Watashi no Shounen
My Boy

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I want MORE of this.

This manga is so refreshing; the leads, art, and its plot. if you like shotacon, (REAL SHOTACON, not those whose mc are only young on the age but is looking older than the female mc) this is a good read for you. It is beautifully drawn though there are parts that I didn't appreciate the partitions of panels which is really minor and can easily be overlook. The development is steady and the female lead is level-headed (not those cringe-type)

I'm really curious to how it will turn out so I'm really really looking forward for more updates!

Boi did this one hit close to home.
Ok so I'll start this review by saying that it will include what I consider minor spoilers but may be considered relatively important by others. It's kinda hard to tell more without spoiling you know. Anyways before spoiling anything, let's just say that : it's a cute story about two people having truckloads of affection for each other but everybody else is kinda frowning when looking in their direction. Go read it.

Now onto the real review.
You know, this type of story with an adult and a child getting together by chance and forming a sort of parent-child relationship ... between two somewhat broken people is a type of story that I really like. What I like is the fact that this is about pure love and care. Not romantic love or anything, just love. Two sentient beings manifesting high levels of empathy for no other reason than "my heart fills up with butterflies when I see their smile".
But even though I love these stories, I never can shake the feeling that the author may take the relationship into the nono-zone of the romantic relationship between a thirty+ years old adult and a goddamn kid. I mean, drawings don't have feelings, I don't care, but I personally don't like it.
Watashi no Shounen had me scared at first, but it's not that. Quite the opposite. It plays right in this apprehension, even. I was expecting a parent to child relationship developing over time and how they would support each other through the hardships of society, and I got a story about two aromantic people struggling to come to terms with their feelings and society's expectations while deeply caring for each other.
And this was great. This was awesome. I loved every single page of it.
Oh and of course it's backed up by a wonderful artstyle, I just can't begin to describe how beautiful it looks. It's just... warm. Go read it.

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 define ... or 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.

They're not enough adjectives to describe this master piece, whether it is the character or plot everything just clicks in this manga. You may think "oh it has to be the age gap plot device that makes this compelling like a forbidden fruit" but that is hardly the case, this manga stands alone just on the realistic and dynamic character relations and characterization of the inhabitants that makes you understand the actions and feelings taking place.

The art itself is not outstanding but it has a simple yet very profound touch that makes it perfect for this manga. I would typically say this is manga ... for older readers but I think younger readers would also be able to relate to this. You can tell the author went through pain staking work to be able to write the two main MCs outside of the typical schtick you get in romance manga. To be honest to call this manga a "romance" one would not do it enough justice.

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 playing ... soccer 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 a ... forbidden 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 I ... wanted 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.

The two things I disliked about Watashi no Shounen is how there is something lacking about the other supporting characters (maybe the backstories could have been longer or given more depth), especially that of the MC's parents and his female friend, Ogata, and how the latter part or the ending of the plot seemed rush. I believe the author could have executed it better but it's possible that the author considered doing the ending in a unique way that connects, ties, and ends everything in only 2 chapters or less with the use of symbolism.

Otherwise, I love everything about the manga, especially the art style, ... the way the author told the story and the backstories (symbolisms were everywhere lol), how things were given resolution, the progression (like seeing everyone grow up and what happened to Ogata, which really affected me) and how the author ended the manga in a way that lets the readers imagine in their own way Satoko's and Mashuu's afterstory.

Watashi no Shounen was definitely not cliche and I really love how there were no excessively ecchi scenes or fanservice, unlike most manga that revolves around the concept of "forbidden love".

Anyway, Watashi no Shounen deserves more attention and I'll try my best to promote it. I'm just so happy that I finally was able to finish Watashi no Shounen. Watashi no Shounen will definitely be in the top 10 of my manga favorites and I'll be wishing this gets an anime adaptation someday.