About:
Warning:
This review will contain spoilers for the manga and anime series Sating the Wolf. While the manga may vary slightly from all other forms of media, it may have similar story elements and could be considered spoilers.
Trigger Warning: There may be references to prejudice, sexual assault, dubious consent (dubcon), blood, and violence, as it appears in the manga.
Synopsis:
Noah is a wolf, a carnivore, and in this world, most carnivores end up as betas or alphas, while herbivores manifest as betas and omegas. Noah, though, ends up manifesting as an omega, and due to his pack's history with male omegas being the cause of violence and death, he is banished. On his own, he travels from village to village, trying to hide the fact that he is both a carnivore and an omega to survive. After some time wandering about, Noah finds himself in a herbivore village. He tries to stock up to move on to the next village.
While shopping in town, he encounters a shopkeeper, holding two young rabbit children by their ears and accusing them of stealing his wares. The children claim they did no such thing, but they have no way of proving otherwise. Standing amid the growing crowd, Noah sees the true culprit, a weasel, trying to slip away. Wanting to help the kids, Noah captures the weasel and reveals that he is the one who stole. Thankful for his help, the rabbit children insist that Noah come with them to meet their brother Henri so he can cook a meal for Noah as thanks.
Henri and Noah meet, and although Noah is a wolf, the same species that killed his parents, and the village ostracizes Henri's family, Henri wants to take responsibility for Noah. Even more so when Henri manifests as an alpha because of Noah's heat. Can a rabbit alpha and a wolf omega make it work? And can their love withstand the prejudice and judgment of the society around them?
Review:
First off, let's talk about the artwork. Beautiful. Absolutely stunning, very consistent, and adorable. Regarding manga artwork, it doesn't get much better than this. Even as masculine as he is, Noah looks soft and feminine at times, while Henri takes on this hypermasculine and dominating look. It's a wonderful play on their stereotypical looks with their atypical roles. I'd be doing this work a disservice if I didn't mention how sexy the sex scenes are because of how good the artwork is. Noah straddling Henri, mouth open, tongue out, moaning – need I say more? It is truly a sight to behold. I genuinely think you'd be missing out if you didn't try this out for the sex scenes alone.
I also have to mention that we get children from this couple! One of my favorite parts of the omegaverse world is the fact that men can have children together, and this is one where we get to see that. Unfortunately, we don't get much in the way of the pregnancy or the family life, but we do get to see a few moments at the very end, which is always a pleasure. I desperately wish we could see more of the pregnancy, how they raised their children, if they had more children later on, and how these mixed species children exist in the world, but I'll take what I can get. I can't tell you how many times I've gone back and re-read the sections with the children because it is just so funny and adorable. Highly recommend that.
I've been doing a lot of praising, mostly because I do think this deserves it, but it isn't without faults. This is really short. It is only one volume, broken up into six chapters based on Manga.Club's breakdown of it. This world feels vast, but it is explored very little throughout the story because the focus is on Henri and Noah, their budding love, and their fight against society's perception of mixed couples (mainly on the sexual tension between Henri and Noah, admittedly). This could have been much longer, exploring other individuals like Zeke, Henri's brothers, or even the kids. It could have looked at another couple somewhere else or just carried on with more family stories, etc. There is just a lot of lingering potential that part of me hopes will be explored one day.
As much as I do, admittedly, love this, the story isn't perfect. It does have those corny moments where Noah and Zeke save an herbivore child, proving to everyone that herbivores and carnivores can coexist. There is also a scene where Henri demands his relationship to be accepted by the village, and the villagers all chime in with these corny little lines like, “My kids love Noah” and the like. It's definitely syrupy sweet and gives the warm and fuzzies, so don't expect too much dark depth here. However, it has a really nice message and warms my cold heart, making it well worth the read.
Results:
This book mixes all my favorite things, so it's impossible to say I'm not biased. Even so, it's a solid entry into the omegaverse and BL genres. I highly recommend it. It's lighthearted, sexy, and has a charming message. I can only hope that one day, the kind and talented author will come back and explore more of this world. In the meantime, I'll just keep re-reading it and love every second of it.
Have you read Sating the Wolf? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!