Omega Megaera Volume 1 Review

“The Hanabusa family can be described as a great agglomeration of wealth and power.” Saimon to Mamiya.

Saimon is a ‘Megaera’, an omega once the first wife (the title is used here for men and women) of Seijuro, the current heir to the Hanabusa family. But because Saimon has been unable to conceive any children, he’s been supplanted and Seijuro has taken two other omega partners and has sired four children, the eldest, Reiko, being an alpha. But the patriarch of the family, Zenjiro, doesn’t want a woman to succeed and as her brother, Iori, is a disappointment and displays few alpha qualities, the situation in the main house has become very tense. So when Zenjiro, now in poor health, calls Saimon for an intimate conversation, Saimon is shocked when Zenjiro confides in him that he has an illegitimate child who must now be fourteen or fifteen. The mother was an underage girl, given to him by her family in exchange for a loan. Knowing how much Saimon has longed to be a mother, now Zenjiro is giving him the chance to track down his illegitimate child and bring him into the family. And if that child turns out to be an alpha male, he will automatically become the heir, supplanting Reiko and Iori.

Saimon sets out to find the child – and it turns out that he’s a good-looking teenaged boy called Mamiya, street-smart because, his underage mother having died, he’s had to fend for himself. But… he’s also an omega who hasn’t yet gone into heat. Saimon’s plan is to introduce him to the family, pretending he’s an alpha. And if Mamiya goes into heat? Saimon once worked on developing a heat suppressant, although it was never government approved as in this omegaverse, omegas don’t take suppressants. Mamiya agrees, without hesitating; he’s more than ready to play the role. The two go to the main house and there’s an emotional meeting between father Zenjiro and his long-lost son. As for the rest of the family? They’re horrified. Saimon is now ‘mother’ to the new heir and the two alpha children of Seijuro have been supplanted by the newcomer. As long as Mamiya can keep up the illusion (and he’s a gifted actor) all should go according to Saimon’s plan… just as long as he doesn’t go into heat!

In Omega Megaera Maki Marukido immerses the reader in a dark, claustrophobic family saga (the Forsytes in an omegaverse?) where no one trusts anyone else. Because the mangaka is especially skilled at writing characters with twisted motivations (as in Pornographer) the story of family feuding and deception comes to life from the first page and carries on relentlessly setting up potential disasters in all directions. And although we get to meet all the members of the Hanabusa family, they all make a distinct impression, thanks to the mangaka’s artwork and ability to create believable and memorable characters. They’re not a very likable bunch, either, but – again due to Marukido’s skills – they all have their reasons for behaving the way they do. There’s even the odd touch of sly humour but the purple roses on the cover art, combined with shades of maroon and olive green, set the sombre tone for what’s to come inside.

This is not the romantic depiction of the omegaverse found in other BL manga (like Never Let Go by Saki Sakimoto or Megumi & Tsumugi by Mitsuru Si) in which soulmates are attracted to each other by pheromones and bond for life when the alpha bites the omega on the back of the neck. In this omegaverse, these practices are described as ‘barbaric’ and ‘old superstitions’ – omegas are still regarded as useful for breeding/producing heirs but lacking in other respects. Poor Saimon still loves Seijuro and describes him as his soulmate but Seijuro seems to have learned from his manipulative father how to distance himself from anything as inconvenient as feelings if it goes against the family’s interests. When family head Zenjiro confides in Saimon about his illegitimate child, we learn that he’s taken full advantage of his position as family head and slept with all the omegas in the family. And his callous attitude to the young girl ‘given’ to him speaks volumes. Interesting, therefore, that the Hanabusa’s head butler, Teruhiko Shiba, is a beta (I wonder where this will lead?)

The translation for Kodansha is by Kevin Steinbach and makes for a fluid read, dealing expertly with all the omegaverse terminology; all this is brought to life on the page by Madeleine Jose’s lettering. There are also two pages of helpful translation notes. The cover image can be found in full colour at the start of the volume, purple roses removed to reveal an impressive family portrait. There’s a one-page afterword comic by the mangaka, explaining how the manga came to be commissioned, that it’s not a BL but a shojo and wondering if it’s SF or fantasy. The final page is a preview of Volume 2 (out in January in the US, but unless you’re reading the digital version, it’s probably February in the UK). This seems to be the first publication of a manga by Maki Marukido in English, although several of her manga are available in digital versions.

I can see Omega Megaera becoming an addiction; I’ve yet to read any manga by Maki Marukido that I didn’t find fascinating, affecting, and thought-provoking. This is off to a very strong start and I can’t wait to see where the mangaka takes Saimon and young Mamiya next!

Omega Megaera © Maki Marukido/KODANSHA LTD.

Our review copy from Kodansha was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.