[Review] The Dragon’s Husband – A Surprisingly Fluffy BL Fantasy by Ake Susaki

At the beginning of the year I was super excited because my manga count was OVER THE ROOF but now I’m too scared to even check. I’m probably behind on my yearly goal and nothing is more scary than seeing that number grow…and grow…So. I’ve decided not to check and after having a two week “break” from reading…BL manga (because you know I’ve been staying up for a few minutes every day trying to read some JJK fanfic!!!), I think I’m ready to tackle my goals again. And maybe beg forgiveness for forcing myself into Sukuna’s domain because WOW, he hot. Who am I begging? I haven’t decided yet…

And because I was in the mood for monsters, I decided that for today’s manga rec I’d go with The Dragon’s Husband! I believe I mentioned this before but I ended up getting a Futekiya subscription after I heard they licensed…OH MY GOD. I just realized I haven’t reviewed the reason I got a Futekiya subscriptions?! HOW DARE I? Well, we’ll talk about that one in a few days then. I must! In the meantime, let’s check out this amazingly fluffy fantasy BL title

Was I the only person who initially saw tentacles when they saw this picture? Blowing it up on my desktop, I can now see they’re claws…

I actually read this manga a few days ago and when I read it, I just instantly loved it! That’s why, when I was thinking about what to share, I instantly thought of this one. That said, I only realized (as I’m writing this review) that none of the characters have names?! So I apologize if things get a bit confusing but hopefully not! We have three main characters: the King and the Captain, who are royal twins, and the Dragon.

The reason I picked up this manga was because it was a fantasy story with dragons!! I love dragons. I feel like it’s not something I usually talk about, but if there’s dragons, I probably want to check it out (and just about any other creature or monster). Also, aside from some of the older BL titles that are pure smut, I haven’t really read all that many BL fantasy manga. I was curious as to how this author would tell the tale in one volume and I was Blown Away. It gave me so much more than what I was expecting!! It’s also a way slower manga title than most so I can see why some people might consider this a bit “boring” but it’s just so good!

We’re instantly thrown into the fray of battle in this one where we meet the Captain. We learn about the strong belief that people, especially the army, have in regards to their guardian deity, the Dragon. They strongly believe that the reason they can beat all their foes is because they have the Dragon’s protection, however, the Captain is different. He doesn’t believe in the “protection” of the Dragon, believing that all the battles they’ve won was because of his men’s hard work, which is why, when he finds out the Dragon wants to stop protecting their Kingdom, he doesn’t particularly care. In fact, he sees this as his opportunity to finally put an end to that ridiculous belief

But, of course, there is power in belief and he agrees to his brother’s, the King’s request. Since only those with royal blood can speak to the Dragon, he goes to visit the Dragon to see what they can do to keep it from leaving

What nobody expected was for the Dragon to demand the Captain become its mate. After some heated debate between the King and his advisors, the Captain decides to agree to the terms. While he’s never believed in the Dragon, he can understand how having it leave could be detrimental to the kingdom’s moral and even its authority in the country, and while he is not king, he’s pledged to himself to devote his extraordinary long life to help protect his people in his own ways

Even if that means giving himself to a Dragon

It’s a little hard to talk about this manga because not a lot happens and yet so much happens! We cover so much time, starting from the time we meet the Captain, who, while being the younger of twins, has started to age due to a curse he incurred from a neighboring dragon deity, all the way to the days when his much younger twin is now nearing the end of his life. Normally, this wouldn’t be all that much time in another story, only some eighty or so years, but since these two are of royal blood and automatically have longer lives than your normal human, this actually means the book spans a few hundreds of years! Sadly, we don’t get to see everything that happens but we get so much of the adorable fluff between these two that I can’t help but want the type of relationship they have. I mean, some people can’t even stand living together for a week!

And it’s also really nice to see the character development, especially on the Dragon’s side

When the Dragon is first introduced, it’s your typical dragon character. It has an intimidating aura, it doesn’t really understand humans and it enjoys battle. You can tell it has an ego and is selfish, taking what it wants and not caring for the comfort of other people. Like the time it begins the “ritual” to make the Captain its mate. But as the manga continues we begin to see some of the Dragon’s insecurities and thoughts on humans, and it all becomes a mess of contradictions. The Captain begins to see this and I believe this parallel in their feelings towards normal humans, is what really begins to change the Captain’s manners towards the Dragon

And maybe appearances do matter as well!

It also really changes the mood of the manga. While it starts off with a lot of energy and historical fiction vibes, even a bit playful, it turns more melancholic and retrospective, and I often feel much pain in my heart for the Dragon. So am I weak to its smile and the twinkle in its eyes whenever the Captain and it get along? YES.

Aside from the really cute art, the fact these are older characters (GORGEOUS), the desperation the Dragon feels, and the cute moments between the two after their initial contact, I also have to admit that one of the biggest reasons I really enjoyed this story was because of how it addressed the topics of gender and sexuality

When the Dragon and the Captain “become mates” there is a “ritual” (not specified like this in the manga but that’s essentially what it is) that the Dragon does. It pretty much licks and slobbers all over the Captain in the efforts to share its power. Since the Captain is technically human and will one day die, sharing its power will make the Captain stronger and extend his life to match the Dragon’s. While doing this, we learn that this “terrible” feeling the Captain always has to endure is akin to sex. He mentions this to the Dragon and whoops, now they’re on the topic of sex. Is this where I thought we’d be getting some weird dragon and human sexy time? Maybe, but it didn’t happen

The topic is once more touched upon when the Dragon mentions that it would be alright with having sex with the Captain. It even shapeshifts into a woman if that’s what the Captain wants. We learn that the Captain isn’t really interested in sex and the topic is dropped. I was so overjoyed!!

Don’t get me wrong, I love me some really nice smut scenes but I just loved how they talked about this. The Dragon mentioning that it doesn’t really care for what appearance it takes since gender isn’t within a Dragon’s interests. And the Captain is like nah man, not all humans like sex, I don’t want sex and the Dragon is like, yeah, that’s cool, I’m not going to force myself on you like all the other bros in other BL titles. The argument could have been that as a dragon, the Dragon likes to control and dominate and yet, he didn’t! My mind is slightly being mindblown. Also, I love that the Dragon addressed the two of them as husbands!

But more than that, I think this is the first time I’ve read a BL where the characters are asexual!! I also wonder if they fall somewhere in the Aro-spectrum, but since I’m not very well versed in either of these areas, I won’t say too much. I’ve read a few BL titles where sex isn’t the main focus but you knew that eventually the characters would get there, sometimes in a little extra or epilogue scene. This is the first time I’ve read one where sex is taken off the menu and they lived happy lives and just, I’m emotional!

You can read this manga on Futekiya (and other titles) for $6.99 a month, and since I super enjoyed it, I’m actually going to nab myself a physical copy of this! Hopefully I’ll be able to show it to you all in a future haul. In the meantime, have you read this title before? Did you enjoy it? I haven’t really heard anyone mention it before even though it’s so pretty!! Sadly this is the only work authored by Susaki-sensei but I will be keeping my eyes peeled for more!