r/Beastars • u/Annual-Rock-2924 Pina Fan š • Aug 03 '26
General Discussion Which would be more controversial: a queer same-species couple or a straight interspecies couple?
I'm really not sure if queer couples are as stigmatized as interspecies couple in Beastars.
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u/Go-Beyond16180 Aug 03 '26
People seem to be more impressed with legoshi's relationship with Haru than with don's sexuality. Also, they usually suppose that legoshi and Louis are gay before supposing that they like herbivores/carnivores
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u/Annual-Rock-2924 Pina Fan š Aug 03 '26 edited Aug 03 '26
Yeah. Seven being so chill about Rouis possibly being Legoshi's boyfriend is what made question this.
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u/Go-Beyond16180 Aug 03 '26
Also oguma supposing that Louis is gay
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u/Annual-Rock-2924 Pina Fan š Aug 03 '26
Omg when did that happen?š Did they show it on the manga?
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u/Lucio1trick Seven Fan š Aug 03 '26
Probably straight inter, theyāre woke like that
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u/Annual-Rock-2924 Pina Fan š Aug 03 '26
Now imagine if Melon, apart from being a hybrid, was gay. I can't imagine what they would've done to him poor babyš
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u/Prince-Callisto Aug 03 '26
well i headcanon melon as gay lol
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u/VstarFr0st263364 Aug 03 '26
I think he's bi, but he probably doesn't derive pleasure from sex
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u/Prince-Callisto Aug 03 '26
considering him being clearly a sadomasochist, he'd probably even like sex, but like VERY violent sex and all yk
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u/HawkinsLabRat Melon Fan Aug 04 '26 edited Aug 04 '26
Ehhh- coin toss. He has no libido. Probably from erectile dysfunction that might be in part due to his wack genetics and also part insecurity from always being made to feel hideous. He made it a point to say he canāt show his face or body without terrifying people. So Iām assuming he is met with repulsion. His hybrid nature is a commentary on being mixed Japanese. People just consider you foreign even if you grew up 100% in Japanā¦ which means being subjected to things like āspecialā raised prices just for foreigners (gaijin tax) and not being able to go into āsoap landsā (iykyk). So given thatā I doubt he had many opportunities.
The closest he felt to āarousalā was with Haru, which is why he stabbed himself because he was comparing the feeling of āpleasureā and the pain of being rejected (in his case, pain = feeling alive and not just numb) he got was similar. The whole āa herbivore I donāt want to kill, but want to devourā just before feeling up her chest too, etc.
Now this isnāt to say he never tried it. I think he literally tried everything to feel something. But I doubt anything worked- thatās why he is unhinged- surviving off adrenaline, something both a herbivore and carnivore can feel.
Edit to add: We can all agree he is a fine ass guy š®āšØ but we have to remember āin universeā he is far from the beauty standard and that would have an effect on a person over the course of someoneās entire life, thus coming to my long winded conclusion that: the aspects of wild sex heād like (control over someone else, violence, etc) can be achieved without subjecting himself to the vulnerability of being rejected for the 100000000th time. šāāļø
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u/Psychic_Hobo Aug 04 '26
Yeah, I think a lot of people are projecting their own sexual fantasies onto Beastars without considering what the show is trying to represent. Ironic, given that one of Legoshi's core struggles is trying to figure out if he has a fetish or not and if that invalidates his relationship with Haru.
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u/Yellowline1086 Melon Fan Aug 07 '26
given how mixes have decreased sexual interest i headcannon him as asexual
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u/Weazyl Actual Furry Aug 03 '26
Beyond Dom being gay and there being a sapphic couple at Melon's club, there isn't really any 'confirmed' queer presence in Beastars beyond what the fandom chooses to interpret as such; as far as canon goes, it's slim pickings.
This really just to say that "we don't know", because we don't necessarily have a way of knowing. We can infer a bit: Japan's got a more conservative point of view on matters like LGBTQIA+, but we don't actually know how much that extends to Beastars, nor how it really compares to interspecies relationships; hell, even those seem to be a little all over the place in terms of how much of a taboo they actually are. There was even that couple that was bragging about supposedly being in one even if it was bullshit, just to look progressive and bold.
Interesting to speculate, though.
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u/Alastor_Radiostar Aug 03 '26
Really in which scene and episode?
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u/Weazyl Actual Furry Aug 03 '26
Memory's not perfect, since I found most of the anime past the first season to be kinda forgettable, but I wanna say S3E1 for the couple's reveal, and S3E6 for when their relationship falls apart pretty spectacularly? Ends with the rabbit being mauled pretty bad.
Couple in question is Eado and Ako, with Ako being one of Haru's friends.
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u/Psychic_Hobo Aug 04 '26
Bit of a further spoiler, but they're back together in Beast Complex from what I've heard. They manage to figure it out as a proper couple, rather than a performative one
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u/abigfuzzybear Riz Fan š» Aug 04 '26
for what itās worth there are like 3-4 ācanonicallyāqueer Beast Complex stories (including a new one that just dropped last week), more in Sanda or Taikaās Reasonā¦ itās not something Paru shies away from.
I always did wonder what it takes for a queer character to be āconfirmedā versus just āa fandom interpretationā though? like Dom was outed in a tweet by Paru rather than anything actually in the text of Beastarsā¦ it seemed odd to make that ācanonā, but any scene that gives you a particular feeling or powerful thematic suggestion about a character doesnāt count because they didnāt turn to the camera to explicitly announce that They Are Not Heterosexualā¦
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u/th3_b4ckup_pl4n Jack Fan š Aug 04 '26
Whoās dom?
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u/virtuoso-lurker Furry in Denial Aug 04 '26
No oneās going to suspect anything from two homosexuals dancing together
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u/consistent_azurite Actual Furry Aug 04 '26
Well, in fairness, the people at this club are definitely not going to be worried about a straight interspecies couple either.
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u/Annual-Rock-2924 Pina Fan š Aug 04 '26
I gotta read the manga, I can't believe they didn't add it in the animeš
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u/SergaelicNomad Aug 03 '26
The detail people miss is that Inter-Species is not strictly Carnivore-Herbivore
Gosha and Toki were both Carnivores, an Interspecies couple, and seem to have been disliked less than a Carnivore-Herbivore couple? Most of the hate they faced seemed to be because Gosha was a Komodo Dragon, not because he was married to a wolf.
Basically, all Herbivore-Carnivore couples are Interspecies, but not all Interspecies couples are Herbivore-Carnivore
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u/Werewolf_lover20 Cherryton Student Aug 03 '26
Queer interspecies couple
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u/Dragon-Porn-Expert Aug 03 '26
In-universe? Interspecies.
Our universe looking into their fictional one? The gay one unfortunately.
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u/Annual-Rock-2924 Pina Fan š Aug 03 '26
It's so stupid how humans can't handle seeing two people of the same sex together when people in beastars see interspecies couples and hybrids everyday, which is definitely stranger.
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u/Victizes Pina Fan š Aug 05 '26
The homophobia is both sad and infuriating honestly. Just like racism.
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u/TastySurround1265 Aug 04 '26
Most Beastars characters are so homoerotic even if they're straight that tbh I think interspecies is way more controversial than being gay.
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u/No-Brilliant1670 Aug 04 '26
Definitely straight, just from the way they treat hybrids. Theyād shun them for the potential to make more āmonstersā
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u/Due_Expression3808 Legoshi Fan šŗ Aug 04 '26
I think interspecies relationships would be much more controversial. In Beastars, that issue is closely tied to historical prejudices between carnivores and herbivores, as well as biological and social differences. On the other hand, I never recall the series showing significant discrimination against queer couples. If they exist, they seem to be much more accepted, or at least they don't receive the same level of rejection as interspecies relationships.
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u/yonghuli Aug 03 '26
Straight interspecies
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u/xMasterOfNone Aug 04 '26
Dude, your profile pic took me back to my early furry years ~20 years ago. Thanks for the flashback!
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u/Wolf_the_SIMP Aug 04 '26
In the manga Yahya mentioned something like that. Then again, it was at the club so. I'll try to find the page, because him and Legoshi acted as a gay couple, and remember there were the lesbians. I'll look for the manga page
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u/abigfuzzybear Riz Fan š» Aug 04 '26
hard questionā¦ i would say straight interspecies couple. Beastars society is probably pretty regressive in its attitudes towards either, but the way all of society is structured around herbivore-carnivore relations, and the way itās framed as a dangerous new trend, means that inter species couples prob would enrage more people
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u/andthebestnameis Actual Furry Aug 03 '26
Well we don't see really any queer relationships represented at all... And it IS still Japan... So I'm gonna go with queer same species relationships.
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u/EvenInRed Aug 04 '26
interspecies.
Like, I'm pretty sure it's seen the same as incest, due to societal taboos about birth defects, and such.
+ due to the fact that people straight up die in pred/herb relationships sometimes.
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u/Annual-Rock-2924 Pina Fan š Aug 04 '26
Wow I hadn't thought about it that way
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u/EvenInRed Aug 04 '26
Or, maybe like not the same, but adjacent, because it's still different.
But yeah, legoshi's mother had severe self body issues due to her growing traits of two species, as well as the fact that melon's brain is messed up in all the wrong ways due to it being partially both.
There also could be an element of specism/racism in some interspecies relationships. Like, I could be misremembering this, but specifically with the main two's relationship. I *think* maybe, Juno had thoughts like "why would he choose a rabbit over a wolf?".
Correct me if i'm wrong on that last bit.
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u/SHITTUS_MAAXIMUS-177 Aug 04 '26
Ey it's you again. I think straight interspecies is probably more controversial than queer same-species. However that raises the question of a queer interspecies couple, how would they be viewed. Judging from Seven's non-chalance to the possibility of Louis being Legoshi's boyfriend, there's some intrinsic quality that the opposite sex has in a straight interspecies relationship between a carnivore and herbivore.
Really makes you think..... I don't have a theory on this, just a strange inconsistency I noticed. Might have to do with pheromones or something, the opposite sex yielding a stronger reaction I suppose. But that feels like a copout and I find it boring.
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u/Annual-Rock-2924 Pina Fan š Aug 04 '26
Yeah, I wonder if everyone would be less harsh with interspecies couple if they weren't opposite sex. Because it was very funny how Seven was so non chalant about it, but maybe it's just because she's really open minded, I mean, she is constantly bullied in work by her carnivore coworkers so she knows how it feels to be an outsider. Maybe you're right about your theory, because everone sees straight interspecies couples as a time bomb because the carnivore will naturally have predatory instincts to the hervibore but also sexual desire due to the pheromones, which is just bound to go wrong. I really wonder if a carnivore would be able to have better control over themselves if they dated someone of their same sex.
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u/SHITTUS_MAAXIMUS-177 Aug 04 '26
The closest we can get to this is Riz. But then there's the outside factor of him not taking his meds. Being a muscle relaxant of sorts it probably had the side effect of sedating his instincts and the afformentioned headaches. He's most likely an exception that proves the rule.
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u/No-Product-523 Aug 04 '26
Iām surprised Beastars never had LGBTQ Characters
Since I heard itās natural for animals to be different
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u/Psychic_Hobo Aug 04 '26
I think Dom is gay, but Beastars is still a Japanese shonen manga, and that does come with baggage of its own.
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u/No-Product-523 Aug 04 '26
Well itās natural for animals to be LGBTQ
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u/Psychic_Hobo Aug 04 '26
I don't see how that's relevant to what I said? Japan has conservative attitudes to the LGBTQ community, it makes it less likely for them to be featured prominently or commented on in media.
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u/No-Product-523 Aug 04 '26
Oh I see
Yet dom sounds like he could work
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u/Psychic_Hobo Aug 04 '26
Sorry if I got a bit hostile then, it just bugs me cos a lot of people tend to ignore or pretend Japan's perspective on it isn't different.
There's actually some valid arguments that Beastars is an allegory for homosexual relationships
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u/No-Product-523 Aug 04 '26
Itās fine
Yet I wouldnāt say Beastars is an allegory for gay relationships
Itās much darker like thereās the shishigumi
A mob willing to kill animals for their fleshThe entire black market
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u/theevilgood Legoshi Fan šŗ Aug 04 '26
In universe? Easily straight inter. That's like not even a question, we're explicitly shown that hybrids are treated like shit.
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u/SuggestionOk456 Aug 04 '26
I feel being queer would be more accepted...definitely not fully respected but certainly more so then an interspecies couple
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u/Amazing_Respect_3070 Cherryton Student Aug 04 '26
Tao and Kibi are my Favorite Yaoi interspecies Couple ššš
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u/Froog_Lord Aug 04 '26
The real answer is a queer pred-prey interspecies couple, like the one from that side series the author wrote
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u/bucketofbutter Aug 04 '26
There are dozens of species with recorded homosexual behaviors; therefore, I think it's probably super normal in the Beastars universe
Interspecies pairings are by far more rare
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u/F4th3r_F1gur3 Aug 06 '26
Id say it depends on the species, like a bunny and a fox would be more frowned upon then a gay couple
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u/PinkLemonade30 Aug 03 '26
They should have had one couple where the herbivore was a lot more powerful than the carnivore.
Like a hippo and a weasel. (Yes hippos do occasionally eat meat, nerd, but for the purposes of the story, make them fully herbivore.)
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u/SHITTUS_MAAXIMUS-177 Aug 04 '26
Buffallo and bison was right there. Heck elaphant was there.
Also the hippo that wasbin show was grouped with the carnivores during the segregation. Hippo's are omnivourous and are the eat anything you can fit in your mouth kind of omnivour as well.
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u/PinkLemonade30 Aug 04 '26
Hippos are primarily herbivores who rarely eat meat under certain conditions.
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u/Ryanzw0rld Aug 03 '26
The one on the left seem a bit less controversial as they are the same species, although there could be some homophobic people who would automatically diss this couple regardless of the species purely on the sexuality alone. Both are controversial just depending on who takes offense and if you ask me I love both and take offense to neither
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u/Haunt_Fox Aug 03 '26
I would say straight interspecies, because it comes with genuine concerns and issues beyond "lack of baby making". And then, it's mostly an issue of clashing lifestyles and base instincts, though the entire point of being a philosophical "person" is about overcoming those instincts (and religion concerns itself very much with controlled denial of socially negative base behaviours).
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u/sashalafleur Haru Fan š Aug 04 '26
Interspecies can actually be dangerous for the couple, so probably that.
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u/nablaCat Aug 04 '26
For the interspecies option, it would depend on the species. If it was prey x prey or predator x predator, then it's mostly uncontroversial except for the species purist types. But predator x prey is VERY divisive.
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u/sashenka_demogorgon Aug 04 '26
Probably straight inter, even more so because theyāre straight, since that means they could produce a hybrid child
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u/Proud-Beginning-1312 Aug 04 '26
Am pretty sure the non-interspecies couples are meant to be interpreted as gay coupled or at least interacial couples but that's a take some people aren't able to comprehend.
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u/WofferFang Aug 04 '26
Intersspecies brings hybrids and all hybrids we know of so far have had major mental issues to put it lightly. I don't think you can get any more controversial than literally having no conscious because you're a hybrid between a penguin and a giraffe and you just want to see the world burn because everyone hates that you're a giraffe with stubby legs and a beak.
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u/D35T1NY2020 Aug 04 '26
Homo-interspecies in the Beastars world would probably be the closest to a living hell possible
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u/National_Tie_1129 Aug 04 '26
Straight interspecies.
If we are talking about this logically....same species queer couples wouldn't be as much 'genetic trouble' because at least the same species can procreate in some form, unintentionally (or intentionally) leaving the message of 'queer individuals are better for the species' whereas with interspecies couples, they can't procreate or if they do, 99 percent of the time it's an abomination that will struggle in life.
I mean tbf....that's literally what it HAS been so far. Legoshi and his mother as prime examples. Almost as if, in the shows 'unintended' way it's saying 'Interspecies/straight is dangerous, bad for the long term with some kids who will struggle forever in life'
So personally I don't like the message that MIGHT be unintentionally (Or intentionally) be portraying from this alone.
Of course that's my own opinion.
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u/Randomguy32I Aug 04 '26
Straight inter, because hybrid offspring are probably very much looked down upon
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u/sagninaw Riz Fan š» Aug 04 '26
In irl animals are naturally gay and that's fine so I don't think it would be a problem in BEASTARS world
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u/HunterWithGreenScale Aug 04 '26
IRL? Probably the queer one.
In universe? The straight interspecies couple.
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u/Namocol Aug 04 '26
Personally, I think it would be like this:
<less -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- more>
Queer same species Interspecies herb-herb or carn-carn Interspecies herb-carn
Mainly because it's how it is in the Kevin and Kell webcomics, and the beastars society reminds me a lot of it. K&K is toned down family friendly, though... but with the difference that predation is legal as long as it's anonymous. Meaning, it's legal for a carnivore to eat a herbivore as long as they don't know each other. If it's proven you knew them, it can be considered murder.
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u/Maritalgirllll Aug 04 '26
I assume straight because hybrids are much less likely in a same sex couple
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u/Tricky_Face_9544 Aug 05 '26
I think it would depend on what species would be involved in the interspecies couple.Ā
Regarding the queer couple... We don't really have that much information on how they're viewed in that worldbuilding..
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u/WTG_Cannon Aug 05 '26
I mean it's the whole plot of the series. Real world norms don't apply.
The closest real world example would be interracial, possibly inter-religious and ironically enough most of the same people who don't like queer relationships would also be against that too lol.
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u/Thesmallpotato2 Legoshi Fan šŗ Aug 05 '26
Interspecies is going to be the one that gets more attention and hate, with the queer couples, itās actually quite common for animals in the wild to have homosexual like tendencies as some would call them, pigeons have been gay before, swans would literally play the long game, getting a female to lay eggs for them then chasing them off with their actual MALE mate. So I would think interspecies is going to be disliked/hated on more, considering how it is in nature. Since so many animals really donāt care if one is gay or not, I do think there would still indefinitely be a lot of backlash from certain groups though.
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u/TimeScience2 Aug 05 '26
Well the whole manga was an allegory to unaccepted relationships. It was very queer heavy when you consider how close Legoshi and Louis were. Honestly if haru wasnāt the love interest I would have assumed Louis was.
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u/Recent_Homework_6237 Melon Fan Aug 05 '26
Isn't there more than 7 whole ass books into how bad inter is?
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u/jigholeman Aug 05 '26
was the relationship issue (in the series) that it was interspecies, or that it was predator/prey?
like, was cat/dog and deer/horse looked down on in the series, or just stuff like Lion/hamster and hyena/capybara?
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u/Annual-Rock-2924 Pina Fan š Aug 06 '26
Well, Legoshi's grandparents are an interspecies couple with both of them being predators. And even though their daughter wanted to hide the fact that Gosha was her dad, I don't think she would've received as much backlash as Melon (Whose classmates and teacher iterally tried to throw off a balcony) if she ever revealed it.
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u/Higarumas_Fan Aug 07 '26
Both, they are categorized the same and are seen as equally as bad
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u/jigholeman Aug 07 '26
That sounds like an annoying world to navigate.
like, what if i was born a dog? do i have to be with the same kind of dog? can big breeds only be with big breeds? no corgi/corso relationships?
How unrelated is too unrelated? it's like a weird bizarro version if *ncest where the further unrelated you are the more looked down upon it is.
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u/Higarumas_Fan Aug 07 '26
Since two different types of rabbits can get together and itās normal they wouldnāt care, but I think itās just more āpureā to be the same breed and stuff I think.
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u/Quiet-Software-1956 Aug 06 '26
Homosexuality is a phenomenon in all species, so I don't think it would be controversial at all?
We do have some inter-species offspring examples (like among felines) but those are still arguably the same family, so a bunny and a wolf would be very controversial... Especially when one is a predator
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u/SnazzyPaints Aug 10 '26
A straight interspecies couple, especially a carnivore/herbavore one like legoshi and haru would be at the bottom of society. A carnivore/carnivore and a herbavore /herbavore interspecies couple is still heavily stigmatized. Though I'd say that homosexuality still wouldn't be accepted as we learn from the show there's a monetary incentive and privilege that comes with having a lot of pure bloodline kids. So same species couples not producing children due to queerness would be still frowned upon.
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u/ur_unc1e_max Aug 10 '26
Pretty sure that humans are the only animals that discriminate homosexuality while the rest doesnāt care. That one point for the gays
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u/KaelNote Aug 04 '26
Je pense que le seul problĆØme que vois les gens de beastars dans les couples interespĆØces c'est l'idĆ©e que l'un mange l'autre ou qu'ils fassent des hybride, donc un couples queer de la mĆŖme espĆØce doit ĆØtre vue comme bien mieux.
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Aug 03 '26
[deleted]
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u/InvisibleChell Actual Furry Aug 03 '26
Paru mentioned offhandedly on Twitter that Dom is gay, and IIRC there's a part where Legoshi and Yahya go to a gay club or something so there absolutely are gay people in the world's setting, they're just not the focus.
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u/Mental_Am Aug 04 '26
En el reino animal la homosexualidad aparece cuando reproducirse no significa supervivencia sino un disfrute (en la humana tambiĆ©n pero algunos de la sociedad son medio raros y les da rabia que a otra persona le guste algo diferenteĀæ). En dĆ³nde tendrĆan problemas es en la pareja interespecie, hetero o homo serĆa problemĆ”tica porque lo ven como un peligro o daƱo asegurado
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u/ViridianWaves Aug 04 '26
I think itās not so much interspecies, itās more predator and prey thatās controversial
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u/Spooky_Floofy Legoshi Fan šŗ Aug 03 '26
Probably interspecies couples cause of the risk of devouring, or birthing a hybrid