Reviews for My Boy in Blue

This is one of those mangas that is definitely hit or miss. I personally liked it but that will have to be decided by you all! Also at the time of my writing this there are currently only 6 chapters out so take that as you will. Stuff the summary doesn't tell you that you should know: High Schooler, Kako falls for a guy at an adult party. Later one the next day she finds hes a police officer who lives and works remarkably close to her home. She decides to go forward with a relationship with him but he insists on space because he doesn't wantto disgrace the Police Department.

Story - 7:

While the story seems a lot like an ironic twist on a teacher romance there are some interesting differences. The Police officer is actually responsible about the whole thing. He flat out denies her twice before finally coming to the conclusion that since it is again the law to date her he will marry her, a practice that is legal in Japan (I looked it up y'all ) This is a pretty time worn path but for me it doesn't detract from the story because its what the author decided to do with the path that makes it mediocre or fantastic. It's the interesting twist on the usual student- teacher relationship that makes me love it. I guess I just have a soft spot for police romances.

Art - 7:

The art isn't anything too special, it mirrors many other shojo styles as of recent years. That doesn't make it any better or worse, it just means that you won't be reading this manga for the art.

Character - 7:

The characters are also nothing too far out of the ordinary, the manga characters resemble that of Faster than a Kiss and Tayou no Ie. A quirky girl with not too much sense with a responsible, adult -like, and serious love interest. They even threw in the classic 'scary face when tired' troop. However, this too does not seem like a huge draw back, I personally love watching characters with that type of relationship so while many may not like these types of characters, I still find them rather lovable.

Enjoyment - 9:

This is where P to JK shines I think. It is hilarious. There are not many manga that will make me laugh out loud but this series love to play with the expected roles a lot making for a humerus story. Even the way he proposes is so sudden and ridiculous I just loved it!

Overall - 8:

While I personally gave this manga a higher score, given the use of typical tropes I give it a lower score but this is truly a series that is worth a read weather you think you'll like it or not because the comedy is where it really shines. If your not into comedy based off its common tropes and prefer a unique character, this might not be the manga for you, but for me, I loved it stereotypes an all.

Warning: Spoilers The Synopsis: This shoujo manga is about a female protagonist who falls in love with a local police officer in her city after meeting him at a mixer posing as a twenty-two-year-old with her friend. Although the feelings appear mutual, he rejects her when he later discovers she is considerably underaged and is still in high school. After she protects him in a fight, stepping in and taking a hit from a gun to the head, he finally admits his feelings, but he realizes the only way for them to be together is by marrying. After marrying, the rest of the story follows their domesticlives and unique relationship.

The Art:

In my personal opinion, the art is well-rendered. While at first I didn't like the art, especially the way the male protagonist was drawn especially concerning his hair, I later found myself actually liking the artwork. Like all mangas, different art and styles can always be a little surprising at first somehow, but this art was actually a pleasant surprise!

The Characters:

In terms of character development, this manga is especially strong. I like the personalities developed immediately in the first volume. The heroine is not a wimp, and I really struggle to get through mangas with wimpy characters, and I have read all five, and going on six, of the manga installments, so that's is saying something in regards to the heroine of the story. The male is a little less developed for me, but he is later fleshed out in the upcoming volumes after the first.

The Plot:

This is where I start to have troubles with this manga, but most are eliminated after the first volume, so that is the good news. First, I honestly felt the story was only supposed to be one volume. I say this because everything is neatly tied up in the final chapter of the first volume by the characters marrying. And also, speaking of marrying, I thought this was an extremely unrealistic solution to their not being able to have a proper relationship. The characters know each other so very little and rush into marriage too fast. I personally think rushing into the marriage also releases a lot of the good tension developed in those first few chapters, and I would have liked the tension to last a little bit longer. In terms of the plot after the first volume of the manga, I give a thumbs up though! It turns out to still be very interesting!

Summing Up:

I recommend this manga. I'm already looking forward to the next chapter! Though the manga has its imperfections, most do, and it's all pretty subjective anyway. I hope everyone has as much fun reading this shoujo manga as I did!

A fun manga to read. The idea is actually pretty interesting. Not to much is wrong with this and the characters are fun. There are some issues though. Such as how fast they both get married and the reasoning as to why they can get married but not date each other makes little sense. We are given a cast of support characters that don't seem to do much and then near the end they are suddenly seeming much more important characters.You don't get much relationship build up . Even though they are newly weds they do very little together.

This is down to more opinion. But the Police man ( Can't remember his name) Finds his old high school friend. The story shows these two together as high school students and it just makes me want to read a story about them falling in love during High School. The actual relationship seems more believable then his current relationship. I think that it could have been a story in it's own of them falling in love

Overall just a fun story to read.

My Boy in Blue is a short and sweet shojo story about a 24-year-old police officer marrying a 16-year-old high school girl. Surprisingly, their love story is rarely creepy. Their age difference does come up at times and some of the adult characters, like Sagano (the 24-year-old), are acutely aware of the situation, but it's hardly dramatic enough to keep mentioning throughout the series. Most of the time it's just a story about a normal couple, but without sex. That said, the story doesn't really do anything different went it comes to other romantic stories. The characters are a bit more mature and understanding their ageswould let on, but for the most part, it's very standard. It takes a while for the two to hug let alone kiss. By the end, the relationship does feel fulfilling. There are two flashforwards, one of the wedding and one when all the characters have kids. It's nice to see their relationship "finish" and see how far Kako (16-year-old-girl) has grown into a strong woman.

My biggest issue is that you can tell this wasn't supposed to be a long-running series, and the author even admits that. There is a good chunk of the second half of this manga where Kako and Sagano are not the main characters. They take a backseat to the side-characters as the author explores their traumatic backstories. It's very welcome, but at the same time, it felt like we put Kako and Sagano's story on hold for 6 or so volumes.

Hei-chan gets more character development than the titular couple. And I'm happy for him, he's a great character, but when the final volume came around and everyone was graduating high school, moving on with their lives, getting married, having some kids, it really felt like Kako and Sagano were much too easy as a couple and while their love showed it wasn't as impactful as it should have been.

There's a great scene where Sagano is really feeling his age when Kako and her friends come over to his place. I thought that was a really good character moment as it brought back the thing that the manga was trying not to mention (their age difference) and I really wished there were more of those scenes.

Overall, this was a really good manga. It does tackle childhood abuse, but at the end of the day, it's very much about redemption and moving forward with your life. The romance may not be spectacular, but you'll still feel good.

[WORK AND AUTHOR] P to JK - Police and Joshi Kousei (High School Girl) is a manga of the romance genre and shoujo demography, written and drawn by Maki Miyoshi, and which has sixty-five chapters published between 2012 and 2020. Miyoshi began his career as a manga artist in early 2009 by publishing a one-shot called "Akarui Mirai" within the Kindan no Koibito collection published by Bessatsu. She worked on a few more small projects before starting P to JK, her most successful work. Winning the 41st Kodansha Manga Awards in the shoujo category and having his work adapted for live action in 2017. His most recentwork is called Yoru no Shita de Machiawase.

[PLOT AND CONTEXT] The plot revolves around Kako Motoya, a high school girl who falls in love with a police officer when pretending to be an older girl at a mixer, he learns the truth and walks away because she is a high school girl. But Kako doesn't give up and ends up being attacked when trying to protect him from a delinquent. This initial incident is the kickoff for the romance of the two to begin, moving soon after to a quick official marriage (this is because in Japan until the year 2020, the minimum age to marry was 18 years for men and 16 for women).

But, in the course of the chapters, the story takes the focus away from the novel and starts to deal with matters related to crimes, such as domestic violence, parental abuse and murder. The role of the police as an agent to resolve these problems and often the lack of confidence that some people have due to bad experiences with this security body are also treated points of the story. But, above all, as a human being he does need to pay for his crimes and bad acts, but he may also need a little empathy from others in order to have the chance to reconcile and change as a person.

[CHARACTERS] What I can say about the characters is that they are consistent; each has a well solidified personality. Okami in particular (who you will meet) was the one that received the greatest evolution within the story and is one of the best characters. As for the protagonist, Kako Motoya, she is the typical heroine who wants to save everyone she can, often getting herself into trouble. The police officer and husband of the protagonist, Kouta-kun, is a bit cold due to a sad and traumatic past, but very mature.

The author was careful not to add or romanticize anything abusive in their relationship, which I found very positive. Because the difference in age and maturity has to be taken into account, Kako being younger and more immature would be dangerously more susceptible to falling for the lip of an experienced man. But her family (mother and father) were together all the time and Kouta himself, as a police officer, is a man of character.

Overall, it's a nice story to read. Recommend to pass the time.

April 22, 2023, Saturday

Really good and worth a re-read one of these days. Well-developed romances and also nice platonic relationships between unexpected characters, even with the ML. They never feel like they detract from the story though, even if it is about the titular couple, as it always relates back to them in some way. Towards the end though is where you will really feel the pressure as conflicts arise, especially for the main couple. Be relieved to know that this conflict is handled maturely and with much thoughtfulness and will not ultimately leave you with a bad taste in the end. This is especially helped by ML trying hisbest efforts not to hurt MC and using strategies like saying "I will leave the conversation before I say anything irreversible" and MC standing up for herself and her needs. There is also a moment that was about to turn sexual (but not for good reasons!) which was handled really well and does not leave you thinking "wow so in the end this was just a shallow trope-indulging manga that doesn't care to build a genuine relationship between two people trying to work together." Although you may be put off by second ML's role in this and say "she should've been with second ML instead," I'd disagree, because I'd argue the ML deserves to have his bad moments even if he is older as he's human too, and it's well written (plus I already have my 100% heartwarming, closely-bonded romances that are also age gap so it's not like every age gap romance has to be the most transcendental, happy-go-lucky bond ever).

There are some aspects of this story that make it not quite perfect though. First, comedic moments are often ill-timed and provoke questions as to what's actually going on. For instance, far into the story when the main relationship is established the MC saying that ML "treats her like he's her guardian" because of a lack of advances seems to be something that's not to be joked with, especially with a manga that deals with heavy themes and generally tries to address many aspects of their age gap relationship (a process that is expected to be uncomfortable and thought-provoking). Luckily, this doesn't happen very often to be a glaring issue. Second, while I appreciate a rather "heroic" MC it can be puzzling as to why she cares so much for certain characters. And... that's about it honestly.

Overall an enjoyable read for me. I'm wondering myself why I didn't give it higher than a 7, but I think it's just because it's decently enjoyable with forgivable flaws, but not particularly outstanding in any way. Characters: The male lead is probably my favourite character here. I rather enjoy his personality, and it's enjoyable to have an adult male who knows what to do in situations(probably the main reason). I don't fangirl over him at all, but I enjoy seeing his kind of person in my romance stories. Main girl isn't that amazing. Quite typical as heroines in these stories go. She isn't the most mature, butshe doesn't throw a jealous fit and is surprisingly not overly annoying. Side characters are alright. I'm ok whether or not they're there or not there, and don't mind having the spotlight shift to them.

Overall characters are a 7, not really a cast I aspire to be friends with, but I don't mind watching them and they don't annoy me overly in general.

Possible spoilers, but no explicit spoilers:

I must say that the manga sorts of goes into another phase after the first few chapters. Literally things just suddenly get started, and I really found myself saying out loud, "well that escalated quickly." But don't get thrown off, it actually gets better.

I rather like how things progress after that. It ends up being like a normal shoujo manga without too much drama, which is always welcome. And perhaps even better because the relationship between our characters is rather straightforward without too much annoying misunderstandings, though there's always the magical trope where someone comes and interrupt at important moments.

Here's where I think it either bores you or you enjoy it. Thing is, if you just enjoy seeing rather tame couple interactions and a story that's more slice of life than drama, it's likely that you'll enjoy this. If you're looking for drama, lots of romance, amazing character development, deep insight into relationships, realistic romances or any of these things, you probably will be disappointed. This manga has some attempt to tell a story, but it isn't going out of its way to give you anything deep or amazing. Which might be for the better, at least it keeps within safe boundaries and doesn't fail while aiming too high. Hence the 7 but not an 8 or higher.

Overall, you should be able to get a sense of the type of story after the first five chapters. I won't say it's a must-read, but if you're time to spare and don't want anything too heavy, this one's an okay to pick up. Just make sure you know what to expect and you'll be set.