Episode 06

Blurred Vision - Dream or Reality? (視界の滲み 夢か現か) is the sixth episode of the Beastars anime.

Synopsis
After a murder, herbivores are confined to campus. Out in town, the drama club carnivores enter a shady district for adult meat eaters.

Plot
Legoshi and Jack see a news broadcast detailing a carnivore attack on a gazelle while playing checkers with some herbivore classmates. Jack remarks that it's a dangerous world and the two herbivores concede the game and leave despite being close to winning. Durham and Legoshi try to cheer up Jack, who is disappointed by their sudden departure and coldness towards the canine carnivores.

Walking down the hall, Legoshi thinks about how carnivores are used to the tension between species. He witnesses a bird and a raccoon harassing a female wolf student. They accuse her of involvement with the crime despite her protests that she has no connection to the suspected gray wolf leader. Legoshi wonders whether he should get involved before walking up and saying he's her older brother. The bullies argue he looks nothing like her, but she plays along and Legoshi convinces them to leave. Legoshi apologizes for lying, but the girl thanks him for saving her. He says there's a lot of bullying and that she will get used to it, which makes her cry. She says it's worse than in middle school and tells him how frustrated she is that it still bothers her. Legoshi responds that it's important that she allows herself to be frustrated and that he only pretended to be okay with it because he was so tired of feeling upset.

As Legoshi turns to leave, the girl asks if he is from the art department and tells him that she recently joined the drama club and her name is Juno. Legoshi apologizes for not recognizing her, but she assures him it's alright because they're on different teams. Juno says Sheila told her that there was a nice gray wolf, and she's happy to meet him. Since they're both wolves, she suggests they speak to each other casually. He asks if she will be attending the club meeting today, to which she responds it's only for upperclassmen.

Sanu tells the club members which members will go to the city to help with the festival. Ellen asks why only the carnivores are allowed to go, and Sanu explains the herbivores will work at school because of the news. Louis reminds everyone of how dangerous carnivores are when they lose control, putting Legoshi and Bill on edge. Louis warns them not to go to the Black Market and leaves.

Later, Aoba and Legoshi talk about how Legoshi rarely goes out. Legoshi asks Aoba if he's been to the Black Market. Aoba responds he has not but that it's something all carnivores will use as adults.

Bill, Tao, Legoshi and Aoba go to the city where Legoshi realizes he hasn't been outside the school in a year. Aoba wishes he could fly like the other birds and Tao recalls students must graduate before they can get a flying license. When Legoshi observes the adults living together peacefully, Aoba points out that Legoshi is wagging his tail. The group eats after the meeting, noting that the details are the same as the previous year but at least they got to go outside. Bill tells a story making fun of his girlfriend before teasing Legoshi about his virginity. Tao asks about Juno and when they begin to tease him about her, Legoshi wonders if life will be easier when he's an adult.

On the way home, the boys get lost. Legoshi asks a saiga antelope by the side of the road for help. The animal obliges, telling him to pick any finger he likes and holds up his hands with price tags on the several remaining fingers. A truck moves to reveal an alleyway filled with meat and Aoba realizes they have stumbled upon the Black Market. While being tempted by the scent of the antelope's fingers, Legoshi remembers Haru asking him how he sees her. She asks for his hand and says they could become good friends. He snaps out of it just before Bill tears him away, asking the old man if he can buy a finger. When Bill asks the others to all have a bite and split the cost, Legoshi slaps him. Aoba breaks them up, telling Legoshi that it's different from school. Shocked, Legoshi asks if they're going to do it. Bill responds that adults are only able to live peacefully because of the Black Market and tells him to grow up. Legoshi runs away angrily, plowing through the alley trying to ignore the strong scent of the meats. He thinks of Haru's question again and once he is in the clear, he admits to himself that she is attractive but can't stop drooling when he thinks of her. Collapsing to the ground, Legoshi thinks he had no right to criticize Bill because he was about to eat Haru. A large panda pokes him and says he's the wolf passed out in the back alley.

Legoshi wakes up in chains and a muzzle wondering what is going on. The panda from before asks how he feels, betting he feels awful. He checks Legoshi's heartbeat, surprised by how calm Legoshi is. He takes off the muzzle and when Legoshi lashes out, he punches the wolf telling him to avoid hostility. The panda takes a seat and tells Legoshi he guards the Black Market before taking pictures and interrogating him. Legoshi says that he's never devoured an herbivore, confessing he almost ate Haru but stopped, and will tell her about it eventually. The panda is shocked he's still in touch with her and asks Legoshi if he thinks about eating her when they talk. He explains that while the Black Market is illegal, hospitals and funeral homes provide the meat to avoid killing herbivores. The panda then shows Legoshi a wall with gruesome photographs of carnivores who surrender to their instincts, telling him about the psychological and physical damage resulting from it. Legoshi asks who he is, and he reveals that he is a psychotherapist that tries to rehabilitate carnivores.

Legoshi joins the panda in a more comfortable room with tea to continue their conversation. Knowing pandas can survive off plants despite being carnivores, Legoshi asks if he considers himself a panda with a strong body or one who never eats meat. The panda explains that when he realized the town needed a doctor, he stopped listening to his instincts, surviving off bamboo and exercise. After wincing at the taste of a sip of bamboo tea, Legoshi asks how the panda treats his patients. The panda replies that is what he's doing now through carrot-and-stick counseling. Legoshi protests that he is not a patient and is trying to work through things by himself, which the panda says they always say. Legoshi objects that he is becoming friends with Haru but the panda grabs him angrily. The doctor tells Legoshi that wanting to be friends with Haru is just his voice of reason trying to conceal his carnivore instinct, and he should cut ties with her. He says that teenagers just think everything is love but Legoshi responds that he's never had a girlfriend, so he doesn't know if that's what it is. The doctor gives him an erotic rabbit magazine telling Legoshi that if he gets aroused then it's just a strange fetish, but if he's solely fixated on Haru, it's a problem.

Legoshi leaves, running angrily to the station and wishing he could forget everything that happened. He finds Aoba waiting at the station. Aoba explains that he couldn't eat the old man's finger when he thought of his herbivore friends, and it made him sick and apologizes. Legoshi starts to cry as he thinks about how he and Aoba want to stand firm on their own feet.

Anime/Manga Differences

 * In the anime, the news program is changed and expanded on from the manga. The news, named the "Beast Broadcasting Network" report is shown having a female feline reporter. A weeping male goat (presumably a witness) is seen in the footage being consoled by the police. The victim, a Thomson's Gazelle, is renamed Linda from Riina in the manga.
 * In the manga, there are three cervine students watching the news with Legoshi and his friends. In the anime, there are only two.
 * In the anime, Durham is standing behind the table Legoshi and Jack are in. In the manga, he sat at another seat at the table.
 * In the anime, it is Legoshi who expresses shock when the herbivore students leave the table over the news report on canine behavior. In the manga, it is Jack who is in shock.
 * In the manga, Legoshi internally monologues about how carnivores should be used to herbivores being tense around them. In the anime, Durham expresses the thought to Legoshi and Jack first when Jack is depressed over the herbivore students being nervous of them only for Legoshi to think of it the following scene.
 * The entire sequence from the manga of Legoshi, Jack, and Durham walking through the halls conversing in addition to Legoshi expressing concern over what Haru would think of the news report is cut in the anime.
 * The students who bully Juno are taller in the anime than they are in the manga.
 * In the manga, Legoshi muses that the ones bullying Juno don't seem to be friendly. In the anime, Legoshi notes of how they are not joking around with their accusations.
 * In the manga, Legoshi states he is Juno's brother. In the anime, he states she is his sister.
 * In the anime, Juno's bullies are seen leaving with one sneering at her and Legoshi. This is not seen in the manga.
 * In the manga, Legoshi is unnerved by the sight of Juno crying. In the anime, Legoshi is transfixed and in awe of Juno's tearful confession.
 * In the anime, Legoshi appears pained as he tells Juno about his own experience with bullying. He even smiles at Juno in praise.
 * In the anime, Legoshi shows genuine awe and interest in Juno when she reveals she is a new member of the drama club.
 * In the manga, Legoshi internally muses on how odd it feels to talk with an underclass one as an equal. In the anime, Legoshi internally desires to come off as more approachable for Juno.
 * In the manga, Louis starts the meeting with the drama club. In the anime, it is Sanu who speaks to everyone about their plans.
 * In the manga, the members of the club are sitting in a circle on the floor. In the anime, the club members are sitting against a wall with mirrors.
 * In the manga, Ellen sits with Kibi and an unnamed avian student. In the anime, Ellen sits only with the flying squirrel.
 * In the anime, Louis speaks after Sanu finishes the instructions for how to handle setting up the Meteor Festival.
 * The Ghetto from the manga is renamed to the Black Market in the anime.
 * Bill's exchange about the happenings in the Black Market with Ellen in the manga is cut in the anime along with Legoshi and Aoba's reaction to it.
 * In the manga, Legoshi and Aoba have their talk about going to the Ghetto/Market in the school hallway. In the anime, Legoshi and Aoba have their discussion in the lounge room where the news report was given. Additionally, in the anime, Legoshi states that he never found the outside world fun when Aoba questions if he has ever been outside the school before.
 * Legoshi's inner monologue of how bright the city looks outside from the manga is not in the anime.
 * Entire sequences from the manga of Legoshi getting ready for the following day, Juno's prepping for her drama club work where she interacts with both Dom and Kibi who both express shock over Legoshi earning her affection, and Legoshi struggling to keep up with his friends when they head to the city are all absent from the anime. The scene begins in the anime with Legoshi and his friends (Bill, Aoba, and Tao) arriving in the city.
 * In the manga, it is Legoshi who tells Aoba that he needs a permit to be able to fly in the city which he can get when he graduates. In the anime, it is Tao who brings up this point.
 * The numerous shots of Legoshi looking at the people of the city are different in the anime as he muses on the peacefulness.
 * In the manga, the dinner/café Legoshi and his friends go to is filled with others. In the anime, only a ram and bunny couple are the only customers present.
 * In the anime, Legoshi presents the instructs on the Meteor festival before Bill talks of his sex life. Legoshi even stares at the goat and bunny couple when Bill rambles on.
 * In the manga, Legoshi is angry when Bill deduces his virginity. In the anime, Legoshi is annoyed at Bill's deduction.
 * In the manga, it is Bill who mentions Zoozle Maps to Aoba saying it cannot be trusted. In the anime, it is Aoba who tells his friends he follows the Zoozle app. Additional, Bill suggests Aoba use his tracking skills as an avian which Aoba declines in the anime.
 * Legoshi and his friends do not ask for directions from passerbys in the anime.
 * In the anime, Legoshi sees the old goat's hands covered in the red scent and the goat is sitting on a rug.
 * In the anime, the doorway to the Black Market is blocked by a truck which moves out of the way as the goat offers his fingers to Legoshi. The shot of the area is more in full in the anime.
 * Bill is more forceful when moving Legoshi aside to talk to the goat in the anime.
 * In the manga, Legoshi would slap Bill on the front of his face. In the anime, Legoshi slaps the side of Bill's face.
 * Legoshi and Bill challenging each other to a rematch where their friends try to prevent it is absent from the anime.
 * In the anime, Legoshi is so angry that his fur stands on end. In the manga, Legoshi appears more desperate to get himself and his friends out of the Ghetto.
 * In the manga, Legoshi only gets angry after Bill tells him to accept the reality of the Ghetto where he argues further with Bill to the point of Legoshi trying to leave with Bill threatening him with a rematch before trying to do business with the goat once more. In the anime, Legoshi flees before an argument can happen with Aoba watching him go in concern.
 * In the manga, as Legoshi runs through the Black Market he gazes at all the stands selling meat and is even briefly stopped by one. In the anime, Legoshi envisions the meats as their scents flood his senses.
 * In the manga, Legoshi appears panicked to find himself muzzled. In the anime, Legoshi only appears annoyed to find himself restrained at Gohin's clinic and his internal musing on the situation is shorter.
 * In the manga, Gohin asks how Legoshi is feeling when he wakes up. In the anime, Gohin greets him "Good morning" first.
 * Much of Legoshi and Gohin's beginning thoughts and words are absent and Gohin just goes right to gauging Legoshi's heartbeat.
 * In the manga, Gohin's punch to Legoshi's face draws blood. It does not in the anime.
 * Gohin is more level-headed in the anime than he is in the manga. He does not shout as much as his manga counterpart and seems generally pained when he speaks of his dealings.
 * In the anime, Gohin states that carnivores who are passed out or panicking in the Black Market are most likely believed to have caused some level of harm to herbivores. He does not say this in the manga.
 * In the manga, it is Gohin who deduces that Legoshi almost killed and ate a herbivore only to stop at the last moment. In the anime, it is Legoshi who admits to his near killing of Haru where he came to his senses before anything could happen.
 * In the manga, the assortment of pictures to Gohin's patients are in a separate room down a hall from his main room. In the anime, the assortment of photos is behind a curtain in the main room and the collection is not as big.
 * In the manga, the picture of Legoshi which Gohin puts with the assortment of patient photos has him looking confused and nervous. In the anime, the picture of Legoshi which Gohin chooses for his archive is one of Legoshi looking resistant and defiant.
 * In the manga, Legoshi is unnerved and nervous at what he learns up to when he asks what Gohin sees himself as. In the anime, Legoshi just stares at all Gohin shows him with intensity before asking where he stands at in the alley area.
 * Gohin's answer to Legoshi's inquiry is slightly rearranged around in the anime.
 * After setting Legoshi free, Gohin offers him a cigarette in the manga. This is absent in the anime.
 * Gohin's explanation to Legoshi in the manga of why he showed him the photo archive along with Legoshi's inner rant on Gohin's treatment is all absent from the anime.
 * In the manga, Gohin states he became a doctor for the Ghetto "a few decades ago". In the anime, Gohin states he became a doctor for the Black Market ten years prior. Additionally, Gohin's claim of being helped by a "small handful of carnivores" is absent from the anime; instead Gohin states he eats nothing but bamboo and trains his body when not doing his work.
 * The shot of the outside of Gohin's clinic from the manga does not appear in the anime.
 * In the anime, Legoshi briefly gags at the taste of Gohin's tea.
 * In the anime, Gohin calls his approach to Legoshi and other patients the "carrot and stick-based counseling".
 * In the anime, Gohin (in a sad tone) goes as far as to say Legoshi's presumed attachment to Haru is the worst and most dangerous kind of disguised predatory feelings.
 * In the manga, Gohin is annoyed by the fact Legoshi is young and cannot understand the dangers. In the anime, Gohin seems amused by Legoshi's lack of understanding and states that ones his age are always "up to no good".
 * In the manga, Gohin is put off more by Legoshi's admittance to never having experienced love before and muses himself at how "too reserved" Legoshi is (even thinking on how he was more "wild" then Legoshi was at his age, seemingly implying he was a ladies' man when he was in his teen years).
 * In the manga, the porn magazine Gohin gives to Legoshi is in English. In the anime, the porn magazine Gohin recommends to Legoshi is in Japanese.
 * In the manga, Legoshi merely walks out of the alley as he internally rants over throwing the porn magazine away and wanting to forget all he experienced in the Black Market. In the anime, Legoshi only briefly thinks of the magazine and then runs to make his way out of the Ghetto while desperately wanting to forget all he experienced there.
 * In the manga, Legoshi meets up with Aoba at the Ghetto's entrance. In the anime, Legoshi meets up with Aoba at the entrance to the subway. In the manga, Aoba states he was waiting for Legoshi there; Aoba does not say he waited in the anime.
 * In the manga, Aoba looks traumatized when he first speaks to Legoshi. In the anime, Aoba looks regretful and ashamed as he speaks to Legoshi. In the manga, Legoshi deduces that Aoba was as desperate as he was.
 * In the manga, tears can only be seen on one of Legoshi's eyes in reaction to Aoba's struggles with his instincts. In the anime, tears can be seen on both of Legoshi's eyes at Aoba's troubles.
 * In the manga, Aoba stresses he has no napkins to give Legoshi to stop his tears. In the anime, Aoba laments he has no handkerchiefs to offer Legoshi to calm himself with.
 * In the manga, the closing shot is of the city in silhouette. In the anime, the closing shot is of the city lit up at night.

Episodio 06