The Spring 2023 Manga Guide

Be My Love, My Lord

What's It About? 

This is a world where humans keep beasts and beasts obey humans. Born as the second son of a well-known family, the lonely Reiji has always had his beastman servant, Tsubaki, as irreplaceable presence since he was a child.

But once day his feelings turn to love, and Reiji playfully kisses Tsubaki, which invites his bestial lust. His sharp bite overflows with his own repressed feelings, but comes with a dark realization; they are different races, different castes. Can they overcome these hurdles and embrace their love?

Be My Love, My Lord has story and art by Adumi Nagano, with English translation by Christine Dashiell and lettering by Vibrraant Publishing Studio. Tokyopop has released its first volume both digitally and physically for $9.99 and $13.99 respectively on March 14.

Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman

Rating:

Be My Love, My Lord is a sweet story suffering from being only one volume long. Or rather, most of a volume; there's an unrelated short story included here as well. Most of the problem is that while we understand the basics of the story's world, it simply isn't developed enough to truly work as the backdrop to Reiji and Tsubaki's love story, and since Reiji technically owns Tsubaki, that's not a great thing. I suppose the one saving grace is that Reiji doesn't buy his beastman love; his father takes care of that before the story really starts.

So yes, this is another in the long line of romances (both in and out of manga) wherein one of the main characters legally owns the other. In this case, beastmen are second-class citizens, with most, if not all, owned by wealthy humans as servants. Reiji is the second son of a wealthy family and is given Tsubaki as a gift when he's in second grade. Tsubaki seems to feel this distinction between their ranks more keenly than Reiji does, but overall it just isn't really dealt with within the story. The taboo is mostly that they're human and beastman, with that whole ownership thing glossed over for the most part. While I don't necessarily want to harp on it, I do think ignoring it does the overall plot a disservice, because it doesn't really give a good reason to exist. Why not just have Tsubaki be employed rather than owned? There just isn't a satisfying explanation for the creator's choice on this front.

Fortunately, the actual story is pretty cute. Reiji and Tsubaki stumble their way into love when Reiji's dad tries to force him to marry (a human woman), and their feelings for one another do get adequate explanation, such as why Tsubaki refuses to have sex with Reiji after their first time. In some ways, the whole thing is a good case for why actually talking to each other in a relationship is a positive, something sadly lacking in many a romance manga. The same theme is present in the college-set short story also included in the volume. Both stories feature nicely mutual relationships (ignoring the whole ownership thing in the main story), with obvious care and consideration from both parties. The art's nothing to write home about but still very pleasant, and there's some good use made of Tsubaki's tail. I suppose this is just a little bit better than “good enough”—it isn't the best BL out there, but it is a nice enough way to spend some time.

MrAJCosplay

Rating:

Relationships between an employer and their servants have an inherent power imbalance that can quickly come off as exploitative if not handled correctly. I usually find them the most tolerable in comedies, where it's easier not to take them as seriously. But to Be My Love, My Lord's credit, it addresses many of the issues and hurdles inherent in this type of relationship. Aside from the aforementioned power dynamic, the characters comment on cultural differences, prejudice, grooming, and classism. The book goes out of its way to establish within some rather powerful and emotional scenes that things aren't as simple as either of our protagonists would like them to be.

Unfortunately, I feel like a lot of this setup gets wasted the more Be My Love, My Lord goes on because while all these issues are brought up, very few are addressed in any meaningful way. The foundation is certainly there, and I like how the book goes out of its way to present reasonable, long-term solutions to some of these hurdles. But then it almost feels like the author gets cold feet at the last minute and wraps everything for the sake of a happy ending. That isn't to say that I don't want these two to end up together. I do buy into the passion and chemistry they share. However, this book could've taken better advantage of its real estate to flesh out a satisfying journey.