Anime Writers' Review of Fall 2019 Anime Wrap-Up! Introducing "BEASTARS," "Hoshiai no Sora" and 5 more! [Anime Column

A comprehensive review of works that reached their final installments in the fall of 2019. BEASTARS," based on a manga that has won numerous awards, including the Kodansha Manga Award; "Flagellation! Kemonomichi," an original title about junior high school boys, "Hoshiai no Sora," "Dr. Stone," serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, and "Honjo no Gekkoukoujo," based on a popular novel, are selected.

BEASTARS

In a world where carnivores and herbivores coexist and meat-eating is forbidden, this coming-of-age ensemble drama depicts beasts at the mercy of their instincts. The story takes place at Cherryton Academy, where the main character, Legosi, who is a gray wolf but has special feelings for a dwarf rabbit, and a wide variety of other animals appear, including red deer, Bengal tigers, and alpacas. The film is basically 3DCG, but hand-drawn 2D is also mixed in, and a variety of expression methods, such as stop motion using puppets in the OP, match the theme of the film.
The beasts walk on two legs and wear clothes, so they do not look much different from humans except for their faces, but this may be why the scene in which they take off their clothes is so thrilling. The moment when Legosi takes off his jersey to teach a dance, or when Hal the rabbit exposes his bare skin, are erotic to the point of being somewhat immoral. It is a sweet work that gives you the feeling that you have seen something you should not have seen after a long time.

Flagellation! Kemonomichi

Genzo Shibata, aka Chemona Mask, the strongest masked wrestler in the world, is summoned to another world in this fantasy comedy where he saves money in a hunter guild to run a pet store, a longtime dream of his. The main character is a pro-wrestler and a chemist, which may sound unusual, but the affinity between a pro-wrestler, who must be able to take any attack, and a chemist, who can love any animal, is surprisingly high, and the way the two communicate with each other as they throw techniques at each other is stunningly beautiful.
At the wrestling tournament in the last episode, an out-of-round brawl breaks out between spectators. The gorilla's battle cry, "I can't take it anymore! the battle cry of the gorilla is heard, and a large-scale battle ensues between the humans and the beasts. One could almost be forgiven for thinking that this is the "chemoner harem" described in the OP.

Hoshiai no Sora

This is a coming-of-age drama about a group of junior high school boys who belong to a soft tennis club on the verge of being discontinued. The film depicts how the unmotivated members of the club gradually change when a transfer student, Maki Katsuragi, joins the club. The film is based on soft tennis, not hard tennis, and the low center of gravity of the form and strokes are carefully rendered.
Since doubles tennis is the mainstay of the sport, how the members overcome their strong opponents through pairing up is a highlight of the film. The relationships between the players, which do not fall into a pattern, are also a draw, such as when Maki, who plays a central role in the club, shows his weakness as soon as he confronts a certain person. The series was originally planned to be a two-cour, 24-episode series, but was suddenly changed to a one-cour series, so the first 12 episodes were filmed without changing the structure of the series.

Dr. STONE

Thousands of years after a mysterious phenomenon that petrifies the entire human race, the main character, Dr. Stone, awakens from his petrification. The main character, Ishigami Senku, awakens from petrification and restores civilization from scratch in this science adventure. Familiar with natural science, Senku creates all kinds of inventions, from elixirs and power plants to ramen noodles, using only local resources.
The storyline in which he uses modern knowledge to solve various problems is reminiscent of "otherworldly reincarnation stories," but "Dr. Stone" is set on an earth where civilization has collapsed. The last episode of the 24-episode series ends with an episode about an item that connects the past and the present, showing that entertainment is not unrelated to science, which is typical of this work. Chisora is also a pleasant character who values diversity and is not bound by humanities or science classifications, such as when he creates an invention inspired by one of the hundred stories passed down in the village and adds a mentalist who uses psychology to manipulate people's minds as one of his friends.

Book Lover's Succession: No Means Left Unturned to Become a Librarian

A college girl who loves books is reborn in Ehrenfest, a city in another world with a strict status system. Because she is reborn as Mine, the daughter of an ordinary soldier, she is unable to read books, which are a luxury, and struggles to create her own books. The main characters in "otherworldly reincarnation" stories are often seen as being able to adjust quickly to their new environment, but Mine is so weak and sickly that she cannot even descend stairs by herself, and just living day to day is a challenge.
The story carefully depicts how she gradually improves her life under such harsh circumstances by learning the letters of another world, making shampoo and hair ornaments, and so on, giving the story an atmosphere somewhat like NHK's morning dramas. A second season is scheduled to begin airing in the spring of 2020.

(Text by Katsunori Takahashi)

(C) Tomoe Itagaki (Akita Shoten) / BEASTARS Production Committee
(C) 2019 Natsume Akemi / Totally Mousuke / Yumeuta / KADOKAWA / KEMONOMICHI Production Committee
(c) Kazuki Akane/Hoshiai no Sora Production Committee
(C) Rice Studio, Boichi/Shueisha, Dr.STONE Production Committee
(c) Miya Kozuki, TO Books/Book Lover's Dining Committee