Manga Reviews (2010-2019): My Boy vol. 3 by Takano Hitomi (a Neo-Tokyo 2099 Manga Review)

The third volume of Takano Hitomi’s “My Boy” is a manga about an adult who wants to feel appreciated (which Mashuu looks at her as a motherly adult), while Satoko starts to see Mashuu as a young boy who appears to not have parents to raise him well. But when Mashuu’s father finds out who his son has been spending a lot of time with and Satoko’s boss finds out, what will happen to Satoko?

MANGA TITLE: My Boy (Watashi no Shonen) vol. 3

STORY AND ART BY: Takano Hitomi

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Futabasha Publishers, Ltd.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: Vertical Comics

RATED: 14+

Available on March 12, 2019

Satoko continues to spend time with Mashuu, until one evening when Mashuu’s father happens to discover them practicing soccer. Satoko manages to placate Mashuu’s father and get his permission to continue soccer practice, but when the larger picture comes to light, Satoko is confronted by her boss and is forced to deal with the repercussions of her problematic actions…

From mangaka Hitomi Takano comes her manga “My Boy” (known in Japan as “Watashi no Shonen”).

The first volume introduced us to a 30-year-old office worker named Satoko Tawada, a young woman who lives her life with not much exciting going on. She had a love since she was in college but after a year, they had broken up. And now that ex-boyfriend happens to be her supervisor but he is with another woman.

One day as she is walking home, she sees a young boy (whom she thinks is a girl because of his long hair) playing soccer and Satoko knows soccer well, and shows him how to kick with the ball.

The following day, as she is walking by the park, she sees a man with the boy and worried about him (as there is someone molesting kids in the city), she scares the man off and she tells the boy that he shouldn’t be out late. But the boy, names Mashuu Hayami, tells her that the reason he is practicing late is because he has a soccer test.

Satoko agrees to give him pointers but when she sees Mashuu, she worries because his mother is not around, his father is always at work and he wears clothing that are too small and too young for his age. Seeing him dirty, she invites the boy to her place to get washed up.

But Satoko starts to realize the pain that she has kept inside her regarding her ex and as Mashuu is concerned about her, she is also concerned about Mashuu’s well-being as he’s a nice kid but for some reason, she is curious where his parents are and why he is always alone.

But there is one thing that Satoko knows, this young boy has brought some happiness into his life, as she has brought happiness to Mashuu’s life.

Meanwhile, for Mashuu, at school, what happens when a girl at school takes an interest in him?

In volume 2, what happens when Satoko becomes an a history tutor for Mashuu? and takes him to a public swimming pool?

Meanwhile, Mashuu’s little brother has gone missing and Satoko tries to help him.

Which leads us to volume 3, as Mashuu likes to spend a lot of his time with Satoko, Mashuu’s father finds out his son has been spending a lot of time with an older woman which has him concerned.

As the two meet to discuss what she has been doing with her son, Satoko explains that she is teaching Mashuu how to play football (soccer) but he explains to her that he quit the team.

And while Satoko told him about the soccer training she is giving Mashuu, she neglected to tell him of the other things they did together, such as giving him his first kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi) experience and even let him stay at his home over night.

Satoko is grilled by her boss as Mashuu’s father is angry and relayed it to her superior. Concerned by what has happened, Satoko is sent back from Tokyo to her home area of Sendai, to an office in the region as a way to get her away from Mashuu and the trouble she had caused.

This is tough for Satoko who enjoys being around the young boy and vice versa.

So far, “My Boy” is an interesting an entertaining manga series.

I can see some people probably being creeped out about a 30-year-old woman named Satoko trying to help a 12-year-old kid named Mashuu, a young boy she doesn’t know and inviting him to her home and I know in some places, some may think it’s child abduction or just morally wrong for a woman to do that.

It’s important to note that there is nothing taboo going on with these two characters, if anything, Satoko is almost being a motherly figure to Mashuu and that is why they have a connection.

It started out as Satoko wanting to teach the boy soccer, to get the pain of a breakup out of her head. But when she starts to notice certain things about the boy, his reasoning of not wanting to go home, his parents not being there, his naivety and wearing clothes that are too short for him, what is wrong with this child’s family life? Is his mother alive? Does his father not care about him?

These are things that Satoko worries about Mashuu. But Mashuu also knows Satoko is hurting, as she cries out of nowhere and if anything, it’s almost like a mother/child storyline but it’s not necessarily the case.

In vol. 2, Satoko feels like being a mother to Mashuu, to help someone in need and she finds herself caring for him like a young son. Meanwhile, as she becomes a history tutor and soccer tutor for Mashuu, what happens when Satoko’s ex-boyfriend is starting to witness Satoko’s change?

Also, what happens when Mashuu is unable to look for her brother and invites Satoko to his home? What will she discover about the family?

But in vol. 3, we start to sense there would be a problem as the two were spending too much time together, Mashuu feeling to comfortable that he wanted to spend a lot of time with Satoko and while both enjoy their time together, you had a sense that because of this, it would end up hurting them as Mashuu’s father starts to learn the details of how much time they spent together and then Satoko’s boss finding out and thus Satoko is sent away to an office where she was raised (in Sendai, far from Tokyo), so she will no longer have contact with Mashuu.

Reading this third volume, it reminded me of Japanese dramas “Koukou Kyoushi” and “Majo no Joken”. Both about teachers having affairs with their students, but while both featured students in high school, “My Boy” caused me concern because Mashuu is a young boy.

When they first met, Satoko is around 30 and Mashuu is around 12 and of course age progression two years later with Satoko relegated to Sendai and will have to contact with him. While I don’t expect this storyline to become as audacious as the two Japanese dramas mentioned, you do start to question Satoko’s psyche, especially when she starts to think what if Mashuu is an adult, she would be an older woman if they were together.

With that being said, seeing a younger man and an older woman is nothing new, not in the west or in the east. While you see it in storylines with older men and younger women, which Japanese manga have explored, the troubling factor is that she is in her thirties, Mashuu is not yet a teenager.

I tend to believe the relationship between the two are strong because Satoko is a mother figure in Mashuu’s life, which he doesn’t have. And that is why he finds himself wanting to be with her often.

But for Satoko, she is the question mark. We know she was hurt by her boss and former boyfriend now engaged to another woman but why does she feel sad about life and why is Mashuu the only person that makes her happy?

I’m sure Takano Hitomi will answer these questions as the manga progresses (Note: vol. 5 was released in Japan back in November 2018, so hopefully a vol. 6 will be released in 2019).

Overall, the third volume of Takano Hitomi’s “My Boy” is a manga about an adult who wants to feel appreciated (which Mashuu looks at her as a motherly adult), while Satoko starts to see Mashuu as a young boy who appears to not have parents to raise him well. But when Mashuu’s father finds out who his son has been spending a lot of time with and Satoko’s boss finds out, what will happen to Satoko?

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