Oppressed Omega Gets Oppressed Some More and Kidnapped
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Warning:
This review will contain spoilers for the manga and anime series My Mate is a Feline Gentleman: UK Arc (Over and Under). While the manga may vary slightly from all other forms of media, it may have similar story elements and could be considered spoilers.
Content Warning: There may be references to strained familial relationships, self-deprecation, racism, xenophobia, sexism (specifically based on secondary sex), classism, confinement, mentions of arranged marriage, depictions of past sex work (forced and group), breakups, drugging (including through food tampering), mentions of homomisia, overwork, body commentary, kidnapping, power imbalance, perceived cheating (nonconsenting due to heat, and a lie), mentions of noncon (due to heat, and a lie), spying, mentions of human experimentation, blood, mentions of slavery, child abuse, extortion, victim-blaming, adoption, overwork, implied child death, violence, gun violence, PTSD, and death, as they appear in the manga.
Synopsis:
Note: It is recommended to read My Mate is a Feline Gentleman before this one. This is a series made up of four volumes. Most places list all four under the single title My Mate is a Feline Gentleman, but each has a different subtitle and is a self-contained narrative that builds on the previous one like a sequel series/spin-off rather than continuing an ongoing plotline like a second or third volume. As such, each title will be reviewed separately. This particular review is for both the UK Arc Over and UK Arc Under volumes since they have a connected plotline.
Toushirou never expected he would end up becoming mates with the beastfolk diplomat Alex. And he certainly never anticipated leaving his home in Japan for the unknown lands of the United Kingdom. While it is for work, and Toushirou has no choice but to hide who and what he is to protect himself, he’s still looking forward to traveling back to where Alex’s family is. Unfortunately, the moment they get back, things start going wrong. Toushirou is forced to confine himself to the servants’ quarters, Alex’s parents make it clear they don’t approve of their relationship, and Alex is whisked away to attend to various duties, leaving Toushirou alone.
It is painful, but Toushirou isn’t unaccustomed to being treated poorly. Knowing he has Alex is enough for him, and once his business is done, things should go back to normal. Right?
Review:
The art in this isn’t all that far removed from what we saw in the previous entry in this series. I would say it seems a bit more consistent to me, and I really like the different designs of the other beastfolk that appear in this series. However, I will say the humans look very similar. Toushirou is one of the most distinctive human characters, but Jack looks like a duplicate of the master of the family that owned Toushirou in Japan. It just isn’t my favorite style in the world, but it isn’t awful. If you want perfection, that certainly isn’t here, but one could read worse.
Now, this is where the story starts getting a bit silly. What made the previous entry enjoyable was the simplicity of the plot. There was an oppressed and controlled omega, swept off his feet by a talented alpha beastman. The omega, of course, has to contend with not only the external force of how the world views him, but his own internalized sexism and self-deprecation. It wasn’t a super unique story, but it was fine. Where this goes wrong is how it tries to expand into a little bit of a political thriller. Jack is a secret government plant who goes rogue and tries to steal Toushirou to be his omega. This marks a weird tonal shift in the series that carries over into the next entry, but we’ll get into that in that review.
I’m not going to pretend I know what all diplomats or ambassadors do for a living, but taking an active role in breaking up an illegal “ring” and catching a rogue government agent doesn’t feel consistent with their duties. Also, this sudden kidnapping that Jack commits leads to Alex’s parents, who have been very cruel to Toushirou at this point, waving away all of their past cruelty with a throwaway line about it being part of whatever ruse they felt compelled to keep up. It is all just so random and really throws off the intensity built up by all the emotional drama. The strength was in the more insular, internal struggles both characters had to deal with. That is almost entirely diminished by the introduction of the external stuff here.
Before I close out this review, I do want to mention something that was severely lacking in this entry: smut. Really, compared to a lot of the other BL I read, this is almost devoid of smut, and what smut is present is almost always a fade-to-black after the heavy petting and maybe the penetration. For some, this might be a win. Sure, I am a degenerate, so the more smut the merrier in most cases, but some may want a more balanced experience between smut and narrative. That is certainly the case here. Wasn’t for me, but maybe it is for someone out there.
Results:
This is a bit of a spoiler for the next entry, but this marks the start of chaos. I’m not going to pretend that this is the worst thing I’ve ever read, but it certainly isn’t all that good. What began as an emotional, introspective story suddenly becomes a much more active, thriller-esque one. Not only did I get whiplash from the sudden tone shift, but the amount of disbelief I had to withhold was pretty high. This just wasn’t good. I wouldn’t recommend it.
Have you read My Mate is a Feline Gentleman: UK Arc (Over and Under)? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!
