How to Deal When Your Intimidating Neighbor is Actually an Omega Review
Explicit Warning: Graphic Content
‘Omega. A secondary gender. Both male and female omegas are capable of being pregnant.’
Student Kouta’s first year at university has got off to a good start – apart from the fact that his neighbour in the apartment block is a really scary-looking tattooed man! In this Omegaverse world, Kouta (an elite Alpha) naturally assumes that his toned neighbour is also an Alpha – and when he catches the unmistakeable scent of Omega pheromones issuing from the next-door apartment, imagines that the tattooed man has found himself an Omega partner. However, his assumptions are brutally overturned when he’s leaving for uni, encounters his neighbour and realizes that he is the source of the powerful Omega pheromones. His neighbour explains that he’s unexpectedly gone into heat and he’s run out of suppressants. Kouta backs away, realizing how powerful the effect of the pheromones can be – but offers to go to the pharmacy to buy suppressants. But when he enters his neighbour’s apartment, the effect of the Omega pheromones is just too strong and they end up having sex (it’s Kouta’s first time).
Kouta discovers that his tattooed neighbour is called Miyanagi and is also a student at Kouta’s university but normal suppressants don’t work well on him as his heats are very unpredictable. For some reason though (could they be fated mates?) Kouta seems to be the only one able to physically calm his heats – and when Miyanagi asks to borrow Kouta’s cardigan, the scent of his Alpha neighbour turns out to be calming too. The doctor suggests to Miyanagi that the reason for this might be ‘nesting’, which causes Miyanagi to instantly reject the idea, insisting that the two are not in that kind of a relationship.
Meanwhile, Kouta – also in denial – has decided to go to a social evening at which there will be plenty of Omegas (his uni friends have been pestering him to attend). But when he turns up, he’s instantly surrounded by Omegas who won’t leave him alone. To his surprise – and theirs – he can’t detect their scent at all. Is Miyanagi the only Omega he can recognise by his scent? The other Omegas are fascinated, suggesting that he might be a rare ‘idiosyncratic Alpha’, one who isn’t susceptible to Omega pheromones (apparently there’s recently been a TV drama about just such a case). Kouta, wishing that he had never agreed to come and with a couple of Omegas clinging possessively to his arms, goes up to the bar to order a drink, only to discover that the barman is none other than Miyanagi. Miyanagi says coldly, “Go, let them have your body, like they so desperately want. That’s what you’re good at, right? I don’t need it anymore.” Kouta is dumbstruck at this hurtful response – especially as he’d just realized, Hell, I don’t even feel the first bit of desire for any of these people! Could it be that he has feelings for Miyanagi…?
Manga set in the alternate fictional reality known as Omegaverse has proliferated over the last ten years and, to be frank, much of it isn’t as good as it could be. But recently some excellent titles have emerged, ones that aren’t content to confine themselves to the basic stereotypes of the genre but use it as a way to explore human relationships from different angles. Titles that challenge readers’ assumptions about the Omegaverse coming soon are Omega Megaera by Maki Marukido (Kodansha) and No God in Eden by Yuma Ichinose (Seven Seas). How to Deal When Your Intimidating Neighbor is Actually an Omega falls into this category as mangaka Nikuya Inui presents us with Miyanagi, an Omega who is doing all he can to show a tough exterior to the world to protect himself even though his own body constantly lets him down. She also introduces the intriguing concept of the ‘idiosyncratic Alpha’ who can only respond to the pheromones of the Omega they’re compatible with. Herein lies much of the appeal of the Omegaverse: the predestined couple not tied together by the invisible red thread of fate but compelled by their genetic makeup to become mates (referring back to the original set-up based on wolf hierarchies within a pack, now largely discounted but fun to play with when you’re creating fiction). An irresistible, fate-driven attraction to a partner who feels the same attraction and will become eternally faithful after a bite to the nape of the neck… it’s a powerfully romantic fantasy.
But what makes Nikuya Inui’s foray into the Omegaverse such a satisfying read is the convincing way the mangaka portrays Kouta and Miyanagi, insecurities and all, and shows how the two – after such a dramatic and sex-fuelled first encounter – grow to know each other as people. Kouta might be the younger of the pair by two years, but we get to see that he’s thoughtful and caring in the way he looks out for Miyanagi, in spite of the fact that Miyanagi tries to keep him at arm’s length, fearing to become too dependent on another person. The story is well paced, the characters are sympathetically and attractively drawn and the sex scenes are hot. Above all, Nikuya Inui’s skill comes across in the way we see the characters grow and change as they get to know each other better.
This is the first of Nikuya Inui’s manga to be published in English (two other titles are available in French from Hana) and just to point out that this is a Mature-rated title that merits its rating in that the scenes of a sexual nature (all consensual) are explicit, as outlined in the publisher’s warning on the cover. And what an eye-catching cover! It all but sells the book on the art alone. Sadly there are no colour images inside but instead the mangaka and Kodansha treat us to some spicy Bonus stories at the end, two character sketches, the mangaka’s afterword expressed in a page of Inside Stories and two sexy 4-koma pages to round it all off.
The translation is by experienced Boys’ Love translator Adrienne Beck and the lettering is by Sara Linsley; their expertise makes the manga a very enjoyable read.
A second volume has just been published in Japan so here’s hoping that Kodansha will bring us that too in due course as readers will definitely want to follow Kouta and Miyanagi to find out what happens next!
Our review copy from Kodansha was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.
