Gee, you’ll never guess what happens in this final volume of My Boy in Blue. Dress uniform, big white dress with veil…what a mystery.
But first, readers must sit through a knife-wielding maniac popping up at the school and Kota’s anger toward Tee.
Chances are you know how those are going to collide, and yes, you would be right. Although Kako spent time in volume 15 trying to persuade Tee to accept he’s a good person, he rejects her request to talk things out with Kota. He ends up marching straight into the suspect that was mentioned at the very end of that volume here, and as the scared adults and children try to quickly flee the building, Kako ends up guarding some kids. The whole scene just wasn’t designed very well. One minute she’s in the hallway with Yui, Ichika, and Tee (and the suspect, of course), suddenly, she’s got some kind of long stick thing and is protecting three frightened little girls. Why there wasn’t another adult around, how Kako find them so quickly, is the big solid black page at the end of the chapter intentional — all things I have no idea about.
My Boy in Blue then spends its next two chapters on Kota confronting the suspect and then Tee himself. Both wrap up just as you expect, but without getting too political, the knife wielder’s comments daring Kota to shoot might sound bizarre to Americans. (Can’t shoot a minor? Police have inaccurate guns?)
Despite the cover, the wedding part is rather short. Instead, most of the finale is spent on an epilogue set a few years into the future. Lots of kids are involved as the chapter jumps between most of the main cast. Either the characters have babies or are not in any official relationship, which made all their situations feel same-y.
On one hand, it isn’t a surprise this is a Kota-centered volume considering the impact of meeting his father’s killer and dealing with his own regrets. I wish there was more reflection on Kako’s part though. I wanted a real heart-to-heart between the main couple, or even just Kako explaining how she’s grown since marrying Kota and her ceremony. It’d lead to a sweeter moment than Kako comparing herself to a PreCure girl before requesting an “I love you” prior to the ceremony. I love how Kota could relate to his father’s feelings at the end, which made for a good ending, but Kako had better emotional moments with Tee or even comedically crying with Mikado at graduation than just a simple “let’s go” to Kota.
The final chapter and the epilogue discusses how Heisuke may have his own high school girl chasing after him. But while the manga appears to hint at a My Boy in Blue 2, the author’s notes indicates Heisuke wouldn’t follow in his superior’s footsteps in getting involved in a teenager. One good thing about a potential second generation story is Heisuke has pretty much already settled his delinquent history, so a sequel would likely avoid much of the tortured past drama that My Boy in Blue had. Yes, this series had serious moments right in the first volume, but for a manga that ended with a wedding ceremony and babies ever after, I wanted a little more fluff and open, sincere conversations to send these characters off with.