The BEASTARS manga’s ending is “in sight,” according to original manga creator Paru Itagaki. The writer/artist says she is putting everything she has into the work until the end and hopes fans will follow the journey.
Published in Weekly Shonen Champion since September 2016, Paru made these comments in the author’s notes section of an issue from January 2020. In early August 2020, the magazine announced that the series’ climax was coming up soon.
On September 23, 2020, Weekly Shonen Champion magazine released BEASTARS Chapters 194 and then announced that the final chapter was only three chapters away.
The final chapter, BEASTARS Chapter 196, will release in Japan on October 14, 2020.
Volume 20 released on August 6, 2020, and Volume 21 is scheduled for October 8, 2020.
VIZ Media released the official English translation of manga Volume 7 on July 21, 2020. Volume 8 was scheduled for September 15, 2020, and Volume 9 on November 17, 2020.
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Updated October 6, 2020: BEASTARS Volume 22 release date added.
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Updated September 22, 2020: Added BEASTARS Chapter 196 release date, final ending notice, and updated analysis.
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Updated August 6, 2020: Added news of climax and updated all analysis.
BEASTARS Volume 22 to contain the manga’s ending
This is not the first time that Paru has mentioned ending the BEASTARS manga. Back in September 2019, she was directly asked how many volumes she was targeting for the manga series, and Paru responded by saying that she “would like the work to have at most twenty volumes.”
Manga creators for infamous for guessing wrong about how they will end a series and in this case the manga has already gone way past Volume 20. However, the BEASTARS manga’s ending is definitely happening in October 2020.
Since each manga volume typically has nine chapters, and Volume 21 should end with Chapter 187, that means BEASTARS Volume 22 will contain the final chapter.
The BEASTARS Volume 22 release date in Japan is scheduled for January 8, 2021.
Will BEASTARS’ Legoshi and Haru get married or suffer a tragedy?
Paru has not hinted at her plans for the eventual ending of the entire BEASTARS story. Fans of the manga have long shipped Legoshi x Haru, but will the series end on a dark note rather than a happy ending?
After all, Legoshi stated near the beginning that he liked tragedies. Therefore, it’s reasonable to speculate that the story of BEASTARS manga’s ending will take an even darker direction.
Warning: The following contains major spoilers for the BEASTARS manga and (potentially) BEASTARS Season 3.
The BEASTARS story finished up with the so-called Melon arc, which was the fifth major story arc. A newer character, Melon is a criminal who is a half-breed who is half gazelle and half leopard. He tries to hide his leopard features, including his leopard spots, which he has covered with tattoos of melon leaves.
Yafya the Beastars is trying to catch Melon, but the older horse can’t keep up with the more agile Melon. Yafya recruits Legoshi to capture Melon, claiming that he can expunge Legoshi’s criminal history from the official record.
How does the story end? You’ll just need to wait until the manga comes out in English.
The BEASTARS manga series has been adapted into an anime series that will premiere internationally on Netflix. The Netflix U.S. BEASTARS release date was scheduled for early 2020.
The BEASTARS Season 2 anime has already been confirmed to be coming out in 2021, although it’s likely that the manga’s ending won’t be adapted until BEASTARS Season 3 or 4.
The first season of the anime series was fast-paced and adapted the manga chapters up through the middle of Volume 6. For more details and spoilers, please see our story about the BEASTARS Season 2 anime.