Omega Megaera Volume 3 Review

Mamiya is the secret illegitimate son of Zenjiro, the powerful head of the Hanabusa clan, who’s been brought into the household when Saimon, the ‘Megaera’ (childless omega and rejected first wife of the head’s eldest son, Seijuro) pretends he’s an alpha (he’s really an omega). Secretly taking forbidden suppressants supplied by Saimon to control his heats, Mamiya starts at the elite academy where Iori and sister Reiko are already students. He’s immediately drawn into the rivalry to become the president of the student council between Reiko and her onetime childhood friend, the unconventional (and trans) Lily, the treasurer. Lily (Arinori Tachibana) adores playing the role of the girliest girl around, holding tea parties and is only (in her words) prevented from wearing a skirt because, “the teachers said it would be a threat to public morals and advised me not to wear one.” A rift has obviously arisen between the childhood friends and Mamiya determines to discover why, hoping he can use the information to prevent Reiko from becoming president.

Saimon gets to arrange a welcome party for Mamiya at the main house (an honour not usually accorded to a Megaera). And then Sanjiro introduces Mamiya to the guests as his son Seijuro’s illegitimate child! Saimon’s sister Eiko (the one secretly supplying him with the hormones he’s using to make the suppressants for Mamiya) is instantly suspicious about Mamiya and confronts her brother, accusing him of using her and her family. Has anyone overheard them, apart from Shiba, the family butler who’s in on Saimon’s plan?

Iori confides in Mamiya that he’s thinking of running away (he’s Reiko’s ‘disappointing’ alpha brother and demoted to Class IV at school). But crafty Lily has a plan to discredit Reiko by implicating Iori in a tragic event that took place at the school before Mamiya’s arrival. Mamiya is caught between his genuine liking for Iori and his need to stop Reiko taking the place of top alpha heir in the clan. What can he do to protect himself and Saimon as yet more family members are beginning to suspect him?

The intrigues continue to multiply in the third volume of this convoluted family saga where everyone is scheming against someone else to get revenge or their just deserts or expose their shameful secrets. In Maki Marukido’s harsh dystopian version of an omegaverse, anyone caught using hormone suppressants is likely to earn the death penalty, so if Mamiya’s pills are discovered, his days will be numbered.

Your tolerance may differ from mine but by the time I was two-thirds through this third volume, I was becoming a little weary of the constant double-crossing and conspiring. It’s difficult to sympathize with anyone, even Mamiya, as everyone in the Hanabusa clan is driven to suspect their fellow family members – usually with reason – in the poisonous atmosphere created by the deeply unpleasant head of the clan, Zenjiro. The mangaka is very skilled at writing warped narratives (her first success Pornographer depicts a writer who is injured when a student on a bicycle knocks him over, making the student act as his amanuensis while his injured arm mends, except… of course… I won’t spoil it, but you can guess that not everything is as the guilt-ridden young man believes it to be). Poisonous family/dynastic scheming can make for a darkly compelling read in skilled hands – but keeping the balance right is a tricky job for the writer/mangaka. Just one too many ‘uh-oh!’ moments and reader credibility is lost. Omega Megaera comes dangerously near that test of credulity a couple of times in this volume where it feels as if certain plot points are driving the narrative, rather than the decisions and desires of the characters.

Art-wise, the standard is high (as always with Maki Marukido) and the large cast of characters are distinctively drawn and easy to tell apart (not always the case with some mangaka). The cover art is striking with the sombre colour theme continuing from the earlier volumes and the mangaka’s experience with the medium of graphic art storytelling shows on every page (those reaction expressions!).

Translation for Kodansha is again in the experienced hands of Kevin Steinbach who also provides a page of translation notes; the lettering is skilfully done by Madeleine Jose, delivering a good reading experience (just as well, given the complexity of the plot!). There’s a helpful two-page cast list and synopsis of the story so far at the start and an illustrated page of thanks at the end (featuring Lily in fencing gear). Volume 4 is due out in May and #5 in July, so Kodansha are keeping up a welcome frequent release schedule.

Omega Megaera © Maki Marukido/KODANSHA LTD.

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