Thank you for visiting Anime Rants. Beastars Final Season Part 2 was released on Netflix in March 2026. I have been trying to cover a few episodes at a time here at Anime Rants ever since April. With this post, my episode reviews for the final season will be complete. I am honestly glad to be done with these reviews. Though it’s been good practice for me to be critical of Beastars, it was also rather depressing to write about how this anime fell so hard so fast. The final season’s ending was a trainwreck of rushed, disjointed storylines, plot holes, and failed attempts at good character resolution. For more detailed notes, see the episode reviews below.
- Episode 10 (AKA 22): Words That Slipped Out
- Episode 11 (AKA 23): Blood in the Disco Ball
- Episode 12 (AKA 24): Interspecies Exchange
Episode 10 (AKA 22): Words That Slipped Out
Episode Rating: 6/10
The rats told Legoshi that Melon had appeared to enter the turf war in the Black Market, so the wolf hurried to the registration area. (It seems weirdly bureaucratic that you need to register for an underground turf war. Then again, this is a “war” in name only.) The turf war would be held on Meat Appreciation Day and would actually be a ceremony rather than a fight. The rats also mentioned that the way to win the turf war was to have the strongest scent of burned blood compared to the other contestants.
This turf war winning method felt too random and out of nowhere. It only made sense later in the episode, when we learned the secret weakness of mixes from Deshico. (Mixes become incapacitated by fumes from the blood of herbivores and carnivores mixed together.) This fits in too neatly and conveniently with the turf war contest, since the participants would be burning blood there and breathing in the smoke. Despite being a little too convenient, this plot point wasn’t badly executed. I didn’t have any real gripes with the Black Market stuff until the quiz was introduced.
In order to win the right to compete on Meat Appreciation Day, Legoshi was forced to enter a quiz of knowledge against Melon. Frankly, this was a stupid plot point and mostly served to break the audience’s sense of tension that had been building up. It almost felt like a comic relief mini-episode. I couldn’t take it seriously that Melon and Legoshi, mortal enemies, just sat there and played a quiz. Legoshi’s delight at winning points was cute but felt so damn out of place to me. Though I found the quiz idea silly, I did lowkey enjoy learning the trivia about beast society from the questions and answers.
Melon saving Legoshi felt absurd. During the quiz, the mixed beast grabbed the wolf out of the way of a falling spike. Legoshi spent a moment cradled in Melon’s arms, looking up at him and saying softly, “Thank you.” I don’t know what this was for besides teasing the audience about a Legoshi x Melon ship. It’s not the first time the show has suggested that the two enemies may have romantic or sexual tension. I think Melon is attracted to Legoshi in a certain way – but still wants to kill him, of course. The excuse he gave for saving Legoshi was that he wanted to kill the wolf himself. That tracks, but then I’m still left to wonder why they made the rescue moment seem so romantic.
The stupidest parts of the episode were over with the end of the quiz. The next part to mention was when Ogma confronted Louis about publicly supporting interspecies relationships. The mayor had warned Louis to stay out of the public spotlight until the wanted wolf was captured. Louis then brought up Ogma’s recent dealings with the mayor. He pointed out that the financial favors were putting the company in debt. Ogma shut down his adopted son’s objections and left him with cold words as usual. This scene was fairly well-written and interesting. Louis’ character development was definitely better than Legoshi’s in the final season.
As I mentioned earlier, Deshico discovered the weakness of mixes, even proving it with a test subject. (The ethics of how he acquired an infant bird-leopard mix was never mentioned.) The civet was almost murdered by Melon for uncovering the truth. Melon stuffed Deshico into a sealed container of water, leaving him to drown. Luckily, Louis came along and saved Deshico. I found myself glad that no characters were killed off in this season. Deshico is a morally corrupt mad scientist, but he’s cute and cheeky, so I didn’t want him to die. It was a relief when Louis rescued him.
The weakness Deshico discovered felt really random and out of nowhere. Also, it hadn’t been strongly established that we really needed to find some special weakness. Legoshi’s side could just overwhelm Melon with a large enough force of normal fighters. Legoshi obviously couldn’t go to the police at this point, since they would simply arrest him on the spot. But you would think he could get some allies in the Black Market. Instead of a straightforward plan like that, they went with the more complicated and underhanded plan of using Melon’s weakness against him. I thought this was stupid at first, but it kind of makes sense to use this method with a clever, slippery bastard like Melon.
Before we go on to the reunion of Legoshi and Louis, we’ll check back into the drama club. One of their most important set pieces was destroyed by a windstorm. Tao began to lose hope in the play and said that what he wrote was only wishful thinking. The drama club had been constantly harassed since Legoshi went on the wanted list, and the play might be canceled due to rain. Pina surprised everyone by being the one to bring the group back from the brink of despair. He and Juno acted out some of the lines from the play to remind Tao that his writing was more than just wishful thinking. Everyone’s hope was renewed and Tao kept being gay boyfriends with Kibi.
This scene with the drama club was very touching, but I can’t help wondering: what was the point? Their show does end up being ruined in the final episode, and it’s Pina’s fault. I argue that the play should not have been canceled and we, the audience, should have been able to see parts of it performed. That’s the payoff we needed after following these characters for so long. This emotional scene with Tao, Pina, and Juno felt misleading and out of place with the final result of the drama club’s show that year.
The last scene with Louis and Legoshi was actually quite nice – or as nice as it could be considering my dissatisfaction with the relationship shown between the beast boys. But the sunset lighting and backgrounds were aesthetically pleasing. Also, Louis took the opportunity to tell Legoshi the truth about his origins. Legoshi accepted it all without judgement. The deer and the wolf then talked about how to stop Melon while looking down at the city from a tall building. If they were together, they concluded, they could conquer any obstacle.
Sadly, the deer and the wolf did not romantically kiss in the sunset. I always knew that this show would never canonize a romantic or sexual relationship between Louis and Legoshi. I do argue that Legoshi eating Louis’ leg was a sexual act as much as it was a hunger-driven instinct. So, they’ve practically had sex. But apparently, even after an experience like that together, the wolf and the deer go back to being platonic friends. The reason is mostly homophobic writing. I’ve known this since the beginning. Still, it does frustrate and disappoint me. That’s finally all my notes and thoughts on this episode (for now).
Episode 11 (AKA 23): Blood in the Disco Ball
Episode Rating: 5/10
Early in the episode, Louis finally found out that his father was being threatened into making deals with the Mayor. He never would have assumed that Ogma cared enough about him to want to protect him from a scandal about his adoption. Louis only found out because his sheep butler straight-up told him. Random, but the sheep butler was played by Mitsuru Miyamoto, whose voice I find very sexy in some roles (for example, he’s Mori Ogai in Bungo Stray Dogs). As the timid sheep butler, he sounded quite different! I guess he’s good at playing sweet and clumsy older men in addition to the more suave and calculated characters like Ougai. Anyway, Louis now understood his father a little better.
Then there was Melon’s dream. There was a sequence with black-and-white animation showing Melon delightedly hunting Haru before being challenged by the hulking, growling figure of Legoshi. Within the dream, Melon became huge and buff to match Legoshi’s size and began to fight him. When he awoke with a start, he found that his carnivore nature was taking over more strongly than ever. His leopard spots had spread over much of his body and face. What’s more, Melon had lost his twink body (which was also attractive) and gained a smokin’ hot middle-weight, muscular carnivore body. Interestingly, the spread of his leopard traits awoke complex feelings within Melon about his mother and her carnivore nature. This scene was not bad, but it should have been more thoroughly explored over time instead of rushed into one segment.
The next important scene was Louis’ talk with Kuroe (Chloe) the weasel scientist. She drew blood for him but told him it would be impossible to get the anti-clotting drug Louis needed within the next few hours. The drug was needed to make sure the mixed blood of herbivore and carnivore wouldn’t instantly harden. This was obviously a problem for the plan, but Louis had an interesting moment where he realized he should fight his own battle. His focus shifted from helping Legoshi to facing the Mayor who had been bullying him and his father. However, Kuroe was determined to do whatever she could to help Louis, and ended up acquiring the anti-clotting drug after all. She seemed to have stolen it from the Horns lab, which would endanger her employment. Kuroe really went out on a limb to help Louis, and at the end of the day, it saved Legoshi’s life.
It was finally time for the turf war blood-scent battle in the black market. Each of the major factions gathered and prepared to burn their blood on pyres. Whoever had the strongest scent would be the winner. The contestants were the Dokugumi (venemous lizard mafia), the Madaragumi (a group led by a leopard), the Inarigumi (vixen girl gang), and of course, the Shishigumi (lion group). Legoshi also entered as a participant despite having no chance on his own. Anyway, the huge black market event was relatively orderly and civil at first, until it became clear that the Shishigumi had a weak scent and was on the path to losing. Then Melon took the opportunity to slice open Agata’s throat, adding his blood to the pyre and murdering him in the process.
Invigorated, Melon incited a violent riot, and everyone broke into sudden battle. The leader of the Madaragumi was Melon’s first target, as leopard spots pissed him off. Meanwhile, Legoshi’s battle was with a lizard named Savon, the mighty leader of the Dokugumi. According to the images I’ve seen, Savon’s design was different and more unique in the manga. I thought he was a bit boring in the anime. In addition, I lowkey hated the part where Savon tore off his tail and tossed it to Legoshi with a bomb strapped to it. It just struck me as rather wild and silly. The episode ends with Legoshi getting caught in the explosion from the tail-bomb.
There were several interesting or good ideas in this episode, but everything felt rushed and disordered. In addition, the tail-bomb was stupid and I disliked Agata’s death because he was a simp for Melon and basically said “no sweat” after getting his throat cut. It was dumb. The black market showdown was a decent idea and I liked the dream sequence and the part where Melon awoke to his carnivore nature taking control. Only one episode remains, and unfortunately, it wasn’t very good. Let’s get into it.
Episode 12 (AKA 24): Interspecies Exchange
Episode Rating: 4/10
The grand finale of Beastars was goddamn awful compared to what I expected. As with the previous episodes, I will offer my comments on the important parts of this installment, including the scenes that disappointed me most. Let’s start with Legsoshi and the lizard’s tail. Savon, boss of the Dokugumi, tore off his tail-tip for no particular reason, strapped a bomb to it, and tossed it to Legoshi to kill him. The lizard also mentioned that his tail was sentient for several seconds to minutes after detachment. So, rather than fend for himself first, Legoshi responded by stuffing the wriggling tail into his pants and protecting it from the explosion. Savon had a positive response and stopped attacking Legoshi, saying the tail-tip was the pride of the Dokugumi and now an honor belonging to Legoshi.
The stuff with the tail was so weird from start to finish. Also, instead of eating the tail once it died, Legoshi just threw the dead flesh into a pyre of flame. It seems like a huge waste of a free buff item. Think of how strong Legoshi would be if he ate a pound or two of lizard meat. However, my frustration and befuddlement with the tail scene was nothing compared to what I felt during the next part: Legoshi’s encounter with Ten the fox.
It’s time for a crash course in misogynistic writing! Ten the vixen is a female character almost certainly written by a man who hates and/or seriously misunderstands women. Her character concept by itself was not so bad. Ten is a red fox, and the social stigma against red fox women dictated that they were always perceived as sexual creatures. In an attempt to defy this fate, Ten became the boss of a Black Market girl-gang and took to street-fighting. She wanted to prove she was a fighter and not a sex object. You may be thinking Ten sounds like a strong and relatable female character. Wrong. In execution, her character was handled horribly and used to reinforce a sexist narrative. Let me explain the whole scene with Legoshi, Ten, and Melon.
Ten pounced on Legoshi out of nowhere and the wolf’s immediate thought was “Oh no! I can’t fight a woman!” Though it had been strongly hinted at before, this is the first truly undeniable proof that Legoshi is sexist. This alone was frustrating and irritating because until now I could make excuses for Legoshi and more or less agree with his morality. Now it’s clear his thinking is warped, inconsistent, and prejudiced against women.
Legoshi refused to take Ten seriously, even when she shot off his ear. Then suddenly, the wolf pushed Ten off him and threw her out of the way just in time to save her from Melon’s sudden attack. The poor, pathetic woman needed defending by the brave white knight. The idea that Legoshi would win against Ten without even trying is so insulting. The message is that Ten is still a sexual and delicate creature no matter what she does, and as a woman, she should never be respected as a fighter. This sexist writing pissed me off pretty badly, especially since it gives more credence to the interpretation that Beastars is problematic and misogynistic in general. But for now, let’s move on and discuss the fight between Legoshi and Melon.
The short, disjointed battle was underwhelming. Legoshi did fairly well holding his own considering he hadn’t eaten meat (or insects) recently. From season 2, we know Legoshi has a weak bite force, and from the third season, we know that his fangs are just replacement dentures. He wouldn’t stand much chance against Melon, a regular meat-eater with a new carnivore body and a psychopathic drive to kill. So, it was easy to predict that Legoshi would end up losing. Just as the wolf was being strangled, Kuroe and the rats from the Black Market came to the rescue, releasing mixed blood into the air. Melon was quickly intoxicated by the fumes and fell over, unable to keep fighting.
When Melon looked up, the other four leaders of the mafia groups were there, staring down at him in disapproval. It was clear the bloodbath was over now and order had been restored. But Melon was resistant to losing – both physically and ideologically. He couldn’t stand to have Legoshi get his way, and he still hated himself and all mixes. Thus, Melon dramatically shot himself in the chest. This was not very powerful because the surprise of it was ruined by Melon’s pseudo-suicide attempt earlier in the season. This scene did not have the impact it needed. And it barely mattered anyway, because we learned at the end of the episode that Melon survived. (This could have been a cool ending twist if it was better developed, but we only heard one rushed line about Melon during the epilogue.)
Now we turn to Louis’ battle on the stage. The young deer had been thrown off guard by a trick from the mayor during their joint announcements at the Zoolympics opening ceremony. The speech program said they would be announcing the artificial meat, but the mayor skipped that entirely and instead outlined his plan to destroy the Black Market. Louis had to react quickly, and he soon found his tongue. I understand that Louis wanted to protect the lions and repay the one who died for him. Still, it was so damn weird and problematic to see him stand there and defend the Black Market and meat-eating. Sure, the current society is not sustainable, but underground meat selling and slavery are not going to help. I was aggravated by how rushed and unclear all this felt.
Despite defending the Black Market, Louis also acknowledged its horrors by publicly revealing that he was once trafficked in the “Live Bait” scene before being purchased by his adoptive father, Ogma. This was a clever move because it took away the mayor’s power over Ogma and Louis. The young deer’s next move was to reveal the mayor’s bribes and how he had been threatening Ogma with blackmail. Ogma finally stopped being stubborn and nodded his head to support his son’s claims. Now exposed to the media as corrupt, the mayor must have just figured “fuck this all.” He drank a bottle of water containing Melda. The effects were immediate, transforming the already uncanny mayor into a genuinely disturbing monster. He went after Louis at once.
Fortunately for the deer boy, Legoshi came to the rescue and defeated the mayor quickly by biting open his shoulder. Plot hole: How did Legoshi defeat the mayor so effortlessly when his bite force was said to be super weak in season 2 and when he has dentures after ripping out his fangs in the third season? That aside, the crowd was watching Legoshi and realizing that he was the wanted gray wolf from the news. Though he had just protected Louis and neutralized a great evil, the crowd still looked at Legoshi warily, some calling him “That Devourer.” At that moment, Haru appeared and approached Legoshi. Seeing him missing an ear with plenty of new, bloody wounds, Haru was only concerned with checking on her boyfriend and comforting him. As soon as she was close enough, she kissed him.
That alone was not enough to clear Legoshi, but it was a very sweet moment. We’ve been waiting for that kiss for three long seasons. However, Yayha helped by announcing that the real Devourer was Melon, and that Legoshi was actually the hero who handed in the villain. (Apparently, Yayha never intended to betray Legoshi, but I think Gosha was justified in thinking he did. I also doubted Yayha. Despite the evidence that he likes Legoshi immensely, I thought he might still turn his back on Legoshi for some lame reason like getting back at Gosha. Yayha is a petty and bitter horse, after all.) As the crowd began to relax and the situation began to calm down, Yayha and Gosha are seen standing side-by-side, observing that neither Legoshi nor Louis alone had what it took to be a singular Beastar. However, they agreed that the wolf and deer made a perfect team and could become Beastars as a pair.
The epilogue was rushed and included a short scene of Louis and Juno parting ways. Basically, Louis shot her down once and for all, but she took it like a champ and walked away after clasping his hand in goodbye. Um, ok? I never really wanted them together very strongly, but this felt like a bad and sudden way to end it. Louis should be able to love whoever he wants – Juno could have been his second lover in the future, even if he married Azuki. But he won’t let himself because of his reputation and trying to inherit the company. The epilogue also included the information that the drama club’s performance was canceled and rescheduled due to the disappearance of Pina. What was Pina doing? Visiting Riz in juvenile prison, of course! I guess it’s sweet, and it’s a new gay ship I can get behind, but it was so random, and such a jerk move for Pina to crash the initial play. The way it was handled was again aggravating.
After the rushed epilogue montage, there was an ending scene wherein Legoshi proposed to Haru. Though I suspect she was going to say yes, we didn’t actually hear her answer. She intended to climb onto him and tell him her answer to his face in his arms, but the moment was temporarily interrupted by a cop yelling at Legoshi to put down the rabbit. As Legoshi turned to face the cop, Haru was already smiling and assuring him that it was ok because they were a couple.
Yes, fine, this was cute. But it definitely wasn’t satisfying enough for me. First of all, I wanted a clear answer from Haru and we definitely needed at least one more kiss. This one not so bloody maybe. If you’re going to break my heart by never pairing Louis and Legoshi, then at least let my second-favorite ship work out. I mean, not that it didn’t work out. They are a couple. But seriously? One kiss in three seasons? I’ve said it many times already, and this will not be the last. Beastars was probably never great in the first place, but it sure went downhill with the final season.
~Thanks for Reading~
Written by 7Mononoke at Anime Rants
Anime Rants 