Manga Review | Wails of the Bound ;β by Keri Kusabi

Title: Wails of the Bound ;β



This is the sequel to Wails of the Bound.

No longer feeling compelled to protect his chief anymore, Miyabi, having finally met his alpha partner and being marked, Shingo Utou decides to take a promotion, putting him into the chief position of division two. Utou hopes his time of pining after and protecting omegas, who could never love him in return because he's a beta, is finally over for the foreseeable future, but then he meets the new hire: Sumito Sasabe.

Sasabe is an omega, and though he's not planning on disclosing his secondary gender at work, he has to disclose it to his bosses. Sasabe hates being an omega, as any success he has is always attributed to his ability to seduce and pleasure. But he hates betas even more as they can do nothing for him, unable to mark him and protect him from other alphas, so he'd rather hate them so he doesn't mistakenly fall in love with one.

Utou is having flashbacks of working with Miyabi, and after talking to his boss, it's clear that the intent of hiring Sasabe is to replace Miyabi and what he offered the company: his body. Utou has no intention of seeing another omega be used by clients again. But every time Utou tries to help, Sasabe sees him as just another predator trying to take advantage of him. Still, as time goes on and the two grow closer and closer, they find themselves falling for each other. But Sasabe's role in the company is already becoming that of a sex worker, and he's desperate to take that opportunity away. A beta can't mark an omega, so there is only so much Utou can do for Sasabe. Thankfully, there is an alpha from another company lingering around that Sasabe could use.

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Manga Review | Too Close for Love by Akira Nakata

Title: Too Close for Love (digital) | Too Close to Fall in Love (TokyoPop print)



Shizuka's father has finally found the one in a widower named Jace. Shizuka is very happy for his dad, but the addition of a younger brother in the house has him a bit worried. Thankfully, the younger brother, Motoya, is a pretty chill guy, and living together with them all isn't much of a problem. Yet, Shizuka is still nervous. Why? Motoya is exactly Shizuka's type.

But no matter how attracted Shizuka is to Motoya, he doesn't want to risk his father's happiness by pursuing Motoya. As sure as Shizuka is that he should maintain no more than a familial relationship with Motoya, it seems that Motoya may not have the same apprehension.

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Manga Review | Wails of the Bound by Keri Kusabi

Title: Wails of the Bound



Keisuke Takaba is an alpha, and he's recently been hired at a company. As the new guy, Takaba is still feeling out the hierarchy, but all of his assumptions go out the window when he finds out his chief is an omega. Takaba has an aversion to omegas due to his childhood, having to see and hear his omega father being used and abused by various customers. Add in the unfortunate fact that Takaba doesn't even know who sired him, and this has created an intense hatred and phobia of omegas. But Chief Miyabi Karasuma isn't concerned with being well-liked, especially by alphas.

Miyabi Karasuma, chief of his department, didn't get where he is by being a well-mannered omega. Having been hidden away and confined by his father for most of his young life, the moment he became an adult, he was determined to build a life for himself where he used every advantage his omega body afforded him. He has sex with clients, many of his client's subordinates, and even the higher-ups in his own company, securing contracts and money that keep him at the top of his company's sales reports. His sales tactics are an open secret around the office, and most people despise him for his unconventional methods, none more so than Takaba.

But as Takaba spends more and more time with (and beneath) Karasuma, Takaba is beginning to realize that Karasuma isn't just any omega. Karasuma is strong. But even the strong need a place to rest, and Takaba wants nothing more than to be Karasuma's place. Can Takaba break through Karasuma's disgust for alphas?

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Manga Review | Sating the Wolf by Troy Arukuno

Title: Sating the Wolf



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?

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