Sleeps In Sunbeams's manga / #omegaverse(152)

Loved it, no time to review but it’s awesome!

A good story with beautiful art and some angst; I really enjoyed Shuu and Ayame’s story. Shimotsuki Shuu (omega) first bumped into Satsuki Ayame (alpha) on his first day at middle school. That was the start of his own personal hell as the older boy kept Shuu at his beck and call over the next 4 years. I found this part of the story sad for Shuu. Because even though Ayame had good reasons to keep Shuu close (as you find out later), Shuu genuinely suffered during those years under the constant bullying attention. He had no friends and his self perception was very negative. Their reunion in the workplace years later had Shuu and Ayame pairing for a mentorship program. The distressed and frazzled Shuu faced constant critique for his design projects and initially reacted with poor self confidence. But this was the setting of the realisation for Shuu that Ayame was a better man than he would have believed. As the two MCs began to understand each other better, and Shuu saw the soft side of Ayame, you could tell that Ayame actually cared for the omega he liked to insult and Shuu was drawn to the protective alpha too. There were lots of flashbacks in the story which was nice. However, sometimes when the mangaka came back to the present the MCs would rapidly progress in their relationship in ways that weren’t convincing. Despite that, the story was a lovely one to read and the last page in the manga was my favourite.

A wonderfully romantic Omegaverse story. Nanao (omega) works at a male Omega Cabaret. The omega there cross dress as women and Nanao is very protective of the younger omega who are preyed upon by alpha customers. Don’t underestimate this strong omega and watch out controlling alpha. The night Nanao meets serious and aloof Arisake they have a heated confrontation following a judgmental comment by the alpha. Realising his mistake, Arisake tries to apologise but Nanao leaves as he enters an unexpected heat. There is a moment that they touch hands and you know some connection has sparked between the two. Determined to make amends, Arisake waits to apologise and Nanao’s heart softens to the genuine alpha. Their relationship that follows is so endearingly sweet. The prickly defences of Nanao are not needed against this man who prioritises his lover in every way. Nanao is so often adorably flustered by being treasured so honestly. Seriously, this was just the sweetest story.

A sweet and wholesome story about childhood friends Munechika (alpha) and Kanade (omega who was misdiagnosed beta). When Kanade goes into heat, Munechika helps him to manage his ever increasing symptoms. Kanade’s long suppressed dream of being mates with the friend he loves seems to be certain, but things don’t go as smoothly as anticipated. The MCs blunder their way to being mates with the help of some new friends and communication like adorable idiots when everyone can see their live except each other.

Loved it, but no time to write comments

Okino-kun (omega) was the busy eldest of 7 children. His family was very poor but there was a lot of love amidst the chaos. Being the eldest, Okino made many sacrifices to help provide for his family and to buy the expensive suppressants he needed. From reducing his meals and working after school to getting his siblings to daycare and house chores, Okino was forever in motion. Add to that, he studied hard and was in an excellent high school (senior year) on a scholarship. Entering his barely balanced existence comes the first year alpha, Asahino (1st year student). Asahino was fascinated by Okino from when he first heard about him, and began a determined pursuit of his senpai. And while Asahino genuinely wants Okino senpai to be his mate and partner, his lack of communicating that adequately leads Okino to feel like he is being toyed with. These 2 MCs need to spend time together and figure out how to make their relationship work, especially if a baby is on the way. I thought the story was cute, though I never like dubious consent in a romance. I understand that the alpha was trying to protect and claim his omega, but he needed to be sure Okino understood that too. The ending was sweet it’s a story I will probably re read.

I read this knowing it would be a story of human trafficking. I was interested in seeing if there was a way that the author could create something believably romantic from something so hateful. Sadly, it didn’t achieve redemption for me. While the vile father selling off his son was a loathsome thing to do and upsetting to read about, I accepted that as a plot contrivance that had the protagonist omega undergoing an extreme situation where we could be rightfully supportive as readers. That was achieved to a degree. But when it became clear that Shion (beta), his trainer who prepared omegas for being sold like a commodity, was to be the romantic interest... my hopes were dashed for this story. I realise that we were meant to feel some empathy for Shion for his losses that led him to be a human trafficker, but no. He took such joy in getting to sexually train omegas to be sold, and it stuck in my mind how many times he was part of the system that ruined the lives and dreams of omega who sought love and their own lives. Just to be felt up at private showings by alpha and either sold off or sent to the brothel downstairs. A character like that is beyond redemption, or at least the mangaka failed to make him likeable in my eyes. It would have been better to have the childhood friend come to the rescue and not be a selfish dîck who, by his deliberate inaction, let his childhood friend and desired bride, be sold off to be sexually trained and touched by random strangers. He was a creep too. Just..disappointing all around. From the pushover omega who just accepted his fate and passively let anyone do anything to him (there were a couple of times Shion scared him by making him feel good and he pushed away, but he was really either passive or being sexy or sending shining smiles like wtf!?), to the seme beta who loved profiting off treating vulnerable omega like Bitcoin. Bleh. So much could have been done in a story like this, and sure it’s a happy ending, but it just didn’t hit the mark for me.

A polyamorous Omegaverse story with identical twins. It’s an ambitious plot and overall was well done. Owing a large sum of money for his ex boyfriends debt, Towa (omega) is debating having to prostitute himself when he is approached to have a threesome for a considerable sum. Tempted by the beautiful guy who asked and the money, Towa accepts and ends up becoming the pet to the twins Seiji (alpha) and Aiji (omega). Over time Towa starts to notice the differences in the twins and uncover their history. While initially confused by the incestuous relationship between Seiji and Aiji, Towa is non judgmental. He can see the obvious love they share and the warmth of a protective family that the twins increasingly widen to include their new pet. Issues hanging from the past need to be faced before these three become happily committed to each other, but through it all Towa turns out to be the rock that the twins needed. It was confusing at first to tell the twins apart which made it a little tricky to follow what was happening, but as Towa was also confused I was able to empathise with him. Once he was able to tell them apart then following the intricacies of their relationship was much easier. Overall, it was a good story but I didn’t like some parts. I did like the feeling of family and love and trust between the three at the end, and I would read it again because it seems the sort of story to be even better second time around..

Trigger warning: rape (not the lover). This was a different story set in the Omegaverse. One where the omega (Kei) is bitten and marked by a self absorbed and self important alpha (Ekihito) but he chooses to not stay with the alpha, but rather his childhood best friend Tsugitsugu (beta). It’s sad because Kei was a naive romantic who wanted to be swept off his feet by a kind, gentle, rich and handsome alpha. Ekihito was rich and handsome, but he also had a colossal ego and he only wanted to mark and bind enough omegas as mates that could breed him over 100 offspring. When he forced himself on Kei during a heat, the poor omega was already at his lowest point, having driven his friend from his side. The rape was heartbreaking and the bite life changing because now his body would reject all others. The silver lining on the stormy cloud of this story was the determination of Kei and Tsugitsugu to be together as a loving couple despite everything. It was really sweet that they got a HEA.

This was an interesting spin on Omegaverse. The omega (Azusa) had idolised the alpha (Kade) ever since he was saved from bullying by the young alpha at school. Now years later they reencounter and Azusa offers to pay the playboy back, doing anything for him. More for the amusement at using Azusa, Kaede agrees and from then is subject to the very determined pursuit by Azusa to become mates. I liked the hint of possessive yandere in Azusa. He could be scary at times, enough so that he would go to unforgivable lengths to get what he wanted. But he was also prepared to sacrifice all he had to give Kaede his freedom. Azusa could be very intimidating when others got close to Kaede, but Kaede was alpha enough to stand toe to toe with his lover when needed. It’s an interesting dynamic, definitely intense and a little disturbing, but well done overall.