There is an old saying about plagiarism.
Take information from one “source” and it is called plagiarism but if you take information from many sources it is called “research”.
Zootopia came out in March of 2016, it is easy to say that Beastars copied off Zootopia. I would not say that the manga author copied off Zootopia but rather, got inspiration from Zootopia. One is an anime and the other is a Disney movie. Beastars manga first came out in September of 2016. So as you can see it gave the manga artist from March all to the way to September to get enough inspiration for his own manga.
The Beastars Anime came out in October 2019 which most people ignored at first but then started watching it once it went viral on Youtube. Does watching Beastars make you a furry? No. A good story is a good story. I always tell people, Beastars is not for furries or kids. Its an adult anime (18 and older).
Paru Itagaki is a genius for the way that he decided to tackle discrimination with Beastars. Both Beastars and Zootopia tackle discrimination in their own way and in this article we are going to break it down. Also lets not forget the romance interest between the two main characters. Zootopia Judy and Nick. Beastars Haru and Legosi.
Zootopia and Discrimination
Zootopia is idealistic with its approach about animals living together. Preys and predators. Two types of animals living together. In Zootopia, the preys and predators evolved from their savage ways of living in the wild and became a civilized world of where both types can live together.
Zootopia tells us that animals no longer eat each other or destroy each other to survive. They live in harmony. However, discrimination still exist. The bigger animals discriminate against the smaller animals and the smaller animals are afraid of the big animals and fear what the bigger animals might do. This is shown after Judy and Nick discover the whereabouts of the missing animals what went crazy. By assuming that the predator types of animals went crazy because they gave into their savage nature many people got offended and then the vegetarian animals became afraid (Gee, does that sound familiar).
Zootopia then confirms that the modern animals in the movie were in fact evolve and that the animals that had gone savage was do to a synthetic drug made by a vegetarian animal who was afraid of the bigger meat eater animals. Zootopia is family friendly so they can’t show any blood. That is what makes it idealistic. That is why is called Zootopia (for Utopia). You see, no society can ever be perfect and that is why no utopia can truly be created.
Zootopia says that animals can overcome their savage and wild nature, stop eating and being afraid of each other and create a peaceful world. The crime that had happened with the animals that went savage was just an accident. It shows the savage as victims rather than criminals. However, once the predator type animals were shown to be savage, all the vegetarian animals in Zootopia became paranoid, showing that there was still something within them that still feared bigger predator type animals, confirming that their survival instinct and wild nature was still there.
Beastars and Discrimination
Unlike Zootopia, Beastars does not shy away from the nature of animals. You have to remember that Zootopia was made to be family friendly. Beastars on the other hand was made for an older audience. While Zootopia is idealist about preys and predators living together, Beastars is realistic. The world of Beastars herbivores and carnivores (types of animals) have evolved and have become more civilized, however, their instincts and other wild nature is still within them.
In Beastars animals are well aware of their nature. Herbivores are still somewhat afraid of carnivores. Carnivores still seek the sweet taste of a herbivores. That is why the black market exist. The black market is for carnivores, where they can find meat willingly given by herbivores. We see Biru, a male tiger, sneak rabbit blood in the school.
The first time we see discrimination in Beastars is when a lamb is devoured in the school theater. Of course all the herbivores attack the carnivores and this is where the fight begins.
So in Beastars, animals suppress their desires and instincts but in Zootopia, they say that animals have overcome their predatory and survival nature. Beastars is more related to the human world while in Zootopia, animals behave more like humans.
Zootopia Nick and Judy
Nick and Judy’s relationship is shown as less of a romantic interest and more as a friendship between the two. Nick and Judy are opposites. Judy is a rabbit, wishes to bring justice with her job as an police officer and wants to make the world a better place. Nick on the other hand is a fox and sees things for what they are and does not try to be anymore than a fox. He embraces his nature and uses it to his advantage.
They collide but eventually come to work together. What brings Judy and Nick together it is their upbringing and what they went through in life. Judy was always underestimated and had to work harder for what she wanted. Nick was judged for being a fox. He was told that a fox could not be trusted and so he believed it all his life.
Remember, Zootopia is family friendly so they can’t really add much romance for kids. Their relationship is treated as a friendship but at the end of the movie, Judy does say that she loves Nick.
Beastars Haru and Legosi
In Beastars, it does not shy away from the carnivore and herbivore nature of each animal. From the first time he sniffed her, Legosi tried to eat Haru. As the year went by, Legosi came to love Haru. They were both aware of their herbivore and carnivore nature and accepted each other. Beastars promotes the idea that love can overcome instinct.
For more about Legosi and Haru’s relationship click here.
Conclusion
Beastars and Zootopia are both amazing psychological works of art. Both stories are basically a mystery. Zootopia follows the missing animals mystery while Beastars follows the murder mystery formula. Using animals to show the nature of humans and how we discriminate each other is a story telling idea that brings out your subconscious thoughts. It makes you really relate to the animals and make you think of something that had happened to you before.
But its not just human nature and our psychology through these animals that we see. We also see how discrimination affects our politics and laws that are made in our society. One thing wrong doing leads to the creation of new laws. Laws created to protect people from their own nature.
What we can learn from Beastars and Zootopia is that there is no such thing as a utopia. However, that does not mean that we can be better and improve ourselves.
