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That day, I encountered a small rabbit –
And my own instincts.
*****
"You'll never understand the feeling,
Of always being a whisker away from death."
She was totally right. As long as I'm a carnivore, I cannot understand her. But if it's all going to end in misunderstanding, what was my purpose in being born a wolf?
I think I've just started to work it out.
There's no reason to be afraid.
These claws are for you.
These fangs, they are for YOU.
I'll be your beast.
*****
Am I a monster, in your eyes? You're free to judge; the choice is yours.
Would you come away with me?
Would you tame this gray wolf?
*****
Anhedral's notes:
To eat her, or to love her? A dichotomy, or two sides of the same coin? Legoshi-san, you always seem to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory - and that's how the title of this piece came to me.
OK, so I just jumped down the rabbit hole with 'Beastars', the shōnen manga by Paru Itagaki. I've also been watching the Netflix anime of the first 44 chapters produced by Orange, recently released on Netflix.
Both are incredible.
As a shōnen, 'Beastars' is marketed primarily at teenaged males. However, the themes presented and developed here (to name but a few; fetish, deviation, and the shifting sands of social acceptability) are adult through and through. The main characters may be just shy of adulthood, but Itagaki uses this as a conceit: in their youth, Legoshi, Haru and the rest do not possess the ability to filter their emotions in the way most adults learn to do, and what comes blazing forth are seething, conflicted, and utterly relatable characters that always seem to find ways of shocking the viewer and challenging assumptions.
Quite a few YouTube videos dig into the detail what makes 'Beastars' so remarkable, so I won't repeat that material here. Suffice to say that, while Zootopia cracked open the door on predator-prey relations in an anthro world, 'Beastars' flings it fully wide - to reveal a crystal mirror shining right back at the prejudices, contradictions, and ugliness of our own society. How Itagaki has managed to come up with such themes, complex plotting, and richly layered characterizations in her mid 20s confounds me. At 26 she's created a masterpiece. What will she be producing in ten years time? In twenty?
The music for the anime is by Satoru Kōsaki, and it's gripping. It PERFECTLY complements the subject matter and visuals. I could gush at length about the music - perhaps another time? For now, here, have a little recording of me playing flute solo along to the main theme of 'Beastars'. It's very slow, and it turned into an exercise in tone quality and breath control. Playing slow with a live accompanist is straightforward. Anticipating a recorded artist's rubato is *hard*.
(ps - the words at the top of the page there are from the manga and the anime; they are not mine. The first couplet is the only speech we hear during the explosive opening scene of the anime, and honestly, if that short sequence doesn't hook you right away then 'Beastars' probably isn't going to be for you. The other lines are from Episode 11 of the anime / Chapter 41 of the manga.)
And my own instincts.
*****
"You'll never understand the feeling,
Of always being a whisker away from death."
She was totally right. As long as I'm a carnivore, I cannot understand her. But if it's all going to end in misunderstanding, what was my purpose in being born a wolf?
I think I've just started to work it out.
There's no reason to be afraid.
These claws are for you.
These fangs, they are for YOU.
I'll be your beast.
*****
Am I a monster, in your eyes? You're free to judge; the choice is yours.
Would you come away with me?
Would you tame this gray wolf?
*****
Anhedral's notes:
To eat her, or to love her? A dichotomy, or two sides of the same coin? Legoshi-san, you always seem to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory - and that's how the title of this piece came to me.
OK, so I just jumped down the rabbit hole with 'Beastars', the shōnen manga by Paru Itagaki. I've also been watching the Netflix anime of the first 44 chapters produced by Orange, recently released on Netflix.
Both are incredible.
As a shōnen, 'Beastars' is marketed primarily at teenaged males. However, the themes presented and developed here (to name but a few; fetish, deviation, and the shifting sands of social acceptability) are adult through and through. The main characters may be just shy of adulthood, but Itagaki uses this as a conceit: in their youth, Legoshi, Haru and the rest do not possess the ability to filter their emotions in the way most adults learn to do, and what comes blazing forth are seething, conflicted, and utterly relatable characters that always seem to find ways of shocking the viewer and challenging assumptions.
Quite a few YouTube videos dig into the detail what makes 'Beastars' so remarkable, so I won't repeat that material here. Suffice to say that, while Zootopia cracked open the door on predator-prey relations in an anthro world, 'Beastars' flings it fully wide - to reveal a crystal mirror shining right back at the prejudices, contradictions, and ugliness of our own society. How Itagaki has managed to come up with such themes, complex plotting, and richly layered characterizations in her mid 20s confounds me. At 26 she's created a masterpiece. What will she be producing in ten years time? In twenty?
The music for the anime is by Satoru Kōsaki, and it's gripping. It PERFECTLY complements the subject matter and visuals. I could gush at length about the music - perhaps another time? For now, here, have a little recording of me playing flute solo along to the main theme of 'Beastars'. It's very slow, and it turned into an exercise in tone quality and breath control. Playing slow with a live accompanist is straightforward. Anticipating a recorded artist's rubato is *hard*.
(ps - the words at the top of the page there are from the manga and the anime; they are not mine. The first couplet is the only speech we hear during the explosive opening scene of the anime, and honestly, if that short sequence doesn't hook you right away then 'Beastars' probably isn't going to be for you. The other lines are from Episode 11 of the anime / Chapter 41 of the manga.)
Category Music / Other Music
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 120 x 68px
File Size 2.34 MB
Everything you said about Beastars...THIS!
Excellent, excellent(!!) performance and this theme is the one that can really tug at the heart strings, because it is sorrowful and melancholy and yet..still hopeful.
I have watched the series several times now (subtitled Japanese about 5 times, English dub twice). It is quite amazing what they did with the soundtrack to squeeze every drop of emotion out of the story, and character interactions. The anime is 5 stars right from the first scene, all the way through to the hook for next season. I am optimistically hopeful that they can keep the bar that high going forward.
I took a quick listen through some of the OST, and though the main theme does not change much between iterations, the different arrangements DO give it unique flavors. The string quartet version captures a different feeling than say the piano/flute version that you accompanied.
There are so, soo many great pieces of music from the OST (for anyone else reading check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3.....lL&index=1), every single one of them full of emotion.
I have only read the first volume of the manga (more on order), but I could talk at length about the anime. The story, the characters, the music.
I'm really glad you enjoyed it.
Excellent, excellent(!!) performance and this theme is the one that can really tug at the heart strings, because it is sorrowful and melancholy and yet..still hopeful.
I have watched the series several times now (subtitled Japanese about 5 times, English dub twice). It is quite amazing what they did with the soundtrack to squeeze every drop of emotion out of the story, and character interactions. The anime is 5 stars right from the first scene, all the way through to the hook for next season. I am optimistically hopeful that they can keep the bar that high going forward.
I took a quick listen through some of the OST, and though the main theme does not change much between iterations, the different arrangements DO give it unique flavors. The string quartet version captures a different feeling than say the piano/flute version that you accompanied.
There are so, soo many great pieces of music from the OST (for anyone else reading check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3.....lL&index=1), every single one of them full of emotion.
I have only read the first volume of the manga (more on order), but I could talk at length about the anime. The story, the characters, the music.
I'm really glad you enjoyed it.
Ah, we are fellow fans, I see - how wonderful! Yes, Kōsaki came up with a masterful score all round for 'Beastars', and this tune in particular is one that any composer would be proud of. Like you, I enjoyed all of its incarnations. The string quartet version at the opening, for example; wow, Kōsaki really understands how to begin *strong*! Those closely-moving string parts, combined with Legoshi's words, are so intensely melancholy as to make you want to cry. The more upbeat, jazzy, higher tempo arrangement with accordian has a completely different vibe, and could have come straight out of a Paris café. And finally, we get the crushing emotion of those scrunchy piano chords for the piano version in Episode 11, played simple, quiet and slow as an exhausted, blood-drenched Legoshi tries to find the right words to say to Haru - OH GAWD, please just give me an hour or two to recover...
Kōsaki gave a nice interview about his inspirations fo the score over here: https://www.otaquest.com/interview-.....satoru-kosaki/
I really like the eastern European gypsy influence he puts to work, and the strong use of classical instruments for the arrangements. It's a powerful combination. Also, he doesn't seem to use leitmotif in the traditional way for this score. Instead, he indicates that each of the main characters is associated with a particular instrument or style. Predators get brass instruments; Legoshi is a trombone, chosen because it can sound both mournful and aggressive. Haru is a flute :) Louis, meantime, is ALL about JAZZ.
I suspect that the anime will have me in its grip for a while yet, and the richness of the score is a big part of the reason why.
Kōsaki gave a nice interview about his inspirations fo the score over here: https://www.otaquest.com/interview-.....satoru-kosaki/
I really like the eastern European gypsy influence he puts to work, and the strong use of classical instruments for the arrangements. It's a powerful combination. Also, he doesn't seem to use leitmotif in the traditional way for this score. Instead, he indicates that each of the main characters is associated with a particular instrument or style. Predators get brass instruments; Legoshi is a trombone, chosen because it can sound both mournful and aggressive. Haru is a flute :) Louis, meantime, is ALL about JAZZ.
I suspect that the anime will have me in its grip for a while yet, and the richness of the score is a big part of the reason why.
Firstly, I will say that is a great cover. As someone who plays flute, this was great. The only thing I could say that could be improved is the mixing. I don't know how you recorded it, Whether have the accompaniment and melody recorded at the same or what, but it felt like the flute was a little to heavy in the mix and the piano was low in the mix. It isn't a deal-breaker necessarily, but I it's just what I noticed.
Either way, it was still great and keep up the good work! :)
Either way, it was still great and keep up the good work! :)
Thank you so much for giving it a listen. It's exciting to discover another flute player here on FA!
The recording is not perfect, I know. And I agree with your comment on the balance between flute and piano. The setup was pretty basic: I just set the original soundtrack going over hi-fi speakers and played along with the flute. I used single Sony condenser mic that gives a stereo output, hooked up to an Edirol R-1 recorder - it's old kit, but still good! Put the WAV into Audacity to trim off the ends and normalize the track, then exported to MP3. At least in these times of lockdown I didn't have to worry about traffic noise during the recording :)
Hopefully I'll get to try again with this tune. I'm going to transpose it down a fourth into A minor, which will be a better fit to the flute's sweet spot, and my wife has very kindly agreed to re-voice the piano chords for herself to play in the new version. (She's really very, very good at this stuff :D ) Then we'll record the new arrangement together using separate mics.
The recording is not perfect, I know. And I agree with your comment on the balance between flute and piano. The setup was pretty basic: I just set the original soundtrack going over hi-fi speakers and played along with the flute. I used single Sony condenser mic that gives a stereo output, hooked up to an Edirol R-1 recorder - it's old kit, but still good! Put the WAV into Audacity to trim off the ends and normalize the track, then exported to MP3. At least in these times of lockdown I didn't have to worry about traffic noise during the recording :)
Hopefully I'll get to try again with this tune. I'm going to transpose it down a fourth into A minor, which will be a better fit to the flute's sweet spot, and my wife has very kindly agreed to re-voice the piano chords for herself to play in the new version. (She's really very, very good at this stuff :D ) Then we'll record the new arrangement together using separate mics.
It's a marvelous coincidence that I was introduced to Beastars just last weekend. I Netflixed all the episodes over a two day period. I'm surprised I'd not seen any references to it beforehand.
And now I find that you're not only familiar with the show but have also created your own rendition of the main theme. It's gorgeous!
I fully agree with you about the depth of the universe this story inhabits. It far surpasses Zootopia and touches on subjects even Doc Rat doesn't approach. I assume that's a benefit of the medium.
Hope you're doing well during this crazy segment of history.
And now I find that you're not only familiar with the show but have also created your own rendition of the main theme. It's gorgeous!
I fully agree with you about the depth of the universe this story inhabits. It far surpasses Zootopia and touches on subjects even Doc Rat doesn't approach. I assume that's a benefit of the medium.
Hope you're doing well during this crazy segment of history.
I had become vaguely aware that a certain Japanese graphic novel was gaining traction in our fandom, due in part to lovely pieces like this: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/33934801/ However, I didn't watch the Netflix offering until last weekend, and that was my first proper exposure. Wow... talk about being blown away. I have to say, it tickles me quite a bit to think that both of us were obtaining our first experience of 'Beastars' within a few hours of one another, or perhaps even simultaneously! I know you've considered the themes in Zootopia in some depth, so it's reassuring to know you share my view that 'Beastars' goes deeper still.
As for the importance of the medium... I'm not so sure. Perhaps I misunderstand your intended meaning, but I'm increasingly coming around to the view that medium is a secondary consideration in great art. 'Beastars' works beautifully both as a manga and as an anime, and I dunno... it may be my age, or my more general failing, but such mature and complex works are not my first expectation from these media. Conversely, I may pick up a novel and subconsciously expect it to be deep and meaningful precisely *because* it's, well, a novel, and oftentimes I read a few pages and find out that it's just crud.
Thank you for the compliment on my playing! Kōsaki really hit the sweet spot with that tune, and it's very adaptable to different arrangements. We're good here, thanks; hope the same goes for you too. Louise and I have transitioned to music teaching over FaceTime, which is some weird Apple thingamy that *mainly* seems to work OK. But it's not ideal.
As for the importance of the medium... I'm not so sure. Perhaps I misunderstand your intended meaning, but I'm increasingly coming around to the view that medium is a secondary consideration in great art. 'Beastars' works beautifully both as a manga and as an anime, and I dunno... it may be my age, or my more general failing, but such mature and complex works are not my first expectation from these media. Conversely, I may pick up a novel and subconsciously expect it to be deep and meaningful precisely *because* it's, well, a novel, and oftentimes I read a few pages and find out that it's just crud.
Thank you for the compliment on my playing! Kōsaki really hit the sweet spot with that tune, and it's very adaptable to different arrangements. We're good here, thanks; hope the same goes for you too. Louise and I have transitioned to music teaching over FaceTime, which is some weird Apple thingamy that *mainly* seems to work OK. But it's not ideal.
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