Omega of the Divine Volume 1 Review

‘kind winter and smiling blossom’

“Living forever ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.” Kuro to Luca. “I’ll never take a mortal mate.”

Luca, son of the late village chief, has been suffering with strange fevers. And as the fields have become barren, not producing enough crops, the villagers tell Luca that his fevers are a sign that he must be offered as a sacrificial bride to the sun god who will then bless them with ‘bountiful harvests’. Luca accepts his fate (and a neck collar) and goes to meet the god – and is surprised to discover that he is a winged crow god called Kuro.

Spirited away by Kuro, Luca learns about his fevers: he is an omega which means he can bear children – and omegas have traditionally been offered to the gods (who are very long-lived alphas) in return for bountiful harvests. Kuro says that in his long life (four, maybe five hundred human years?) he’s known at least twenty omegas. Even though he looks intimidating with his black wings and harsh expression, Kuro turns out to be wise and compassionate (if somewhat taciturn). He gives Luca rare medicinal berries harvested high on the mountains to suppress his heats and seems disinterested in taking him as his bride. Instead, he begins to teach him how to grow crops in his village that will flourish and give good yields, year after year.

Luca takes Kuro further up the mountains to meet Noah, another god who tells Luca that Kuro’s been living a solitary hermit’s life without a partner for a long time. He also tells him that, “Lying with a god will expand your lifespan” which shocks Luca. “Those whom a god shares their vital energy with grow closer to godhood themselves. Eventually becoming a successor and taking on the vast knowledge the god has acquired.” Luca says that he doesn’t want long life but he’s eager to learn all he can to teach the villagers how to farm the fields successfully. But he’s saddened when he hears that Kuro’s never gotten over the death of his earlier partner, another god. Is this why he’s so reluctant to take another mate?

Omega of the Divine is the first of a three-part fantasy BL omegaverse manga by Ayumu Nagisa and the first of her manga to be published in English. The world-building is well done and convincing, especially in the way that she depicts the role of the ‘gods’ in teaching the mortals how to cultivate the land and grow crops successfully. It’s also rather a neat reinterpretation of the omegaverse in a fantasy setting and we learn gradually, alongside Luca, what it means to be an omega in this quite primitive, agrarian society. Where the story-telling is less successful, however, is in conveying what’s actually going on. One example is when Luca and Kuro pass through a village with a market on the way to meet Noah and in a tiny panel, Luca’s wallet is stolen, then we see him playing the panpipes and have to assume that people give him money so he can buy lunch – which then leads to Kuro asking him about his musical abilities. Luca’s musical gift becomes a significant element in the story and it’s just so casually introduced here that it’s very easy to miss. And I’m still puzzling over what seems an important turning point later on when Luca returns to his village and learns the truth about the previous sun god, ‘his pet crow’ and the villagers, which somehow because his parents died when he was young, no-one has told him until now. This whole section is all over the place: Luca’s reaction, the villagers’ behaviour toward Luca, Kuro’s appearance, to the extent that I wondered if the pages might be in the wrong order in my (digital) copy.

This is, of course, also a Boys’ Love omegaverse story and there are several relatively explicit but consensual scenes (although censored to a certain extent). The mangaka’s art style is attractive and the main theme running through the whole story is Luca falling for Kuro, who remains aloof because he doesn’t want to lose anyone he loves again. Will they become mates according to omegaverse tradition? The story is far from over, with another two volumes to come (although, as yet, Kodansha hasn’t given us a date for Volume 2).

Translation for Kodansha is by the ever-reliable Adrienne Beck with lettering by Dietrich Premier (also ever-reliable!). The mangaka has included a guide to the characters’ names and why she chose them (the French edition from Hana uses ‘Crow’ for Kuro and ‘Lucas’ for Luca, maybe based on these explanatory notes) and there’s a Bonus chapter.

Omega of the Divine Volume 1 has the feel of an ancient folk legend brought to life through manga and it will be interesting to see how much of this folkloric atmosphere continues to permeate the other two volumes.

Read the first chapter on the publisher’s website here.

• Omega of the Divine © Ayumu Nagisa/Ichijinsha Inc.