What, my avatar isn't giveaway enough? :D
But no, Beastars is not the inspiration, I just really like deer and wolf villagers, they're all very cute and I love their designs, they're among my favourite species in this game.
I like some more than others, often due to eyes and color, and there are a couple of small annoyances that drags some designs down like no nose or them always looking upwards. But in the end there is only a single villager, ONE, that I don't like. I would happily have even the oh so hated Cashmere or Elise on my island because there is something charming about all of them in the end.
...except Barold. They should change Barold. He's not okay.
Yeah. I get that Barold is meant to invoke the 80s/90s Japanese game developer stereotype, but I do not understand how NoA is letting that design stand as is. At least remove the bright red lips.