Alpha Runaway Meets Omega Runaway
About:
Warning:
There will be spoilers for the manhwa series December.
Content Warning: There may be references to blood, motorcycle crash, violence, mentions of medication misuse, sexism (specifically based on secondary sex), mentions of forced bonding, strained familial relationships, mentions of stalking, being scammed, PTSD, self-deprecation, manipulation, mentions of corporal punishment, obsession, death, sex work, torture, gossiping, slut-shaming, prejudice against sex work, implications of drug use, mentions of cheating, arranged marriage (not between the main couple), child abandonment, pregnancy (not between the main couple), corruption, attempted sexual assault, and kidnapping, as they do appear in the manhwa.
Synopsis:
Song Yeon-woo was running away on the night of December 31st. His life had been relatively decent, even though he’s a recessive omega, and he even had a close dominant alpha friend. However, it turns out the dominant alpha had been steadily grooming Yeon-woo, waiting to get close so he could mark him and claim him as his forever. By the skin of his teeth, Yeon-woo was able to escape, but being betrayed and traumatized, Yeon-woo is compelled to flee with minimal help and as secretly as possible, leading him to hide away in a metal storage container with some minimal comforts like a couch and a small space heater.
While he’s hiding there, however, a motorcycle ends up crashing, and the driver, injured and bloody, ends up propped up against a power pole. Yeon-woo, unable to leave the person outside in the snow, gets the person inside to warm them up. Though Yeon-woo finds out he’s an alpha and doesn’t learn who this person is, the two get comfortable until Yeon-woo can move along, and the ambulance can pick up the stranger. Three years later, Yeon-woo returns to school and tries to get his life back on track. He does his best to avoid all alphas, but is then approached by a super attractive dominant alpha named Kin Shin, who is determined to get close to him, though for what reason Yeon-woo can’t explain.
Yeon-woo doesn’t want a relationship with an alpha, especially a dominant one like Shin. However, there seems to be an inexplicable attraction between the two that he just can’t deny.
Review:
I’ve read a few things by this artist in the past, but this might be their best showing to date. Their style is unbelievably consistent, smooth, and clean. It was an absolute treat to just look at this comic because of MeriG‘s art. It is especially stunning in its subtlety. There are panels with the smallest shifting of a gaze or a slight change in expression. These minor, usually insignificant differences between panels gave an intensity that took my breath away. I adore this artist’s growth so much, and I’m so glad I had the opportunity to experience it.
Unfortunately, as delicious as the art is, the story is jarring and rushed. While researching this series, I noticed some notes or references about this possibly being cancelled, which I think makes a lot of sense based on the series’ pacing. Like I mentioned in the art style, there are a lot of subtle panels where Yeon-woo and Shin are just looking at each other. There are large chunks of silence where the two are just together and Yeon-woo is incessantly thinking, trying to understand why Shin is there, what he should do to shake him off, how attractive he is, etc., which is the majority of the first season. It’s very slow, which I wasn’t turned off by, nor was I all that excited about.
Then we hit season 2. It starts off feeling pretty similar, with the two quietly interacting and navigating their awkward relationship. Then, suddenly, they’re having sex. They have sex in a hotel. They have sex at work. Then, they’re in a relationship. It felt super sudden to me, and didn’t make much sense based on Yeon-woo’s mental state and distrust. That was already pretty jarring, but then we move on to Shin becoming the equivalent of a mob boss. He brutally beats people, kidnaps people, and we go from a slow-burning romance to a hyper-dynamic and violent thriller. It felt like it came out of nowhere, and then when we get to Yeon-woo’s view of all of this and he accepts it, the two hug, and the series ends. I couldn’t find anything specific about this being cancelled, but based on how the second season went, I can totally understand how this pacing went from a crawl to an Olympic sprint. It’s disappointing because I really think, if given the time, this could’ve been a compelling narrative.
I also have to mention, as an obsessive omegaverse fan, as well as an mpreg fanatic, I was a bit disappointed by the creator’s choice to make male recessive omegas incapable of being pregnant. It does make their rejection by alphas and upper society more understandable, as they are characterized as being very particular about bloodlines and the like, but it still hurts my soul. Narratively, it makes total sense, and establishes why recessive omegas would be perceived as less than because they have all of the same qualities of dominant omegas, like heats and pheromones, but not what alphas would care about most of all from marriage and potential breeding partners, which would be the ability to give birth. Dehumanizing people is a common element of omegaverse, and I think the choice to make recessive omega men infertile aligns with that, but it’s not my favorite choice.
Results:
I love omegaverse so much, and I adore this art style. I expected a ton from this title, but, assuming the notes about it being cancelled are true, it just didn’t get the chance it should’ve had to flourish. It’s very, very slow in the beginning, which will turn many people off as it is. But the second season turns everything up by 100 and becomes a rushed and nonsensical mess. As much as I love this art style and want to gush over that as much as possible, I ultimately can’t recommend this. It’s very disappointing.
Have you read December? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!