After an experiment conducted by the government years ago, a new type of beast-human was created. They had lived in their own community for years, but recently they have been seen in town more and more often. One such beast-human even got permission to study at a human high school.
Can humans really get along with beast-humans? Or is the difference in their societies too difficult to cross?
Before we start the review…
What’s the Japanese level?
I rate this as a late intermediate – early advanced series. To see my reasonings for my rankings, please click here!
Who wrote this manga?
This was written by Chihiro Yuzuki. You can check out their X here.
Extra info about the series
- There are currently 10 volumes out in Japanese.
- There are currently 3 volumes out in English.
- There is currently an anime airing for this series.
You can check out this series for yourself below.
Check out a free sample of chapter one below
What happens in chapter one?
Many years ago, an experiment brought about a new type of human: beast-humans. In Saitama, where this story is set, there is a separate little community where the beast-humans live. Although they are beast-humans, personality-wise, they are the exact same as regular humans. The only difference between the two is that beast-humans have fur and animal-like faces.
While for many years the beast-humans lived among themselves in their own separate community, it’s recently become more common for them to make appearances within human society. To better help them integrate into society, the government has initiated a program, allowing them to study at school alongside human students. In order for the human students to feel at ease, the beast-humans must first be deemed “safe” by the government prior to being allowed to enter school.
One such beast-human who was chosen to study at a human school is the dog-human, Tsunagu. He has a chance encounter with the female lead, Mari, at the beginning of the chapter, and the two of them stay curious about each other for the rest of the chapter.
Tsunagu, being the first beast human to enter the school, has to deal with quite a few micro- and macro-aggressions from his new classmates. It’s clear that none of the students are used to being near beast-humans. Even Mari is incredibly cautious with Tsunagu, noting that he is the first beast-person she’s touched, talked to, hugged, etc. Compared to her classmates’ interest in Tsunagu, which seems to range from curious to cautious, Mari clearly only has positive interest in him.
After school, Mari happens upon Tsunagu being harassed by some random people, and watches as he slips and falls off a bridge while trying to avoid them. She races down and swims into the lake in an attempt to save him, but ultimately he ends up saving her. The two share a sweet moment where they thank each other for various things that happened throughout the day, and Mari ends up bringing Tsunagu back to her house to get dried off. Tsunagu meets Mari’s mom and dog, where I think he made a good impression! He then borrows the shower, where Mari learns that while he has a dog head, he does indeed have a human’s body.
My thoughts about this chapter
I’m honestly not too sure how I feel about this volume. I think that if I can get over the fact that the male lead is a literal dog-person I can grow to enjoy it, but I’m not quite there yet.
I think this series does a unique job of tackling racism, with the humans clearly looking down on the beast-people. While this is the most overt display of racism in the chapter, I think the most interesting discussions happen once Tsunagu enters school. It’s here that we watch all of his classmates try to figure out how they want to interact with him. It’s clear he’s been told something along the lines of “you’d better get along with everyone or else”, as he shows absolutely no emotion at some of the strange things people say to him.
Even Mari treats him strangely at first, but thankfully, she seems to just be an awkward teenager rather than someone with actual malice in her heart.
What I liked most about this chapter
🧡 Tsunagu making an actual attempt to have a conversation with a dog – are there really no pets in the beast-human community?
💛 Mari jumping in the lake after Tsunagu fell in – this was clearly the first time a human was actually kind to the poor guy.
🧡 Tsunagu’s tail wagging when Mari complemented him – it’s fun to see which parts of him are affected by his beast genes.
💛 Their first meeting – it was such a perfect ~shoujo~ first meeting!! I love it when tropes are embraced.
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