R — RYU NO OTTO -BOUKOKU NO KAMI- – IT'S YOUR FAULT THAT I'M NOT POPULAR!

Honestly?? Why didn’t any of you call me out on not knowing the alphabet, I’m hurt… Hello! While I was compiling my masterlist for the challenge last week I, much to my dismay, noticed that I skipped the letter R. I was probably too excited to write about Saha that my mind wandered. Well, what’s done is done. Here’s today’s recommendation, and I’ll continue with W next week, enjoy ~

Title: Ryu no Otto -Boukoku no Kami-
Author & Artist: Susaki Ake
Release Year: 2019
Status: Completed, 1 volume.
Licensed? (Y/N): Yes, on Futekiya.

A long time ago, the king of the land had made a pact with the dragon and although it’s been long forgotten what were the terms, dragons accepted to protect the land and bless the king with great health and long life; thus they became the guardian deity. The current king is no exception and his twin brother is in charge of the army, and contrary to the king he’s not so keen on letting the dragon take all the glory of their hard work. One day, when they are to return to the capital from war, the captain hears something huge approaching in the forest and when he walks towards the sound, he comes across a thing in male human form. Captain’s so tense to even look him in the eyes, and the strange man disappears soon after. He’s left with a bad feeling inside, and when he finally arrives at the capital, it’s clear he’s right about the hunch.

The dragon has appeared after all those years, saying it’ll be leaving the position of the guardian deity. The king wasn’t able to persuade him, and only the descendants of the king can understand the dragon, so negotiation falls on the shoulders of the captain. When he enters the dragon’s lair and discusses what it wants from them, he’s dumbfounded when he hears he wants the captain as his mate. So their journey begins.

The dragon is like a giant cat, I love it!

Another title I started reading because the art was pretty and didn’t expect to enjoy this much! What’s especially interesting in Ryu no Otto is that the meeting of these two different species doesn’t conveniently play out as the dragon assuming human form and from there on it’s basically just two people. Instead, Susaki Ake takes time to build how a human and a dragon mating will work out. The dragon has to make the captain his kin so that he won’t die and it’s a process that takes time and effort. The ritual captain has to go through was an interesting take. During these times the dragon stays in its true form and seldom reverts to human.

Their differences in physical power, everyday needs, understanding of compassion, and destruction were blended well into their conversation too. It wasn’t just the dragon taking captive of the captain and although it was a sacrificial move for the captain at first, he neither accepted it readily nor had unreasonable rejection, and their relationship developed at a nice pace considering the artist had only one volume to establish all of these.

I immediately need to curl up with a dragon :,(

I recommend Ryu no Otto to anyone who’s looking for a kind and heartwarming story and interesting dynamics with a dash of fantasy! The series has no explicit sex scenes so it’s certainly a great title to start your BL journey if you’re new to the genre. This is the only commercial BL title from Susaki Ake and I certainly have high hopes for what’s to come from them.

Before I wrap this post up, you know that I also try to recommend titles that aren’t behind a paywall and I’ve been exploring lots of titles like that for my enjoyment as well. I wanted to add Religiously Gay as a recommendation for the ones who don’t own a Futekiya subscription. The series was too short to review but it’s going to make it into Webtoon Originals soon so be sure to check it out! I loved the premise and the bright colors.