Tadaima, Okaeri

I am a big fan of omegaverse mangas; I love them! It is my second favorite genre of manga (office manga is still the best, though), especially if they also involve kids. Now, there is an anime within this genre!! I can't give a full review yet since only 3 out of 12 episodes have aired as of now. It's worth mentioning that this series delves into omegaverse themes, so if that's not your cup of tea, feel free to stop reading this review. Oh, and if you're not familiar with it, this anime serves as a pretty good introduction to the concept of omegaverse ... (men being able to have children). If you're open to seeing a BL manga being adapted into an animated show and intrigued by the concept, keep reading! A friend recommended it to me, sparking my interest. Yes, I'm not lying about that—I genuinely didn't know there was going to be an omegaverse anime and I am ashamed of that because like I said, it's one of my favorite genres. Admittedly, the first episode made me feel a bit awkward, perhaps because I'm more accustomed to reading manga with similar themes rather than watching them animated. Nonetheless, the addition of the baby character adds a nice touch to the series (as always). Overall, I'd rate it a 7 for now. While it's enjoyable, it's not the best of the best; I've encountered better BL stories with children that I would have rather seen animated instead. However, I'm keeping an open mind and looking forward to seeing how the remaining 9 episodes unfold.

Let me preface this by saying I don't think this anime is horrendous, it’s not amazing either. It just exists. The first thing you’ll notice after watching this is that it's set in an omegaverse. This trope first came around as a trope for sexy times - which is non-existent in this anime as it appears to be a slice of life cutesy type. That’s fine, fluffy abo can exist. But tossing all the politics behind, there’s nothing revolutionary about this anime nor does it even do abo much justice. If you are here for the cute times and happy vibes, read no more of ... this review, advert your eyes to a better paradise.

There’s an inherently suffocating outdated Eastern idealism weaved through the entire plot, and it’s very hard to ignore. If you detached yourself from the abo, this is a Prince Charming and Cinderella story at its core. Hiromu comes from a rich well-off family who is the standard all well loving husband to his partner. Masaki is the poor (omega) looked down upon “Cinderella” who found a husband who is all accepting of his identity, in which he happily becomes a house husband for. Can’t believe I’m still seeing the rich CEO falls in love with a poor girl because she’s different, so the mom gives her money to leave his son trope in 2024, I'm talking about when Hiromu’s dad has a talk with Masaki telling him to break up with his son.

I’m not sure how this piece of media is viewed by the west or people who have grew up with western views, but to me, the fact that the premise is using a second gender still cannot escape the good old tradition of get married, have a kid, ideally male (or alpha in this case), if you can, have two kids, one of each gender, then your life is truly complete as a women (or omega in this case). Your honour, is this just nuclear family value to get people to birth more babies in this declining baby birth rate economy? There isn’t much of this type of anime in the hetero setting nowadays because women would not eat this shit anymore, unless they are riddled with systematic housewife dreams, which there is nothing wrong with it by the way, but the predicament of being a housewife is very clear if you ever interacted with one.

Masaki cannot escape this traditional concept either. He’s a good house husband and have doubts about his gender. Did he have a job before he met the rich husband? Does he have hobbies outside of looking after the baby? It’s all very surface level, they introduce the gender discrimination but never talk about it, as if they needed a “villain” aspect and that was the pick. It just sits there awkwardly like a pity factor.

The anime is like backwards and forward at the same time. What’s worst is that Masaki’s own baby, who he birthed does not even call him dad! Baby keeps on calling him Ma-chan, is that because it sounds like mama? Are you afraid that if the baby called him “mom” it’ll be too stereotyping? But calling him “dad” will be too avant-garde, so you chose an option that even a normal family will find weird by addressing your parent by their name directly. (If Ma-chan is a real Japanese term kids call their mom, I apologise and take my "addressing parent by their name" comment back but my hetero point still stands). Masaki gets referenced as “yome”, “okusan” which is “wife” in Japanese, which by default assuming the omega gender is the women, can we ever escape the hetero nouns. The whole gender situation is also unclear in this universe, as alpha x alpha seems to be the norm, which means alphas will also have the ability to carry babies and do they refer to the alpha carrying the baby as the “wife”? Does that mean Hiromu could carry babies too?? I do find it amusing that Masaki considered committing eugenics in his second pregnancy for a split second, I didn’t know the feudal ideology “son(alpha) preference” they couldn’t kill in China is transferred over to omegaverse Japan. We simply cannot escape the patriarch.

Am I reading a little too much in between the lines? Possibly. I did warn you in the first paragraph. I supposed a piece of omegaverse media that don't contain intercourse will have to advert the people's attention to world building.

WHOLESOMENESS in a nutshell. There will always be a place in my heart for anime toddlers🥹. Still, this show is such a sweet family story about raising your kid in the Omegaverse.

The context: For people who don't know, the Omegaverse genre is basically an alternative universe with second gender called Alpha, Beta, and Omega. Basically, Alpha are top of the food chain, superior individuals; generally both male and female Alpha can impregnate. The opposite is true for omega who are considered inferior in society eyes & seen as sex objects because they have strong pheromones. Both male and female omega can get pregnant. They can ... be paired with an Alpha by the act of nape biting, which help suppressed their pheromones. Betas are just stuck in the middle. In Omegaverse, most things are determined by this social hierarchy. Although, there exist the rare fated pair of Alpha and Omega who are basically each other's half. This chemistry transcends logic. It is a wild setting, but one that actually explores a lot of social prejudice and allow same sex couple the fantasy of pregnancy.

The story: With that out of the way, I find Tadaima, Okaeri to be such a refreshing story. This genre is usually a bit twisted due to its premise, so seeing Alpha and Omega parent just happily raising their child was beautiful. The prejudice here is something our MCs face daily, but it felt closer to real life in how passive aggressive these interactions are. Yet there's also hope. The children are so cute and positive you just feel healed from watching the interactions. It might be too sunshine & rainbow for some, but we do need these happy, slice-of-life fantasy to believe real life can be better.

Welcome Home - You like BL? Yes, but not enough? There's a curveball thrown back at you: the Omegaverse.

When it comes to the Yaoi a.k.a BL scene, there's a lot of cute moments...lots of them — that lead to the same predictable ending, and honestly, it's nice to watch a gay relationship come alive, but the same elements just don't strike twice for a good show, and when subsequent shows come, the formula gets old really quick. So, in this season, there is a BL show, but it's more than just your typical average BL work: mangaka Ichi Ichikawa's Tadaima, Okaeri a.k.a Welcome Home, which ... pits the Yaoi genre under a new and rarely seen spotlight: the sub-genre known as the Omegaverse, and this show being the very first to be featured in AniManga, it's none like any other.

To all not in the know, the folksonomy known as Omegaverse a.k.a A/B/O (an abbreviation for "alpha/beta/omega"), is a sub-genre of speculative erotic fiction, and originally of erotic fan fiction. Its premise is that a dominance hierarchy exists in humans, which is divided into dominant "alphas", neutral "betas", and submissive "omegas", determining how people interact with one another in romantic, erotic, and sexual contexts. Its main peculiarity is that characters have two sexes: a main one (male or female), decided by their external sexual organs, and a secondary one, that manifests during puberty, determined by their internal reproductive system. It's usually chosen from one of the following, each of which also corresponds to some distinctive character traits:

Alpha (α): socially (and in some interpretations, even biologically) dominant, physically built, short-tempered, and a natural leader.
Beta (β): depending on the story, they are regular human beings, have a mix of Alpha and Omega traits, or have their own unique traits.
Omega (Ω): submissive and gentle, calm and a peacemaker.

Applying the above term to the manga-turned-anime work, you have a happy family of a husband, a wife, and kids, though all of them are male (in the show), since either sex in either Yaoi or Yuri genres can still give birth to kids the exact same way as specified. But this happy family is not a perfect one, as this is an Alpha and Omega family of the Fujiyoshis, with the Alpha husband Hiromu, the Omega wife Masaki, and their healthy child (presumed to be Omega) Hikari.

If you'd think normal families have it rough, wait till you see an Omegaverse family like Masaki and Hiromu. Considering the hostile environment that is not accepting of such risky marriages, not to mention the growing animosity, harassment, and continuous discrimination, the Fujiyoshi family is a blessing in disguise, built on the cusp of family drama with abandonment always on the topic (before their marriage), since it's natural to have two of the same kind be wed. Yet, despite the prejudice that they constantly face, they have support from friends, neighbours, and co-workers to give them the support, love, acceptance, and compassion they deserve. It's nice to see people like Hiromu's co-worker, Tomohiro Matsuo, and the family's next-door neighbor, Yuki Hirai, be understanding of the family's circumstances for being a special family that still has a strong bond despite all of the criticism from loved ones. And that's not an easy job maintaining the stance that both were made for each other, despite the obvious and clear difference between the dominant one in the relationship.

And this is where I feel that the series ups the ante on the Yaoi genre for being not just still a topic that is highly debated today (related to LGBTQ+/queerness), but a sub-genre that has exploded in popularity since 2017, enough for numerous fan fiction material. Honestly, there are lots of opportunities to go the Omegaverse route, and Ichi Ichikawa embraced it to write and draw a simple story with an execution that you cannot simply ignore because of its peculiarities.

The production is very nice...or rather, this show just proves to me that Studio Deen should ONLY keep making more BL shows. So far, they've done Winter 2022's Sasaki and Miyano, and are set to adapt the upcoming Summer season's Yaoi show of Twilight Out of Focus, so I'd rather prefer if producers get the hint to stop allowing Studio Deen to tackle action-heavy shows (i.e. this season of the underwhelming Re:Monster, and the abomination that is Dekisoko a.k.a The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases (alongside Marvy Jack)) and shift them over to the BL scene. Also, having Gakuen Babysitters's character designer-cum-chief animation director Mina Oosawa, means that for the few of you who watched the Winter 2018 show, you'll instantly feel right at home as if you're watching a spiritual sequel to said series.

The OST is also good, with the surprise being MADKID performing the rather cutesy and uplifting OP song that's way outside of what their usual Anisong calibre is, it instantly strikes off as being a feel-good song. Takayoshi Tanimoto's song is alright, though I'd take it or leave it.

“If you want to see a rainbow, you have to learn to see the rain.” - Paulo Coelho

The above quote sums up Tadaima, Okaeri a.k.a Welcome Home completely, as your understanding of what the Omegaverse is, will contribute to the enjoyability factor of the show as a whole. I would love to see more Omegaverse-centric stories like this, because not only do we don't get them a lot, and even if it's almost a toss-up if the stories are either good or bad, it's still worth the effort to do so.

Quite possibly one of the cutest, most sickeningly sweet shows I have ever seen. If you like BL or even just romance in general, don’t let the fact that this is omegaverse throw you off - it’s definitely worth the watch.

Tadaima, Okaeri is a romance/slice of life about two parents who love and cherish their kids and each other. It revolves around them enjoying life with their family and friends, and learning how to accept themselves, despite what others might think. The omegaverse part is pretty lowkey and is mostly just a kind of caste system concept in this anime.

This is such a ... heartwarming show that will leave your cheeks hurting at the end of every episode from smiling so much.

I am a big fan of Omegaverse stories. But the thing is, the omegaverse au was made by Westerners. It's nice how media like Manhwas (Korean comics) and Mangas (Japanese comics) finally adapted to it. However, there was no animated series related to it...until Tadaima, Okaeri got released. Omegaverses have some sensitive topics but Tadaima Okaeri seemed to be the best introduction to this concept. The series is so wholesome and I like how it covers topics that can someone be applied to today's world.

The art style reminds me of Gakuen Babysitters which is understandable since both are similar in terms of the artist. ... The colors rlly fit the theme depending on the emotions portrayed. The characters have their own personality and all somewhat made their own character developments.

If you're looking for a wholesome series + serious and cute plot, I recommend it!!

When I read fanfic, I always steer clear of the omegaverse ones mostly because it's just not my speed. So I waffled on if I would watch this series or not, but I didn't see anything off-putting in the promotional material or description, so I gave it a chance. It was cute and I could see how it used omegaverse as a metaphor for real world prejudice, which was part of why I ultimately continued to watch it and would watch more seasons if we get any.

If you like omegaverse stories, I don't know if you'd like this one or not. What I can ... say is if you like stories about families, metaphors for how society treats people it sees as being inferior, and a mature romance, then you might want to check this anime out. If toddlers being a central character in a story isn't your speed or you're looking for super spicy romance, then this might not be your thing.

"Omegaverse, also known as A/B/O (an abbreviation for "alpha/beta/omega"), is a subgenre of speculative erotic fiction, and originally a subgenre of erotic [homosexual] fan fiction. Its premise is that a dominance hierarchy exists in humans, which are divided into dominant "alphas", neutral "betas", and submissive "omegas". This hierarchy determines how people interact with one another in romantic, erotic and sexual contexts...Its main peculiarity is that characters have two sexes: a main one (male or female), decided by their external sexual organs, and a secondary one, that manifests during puberty, determined by their internal reproductive system...Between Alphas and Betas, only females can carry on a pregnancy, ... but male Omegas are often envisaged as being able to become pregnant via a uterus connected to the rectum, and Alphas can impregnate regardless of their main gender."

- Wikipedia

I know, absolutely buck wild paragraph to open with, but this is absolutely necessary information if you are not in the know. If you happen to already know what the omegaverse is (like myself) I presume you skipped it to save you some time. Either way, welcome!

Tadaima, Okaeri is, officially, the first omegaverse anime. The Omegaverse, despite being conceptualized and most popular in the west, has been a quite popular setting for manga for quite some time, and one has finally been adapted into an anime. Finally this subgenre of homosexual pregnancy kink erotica based on outdated wolf science has hit the silver screen!

Except it hasn't, really. I would hardly call Tadaima, Okaeri "omegaverse."

I may be being snide, but don't take this as a bashing of the omegaverse genre. Just the opposite, in fact. Though I found it strange at first, being as immersed in fandom culture as I am meant I soon found myself appreciating it beyond strange kinky erotica and into a perspective of worldbuilding, which Tadaima, Okaeri really does not seem all too concerned with. The social dynamics of alphas, betas, and omegas gets some screentime, however the biological aspects relating to the male pregnancy (and often female siring) are not present at all. It's mostly just a story about a young couple raising a family with omegaverse in the background.

Weirdly enough, however, if an omegaverse work doesn't focus on worldbuilding, it's just there to be kinky, and that's not what Tadaima, Okaeri is either. Tadaima, Okaeri is actually *negative* kinky. It is one of the most wholesome, g-rated things I have ever seen.

So what gives? Why include the omegaverse at all if not for the kink or for the worldbuilding? Maybe I could buy that it *was* for wolrdbuilding purposes, however the omegaverse aspects tend to be rather irrelevant, leaving me unsatisfied. It is such a unique genre of speculative fiction; barely including the elements of it is frustrating.

And Tadaima, Okaeri isn't even a "true" omegaverse story, by the common definition.

Now, omegaverse is a folksonomy, so there is no one way to do the omegaverse. Every omegaverse writer will have their own take on it, some sticking to the very traditional ideas of it, and some not. This is one of those that does not. In fact, it's so far removed from omegaverse tradition that omega males aren't defined by their ability to carry children (and usually alpha females by their ability to sire them), but rather everyone appears to be some degree of intersex and can both carry and sire children---if I had to wager a guess, anyways; they don't really explain it. I say this because it also lacks the *other* key factor of the omegaverse: omega/alpha relationships. Or, rather, the main couple is an omega and an alpha, however that is not the norm. Rather, alphas are expected to marry other alphas, omegas other omegas, and betas other betas.

I...hesitate to even call Tadaima, Okaeri an omegaverse story, as it lacks the two things that define omegaverse: omega males possessing the unique ability to carry children by alphas, thus leading to alpha/omega relationships.

However, I'm not the president of omegaverse so I can't define it. Court of public opinion says it's omegaverse and I can't even disagree, considering it still resembles traditional omegaverse.

Now, not being a traditional omegaverse story is fine (although, if you're unfamiliar with the genre, I don't recommend this being where you start), there's no one way to do a genre, but this brings me back to my previous complaint: they don't focus on it enough. Not only are they not giving enough screentime to the elements of the genre that make it what it is, but it's such a different take on the genre that it could re-spark interest in desensitized omegaverse fans!

And they're...not focusing on it.

I suppose, technically, there's nothing wrong with leaving worldbuilding as a background element. But it honestly feels so irrelevant here it would be extraordinarily easy to write out.

I don't really have complaints about the rest of the show. If you enjoy slow, quiet, slice-of-life stories, that's exactly what this is. At times I find it a bit too slow, and certain plot points feel very done-before, but those are nitpicks.

Tadaima, Okaeri is a story within a very cursed subgenre of speculative fiction originating in kinky, kinky, fanfiction. And it does not embrace its bizarre genre enough.

Just a kind of nothing burger. I feel like everyone's character development, especially HIromu and the Masaki, had a chunk of their character development off screen three years ago. In the omega's case he does learn and grow, and he's the character that changes the most throughout the course of the show, but it wasn't enough to keep me properly engaged. The two side characters, Matsuo and Yuki had more chemistry than the main duo, but the bar is still in hell. The twins did not need to be there. Masaki's cousin was okay I guess but I don't even remember his name.

The kids ... are cute i guess. There are some cute moments in the show that made me laugh, but it really isn't enough. I wish the kids were more annoying. They felt too perfectly cute. Kids are fucking little assholes, thats what makes the cute moments even cuter. They felt really flat.

My main issue with the show is its treatment of omegaverse. I am no omegaverse connoisseur, but I am on Tumblr, so I know a fair bit. I will give the show credit: it does utilize the omegaverse trope throughout the whole show... but it doesn't really do it well. And I think that's the highest insult.

For the uninitiated, omegaverses across media can vary **very wildly,** and there's really only a few general rules--and even those rules get broken. The show generally follows the main "rules." For the sake of gross simplification, generally speaking alphas are the semes, ukes are omegas that can get pregnant, people release "pheromones" like wolves, omegas go into heat, and omegas/alphas do mating marks. Betas also exist. (No one knows what betas do in this hierarchy. Not even tumblrinas.)

These are the only real rules Tadaima Okaeri follows, which usually would be a great thing--shows that feature an original cast must have a very nuanced/well thought out/unique take on the omegaverse. But those are the only rules it follows because Tadaima, Okaeri doesn't remember anything else. Packs are flown out the window, despite the four or five rotating dudes that keep inviting themselves over to the main couples house. Even stilll, the only real rule that Taidama Okaeri cares about for most of its run is that alphas are semes and ukes are omeagas, with the other stuff not appearing until the final conflict. Something interesting that Tadaima Okarei does do is that omegas and alphas aren't encouraged to be together; what's normal in this verse is dating within your type. This is the main piece of worldbuilding that drives a lot of the show, and to be fair, I've never seen anything like it before. However, it ends up just being a copy paste bad discrimination story, and you could honestly replace it with "they disapprove of this marriage because I'm gay/transgender" and really nothing would change.

I'm just... who is it for? Back when this was airing every anituber i saw treated this like it had the fucknig measles, and while we're all allowed to have our likes and dislikes, this show was so milquetoast that the fear from people like Glass Reflection seems like it's for a different show. that's another thing, despite omegaverse being what this show is about, it never really leans into the strangeness of it all. Masaki literally has gets pregnant and has a baby in the middle of the series, and all we get is him saying "I'm having a baby" to a jump cut of the baby in their crib. Like, seriously? The only people watching this are comfortable with omegaverse content, they can withstand a pregnant man. It just felt like it never wanted to commit to anything weirder than it's bland discrimination angle. And even still, even still!! With that discrimination angle we never saw anything beyond how people in the couple's personal lives felt about it. Nothing about systemic opression of omegas, which IMO, you HAVE to deal with if your'e doing an omegaverse with original characters.

Overall this is a hard skip, for both casual BL fans, omegaverse fans, and everyone else. Don't waste your time.

Also the budget for this show appears to be four pieces of lint and a toothpick, but since this is a BL, that's kinda a rite of passage.