With episode 5, Beastars clears up the events of the last episode and then moves onto focusing on Legosi being in love. Did the quality remain consistently high again? Let’s find out!
Play-ing Around
Legosi’s clash with Bill, and the subsequent interference from Louis, is the talk of the school now. As you’d expect though, things were getting blown out of proportion, with some even claiming that Legosi had a gun and set Bill on fire. The truth is, the pair were actually admonished and suspended by Louis. Until the press turned up and Louis had to shift gears and get them to claim it was all just an intention reinterpretation to let the younger students shine and live with passion.
There were some interesting moments from Louis here. For one, he gave Bill his blood back. His reasoning was that he doesn’t care if he uses it, as he didn’t expect him to have good morals like Legosi does. When the school press turned up though, his façade dropped for a moment. Legosi described it as him looking like a normal eighteen-year-old.
That’s significant because it shows just how highly regarded Louis is. He puts himself across with more maturity than the rest of the school and people notice this. Deep down though, he is still just a normal kid, dealing with the pressures he’s found himself him.
I did notice that the mask came back on when he enticed Haru into bed though. That’s going to be crushing for Legosi when he finds out. He views Louis as incredible, and I suspect he’ll feel like he can’t compete.
What’s In A Name?
The brunt of the episode was set one month later. After a little general tomfoolery – such as the canine boys trimming their fur to sell and the drama club being roped into doing the Meteor Festival (to honour the dinosaurs), we got to the crux of it. Legosi is desperate to get to know Haru better.
This ran the whole course of what we know about the characters so far and nudged it forward nicely. In terms of Haru, Mizuchi (the harlequin rabbit) has failed to get back together with her ex-boyfriend. As a result, she physically bullies Haru again, tripping her and calling her a ‘fucking slut’.
This sets Haru off. She rants at her fellow bunny, telling her that the more desperate you appear, the more likely you will lose in love. In the end, it’s Legosi appearing that drives the bullies away though. Haru is clearly tired of the way she’s treated and finally stood up for herself, which is definitely a good thing. She does revert to masking though when Legosi offers to help, simply telling him that she doesn’t take pity from men she’s slept with.
The thing is, Haru is so used to being what everyone else tells her she is that of course, she’s going to think she did something with him. She remembers him, but he’s kinda just another guy in a way. When he reminds her that they didn’t do anything, she remembers and invites him to eat with her.
The cafeteria scene was gloriously awkward. Both of them clearly like each other, though the feelings are far stronger on Legosi’s part. He has no idea what to say to her, or what questions to ask. He doesn’t even know her name. Meanwhile, Haru struggles because she believes he’s nice and wants to get to know him better, but every time she sees his fangs, her body wants to run away. They both want to close the distance between them but don’t really know how.
A walk back to heir dorms saves the day though. Here, she stops to do up her shoe and, seeing her struggle, Legosi helps her. Their eyes meet and after an awkward moment of him saying he’s never seen a rabbit’s eyes up close before, they finally learn each other’s names.
This was all very sweet. Legosi silently acknowledged that he wants to see her smile more and if it means seeing her eyes, he’ll get his tail dirt forever. That was a reference to him squatting down and his tail wagging in the dirt when she smiled. The whole thing played out in such a genuine way. The missed moments and the final breakthrough were awesome. It just sucks that the relationship is likely one-way right now.
Sex
This is something that has come up a lot in the series so far. I wanted to talk a little about it because If eel like Beastars is broaching the subject better than a lot of shows do. The urge to be intimate is a natural one, but it comes with potential issues.
Haru’s reputation is one that has caused her a lot of grief, even though she isn’t actually doing anything wrong. It hasn’t actually felt like her arc has been used tor titillation so far though. Even the scene with Legosi in the shed felt more like it had a purpose other than simply to show her in her underwear.
Meanwhile, Legosi is doing a great job of representing innocence slipping away, He’s growing aware of his own feelings and desires, yet she still doesn’t want to know Haru by her underwear alone. They have different levels of experience and so are coming into this from different starting points. That makes it complicated, and thus far, the series is doing a great job of showing just how complicated attraction can be.
Overall
This was another fine episode, and one that went by really quickly. There isn’t really anything I can be overly critical off so far, which is nice to see. But what about yourselves? Did you enjoy this episode, and do you agree with my interpretation of the story so far? Let me know in the comments below.
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