My Boy

Not a couple, not friends, not mother and son, not siblings… We have Satoko, a 30 year-old office lady who suffers from loneliness and doesn’t feel satisfied with her life in any way. On the other hand we have Mashuu, a 12 year-old boy who feels ostracized in school and determined to practice and improve his soccer skills which is the only thing to hold onto in his life. What makes this manga so unique is the way balances are created and maintained in the relationship between the main characters throughout the story. How many manga do you think exist out there that either doesn’t defineor couldn’t define the relation between two people? It just sounds impossible, but it's in fact happens in this manga. When they become gradually involved with each other, I bet you’ll find yourself immersed in this odd and warm relationship, and feel like supporting their future. Even if the ending might kind of leave you disappointed since it doesn’t have a proper conclusion, the mangaka’s success about keeping the balances in the relationships must be greatly appreciated. Individual thoughts, feelings, behaviors and so many details about human psychology are expressed astonishingly beautiful on just two-dimensional papers, and that’s the reason I’ve decided to write this review actually. Many psychological elements are amazingly presented in this manga, like portrayal of mental pain of past traumas and confrontation with them, development of high empathy, true forgiveness towards yourself and others, etc. If you seek psychological depth in the manga you read, then you should really give it a try.

I love reading forbidden love stories. I don't mean the rich girl-poor guy type or love between a couple whose families are bitter enemies. What I meant is the huge age gap in romances, incest, student-teacher, etc. I honestly loved Domestic girlfriend which portrayed all those, but somewhere down the line it lost its track, but Watashi no shounen is an epic manga that didn't do the same mistake. This story is about a 30-year-old lady (Satoko) who is tired of life, tired of being forced to live the rules of society finds a 12-year-old boy who is mostly neglected by his parents in a park playingsoccer at night. They both find solace in each other and are able to forget the pain. But then as you know society doesn't accept this type of relationship and so this is a realistic story about the journey of these two out-of-place characters. The characters are so realistic and relatable that you can feel as if you were them, you can feel their dilemma, you can feel their love. coming to Satoko she is such a mature and pure lady that I would fall in love with her over and over again, I will never forget her. The story tries to do a little bit of a shoujo approach in the middle but then it comes back to the main plot and ends it properly instead of milking fans with tons and tons of chapters with the unwanted and unrealistic storyline. The art is freaking beautiful, the characters look so captivating and realistic that you would forget that these are manga characters. I know the ending kind of pissed of many people, even the author was in a dilemma on how to tackle this tough subject. It felt like she took a cowardly route, but even then I loved the way the story ends in a mature fashion. This is where this manga shined and captured my heart while the manga 'Miman Renai' failed to do so. I know this manga has a shota hentaish plot but please give it a try, it is such a pure story that you will definitely not regret reading this. Just show this story some love and recognition it deserves. Peace.

My Boy is such an emotional experience. The author did a too good job of making me emotionally attached to the two main characters. Out of all of the books, movies, TV shows, and comics I have read and watched, My Boy is one of the few ones that have the characters I feel hopelessly attached to and desperately want happiness for them. Yet, I was incredibly sad that as a reader, I am powerless to steer the plot of the story. The characters (Satoko and Mashuu) and their feelings feel so genuine. I fall in love with them immediately. My Boy is aforbidden love story between a 12-year-old boy and a 30-year-old woman. The author Hitomi Takano gave an interview toward the end of the series, saying she tried to not make this a romance story. I suspect this may be due to some outside pressure. The story, after all, challenges the traditional moral barrier. Even though there is no physical relation between Satoko and Mashuu, most readers would agree with me that the romantic tension between them is strong regardless of what the author said. Here is a slight spoiler. The ending is open to interpretation (maybe due to outside pressure too). It ended when Mashuu is around 15. So obviously, it would not be ok for them to be in a romantic relationship openly yet. But most readers like me, want to see a more definitive ending, the happy one. In our society now, powerful men marry girls 20+ younger frequently. Yet, somehow the other way around is more frowned upon. I am a man and I feel that this is injustice. My Boy tries to break the age and more importantly the traditional moral barrier. Yet I think the author may have fallen under the same traditional moral restriction she tried to break. Either that or the author toyed with my feeling a little. In the end, I have a strong mixed feeling about the ending, because it did not completely finish the way I wanted it to finish. Very few stories have left me with this strong sensation.

This story was (surprisingly) very heartwarming and wholesome. It breaks down the typical age gap relationship manga and shows the reader how a relationship like this can be parasocial. Unlike most oneshota manga, it tells a more realistic and well developed story with fantastic characters that are constantly changing. Highly recommend reading it, not for shota enjoyers but for anyone that wants a story about real characters that become better people and break out of the past pains in their life/childhood. I was shocked with how realistic the characters acted and how their troubles were portrayed I initially started reading the manga because Iwanted to see some lovely artwork and was pleasently surprised with how serious the story got, especially the overall commentary about how unhealthy and parasocial age gap relationships can be, and the nuance on both sides. Came for cute oneshota art, and was drawn in by the emotional & engaging story about love and family.