I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. I was initially going to include this in my most recent review grab bag, but I had more to say about it than I expected. My work is getting delayed thanks to a hand injury so this is about all I can get out at the moment.
Author/Illustrator: Maki Marukido
Publisher: Kodansha
Street Date: November 25, 2025
Rating: 5/5
Okay, stay with me on this one. Omega Megaera is an omegaverse manga. This means it takes place in a world where human sex is divided into categories beyond male and female-- alpha, beta, and omega, which dictate their biological and social roles. This trope arose from fanfiction and in recent years has been making its way into traditional publishing. It's not for everyone, but it does bring up interesting themes we'll get to.
In this series' world, omegas are only good for one thing -- bearing children for alphas -- and those who can't, megaeras, are shunned. The story follows Saimon, a megaera tasked with tracking down an illegitimate son of his father in law. The son, Mamiya, turns out to be an omega -- so Saimon plans to pass him off as the alpha his father had hoped for. The first volume introduces the complex Hanabusa family and the structure of this three-tiered society, especially the restrictions placed on omegas. Omegas are for producing (hopefully alpha) children and nothing else, regardless of any personal skill or intelligence. When Saimon and Mamiya discuss how it's to the alpha's benefit to not suppress omegas' heats, Mamiya observes "Keep us barefoot and pregnant, huh?" -- imagery often applied to the "tradwife" archetype promoted by American conservative groups in real life. These actual groups have a very similar worldview -- that women should stay home and have children, and that is their highest purpose. The late provocateur Charlie Kirk was in particular a proponent of this ideology. I mentioned in my review of Before You Go Extinct the pro-natalist movements in Japan and the US that promote high birthrates (even if the material and social conditions are poor for raising children). These movements invariably place massive emphasis on women (or people they perceive as women) focusing only on childbirth and rearing -- instead of pursuits like education and careers.
Works like Omega Magaera allow us to examine these issues through a fantasy lens, letting us step back and enjoy drama we don't actually want to be involved in, and keep real-world issues in the back of our minds. If you think the idea of omegas not being allowed to hold high-ranking positions in society because all they're good for is childbirth is ridiculous and bigoted, hopefully you'll see the same problems in real-world rhetoric.
Saimon is a really likeable character, a scientist trying to make sense of the restrictive world he lives in, even as he feels his husband Seijuro really is his soulmate-- even if he failed to give Seijuro children. He has just enough selfish motivation in passing Mamiya off as an alpha to be believable. Mamiya is also shaping up to be an interesting character, forced to hide his actual sex for family politics. The art is quite nice too, and I wish we had more of it in color.
This will appeal to fans of omegaverse fiction, but also I think to readers interested in examining social structures like gender/sex and the pressure many people feel to have children. In the afterward comic, Marukido says she likes depicting human psychology and hopes to focus on it in this series. I think the series does, as it poses questions about what happens when a society imposes limitations on people based on their birth characteristics. It's really no wonder omegaverse fiction is so popular with female and queer readers, as it examines issues that many of us face. I really look forward to the future volumes of this series.
