This volume is a bit of a fake-out. Kako and her friends Mikado and Jiro are all, quite frankly, idiots. And their lack of brainpower presents quite a problem with exams coming up. Kota ends up being their tutor, and he quickly learns that three morons in a room = bad idea. Separating them is only a minor step up because not only do they still have trouble (or just plain don’t want to do) schoolwork, but Mikado and Jiro take this opportunity to ask Kota nosy questions. Kota also tries to ask a few of his own and probably has some new scars because of it. Either way, all three don’t want to attend make-up classes, but Kako is particularly motivated once Kota promises to take her on vacation.
Finishing that one chapter pretty much ends the silly comedy.
At the very end of the manga, author Miyoshi apologies “for the lack of steamy content” here.
Kako decides she’d like to visit Kota’s sister and stop by his parents’ grave, and there’s a bit of fun as Kako goes gaga over old pictures and videos. However, the bulk of the volume is dedicated to Kota’s rebellious teen years and his relationship with an old friend.
An old female friend. A female friend who had very shoujo manga-like interactions with him including:
- Being committee members together
- Him admiring the girl’s guts for yelling at him
- Her happening to see him in a fight
All this is recounted to Kota’s sister, and the fact that their high school days sounds like the start of a romance story is not lost on her. In fact, she mistakes them for a couple when Kota and his old friend, Aya, remeet. Present day Kota is absent once Aya starts telling her story, so we don’t get to see how he remembers the past or what stood out most to him. It’s obvious that she’s someone important to him although he’s put the time spent in his short-lived hometown in the back of his mind.
So not only is there a lack of “steamy content”, but there’s a lack of romance between the two leads. I’m not against learning more about young, delinquent Kota — in fact, it’s interesting to see him torn between trying to be an independent tough guy and a young man who wants to see his dad support him more. But I wish this would have been a story that Kota told Kako, not one being told by Aya to his sister. It would make everything more emotional, but I’m sure Kota’s version would be less detailed. Still, it would help add at least some romance and bring the main couple closer together as a couple. If much of My Boy in Blue volume 5 is going to show a romance that could have been, I want both Kota and Kako to appreciate the path they’ve chosen, one that has tied them together.