the Black Market, this volume establishes not only how big the world is, but how much history there is between the species. Itagaki uses Legoshi’s newfound status as a “meat offender” to push him into researching the history between carnivores and herbivores, but more importantly, interspecies marriages, when they became legal, and where reptiles and venomous species fall into it. While it may seem small, these moments of research help define the world that Legoshi now finds himself in and runs contradictory of the world of his old school where there was nothing but peaceful cohabitation, or it at least put that on their facade.

Finally, it’s Itagaki’s art that continues to wow me as a reader. From action sequences, size differences, and stellar first shots of Yahya that took my breath away. There is an ability that Itagaki has to illustrate both attractive and intimidating characters in her world. But she can also illustrate meek characters as well.

Overall, Beastars Volume 12 is another entry in the series knocked out of the park. By expanding the world of Beastars and by adding context to the world as well, Itagaki is on the trajectory for even more masterful storytelling.

As usual I love beastars! I love how Legoshi has withdrawals based on what happened on vol. 11. The meeting with his grandfather was also amazing because the reader ends up getting some more background information on one of the protagonist. This manga has been so enjoyable to read because you can see real world parallels in this. You can see that the mangaka has placed a lot of care into each of these characters, even the side characters are interesting to get to know.

I have come to love this series and I can't wait for the next volumes to come out.

It’s kind of interesting how last month saw the release of Beast Complex, as this volume of Beastars feels more like an extension of that manga than a continuation of itself. Now that the hunt for Tem’s killer is finished, Legoshi and Louis now have to deal with the repercussions of the preceding fight between Legoshi and Riz. As a result of his actions, Legoshi opts to drop out of school and become part of adult society even if he’s barely an adult. It’s a bit sad how jarring and drastic the changes are, but thankfully this volume benefits from worldbuilding outside of the Cherryton high school setting.

Speaking of worldbuilding, we’re introduced to some new characters. Seven is Legoshi’s new neighbor while Yahya is the current Beastar. While at this point we aren’t really sure what the responsibilities of a Beastar are (or how many of them exist), it’s neat to see more of this unfold. The introduction of these characters also highlight the carnivore/herbivore class and race conflict that the manga does well, and while some of the metaphors are a bit too obvious, most of the comparisons are done in a good context to the rest of the series. My only real complaint here is that I feel like a lot of the current plot threads have to make room for the new ones, which means there’s a little too much stuff going on in one volume that makes it feel too fast-paced at times.

For those who like Legoshi’s grandfather Gosha, there’s more of him here. Sure, a Komodo dragon and a wolf shacking up seems odd (and in-universe, not even accepted legally), but the relationship between grandfather and grandson is genuine and heartfelt. This dynamic is definitely going to be explored in future volumes, and fills a void with Legoshi not interacting with the Cherryton students as much. I can’t wait to see where the series heads to next; we’ve only just begun here.

I loved this volume for so many reasons. The consequences for our characters are real and palpable, and you can tell that they didn't think things all the way through when they made their decisions in the previous volume. I continue to love each and every volume as it goes along. Looking forward to the next one.

If you would like my more in depth feelings about this title, please check out this review vlog! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6vAlr5I5CE

Thank you to NetGalley and Viz for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

In BEASTARS Vol. 12, Legoshi sets off on a new chapter in life, and Paru Itagaki gradually introduces us to the working world beyond Cherryton Academy. I enjoyed how Itagaki explored Legoshi's complicated feelings following the previous volume's events, and this addition to the series is a promising start to the new arc. Itagaki's loose, sketchy art is dynamic and showcases expressions well. I was also happy to see new characters introduced as well as old characters receive more development without making the storyline too dense. I'm excited to read more.

Thanks to NetGalley & Viz for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Oh man, oh MAN. The drama...so good! I really enjoyed seeing more of Legoshi's family tree and finally meeting the current Beastars! The character progression was off the hook here, I especially like seeing the tense moments between deer old dad and Louis.

I always appreciate the extra world-building and Paru's artwork gets better and better with each volume.

Great series!