Danica Davidson
September 1, 2024 
Hate Me, But Let Me Stay is an angsty, escapist read. It takes place in an omegaverse (a storytelling gimmick where men can get pregnant), and the main character, Koga, had his daughter while still in high school. The pregnancy was the result of rape, and the story sometimes gets pretty dark.
But Koga decides to go through with the pregnancy, and most of the manga takes place when his daughter is 5 years old. There’s a whole mythology here about omegas, including the fact that they go into heat and give off pheromones that are hard to resist. If an alpha gets with an omega, the alpha can mark the omega, and then the omega and alpha are linked.
Koga goes to a match-making party, where Hazuki declares that Koga is his fated mate. (Again, an escapist read — don’t look for realism here.) Koga has some bad feelings toward alphas because of his rape, but Hazuki slowly shows that he can be trustworthy.
Hate Me, But Let Me Stay presents a world where omegas face prejudice for their secondary sex, and Koga repeatedly brings this up. It shows the mindlessness of prejudice, but also gets kind of repetitive. There’s a bit of a soap opera-y feel to the manga, what with a high school rape victim having a baby and all the drama that ensues. It shows Koga being a loving father, and Hazuki helping out with the daughter.
The artwork in Hate Me, But Let Me Stay is attractive and emotive, and sometimes explicit. It takes on a number of taboo subjects, including just the fact that Koga is working at a school where Hazuki is a student, which alone makes their relationship forbidden, never mind all the other reasons. The omegaverse thing kind of makes it a niche read, but fans of yaoi in general can get into this title. The plot is pretty straightforward, and the story has the feel of both romance and angst.
Story & Art: Hijiki
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
Translator: Jacqueline Fung
____
Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, and its sequel, Manga Art for Intermediates, with professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
