The BEASTARS Season 3 release date on Netflix is confirmed to be in 2024.
But it’s possible that Studio Orange has something extra in store for BEASTARS fans in 2023 since the company’s official Twitter teased something planned for the “year of the rabbit”, which is 2023 in the Chinese zodiac.
“It’s year of the rabbit so we have someone else planned but will be late…” Studio Orange tweeted on December 31, 2022 (it was already the new year in Japan when they tweeted, though). Keep in mind that this teasing tweet could have nothing to do with BEASTARS.
The announcement of the BEASTARS 2024 release time frame was initially made via the official website for the anime adaptation of Paru Itagaki’s BEASTARS manga on September 7, 2022, and corroborated in the 41st issue of Weekly Shounen Champion magazine, which also dropped a brand new BEASTARS Final Season key visual:
The BEASTARS: Final Season anime was confirmed to be in production back in 2021. It’s also confirmed that it will be released on Netflix. But when will BEASTARS Season 3 come out on Netflix USA?
On July 20, 2021, the official Twitter account stated that “[a] new chapter of BEASTARS will be produced in the NETFLIX anime series, continuing the story of the second season.”
A new website bst-animation.com launched that day. The old website was bst-anime.com.
The new website specifically refers to the continuation as a Netflix anime rather than as a TV anime series. The copyright information has also changed.
Thus it was confirmed that the continuation will be a Netflix exclusive. The first two seasons were broadcast on TV in Japan first and Netflix had the exclusive streaming rights for the international premiere.
On December 7, 2021, Studio Orange confirmed that the official title for BEASTARS Season 3 is BEASTARS: Final Season.
“BEASTARS is getting a new logo!” Studio Orange announced on Twitter. “There must be many questions but this is all we can reveal at the time. We hope everyone can join us for the show til the end.”
Later that day, the Netflix Japan Anime Twitter account stated, “Netflix series BEASTARS: Final Season is scheduled to be exclusively distributed worldwide. Stay tuned for more updates.”
The exact format of the continuation was confirmed by this announcement. Instead of referring to the renewed anime as BEASTARS Season 3, the official accounts are calling it a new animated arc or chapter which means it’s an episodic TV show again. A BEASTARS movie always seemed unlikely due to the way the original manga’s story was written.
On September 7, 2022, the official Netflix Anime Twitter account announced, “It’s official: BEASTARS Final Season will stream in 2024!”
The new BEASTARS: Final Season anime will have Legoshi facing serious repercussions after the fateful confrontation with Tem’s killer that will affect his future with Haru. It’s possible the continuation will be two cours since since the next story arc, the Interspecies Relations arc, is relatively short, weighing in at only 24 chapters. The final arc is chapters 124 through 196.
To put that number in perspective, the second season adapted roughly 50 manga chapters. Since BEASTARS Season 3 is the Final Season, that means the finale should be longer than usual.
The BEASTARS anime is being produced by animation company Studio Orange, which is best known for creating the CG-animated Land Of The Lustrous anime and the 2021 Godzilla: Singular Point anime (a collaboration with Studio Bones, the studio that produced My Hero Academia Season 6.)
The Trigun Stampede release date was in 2023, which explains why they were too busy to release BEASTARS Season 3 in 2023.
Anime Studio Orange also confirmed that they would be animating the new BEASTARS arc.
“<Project Announcement> BEASTARS Animated Series, New Arc is confirmed!” tweeted the company on July 20, 2021. “Thanks to everyone who supports our show. Orange will continue to animate the show!”
With the BEASTARS anime, the studio has arguably outdone itself in creating a CG anime that’s a wonder to the eyes by mimicking 2D animation with 3D effects. In 2021, the So I’m a Spider, So What? anime by Studio Millepensee tried a similar 2D/3D hybrid approach with mixed results, but Studio Orange arguably perfected their 3D animation technique.
On September 7, 2022, Studio Orange confirmed that at least two of the main staff from the first two seasons are returning.
Director Shinichi Matsumi (Rage Of Bahamut: Genesis) is helming the project. Writer Nanami Higuchi (Little Witch Academia) is creating the scripts again.
The other positions haven’t been announced yet. In the past, artist Nao Ootsu (Saga Of Tanya The Evil, Banana Fish) handled character design. Animator Eiji Inomoto (Ghost In The Shell Arise) was the chief director of CG animation. Musical composer Satoru Kousaki (Oreimo, Monogatari) wrote the music.
The BEASTARS Season 3 OP (opening) and ED (ending) theme song music hasn’t been announced yet.
For the first season, the BEASTARS OP was “Wild Side” as performed by ALI, while the ED “Le Zoo” was performed by YURiKA. For the second season, the BEASTARS Season 2 OP “Monster (Kaibutsu)” and ED “Gentle Comet (Yasashii Suisei)” were both performed by YOASOBI.
The first season had 12 episodes in Fall 2019 that were released as four Blu-Ray/DVD volumes. The second season, which initially aired on TV in Japan in January 2021, hasn’t confirmed the total number of episodes but it’s likely to end with episode 12.
The total number of episodes for the third season hasn’t been announced yet. It’s predicted that BEASTARS Season 3 will be two cours.
A “cour” is a three-month unit of TV broadcasting based on the physical weather seasons. Most anime seasons are composed of 12 or 13 episodes per cour.
The second season was streaming on Netflix Japan during the Winter 2021 anime season. The second season’s finale, BEASTARS Season 2 Episode 12, released on March 25, 2021.
- Updated December 31, 2022: Added teaser from Studio Orange.
- Updated September 30, 2022: BEASTARS circulation reaches 10 million.
- Updated September 7, 2022: BEASTARS Final Season release date confirmed for 2024. Main staff confirmed.
- Updated December 7, 2021: BEASTARS Final Season title confirmed!
- Updated July 20, 2021: New BEASTARS anime confirmed!
- Updated July 12, 2021: New Beast Complex manga short story.
- Updated June 15, 2021: BEASTARS Season 2 Netflix release date confirmed.
Updated March 22, 2021: Beast Complex ending.
This article provides everything that is known about BEASTARS: Final Season (BEASTARS Season 3) and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.
BEASTARS Season 2 Netflix U.S. release date in Summer 2021
Netflix U.S. likes set up international anime audiences for binge-watching even though Netflix Japan releases the episodes as they are broadcast on Japanese TV stations. Therefore, the international launch on Netflix U.S. traditionally waits until the episodes have finished broadcasting on TV in Japan.
Here is the BEASTARS Season 2 English dub cast:
- Jonah Scott as Legoshi
- Griffin Puatu as Louis
- Lara Jill Miller as Haru
- Kaiji Tang as Bill
- Ben Diskin as Jack
- Daman Mills as Kai
- Erika Harlacher as Els
- Keith Silverstein as Gouhin
In this case, the BEASTARS Season 2 Netflix U.S. release date was on July 15, 2021, the summer in July 2021.
Netflix’s BEASTARS: Final Season release date predictions: Is early 2024 likely?
As of the last update, Netflix, Bandai, Studio Orange, or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the exact BEASTARS Season 3 release date. While the production of a BEASTARS: Final Season sequel has been announced, official sources have only specified the release time frame as being in 2024.
Once the news is officially confirmed this article will be updated with the relevant information.
In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when the BEASTARS: Final Season release date will occur in the future.
From a financial perspective, just being a Netflix exclusive is a win. Netflix has been dumping money into developing original anime on its platform. They typically give TV shows at least three seasons before canceling (The Idhun Chronicles Season 3 seems to be a special case).
Netflix has a history of renewing its anime exclusives fairly quickly in comparison to the standards anime fans are used to from the Japanese animation industry. The Seven Deadly Sins Season 5, Ultraman Season 2, Grappler Baki Season 4 (Baki: Son of Ogre), and Aggretsuko Season 4 were all confirmed to be in production shortly after their respective previous seasons were announced.
So, it wasn’t a surprise in July 2021 when they renewed BEASTARS Season 3. After all, it’d be terrible to leave anime-only audiences hanging not knowing what happened to Legoshi and Haru in the end.
BEASTARS Season 3 won’t be a quick turnaround since the final season is adapting a lot of source material. But Studio Orange also has a financial incentive to keep the Netflix money flowing since Netflix pays better in comparison to anime industry standards (whether or not each studio passes on that extra income to the workers is another matter entirely, with Studio MAPPA often cited as a bad example).
Based on history, and assuming Studio Orange had already begun pre-production in 2021, the BEASTARS Season 3 release date will be in Winter or Spring 2024. The timing of the release is also arbitrary since the third season shouldn’t be locked to the seasonal broadcasting schedules of the Japanese TV stations.
Considering that the Netflix U.S. premiere has always been six months later, that means the BEASTARS Season 3 Netflix USA release date will be in either Summer 2024 or Fall 2024.
Since BEASTARS: Final Season is a Netflix anime exclusive it’s possible that all of the episodes could be released at once instead of lingering in Netflix jail. But if we take into a good production schedule it’s likely the two cours will be released separately, which means BEASTARS Season 3 Part 2 (BEASTARS Final Season Part 2) could come out in the second half of 2024.
BEASTARS manga’s ending released in 2020
The story for the anime is based on the BEASTARS manga series by creator Paru Itagaki. Published in Weekly Shonen Champion since September 2016, the BEASTARS manga’s ending in Chapter 196: The Story of a Wolf and a Rabbit was released in October 2020. The final book, BEASTARS Volume 22, released on January 8, 2021.
By the end of September 2022, the BEASTARS manga had 10 million copies in circulation worldwide.
VIZ Media has licensed the publishing rights for the official English translation of the BEASTARS manga. When the second season’s finale aired, the BEASTARS English release was far behind the Japanese releases with only 11 volumes translated back in March 2021.
Fortunately, VIZ Media has been releasing a new volume every two months. The BEASTARS Volume 22 release date was on January 17, 2023.
BEASTARS manga ‘sequel’ returns to the Beast Complex world
On January 7, 2021, Weekly Shonen Champion began publishing a BEASTARS manga sequel that’s based in the same world. Technically, the new series is based on the author’s previous manga, Beast Complex, which has been described as the “origin of BEASTARS”.
Beast Complex was a series of short stories focused on the problems anthropomorphic animals were having coexisting with other species. Many of the stories took place at the Hidden Condo, a location that won’t be part of the anime until BEASTARS Season 3. The mini-series originally ended in 2019 with seven chapters, which were released in English as a single volume by VIZ Media on March 16, 2021.
The new Beast Complex manga chapters take place in a variety of locations, including the strange District 0, an area where endangered all-white Bright animals live in a completely white town (literally, even the houses and roads are white). Starting with Beast Complex Chapter 8, new chapters began to be released weekly.
The new chapters do not focus on Legoshi. Instead, we have short stories about pig taxidermists, peacock cops, Shiba Inu dog models, and many more interesting characters.
Unfortunately, the Beast Complex mini-series ended on March 25, 2021. The new chapters were released as Beast Complex Volume 2 and 3 on April 8 and May 7, 2021, respectively.
However, that wasn’t the final ending. On August 12, 2021, the manga creator released another manga short story for the September issue of Bessatsu Shonen Champion magazine.
BEASTARS manga compared to the anime’s second season
The second season of the anime series is essentially a reimagining of the BEASTARS manga’s story. While the anime does cover the same plot beats, events are reordered and entirely new scenes are introduced.
Arguably, the anime version is an improvement on the original since it expands the premise. Legoshi is shown actively searching for evidence for Tem’s killer with new scenes that fill in gaps in the investigation. Extra scenes with Legoshi’s roommates improves the development of side characters.
Some changes were made for the sake of conveying an idea in the visual format. For example, in the manga Legoshi’s friend Jack the Labrador dog tracked using his nose whereas the anime used a wind visual.
But it’s pretty obvious the great lengths the animation team went to make everything perfect in 3D. On Twitter, Kouhei Kadowaki discussed how he created clay models of the characters’ heads for the BEASTARS Season 2 ED.
“Rui and Ibuki were too complex to be drawn as animated figures, and it was difficult to grasp their three-dimensionality in my head, so I started by making clay figures that gave the same three-dimensional impression from any angle. By creating this image, I was able to organize the sense of three-dimensionality in my mind, which enabled me to create a stable image,” Kadowaki tweeted. “This is the first time I’ve spent so much time and effort to create a 3D model in preparation for a drawing. Tonight is the last time we will be able to see the ED that we did everything we could to create on TV.”
The manga sometimes had minor side characters who showed up briefly and then disappeared entirely from the story. The anime tried to make these one-note characters feel more natural. For example, Cosmo the Okapi’s interactions with Louis were expanded by the anime to give her the progression of an episodic character.
On the other hand, the events leading up to the finale between Legoshi and Riz were given more time to breathe in the manga. The anime’s second season really needed a BEASTARS Season 2 Episode 13 since the anime was forced to skim the source material in a rush to this pivotal moment.
It’s also notable that Episode 11 only mentioned Legoshi’s grandfather, Gosha, but did not show him. In the manga, his shocking appearance was revealed in a flashback during the chapters adapted by the second season, but his first appearance in the anime will be pushed back to BEASTARS Season 3.
The first season ended with BEASTARS Episode 12 adapting up through Chapter 48, the middle of Volume 6. That meant the anime’s second season began in Chapter 50.
As previously mentioned, the second season heavily reordered the chapters and changed some events. Halfway through the second season, BEASTARS Season 2 Episode 6 was up to Chapter 69.
Most of the episodes adapted just parts of individual manga chapters, averaging around four chapters adapted per episode. BEASTARS Season 2 Episode 12 seriously speedrun nine chapters all by itself.
All in all, the second season’s finale, BEASTARS Season 2 Episode 12, found a stopping point in Chapter 99, which is near the beginning of Volume 12.
It’s the best stopping point since it resolves the main conflict surrounding Tem’s killer. Ending at this point also allowed the second season to maintain the same adaptation pacing as the first season.
The good news is that English-only manga readers who wish to read ahead of the anime can jump straight to Volume 12 once it releases on May 18, 2021. However, it’s probably best to start with Volume 11: Chapter 97 since the finale episode essentially summarized highlights of Chapters 97, 98, and 99.
BEASTARS: Final Season needs two cours to finish the story properly
Studio Orange faces a dilemma in adapting the remainder of the manga’s story in BEASTARS Season 3. The next major story arc (Chapters 99 through 123) is only 25 chapters long and doesn’t offer a thematically solid stopping point before ending.
That isn’t long enough for a standalone single cour season unless the story for BEASTARS: Final Season is overly padded with original filler content. By contrast, the final arc is the longest story arc by far with 73 chapters in total.
That’s way too much source material to condense into a BEASTARS movie. That’s probably the reason why the July 2021 announcement of a new BEASTARS anime sequel put the emphasis on the continuation being a new arc or chapter since ending with a movie is unwise.
Instead, it seems very likely that the continuation will have more episodes than before. The next two story arcs are 97 chapters combined, which is perfect for a two-cour season.
The worst-case scenario is that Studio Orange will be forced to condense the final story arc of the manga into a single cour season. If that’s the case, then BEASTARS Season 3’s ending would be similar to The Promised Neverland Season 2 anime, which rewrote huge chunks of the story in a rush to the final ending.
BEASTARS Season 3 anime spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)
The last time we watched the anime, Legoshi had dueled Tem’s killer Riz the bear. He only won against Riz’s strength thanks to Louis sacrificing his leg, giving Legoshi an edge by allowing him to eat meat for the first time.
The aftermath of the duel ended with the police arresting Riz after he acknowledged his wrong. But the police also arrested Legoshi!
After the inspectors clear up their misunderstanding, Legoshi does not receive a misdemeanor criminal record. At the same time, Legoshi is now and forever branded as a predatorial offender since he unlawfully consumed the flesh of another living animal.
Besides the scar on his face, Legoshi now faces multiple repercussions since he won’t be able to attend unsegregated universities and herbivore-owned companies won’t want to hire him. Worse, it’s now legally impossible for him to marry a herbivore such as Haru!
Legoshi briefly entertains settling for going to a carnivore-only college, finding a job, and marrying a female gray wolf, and raising a family. But that’s not the life he wants.
Despairing, Legoshi decides to tell Haru that he’s dropping out of school at Cherryton Academy. But since the police want him to remain quiet about the incident, he’s unwilling to tell Haru his exact reasons, leaving Haru feeling confused about their relationship.
When the police reveal the details of the incident to the public they change crucial details, making it seem as if Louis was the herbivore hero who fought against the carnivore criminal Riz.
Meanwhile, Louis is visited at the hospital by his father Ogma, who has ordered him a quality prosthetic leg. The Sublime Beastar horse Yahya, the leader of their society, becomes interested in Legoshi’s case.
Legoshi ends up living in the Hidden Condo, an old building near the Black Market that allows renters with criminal records. One of Legoshi’s new neighbors is a Merino sheep named Seven, who has suffered life hardships while working at a carnivore-run sportswear company.
The story introduces the first Beastar characters and gives the history of leading candidates from the past. Audiences will also be introduced to Legoshi’s mother, Leano, and his grandfather, Gosha.
The reason why Gosha’s appearance is shocking is that he’s literally a scaly Komodo dragon! Yes, that means Legoshi’s mother was a grey wolf-Komodo dragon hybrid whereas his father, Miyagi, was full grey wolf.
Legoshi has inherited his grandfather’s eyes. But Leano inherited more reptilian features and it’s her personal angst about her appearance that caused her to take actions which caused repercussions in Legoshi’s life today.
Events take a turn when Yahya the Beastar is trying to catch Melon, a half-breed criminal who is half gazelle and half leopard. Faking to be a therapist, he has been killing elephants to make cash with their ivory tusks.
The older horse can’t keep up with the more agile Melon, so Yahya recruits Legoshi to capture Melon. The Beastars claims that he can expunge Legoshi’s criminal history from the official record, clearing the way for Legoshi to regain a happy future.
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until the BEASTARS Season 3 release date to watch what happens next. Stay tuned!