About:
Warning:
There will be spoilers for the first volume of Hate Me, but Let Me Stay.
Content Warning: There may be references to gang rape, teen pregnancy, prejudice, sexism, age gap, power imbalance, statutory rape, male pregnancy, victim-blaming, mentions of abortion, self-deprecation, obsession, blood, sexual assault, violence, bullying, being outed, blackmail, obsession, and social gap, as these things do appear in the first volume.
First Impression:
I need to make something clear: I am extremely biased toward this one. I’ve seen the screenshots of the raws for this one get passed around on social media time and time again, and I have been itching to read it someday because 1. it’s omegaverse, and 2. it has mpreg and child-rearing. I hoped that this would one day get picked up, so much so that I went ahead and bought two stands for this series in anticipation of one of my book hauls, only for it to get licensed the day my book haul went up. I feel magical, truly. But with that being said, I was already under the assumption I would love this, so this impression will undoubtedly lean positive.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about the art. The screenshots I’ve seen online must have been the best shots in the manga because this is much more inconsistent and rough-looking than I anticipated. Some of the art reminds me of the art from the anime version of Mob Psycho 100, which isn’t necessarily bad. I much prefer the anime style to the manga, so that’s a win for me. That said, it’s not the most consistent style in the world. It’s very sketchy, and Hazuki, in particular, looks really different from panel to panel. Granted, Shizuku also looks bad in most of the scenes she appears in, with her eyes being vastly different sizes.
But beyond the art, the story is depressing, which is right up my alley. One of my favorite parts of the omegaverse setting is the additional layer of prejudice and class systems this explores, and this basks in the classic omegaverse setup of omegas being at the bottom of the class system while alphas are on top. There is also an added layer of prejudice with Naoto being a male omega, which is looked down upon in this particular omegaverse story. However, something I’ve never seen before that intrigued me is the foundation of this story, which is that Naoto is a teen parent as a result of a rape that occurred in school. It’s a horrific moment that I think we see a bit too much of, but that is an intense element that sets up Naoto’s character immediately. He is understandably traumatized, but he is a devoted parent and beyond strong. I adore him.
Now, it’s clear from how this story is structured that it was only meant to be a single volume. I enjoy many of the story elements (minus the fact that our fated alpha is a high schooler while Naoto is an adult, icky), but it is very disjointed. We jump from scene to scene, with much of the time spent seeing Naoto trying to work only to be hit with a sudden heat or an assault and forced to return home. It’s rather repetitive in that way, which wasn’t my favorite thing in the world. Again, I’m sure this was meant to be a single volume, which is why it was so rushed, and so many of the same scenes were forced in quick succession to build up the world and our characters, but I wish it had been more spread out. In the end, though, we get fated mates, two pregnancy reveals (one for our little Shizuku and the new baby), and marriage. Despite not quite meeting my expectations, I love this one and look forward to future iterations with this adorable family.
Results:
I love this. The art is rough, and the story is quick and chaotic, but it has so many elements of omegaverse I love and elements that I’ve never seen before. It’s super emotional, and it has me rooting for all the characters. I’m so happy this series has finally been licensed, and I’m so excited to see how this precious family grows and changes. I recommend this one for any omegaverse fans like myself.
Have you read Hate Me, but Let Me Stay? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!