Beastars Vol 2 by Paru Itagaki

Legoshi was sent to secure flowers from the Garden Club, but he ends up helping Haru, the white rabbit who is the club's only member.  Rumors abound about how forward Haru is, and Legoshi finds out they are true before scurrying away without the flowers.  Then, it's time for the opening of the plan, starring the Red Deer Louis, everyone's favorite actor.  Louis is nursing a foot injury, but the show must go on.  He self-medicates to get through the first show, but as the curtain drops on the performance, so does Louis.  The doctor prohibits him from acting in the second show, so he is replaced by Bill, a tiger, which means Legoshi has to play Bill's part! Four years in Drama Club, and Legoshi has never been on stage!

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Much of what happens with each of these characters revolves around them fighting their animal nature, and yet these characters could be humans and be having the same struggles (except for fighting the urge to eat other students).  Through this, Itagaki is able to comment on human nature skillfully, and it isn't always a pretty picture.  There is also some great truth behind the Drama Club members - that most of them have some sort of trauma in their past that they use to fuel their performances.  We don't learn what happened to Louis or Legoshi, as well as many of the other characters, but I'm sure this will come up again in future volumes.

The art is, at times, extremely detailed, like scenes within the theater during the performance, but at other times, are very sparse and lacking in detail. 

This is rated for Older Teen.  In the first volume, there wasn't much presented aside from the gruesome nature of a student being murdered, but this one does elevate the series.  There is a sexual situation in this volume that doesn't show any body parts, but is borderline graphic.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 11-12

Reviews of previous volumes in this series: vol 1

Publisher: VIZ Media
Publication Date: September 17, 2019​
ISBN: 9781974707997 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, School Age, Mystery, VIZ Media