My Boy in Blue volume 6 is essentially the yin to the previous volume’s yang.
The story continues with Aya telling about her past with Kota. I complained last time that this arc took away much of the lighthearted fun even though seeing Kota in the past was good for his characterization. But like volume 5, the tone in the opening chapter segues into a change in tempo — only this time, it’s back to comedy.
Unfortunately, the comedy is a bit forced considering that, to riff off a famous line, “Of all the vacation joints in all the towns in all the world, the class walks into mine.”
After Kota and Aya both assure his sister that there isn’t any remaining romantic feelings between the two, Kota happily comes home to Kako. There’s still some misunderstandings happening about the rest of their trip, and she’s very nervous about kissing — let alone going to the hotel. Readers of course know that Kota is keeping things rated PG, but their vacation comes to an abrupt end when they run into Mikado and Jiro. But it’s not just them: the whole class has decided to go to the beach and share a guesthouse. So not only does the romantic trip come to an end but also no nice hotel. Kota ends up being a chaperone for the teens, so the couple’s time together is very limited but sweet. Later, Kako is disappointed when Kota ends up having to work on her birthday, but, just like at the beach, their short time together is fluffy but brief.
You probably have already gathered that I’m not a fan of the beach interruption. Mikado says she never thought to ask, but this is a character who has no problem teasing the older Kota and is always asking for details. Mikado never asked? Odd. A couple of new characters are introduced, but I have a feeling they’re not going to be regulars. It’d be nice if they were to make the fact that Kako and Kota bumped into a large group of students have more purpose than interrupting their trip.
But what is getting more attention is Mikado and Jiro’s relationship. Kota has already realized how Mikado feels, but Kako finally picks up on the clues. The two can be a riot together (Mikado yells her way into convincing Jiro that she told him that Kako was coming with them on their trip). More importantly, while having an angry person in love plus a clueless object of their affection is a standard setup in Japanese fiction, My Boy in Blue could use a dash of a normal (well, manga level normal) romance to balance Kako and Kota’s.
Might be especially nice since the volume ends with Kota getting a surprise. Going back through the story, little comments from Jiro and his sister make a lot of sense. That makes it better than the run in at the beach, and I’d like to see more of these subtle hints rather than amazing coincidences.