The second volume of Beastars continues the story of Cherryton Academy, a boarding school with a diverse set of animal students, both carnivores and herbivores. The story focuses on Legoshi, a wolf who tries to keep himself to himself and blend into the background. While the first volume opens with an alpaca being murdered, there’s almost no mention of it in volume two, although the tensions it caused is still running high.

Most of this volume focuses on Adler, the play that the drama club is performing. Legoshi is a member of the club, working as a stagehand on lighting. It’s revealed that there’s a reason why specific students are chosen to be members of the club, and I’m guessing that will be quite significant further down the line. It feels like there’s a lot of mystery at Cherryton Academy and I’m looking forward to seeing it being revealed.

We also get more interaction with Haru, a rabbit that Legoshi almost killed in the previous volume when he started to let his primal instincts take control. On the outside she’s a small cute rabbit who most people seem to want to protect, which frustrates her. There’s a rumour going around school about her, and no one wants to be seen near her. Legoshi, feels like there’s more going on with her than most people realise. Their dynamic is pretty great so far and I’m looking forward to seeing this develop over the series.

Tense is definitely the word to describe the later half of this volume. I won’t spoil it, but it’s absolutely brilliantly written and I was eagerly reading to find out what happens next. There’s a little bit of violence, which is quite brutal as a reminder that despite it’s premise this is not for children. It’s tackling some interesting themes like the importance of diversity in entertainment, slut-shaming, and self-worth. One of my favourite characters so far is Louis, the leader of the drama club. A herbivore who wants to be seen to be as strong as a carnivore. He’s an amazing actor, who people will flock to see, and will do everything in his power to keep up his reputation. I feel like there’s a lot about his character that will be revealed later and I’m excited to find out.

Beastars volume 2 is simply a fantastic manga volume. It’s rare that I find a manga so completely engrossing that all I want to do is read more, but this series has me hooked and I’ll be reading every volume of this as quickly as I possibly can. If you’re looking for something different, that’s quite dark for a story about a school filled with talking animals, then Beastars is well worth checking out.

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