Hatoful Boyfriend
A dating sim where every love interest is a bird.
Hatoful Boyfriend: A School of Hope and White Wings is a Japanese dōjin soft otome visual novel released in 2011 for Microsoft Windows and OS X, in which all the characters other than the protagonist are sapient birds. It was developed by manga artist Hato Moa's dōjin circle PigeoNation Inc., and is the successor of a Flash game of the same name she created for April Fools' Day in 2011. A free demo version made with the FamousWriter engine was released later that year, followed by a full commercial version released on 30 October 2011 at Comitia 98. An English version was released in February 2012. An international remake by Mediatonic and Devolver Digital, dubbed Hatoful Boyfriend HD in Japan, was released on 4 September 2014 for Windows, OS X, and Linux, and for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita on 21 July 2015 in North America and 22 July 2015 in Europe. A port for iOS was released on 25 May 2016.
Quick Facts
- Platforms
- Android
- iOS
- Microsoft Windows
- OS X
- Linux
- PlayStation 4
- PlayStation Vita
- Genre
- Nakige
- dating sim
- otome
- Developer
- PigeoNation Inc., Mediatonic (remake)
- Publisher
- PigeoNation Inc., Devolver Digital (remake)
- Director
- Hato Moa, Jeff Tanton (remake)
- Producer
- Hato Moa
- Anna Morris (remake)
- Luke Borrett (remake)
- Programmer
- Hato Moa
- Sherif Aziz (remake)
- Lindsay Cox (remake)
- Artist
- Hato Moa
- Gregor Kari (remake)
- Adam Walker (remake)
- Celine Choo (remake)
- Marija Tiurina (remake)
Facts from the source article.
Plot
Hatoful Boyfriend takes place in an alternate Earth where sapient birds have replaced humans in society, for reasons hinted at but not fully explained in the dating simulation portion. In Bad Boys Love, it is revealed that the setting is a post-apocalyptic dystopia: a pandemic of a mutated H5N1 bird flu nearly wiped out humanity in 2068. A counter-virus intended to destroy avian carriers backfired, granting birds human-level intelligence. War erupted between uplifted birds and human remnants, with birds emerging dominant as humans continued to die. After terrorist attacks by a human insurgency, surviving humans were forced into wilderness segregation. The story primarily occurs at St. PigeoNation's Institute in the fictional Littledove Hachiman City, long after open warfare ended. Society has adapted with bird-related cultural changes, such as Legumentine's Day blending Valentine's Day and Setsubun. Political factions include the Dove Party (advocating peace with humans) and the Hawk Party (seeking human extermination). The protagonist is a boisterous hunter-gatherer living in a cave. Her eight potential love interests include Ryouta Kawara, a rock dove and sickly childhood friend, and Sakuya Le Bel Shirogane, a fantail pigeon and snobbish French aristocrat.
Development
Hatoful Boyfriend is the first game by manga artist Hato Moa, creator of Vairocana and a former Dengeki Comic Grand Prix honoree, working under her dōjin circle PigeoNation Inc. Lacking game development experience, Hato chose the visual novel format as easier for amateurs and because it allowed visuals to accompany her stories, which she as a manga artist considered necessary. The concept began as a 2011 April Fools' Day joke parodying otome game stereotypes; birds were chosen due to Hato's fondness for pigeons, and using bird photographs instead of hand-drawn sprites let her focus on writing. The initial Flash browser game was created in half a day and posted, but taken down after traffic crashed the server twice. Following its unexpected popularity, development began on a longer visual novel using the FamousWriter engine. Hato handled most technical aspects—direction, scripting, programming—with artist Damurushi assisting on script and art direction. The roughly seven-month development period was mostly devoted to narrative construction. Hato aimed to create something seemingly ridiculous that revealed depth upon exploration, but found it difficult to reconcile darker plot elements, especially Bad Boys Love, with the quickly conceived comedic pilot, leading to timeline inconsistencies. She was critical of her scenarios and doubted whether the final product turned out well.
Reception
As a dōjin soft title with limited budget and promotion, Hatoful Boyfriend achieved commercial success through strong word of mouth on Twitter and other social media. Mado no Mori reported that physical CD-ROM copies consistently sold out at dōjin markets and wherever available, and 4Gamer.net noted the game disk was difficult to purchase due to overwhelming demand. Outside Japan, the English release on DLsite English became that distributor's best-selling title with 7,000 purchases as of 2014. Reviewers generally praised the game's writing and storyline depth. Kouichi Kirishima of Mado no Mori recommended it to anyone who enjoys visual novels, noting it is at times surprisingly serious and emotionally involved. Julian Murdoch of Gamers With Jobs described the scenarios as elaborate and multifaceted, calling Hato Moa a good storyteller. GameCola named Hatoful Boyfriend the best PC game of 2012, with Paul Franzen citing the strength of its storytelling and pathos. Carly Smith of The Escapist remarked that the game is absolutely hilarious but recommended players start for a laugh and stick with it for an unexpected ride.
Frequently Asked Questions
What platforms is Hatoful Boyfriend available on?
Hatoful Boyfriend was released for Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita.
Who directed Hatoful Boyfriend?
Hatoful Boyfriend was directed by Hato Moa, Jeff Tanton (remake).
More in Dating Sims
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced