Manga Reviews (2010-2019): My Boy vol. 4 by Takano Hitomi (a Neo-Tokyo 2099 Manga Review)

The fourth volume of Takano Hitomi’s “My Boy” shows us what has happened in Mashu’s life within the last two years up to the point when he comes face-to-face with Satoko. How will the two react when they see each other years later? A fascinating manga series worth reading!

Click here to purchase this manga on Amazon

MANGA TITLE: My Boy (Watashi no Shonen) vol. 4

STORY AND ART BY: Takano Hitomi

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Futabasha Publishers, Ltd.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: Vertical Comics

RATED: 14+

Available on May 21, 2019

After Mashuu’s father finds out just how involved Satoko had gotten in his son’s life, he uses a work connection to have Satoko transferred all the way to Sendai. She lives back home with her mother and sister, going through the motions of daily life. Satoko doesn’t expect to find anything out of the ordinary in her hometown, until a chance encounter with a high school classmate forces her to face the feelings she’s kept bottled up for two years…

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.

As we saw how Satoko has been trying to live her new life in Sendai and two years have since passed, she is shocked when Mashuu calls out her name.

Thus begins volume 4, a shocked Satoko is surprised to see an older Mashuu and runs in the rain, falls and trips. Mashuu ends up putting a band aid on her and notices that Satoko has scratched her face as well.

Knowing that he has to get back to his trip, Mashuu gives Satoko his LINE address, while Satoko shocked that Mashuu is walking in the cold without a scarf, gives her scarf to him.

We then see what has transpired in the life of Mashuu since the last two years, as we see his father tries to connect with him, he and his brother being in the care of their grandmother and always wondering about Satoko, wondering why she has not contacted him since.

And his life at school and even has a classmate who has fallen for him.

But now that he has seen Satoko again and Satoko seeing Mashuu once again, will the two now keep in contact and connect with each other like before?

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.

In my past reviews I wrote:

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.

I also wrote after reading volume 3:

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.

And what about after I read volume 4? I now feel that the story may be heading towards a taboo type of storyline. It’s quite obvious that Mashuu cares deeply about Satoko and she for him. At first I thought it was Mashuu bonding with Satoko, because she was like a mother. And for Satoko, I thought it was purely a motherly relationship but now, I’m starting to see her craving for that attention that Mashuu gives her because she lives this banal life of work. No relationship, hardly any friends and she constantly thinks about how Mashuu makes her happy.

But now two years have passed and we realize how deeply these two have been thinking about each other… now it makes me wonder about this relationship and what mangaka Takano Hitomi has planned?

It’s important to note that since I wrote my last review, Takano’s volume six was released in Japan (May 2019).

I found this manga series to be quite entertaining but also a little worrisome of where it’s headed…considering there have been manga and Japanese TV dramas that do delve into taboo territory, but not sure if Takano’s “My Boy” is headed to that direction. Considering how many news stories you read about older teachers hooking up with a high school student. But we’ll see where “My Boy” is headed, but it’s a fascinating storyline that surely has changed my thoughts with each volume.

Overall, the fourth volume of Takano Hitomi’s “My Boy” shows us what has happened in Mashu’s life within the last two years up to the point when he comes face-to-face with Satoko. How will the two react when they see each other years later? A fascinating manga series worth reading!

Click here to purchase this manga on Amazon

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