~~ SPOILERS below ~~ biggest ones are in white text, hightlight to read
Main storyline in this volume is that Legoshi starts training with the Panda- he wants to gain strength and fighting skills to better defend his herbivore friends, especially Haru. But at the same time is trying to keep up his studies, so always exhausted. The Panda insists he has to eat meat to build muscle, which causes Legoshi a lot of inner conflict. Meanwhile in other scenes, Legoshi has an odd conversation with that new sheep guy Pina in drama club- who definitely likes being provocative- and I had a distinct sense that character was gay? but not sure. It’s unclear. It is clear that Legoshi gets super aggravated by Pina. We meet a female okapi (such a cool animal!) who works as a stripper in the seedy part of town. She meets Louis on the streets there- shocked to find another herbivore boldly roaming the dark alleys. Louis later confronts his father, who insists that he stay in school, and the younger deer pulls a gun on his own (well, adopted) father! Louis is prowling with his lion gang and glimpses Legoshi in the black market- and is surprised at how different he looks now- not only because he’s been working out, but also because he shaved his fur close- everyone’s been commenting on it! Back at school, Legoshi tries to sleuth out who was the murderer, and Juno feels used by his close questioning (observers perceive their proximity as meaning something else, which makes her mad). The tiger demonstrates his superior strength by having a tug-of-war contest with the wolf, using only their jaws. Legoshi is shocked when he is easily bested. Panda shows the wolf some results of his work- “rehabilitating” carnivores that had been “addicted” to eating meat and driven to violence. Legoshi finally talks to Haru again, and poses a question that shocks her- and the reader! I almost dropped the book! Then at the end we find out that animals in this world also use social media, though it is dominated by the herbivores. There’s a scene where a big cat goes clothes shopping with a sheep, and they each learn a bit about what the other has to deal with. (The cheetah has to avoid most patterns, the sheep gets skin irritation by certain fabrics reacting to her wool). Except I got hung up on the species identity- because this was the character I’d assumed was a cheetah until others called her a leopard. Now the text used both identifiers. So which is she? or was this a problem with translation. It kept bugging me.
Borrowed from the public library.
