Alpha Does Anything to Make a Beta His
About:
Warning:
There will be spoilers for the manhwa series Be My Beta.
Content Warning: There may be references to drugging, obsession, confinement, child neglect, male pregnancy, manipulation, death, chronic health issues, sexism (specifically based on secondary sex), prejudice, secretly recording, invasion of privacy, self-deprecation, dubcon, noncon, implied murder, gossiping, mentions of car accidents, disordered eating, power imbalance, PTSD, suicidal ideation, harrassment, violence, blood, nepotism, bullying, isolation, perceived cheating, somnophilia, and strained familial relationships, as they do appear in the manhwa.
Synopsis:
Yoo-il has had a rough go of it. He was bullied mercilessly in school, lost his parents in a car accident, and to make matters worse, randomly manifested as a recessive omega as an adult. Because he’s a recessive, suppressants don’t work well on him, and the company he works for is exclusively for betas, leaving him jobless and uncontrollably in heat. Thankfully, his one and only friend, Hwan, an alpha, is there for him and has been there for him since all of these horrible things started.
But Yoo-il is terrified.
Hwan hates omegas, and if Hwan finds out about Yoo-il’s manifestation, Yoo-il has no doubt that he will lose the one person he has left in his corner. Still, hiding his new secondary characteristics is near-impossible, as Hwan is a dominant alpha, and he smothers Yoo-il in pheromones. Hwan would probably be kind to him, but Yoo-il isn’t sure he’s willing to take that risk. Hwan has always been the one to rescue him. Maybe even now wouldn’t be so different.
Yet, what Yoo-il fails to realize is that many of the misfortunes that have befallen him have always happened right when Hwan is there to save the day. Is that a coincidence? Or is Hwan more of a shadow in his life than the bright light he pretends to be?
Review:
I’m a fan of Shin Yuri. They’ve worked on one of my favorite manhwa of all time, Home Alone Together, and even though it wasn’t necessarily my favorite, Heat of the Moment was beautiful. I was expecting no different in this title, and while there are pretty panels here, this might be the most inconsistent and rough-looking ones I’ve read, thus far. I might even go so far as to say this is a disappointment on the art front. It is a short, so maybe part of the issue is that it was rushed, but I can’t be sure. I especially dislike the design of the baby in this one. He’s cute, but in a goofy way, and he looks like he was pasted in from a different art style. Having seen some gorgeous babies like in Surge Towards You and Love is an Illusion!, it’s hard to see a design like this one and be pleased.
This is dark. I wouldn’t say it’s the darkest I’ve seen, but it’s probably the most cohesively dark and deliciously dark title I’ve read in a while. With a lot of darker titles where mpreg is involved, when one of the characters is obsessed with another, they usually use pregnancy as a way to tie them down. That is present here. However, I feel like I typically see the obsessed person end up loving the baby just as much. Here, that is not the case, which I love. It is so in character for the obsessed person to openly dislike their own child because it is taking away the object of their obsession’s attention. This man is a red flag from beginning to end, which I actually appreciate. Redemption is very common, and while I enjoy those narrative beats, too, having someone be just so horrible all the way through is actually pretty refreshing.
One thing that I wish had been further explored is the implication that Hwan’s obsession and need to own all of Yoo-il resulted in him orchestrating the murder of Yoo-il’s parents. It is a very subtle nod, but I have no doubt that he is the one who did it. However, it is so subtle that I imagine many people will not even pick it up, and because of that, all of his future cruelty, including his dislike of his own child, may seem nonsensical since Bangul is part of Yoo-il. Regardless, seeing him actually plan it out like we did with the way he slowly isolated Yoo-il during school would’ve made the ending much more intense. Ultimately, the end of the main story was much more anti-climactic than it could’ve been, weakening the narrative overall.
Before I close out, I do want to point something out for my fellow degenerates out there. This is uncensored. It’s super smut-heavy, so we get plenty of opportunities to see the uncensored stuff in action, which is always a good time. However, it might go without saying, but it’s worth pointing out that this is heavy on the dubcon/noncon stuff. If you’re hoping for lots of lovey-dovey sexy time, that’s not here. I don’t mind it myself, but I want to be transparent for any of you who might want to avoid anything dubious or worse.
Results:
This had a ton of potential. I know part of it is because of my bias toward Shin Yuri, but I was anticipating a lot more than what this was able to give. Everything was leading up to that big reveal, but we never got the payoff. It would’ve made the ending much more satisfying if it had leaned more into showing everything horrible that Hwan did. However, what evil we did get to see from Hwan was pure, unadulterated evil, and I was so here for it. It’s not a favorite, but it’s interesting nonetheless.
Have you read Be My Beta? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!