Comeback After Fate Review

In an omegaverse version of our own world, young hopeful alpha Eri’s boy band VINKS is debuting! He’s a talented dancer – so when he learns that he’s been chosen to perform with Sooyoung Lee, a member of the world-famous all-alpha idol group called α-code, he’s thrilled and overwhelmed. But after their first rehearsal together, Eri can’t help but notice the sweet smell emanating from his new dance partner: Sooyoung Lee is an omega! For some reason, Eri’s alpha presence has caused this reaction and Sooyoung freely admits that he’s only pretending to be an alpha, suppressing his heats with ‘extralegal drugs’. Have the words of the classic love ballad ‘Destined Mates’ that they’re dancing to enhanced how he feels? He’s obviously drawn to Eri and while swearing him to secrecy, persuades him to sleep with him to calm the heat. But Eri gets carried away and in the heat of uncontrollable passion, bites Sooyoung’s nape – making them mates!

The rehearsals must continue and the alpha façade must be maintained – but behind the scenes, Eri has to contend with the hostile and overprotective attitude of Reno, the oldest of Sooyoung’s group α-code. Eri’s alpha instincts kick in and he can’t help but see Reno as a rival and a threat, even as logic dictates that from a professional point of view, Eri and Sooyoung’s partnership can never be revealed. Inevitably, word comes from Sooyoung’s father, the CEO of α-code, that VINKS must be disbanded. Will Sooyoung come to Eri’s defence and turn the situation around without ruining his or Eri’s careers?

Comeback After Fate makes an immediate impression because of Anji Seina’s strikingly beautiful cover art so it’s a shame that this volume contains no colour images. This is the first of her BL manga to be published by Kodansha, although Tokyopop LoveLove has already published Rooming with My Two Lovers and the four-part World’s End Blue Bird. But beautiful art is all for nothing if the story it’s telling doesn’t work on the page and the characters are merely pretty faces. So how well does this ‘K-Pop idols x omegaverse’ crossover work?

Even though the story is very much confined within and defined by its omegaverse setting, the way Anji Seina makes the troubled relationship between Eri and Sooyoung play out balances the pressures of the world of the boy band against the personal feelings of the performers well. There are a few surprises as the story develops and it’s hard not to feel sympathy for the two young men as they are drawn together, only to be told by their respective managements that they must split up. There’s also some serious soul-searching as to what it means to be an alpha in show business and whether ‘destined mates’ is merely a biological urge or something more spiritual as well. But it stays well within the bounds of a standard omegaverse tale so it could feel a little predictable if you’re looking for something pushing the boundaries like Omega Megaera by Maki Marukido or No God in Eden by Yuma Ichinose.

As this is a Mature-rated 18+ BL, there are quite a few scenes of a sexual nature which are (as you’d expect from this mangaka) attractively drawn and not too explicit, relying on dialogue to make them spicier. Also running through the manga as a unifying thread is the ballad ‘Destined Mates’ that first brings Eri and Sooyoung together, which is a neat and effective touch.

Translation for Kodansha is by the ever-reliable Adrienne Beck with lettering by Jamil Stewart that helps to bring out the nuances of the dialogue. There are no translation notes, afterwords or other extras apart from a bonus story about Reno at the end.

If you’re a fan of manga set in the high-stakes world of idols and boy bands (and there are quite a few around at the moment) or just intrigued by another variation on the omegaverse theme, you’ll definitely want to give Comeback After Fate a try.

Read a free preview at the publisher’s website here. 

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

• Comeback After Fate © Anji Seina/KODANSHA LTD.