Palace of the Omega, Volume 1
Story and Art: Fumi Tsuyuhisa
Publisher: Viz Media (print and digital)
Imprint: SuBLime
Translation: Adrienne Beck
Lettering: Effie Colton
Publication Date: February 11, 2025
Rating: Mature
Genre: Manga, BL
Palace of the Omega is set in the expansive AU known as the Omegaverse. Originally started in the West, the genre made its way to Japan and other countries and started appearing in BL manga. There’s a lot to explain when it comes to the rules of the Omegaverse, so if you’d like a simple explanation, check out good ol’ Wikipedia.
Palace of the Omega focuses on the disgraced prince Ilia, the thirteenth prince of Romelidahl and sole Omega in the royal family. He is sent off to be married to the King of Hanu, an Alpha, in order to solidify the relationship between both kingdoms. Ilia, being treated cruelly his whole life as an Omega, thinks this will be just another emotionless transaction, and that his body will never be his own because of what he is.
To his surprise, Ilia is welcomed warmly into Hanu, where Omegas have an elevated, venerated status. In the palace, he meets a young boy that he gently teases, until the boy says very seriously, “You’ll see me again.” And this proves true, for the day that Ilia is to be married, he finds his husband-to-be, Khalid, standing in front of him: the little boy he met earlier.
Palace of the Omega has some political intrigue to it—namely, the brothers of the royal family of Hanu competing for the throne. The machinations include assassination and overthrowing the government, and making Ilia the consort of the new King.
It’s an exciting addition to the other issues readers can find in the manga—Ilia’s shame of being an Omega and his defeatist attitude; young Khalid’s desire to help his country and be a good husband to Ilia; and of course, the awkwardness between the two because of the age gap. (Don’t worry, this is handled well.)
While the story easily draws you in, I have to talk about the character art, set design, and costumes in the manga. This volume is gorgeous. The cover indicates what you can expect in terms of art–elaborate details and striking aesthetics, especially as far as clothing is concerned.
In the above picture, Ilia is wearing copious amounts of jewelry, and a heavily decorated collar on his neck. Omegas have a religious significance and are well-respected in Hanu, so Ilia’s finery reflects how he is to be treated. Notably the collar on the neck is a fancier version of many of the collars you see Omegas wear in other Omegaverse manga; this is designed to protect the Omega’s nape until the time comes for an Alpha to bite it and make an official pairing. In Hanu, this collar is also a status symbol.
You can see in the above image an elaborate but completely different style from Ilia’s royal consort clothing. This is a prince from another country, and his clothes reflect that, along with his hairstyle. You can still tell he is royalty based on the richness of his outfit and its detailing.
Fumi Tsuyuhisa (two mangaka working together under one name) has taken great care to give every character a distinctive appearance, richly depicted clothing that marks who someone is in society, and solid attention to detail. You can see it in the rendering of the country of Hanu, too, not just in the costuming:
And of course, the characters are beautiful. Nothing but ikemen and bishonen for miles. Even the villains are handsome:
I pre-ordered Palace of the Omega and read it in one sitting. The relationships between characters, the art and setting, the story—all of it held my attention. Ilia’s struggles to surpass what he feels is his destiny as an Omega makes for a riveting conflict, where he sees himself as nothing, but Khalid sees him as everything. There’s danger present in the story with power-hungry royalty within and without; and you can tell the stirrings of something great and yet-to-be with Ilia and Khalid’s relationship.
Volume 1 ends on a cliffhanger and a bit of a twist, although you can guess the twist based on the interior art for each chapter, and the cover of Volume 2 (forthcoming). However, this doesn’t dampen the experience, but rather gets you excited for the story to continue. There’s a significant time jump in the story with major changes to the plot and characters, but this makes things more intriguing to the reader…and thankfully the author decided to side-step unnecessary exposition during the jump.
I enjoyed this first volume, and I appreciate how pretty the manga is. The story is interesting and the art is beautiful. I only wish for the best for the characters, and I can’t wait to see how things will resolve.
Palace of the Omega Volume 1 is available through the SuBLime imprint of Viz Media, in both print and digital. Volume 2 is forthcoming with a release date of May 13, 2025.
