Manga Reviews (2010-2019): My Boy vol. 5 by Takano Hitomi (a Neo-Tokyo 2099 Manga Review) (2018)

The fifth volume of Takano Hitomi’s “My Boy” explores Satoko’s new opportunity to return to Tokyo but what happens when Satoko and Mashuu see each other more often again and what happens when you throw Satoko’s younger sister, Mayuko, into the mix? So far, an interesting manga, but a storyline which I worry about where it’s heading.

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MANGA TITLE: My Boy (Watashi no Shonen) vol. 5

YEAR OF RELEASE IN JAPAN: 2018

STORY AND ART BY: Takano Hitomi

FIRST PUBLISHED IN JAPAN: Futabasha Publishers, Ltd.

PUBLISHED IN USA BY: Vertical Comics

RATED: 14+

Available on September 10, 2019

Satoko Tawada, a 30-year-old office worker. Mashuu Hayami, a 12-year-old student. Satoko is transferred to Sendai, and they lose contact. Then, two years later, they meet again, entirely by coincidence, and they reconnect, but struggle with the sense of distance between them. “I will go to Sendai,” states Mashuu. Satoko’s reply is…

In volume 5 of “My Boy”, Two years have passed and Satoko is invited to work back in Tokyo by your job, meanwhile Mashuu is excited that he can see Satoko again, as with Satoko wanting to see Mashu.

But we are introduced to Satoko’s younger sister, Mayuko and we learn more about Satoko’s upbringing and her relation with her own family members.

What is “My Boy” about?

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?

Which leads us to volume 5 as Satoko has been invited by her job to work in Tokyo again, and this is exciting for both Satoko and Mashuu to see each other again. But as Mashuu starts to feel that he may be in love with Satoko, Satoko knows it’s wrong for her to have this type of relationship with a younger boy. Is it motherly? is it romantic?

Meanwhile, Mayuko is starting to pick up on something troubling with her older sister and she tells her sister that if she moves back to Tokyo, she will live with her.

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?

Volume 5 is now making me feel that things are now getting closer to a taboo subject as Mashuu is now wanting to confess his love towards Satoko, and she knows it. But she is not sure how he feels. The introduction of Satoko’s younger sister Mayuko is rather interesting, because now she is providing some sense of trying to explain Satoko’s behavior and why she has gotten close to Mashuu. But also, as a younger sister who worries about her older sister and hoping she doesn’t get herself into trouble.

This is going to be interesting and I’m hoping “My Boy” is not turning out to be like a few Japanese dramas which I have watched that explores those taboo situations. I’m really hoping that this manga series is not that kind of storyline.

Overall, the fifth volume of Takano Hitomi’s “My Boy” explores Satoko’s new opportunity to return to Tokyo but what happens when Satoko and Mashuu see each other more often again and what happens when you throw Satoko’s younger sister, Mayuko, into the mix? So far, an interesting manga, but a storyline which I worry about where it’s heading.

Click here to purchase this manga on Amazon

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