This is a world of anthropomorphic animals where carnivores and herbivores live side by side with each other. At Cherryton Academy, young wolf Legoshi is a member of the drama club. While he is often called menacing due to his appearance, he wouldn’t hurt a fly. When one herbivore classmate is killed and devoured, Legoshi finds himself as the primary suspect.
Beastars definitely wasn’t the furry-bait anime you were expecting. Instead, you get an anime series with more human characters than most human characters and a pretty interesting plot. If you want more anime similar to Beastars, you have some options.
Anime Like Beastars
For Fans of Animals
A Centaur’s Life
Thanks to the different route taken by evolution, there are no humans in this world, only supernatural creatures. Himeno is a sweet and shy centaur girl who is in a class full of angels, devils, and beast people, but this is all normal in the world. Despite everything being supernatural, this is about Himeno’s completely normal life.
Did you like Beastars for the animals and not so much the dark mature plot and deep characters? Well, then A Centaur’s Life is for you. The characters aren’t developed as much, but they are more typical of the school children you would have expected to be in Beastars.
African Salaryman
Leaving the Savannah behind, an lion, toucan, and lizard all try to navigate the tougher environment of a Japanese office.
The key difference here is that African Salaryman is a comedy. Both shows display some animal traits in their animal characters, but the lions in Beastars are definitely a lot more dangerous than this neutered salaryman.
Polar Bear Café
Located near the local zoo, the charismatic polar bear Shirokuma decided to open his eponymous cafe. As a popular spot for humans and animals alike, it is a good place to relax after a hard day.
Take out the murder plot in Beastars and you would be left with a slice of life school series about animals. Polar Bear Café is more of a chill slice of life series about animals.
For Fans of Mean-Looking Softies
Toradora
Ryuuji Takasu is a gentle student with a passion for housework, but his thuggish face causes his fellow students to think him a delinquent. Taiga Aisaka is small and cute, but with an attitude as fierce as a tiger. Both of these misunderstood students also harbor feelings for their crushes, and after a series of misunderstandings of their own, they find themselves in an unlikely alliance to get their crushes to notice them.
Tiger and dragon. Wolf and bunny. Unlikely alliances in vastly different settings. While Beastars gets quite dark in its plot and its violence, there is some nice romantic progression inside, which is what Toradora is all about.
Kamisama Kiss
Homeless and in debt, high schooler Nanami Momozono thinks things are looking up when she rescues a man and he offers to let her stay at his home. She soon discovers that his home is a rundown shrine. Trying to leave, she is mistaken for the man she saved – the man that is also the land god of the shrine, Mikage. Finding out she was tricked into being a god and not wanting to be homeless, Nanami tries to embrace her new divine duties, but has to deal with a hot-headed fox familiar to keep things running smoothly.
While Kamisama Kiss doesn’t go full anthropomorphic furry in its characters, the demons and gods do have some animal inspirations. Furthermore, the male main is a fox demon that was evil in the past and most characters still view him as such. However, in both series, you watch these “dangerous” male creatures act quite kind to their love interests.
Haganai
Kodaka Hasegawa is anything but a delinquent. However, because of his blonde hair and bad boy face, he has been labeled as such. When classmates shiver in your presence, it makes it difficult to make friends. Yet, when Kodaka meets Yozora, a girl that is perhaps a bigger outcast than him, the pair start the Neighbors’ Club. In the Neighbors’ Club, those without any friends are invited to join, but not all personalities may mesh well.
Both are series about a main character that is misunderstood. The difference is that while Beastars shifts from slice of life to murder mystery, Haganai stays pretty much the school life harem you expect it to be.
For Fans of Murder Mysteries
Danganronpa
Hope’s Peak Academy is an elite high school where those accepted are given special titles that showcase their skills. This year, only fifteen were accepted, and one of them was the completely normal Makoto Naegi who got in on sheer luck. The students are thrilled to be in such a prestigious school. That is, until they are trapped inside the school by principal and bear Monokuma who tasks them with killing one of their peers and not getting caught by the others in order to escape. However, if they are caught and found guilty in a trial, they will be executed instead.
Aside from both series being a murder mystery, what Danganronpa and Beastars have most in common are the unique and colorful character designs. Both series have memorable character purely because of how they are designed as well as quirky and unique worlds.
Monster
Dr Kenzou Tenma has the perfect life as one of the world’s most renowned brain surgeons. However, one night he is presented with a doctor’s most painful choice – to save an injured child or the mayor, both mortally wounded. Against his colleague’s advice, he saves the kid. However, when a series of crimes start happening around him, all evidence points to the child he saved.
Both series start with a main character that has some murders blamed on them. While Monster launches into a wide journey in proving his innocence, Beastars stays small in scope. While Beastars has some really tense and dark moments like Monster, it also switches into a lighter school life mode.
Rampo Kitan: Game of Laplance
On an otherwise ordinary day, junior high student Yoshio Kobayashi wakes up in his classroom to find his teacher brutally murdered, and he holding the weapon that did it. After the initial shock wears off, Yoshio is secretly thrilled by the attempt to frame him and drags his friend into the case. Together, they embark on a brilliant mystery to try and prove Yoshio’s innocence.
While Legoshi wasn’t exactly framed, he seemed like the most likely suspect. In both series, you follow a character and a friend that gets involved in the case try to prove their innocence. However, despite its appearance, Beastars becomes much darker.
Do you have any more anime recommendations like Beastars? Let fans know in the comments section below.
