Episode 05

Two Sides to the Story (しっぽの汚れにも理由を見出すお年頃) is the fifth episode of the Beastars anime.

Synopsis
Legoshi deals with misplaced notoriety after the chaotic but successful play with Jack's support. Haru and Louis have a clandestine encounter.

Plot
Gossip spreads like wildfire among students as the PR club promotes an article about the truth behind the drama club's second performance. Jack overhears the wild stories and thinks they must be exaggerated.

Jack brings Legoshi lunch at the school's drained pool, telling him it was smart to avoid the cafeteria due to the commotion after the play. He shows Legoshi a copy of the school paper where he made the headline "The Birth of a Dark Hero". Legoshi thinks about how Jack was at the performance but assumes he must not have noticed Legoshi wasn't acting. When Jack asks how Legoshi and Louis got so close like in the photo, Legoshi denies it, thinking he's caused Louis problems.

In a flashback, Louis scolds Legoshi and Bill, saying they can fight all they want but not on stage. He asks how they plan to apologize. As Bill stumbles with words not sure where to start, Louis hands him the vial of the remaining rabbit blood. Louis says he doesn't care if Bill dopes because he never expected any better, and the real issue is that they spilled blood on the stage. Louis asks if they would have killed each other if he didn't stop them and suspends them from the club. As Louis continues to reprimand them, Bill tries to tell him there are people behind him.

A member of the PR club asks to interview them about the performance. For a moment, Legoshi thinks he saw Louis show the emotion of a normal 18-year-old, but Louis quickly recovers his composure. Louis tells Bill and Legoshi to forget what he said and pretend like the play was a success that went as scripted. He spins the ending as a way to show young students the complexity of the world and that there are no rights or wrongs, only faith in yourself. As he leaves, Louis glares at Legoshi. In the present, Legoshi wonders if Louis meant that message for him.

Jack asks Legoshi if his anger has calmed down, knowing that he wasn't acting on the stage. Legoshi jumps in surprise, dropping his food to the ground, but Jack picks it up, reminding him that they've been friends for a long time. Jack says he hopes Legoshi cheers up since he knows how easily Legoshi gets depressed. Legoshi explains that yesterday on the stage was the first time he didn't try to control his emotions and accepted his feelings for what they were. Jack is proud of Legoshi and reassures him.

As they walk back through the hall, Jack admits he was worried about how drained Legoshi seemed recently, asking if there was a reason for it. Jack jokes that Legoshi could be in love, realizing he must be correct based on Legoshi's reaction. Jack starts running through possible options as Legoshi tries to walk away.

At the gardening club, Haru closes the school paper. Louis's hand pushes down the paper and Haru asks him if he is feeling unwell because things aren't going the way he wants. Louis takes off his tie, telling Haru her beauty is that she minds her own business before bringing her onto the bed.

With summer around the corner, Legoshi, Jack, Miguno, Durham, Collot and Voss trim their fur to sell it to the yarn shop as other students discuss their vacation plans.

Sanu announces the drama club is invited to participate in the Meteor Festival. As the drama club excitedly responds, Sanu reminds them they are going to help, not to have fun. Dom says the art team will be busy and invites the others to discuss it in the warehouse, noting they can't use the same sculpture as last year. Kai asks why they can't pick an easier animal than a dinosaur, but Dom insists that dinosaurs are the ancestors of all animals. Dom and Kibi explain the festival is to celebrate and welcome the dinosaur spirits who were wiped out by the meteor. Kibi then says the only thing people care about is the lighting ceremony where couples who light a candle together are said to remain together forever.

As the crew leaves, Kai complains that the actors and dancers are putting all the work on them. Fudge says the others should be more understanding since one of the team's members is someone they don't want to make angry. Legoshi realizes Fudge is talking about him and thinks about how things are still awkward despite the fact a month has passed. Dom tries to reassure him they aren't worried and invites him to dinner, but Legoshi excuses himself from the group, causing Dom to scold Fudge.

Haru finds some drooping flowers and decides to care for them by changing the water and adding nutrients. Mizuchi trips her as she carries the plant and her friends laugh. As they tease her, Haru scolds herself for being careless and ignores them. Mizuchi grabs her by her ears, saying they need to talk about her boyfriend. Haru realizes Mizuchi must not have been able to get back together with him and says he made a good decision and to complain to her friends. Mizuchi steps on the flowers saying it is Haru's fault that Harlequin rabbits are closer to extinction, and she is worthless. Haru straightens up and tells Mizuchi to deal with the fact she lost and the more desperate she acts, the more she'll lose. As Haru rants, the three girls get scared and run off. She proudly congratulates herself before realizing Legoshi is behind her and recognizes him as the wolf from before. Legoshi overthinks things in his head before finally picking up a flower and asking if she is alright. She says she appreciates it but won't accept help from a guy she has slept with. Legoshi blocks her path saying they never did anything. Remembering that he ran away, she invites him to eat dinner.

Other students in the cafeteria give them strange looks and make jokes. Haru thanks Legoshi for letting her sit on his backpack to be the right height for the table. Legoshi panics internally from guilt, saying he thought he got past this but hasn't changed at all and can't even ask her her name. Haru tells him to cheer up and tries to make small talk about midterms. While he continues to think, Haru calls him a pervert for staring while she eats but reveals she is joking and wanted to thank him for the last time they met. Haru explains he probably saved her with his decision. This further confuses Legoshi, who feels like there's a large gap between them. Haru thinks to herself about how her instincts are telling her to run every time he opens his mouth. She keeps emotional distance while Legoshi tries to work up the courage to ask for her name, but she gets up to leave before he can.

The two of them walk back to the dorms. Haru pauses to fix her shoe and Legsohi bends over to help. The two make eye-contact for the first time, and he comments on the color of her eyes. Legoshi realizes he's the one that was creating emotional distance. Haru tells him her name and asks for his. After telling her his name, Legoshi decides he wants to see her smile more and would do anything to lock eyes with her again.

Anime/Manga Differences

 * The part in the manga where Legoshi and Bill are being checked up by the drama club for any damage as well as to question on the reason they went at it the way they did is cut out from the anime.
 * The part in the manga where Legoshi and Bill having a conversation which leads to an argument between them after the play was cut out from the anime.
 * The episode opens with the newspaper entailing the play selling. The picture entailing Legoshi is also altered to show only his chest and head in the anime while it showed his entire upper half in the manga.
 * In the anime, the first students seeing the school newspaper on the play are a trio of girls. In the manga, the first students to see the school newspaper are a trio of boys.
 * In the anime, the newspaper group is seen handing the papers out. They are not seen in the manga.
 * Legoshi and Jack ate lunch together at the staircase in the manga, while they ate lunch together at the pool in the anime.
 * In the anime, Louis has his lecture to Bill and Legoshi without his crutch like in the manga.
 * In the anime, Louis hands the vial of rabbit blood back to Bill when he tells him that he does not care about Bill's method of preparing himself. Bill doesn't have the blood vial while talking to Louis in the manga.
 * In the anime, a group of girls takes pictures of Louis, Bill, and Legoshi. In the manga, it is a group of both boys and girls.
 * Legoshi panics more in the anime as he and Bill are pressed for interviews.
 * In the manga, Louis pulls Legoshi and Bill closer by their shirts to whisper. He merely leans in closer to them in the anime.
 * In the manga, only Legoshi voices agreement to Louis' plan to cover up what happened in the play. In the anime, both Legoshi and Bill voice agreement to Louis' plan.
 * In the manga, Legoshi has a completely awkward expression on his face as Louis addresses the crowd. In the anime, Legoshi actually produces a smile as Louis speaks to the crowd.
 * In the manga, Louis grips both Bill and Legoshi by their shoulders to present them to the crowd. In the anime, Louis merely lightly pushes them forward on their backs.
 * In the manga, when Jack believes Legoshi to have fallen in love with someone as a reason for his change, he merely mentions that Legoshi's tail wagging must be a sign of it. In the anime, when Jack expresses belief of love being the reason for Legoshi's change, he sings a brief song about it.
 * In the manga, Legoshi stops in front of a window as Jack presses Legoshi over if he has fallen in love with a girl. In the anime, Legoshi and Jack are running as Jack inquires Legoshi over the girl he might have fallen for. Additionally, during the scene, a few students overhear it on the outside in the manga; whereas a few students overhear and see it in the anime from inside the corridor.
 * In the anime, while Haru looks at the school newspaper Louis' hand reaches over and pushes it aside before they are on the bed together.
 * Legoshi's thought on the smell of the flower soil are moved to when Legoshi and his fellow canine roommates trim their fur in the anime.
 * In the manga, Legoshi and his roommates trim their fur in their dorm rooms (and on top of assorted newspapers); while in the anime, they trim it outside.
 * Legoshi is not standing next to two girls and two boys inside who are each planning their vacation in the anime.
 * Mina is not seen sitting together Legoshi and the others when the Meteor Festival was announced in the manga. Also, she was absent from the warehouse as well.
 * Kai is seen cheering with the other members of the drama club about the announcement of the Meteor Festival in the manga. In the anime, he sits with Legoshi, Dom, Kibi, and another member.
 * In the manga, it is Legoshi who internally narrates the purpose and background of the Meteor Festival. In the anime, it is Dom and Kibi who explain its origins and significance to Kai when he expresses concern over the decorations and their complexity.
 * The shot of what the Meteor Festival should look like is much more expansive in the anime than it is in the manga, and the couple in the mental example is feline in the manga while it is a canine couple in the anime.
 * The flowers Haru finds are different from the manga and anime.
 * In the manga, the hallway Haru finds the wilted flowers in is filled with students who try to ignore her presence. In the anime, the hallway Haru finds the wilted flowers in is completely empty.
 * In the anime, Mizuchi and her friends are seen mocking Haru after they caused her to fall down. In the anime, they are only heard at first.
 * In the anime, the shattered vase even slightly bruises Haru's face.
 * In the manga, Mizuchi breaks down crying in her rant to Haru over her paranoia of her species possibly going extinct. Mizuchi does not shed any tears in the anime.
 * Mizuchi's bird friend from the manga is not in the anime and is instead replaced by a raccoon.
 * In the manga, Legoshi is already behind Haru when Mizuchi and her gang get scared. In the anime, he slowly walks behind Haru which scares Mizuchi and her gang to slowly backing away until they run away in fear.
 * Because Haru wasn't drenched from the broken vase in the anime like she was in the manga, Legoshi doesn't hold a handkerchief. Adding on, in the manga, she dries herself off as best she can; whereas in the anime she merely dusts herself off.
 * The students in the cafeteria who noticed Legoshi and Haru eating together are different species in both the manga and anime.
 * In the manga, Legoshi and Haru sit at a small circle table fit for two people. In the anime, Legoshi and Haru sit at a medium rectangle table like the kind in restaurants with room and seats for four people
 * In the manga, Legoshi eats noodles. In the anime, Legoshi's dinner is some type of cooked meat patties.
 * Legoshi's mental image of himself on a treadmill has an extra part of him trying to go further on it in the anime.
 * Haru kicks out her foot more times in the anime as she eats with Legoshi in the cafeteria then she does in the manga, even before she reflects on how her inner fight-or-flight instincts tell her that Legoshi and his fangs are dangerous.
 * Legoshi's mental image drifting away from Haru has the distance between them larger in the anime than it is in the manga.
 * Legoshi fixes Haru's shoe buckle at the school corridors in the manga, while he fixes it on the school grounds outside in the anime.

Episodio 05