10 More Beastly Stars
Beastars is an Anthropomorphic anime revolving around a hierarchical world of herbivores and carnivores. In this dog eat dog world, an unlikely romance starts to blossom. If you’ve finished watching Beastars and are looking for more of the same, fret not! We’ve combed through the archives and saved you the hassle of having to try and find something similar with our top 10 picks. To keep things simple for skim-readers we’ve added what similarities these have. Of course for all the shows we’ve reviewed, we’ve also added a handy link so you can check out our full thoughts on that series and see if it’s something you want to invest your time with. So without further ado, we present 10 TV shows that should whet the appetite when you’ve finished streaming Beastars.
Devilman Crybaby
Similarities – Tone
Devilman: Crybaby is arguably one of the more controversial and interesting anime to be released in 2018. The unique blend of violence, sexually charged imagery and breathtaking, hedonistic art makes it a fascinating but largely divisive animated title. The story begins much like many others in this category. An ordinary boy called Akira finds his world changed forever when he attends a strange party with his friend Ryo and merges with a devil to fight the forces of evil. Acting as a hybrid devil/human, Akira spends his time outside school hunting demons to protect humanity from their scourge that threatens to destroy the world. It’s a simple story but one that’s told really well; the artwork is gorgeously rendered and for that alone, it’s worth watching. You can read our thoughts on Devilman Crybaby in our full season reviews here!
BNA
Similarities – Animals & Themes
BNA is a fascinating Japanese series that explores racism and class divisions under the neon-lit lights of Anima City. With a mystery running throughout the episodes and some likable characters fronting the cast, BNA is a decent anime that bears a lot of similarities to Beastars. BNA leans much heavier into slice of life territory though. Aesthetically, the show looks great and the use of colour in particular is splashed with vibrant, neon tones. The story revolves around a fictitious world where human and beast-man live with big tensions and big racial divides. Anima City holds the vast population of beast-men and as they celebrate 10 years of existence, an attack leaves the city reeling. Arriving on the eve of all this taking place is spunky, naïve Michiru Kagori who happens to be a human experimented on in the past to become a beast. This one’s currently streaming on Netflix and probably about as close to Beastars as you could get. You can read our thoughts on BNA in our full season review here!
Aggretsuko
Similarities – Animals
If you took the innocence of Hello Kitty, mixed it with a heavy dose of death metal and sprinkled in a surprisingly empathetic view on societal pressure, you’ll likely find the newest Netflix animation, Aggretsuko. Most of the 10 episode story revolves around the life of Retsuko, a red panda at breaking point who frequently uses death metal as a way to vent about her stressful, work-dominated life. Her struggle is both easy to empathize with and instantly recognisable for anyone who’s ever worked in a high pressure office job. There’s a surprising amount of characterization here too and every supporting character has enough personality to ride the wave of craziness right the way through the various seasons. You can read our thoughts on Aggretsuko in our full season reviews here!
Doroheodoro
Similarities – Hierarchical World
Smartly written, tonally on-point and surprisingly funny, Dorohedoro is a really enjoyable anime that manages to build up an impressively realized world and inhabit it with an eclectic cast of characters. Although our lead character Caiman takes centre stage, The Family are equally as appealing here with solid character arcs and lots of good dialogue throughout. The story takes places in a fictional world separated by two distinct class-based areas. The Hole is a decrepit, run-down cesspool of poor mutated creatures who have been experimented on by magic users living in the idealistic realm occupied by Sorcerers. With the Sorcerers traveling to the Hole on a regular basis via magic doorways, one man stands in the way of their progress – Caiman. Suffering with amnesia and desperate to know what’s happened to him, Caiman sports a dinosaur head, an immunity to magic and an insatiable appetite for the truth. Funny, violent and really well written, Dorohedoro is a great anime and its 12 episodes are packed with some excellent characterization and seamless CG animation. You can read our thoughts on Dorohedoro in our full season review here!
Bojack Horseman
Similarities – Animals & Themes
If uyou’re looking for something a bit more of a western flavour to proceedings, look no further than Bojack Horseman. This satirical comedy dives into the subject of mental health, strained relationships and depression, all backdropped by some smartly written and topical jokes. If you can make it through the first season (which is a bit slow in truth), the rest of the show opens up in the best possible way to deliver something truly poignant and gripping. You can read our thoughts on Bojack Horseman in our full season review here!
Undone
Similarities – Internal Conflicts
Undone is a profoundly clever animated series. There’s some big ideas and themes discussed, wrapped up with solid characterization and a consistently progressive plot that builds up through the episodes to the finale where the truth is revealed. The story revolves around Alma. Through her narration we learn about her average life and her average family, all living in an average neighbourhood. After being involved in a car accident and awakening in hospital following a coma, Alma learns she has new powers that allow her to manipulate time. While it’s the mystery that keeps things moving at a steady pace, beyond that the series works much better when you view it as Alma trying to find purpose in life. Much like Legoshi and his internal conflict, Undone too has a pretty big weight on the main character’s shoulders and this translates into some wonderful characterization and intriguing relationships that develop over time. It may be one of the more unique choices on the list, but it’s certainly an animation worth checking out nonetheless. You can read our thoughts on Undone in our full season review here!
Kill La Kill
Similarities – Mystery & School Setting
Kill La Kill is an intriguing anime with a suitably strong hook to engage you into this world immediately. Much like Beastars, the main setting here is a hierarchical school ruled by the student council and its president, Satsuki. Adopting the familiar “fish out of water” trope, Ryuuko Matoi transfers to school and arrives carrying a giant sword. Only, it soon becomes clear this is actually half of a scissor. The other half is somewhere inside the school, held by a woman who killed her Father. Ryuuko is on a mission to find exactly who did this and bring them to justice. What’s particularly intriguing here though is just how much of a lighthearted tone this show adopts. There’s a lot of fan service thrown in too while the lack of character development is helped somewhat by the well-paced action scenes. This is certainly going to be a marmite choice; you’ll either love it or hate it. Either way, it’s still worth giving a go.
Africa no Salaryman
Similarities – Animals
If you’d rather stick to the realm of anthropomorphism, Africa no Salaryman is another animal anime, this time diving into the realm of comedy. At its core, the series follows the lives of a lion, toucan and lizard as they out the lives of office workers in a capitalist society in Japan. While it doesn’t have the same allure and charm something like Aggretsuko has, its humour is well-timed and lifts above the traditional high-school level of jokes one may have come to expect from anime. It won’t be for everyone but Africa No Salaryman is absolutely bananas. If you’re in the demographic this is designed for, you’re sure to have a good time.
Banana Fish
Similarities – Mystery & Tone
Speaking of bananas, if gang warfare is more your jam then this absolutely crazy anime from 2018 may just be the ticket. Well paced, chock full of mystery and brimming with character drama, Banana Fish is a surprisingly compelling and underrated series. The main protagonist here is Ash Lynx, a runaway who was picked off the streets of New York and raised by the infamous godfather of the mafia, Don Golzine. Fast forward 17 years and Ash is now in charge of his own gang. He begins investigating the origin of the word “Banana Fish”, two words his brother Griffin has been uttering since returning from the Iraq war. Unfortunately these two words link back to Dino, who shows his hand and kidnaps two people close to Ash. This is not for the faint hearted either and there’s some pretty dark themes tackled across the run-time. Clocking in at 24 episodes, there’s an awful lot of Banana Fish to get through, but the show absolutely rewards you for your time with some lovely twists and turns along the way.
Somali and the Forest Spirit
Similarities – Characters
Much like Beastars, Somali and the Forest Spirit thrives on its ability to depict inter-species character relationships. Specifically, here we tackle a Father/Daughter duo in the midst of a gorgeously rendered, animated world. The story takes place in the midst of a world where humanity is on its last legs – presumed to be nearly extinct by those who live within the world. In the middle of this bleak future lies a young human girl who is discovered by a golem deep in the middle of the woods. When they strike up an unlikely bond, the two set out together and begin a touching, well-written journey that ignites the core of this anime into becoming something very special. Along with the excellent aesthetic and intriguing story, Somali and the Forest Spirit is a show that nails almost every element of its production to perfection, delivering a wholly satisfying show well worth watching. So there we have it, our 10 TV show alternatives to watch when you’re finished with Beastars on Netflix! What do you think of our picks? Do you agree? Are there any notable omissions? Let us know in the comments below!
Click Here To Check Out More TV Show Recommendations!
