Hatoful Kareshi by Moa Hato

This recommended manga really made me gain another prospective. It's changed my life, I think, though whether it was good or bad, is yet to be seen.

Hatoful Kareshi by Moa Hato

Art and story (c) Moa Hato

Genre: 4-koma
Length: 2 Volumes – 16 “Chapters”


             The art is really cute, and for a 4-koma manga, it has lots of detail. It isn't all 4-koma, either, its a bit of a mix of both traditional framing and gag manga. I think it takes some skill to give pigeons such different and engaging facial expressions, as well as such natural looking movement. Now, when the pigeons are in 'human shape' they are a little busy, and I tended to like them more as birds,

Bird-Moe? Somehow, yes.

as strange as that sounds to admit. The human bodies lacked definition and were given overly ornate school outfits that were more distracting than personality completing. Really, I'm kind of at a loss at explaining this manga in any way.
            Saint Pigeonation Academy is an elite school for pigeons, by pigeons and for pigeons. That is all the information I can glean.
            Having never played the dating sim, Hatoful Boyfriend, that this manga is based off of made this a little hard to read, typically that’s how this type of manga is, but I still liked it….? It's charming, though some of the jokes don't seem to work very well in English, I found the characters themselves to be interesting takes on sim tropes and though I didn't understand some of the more inclusive details, I didn't find it (like the person who recommended it to me) to be unreadable with out having played the game it was based on. Most other dating sim manga are impossible and I think this one only passes because of the way it is written and the distinctness of the premise in the first place. It explains itself right at the beginning and the sections are basically giving you one character's personality and elaborating on them as you go. The most interesting parts, for me, were the history lesson pages where the world of Hatoful Kareshi is explained. The most confusing were the sections about the school's doctor, I simply didn't have enough information to put all the pieces together on that front. The whole thing, though, is looked at in a whimsical and objective tone. For example, the protagonist, who would be you if you were playing the game, is never actually seen because dating sims are usually made in that first person perspective, a joke I though was brilliant. There was also silly word changes due to the bird nature of things, like, instead of Valentines, the birds have 'Legumentines' because they like beans so much they've changed the holiday to suit them. Now, I don't really know how much of the humor comes from the game, though, I've heard a lot of about the game, actually, but I've never tried it. Just the premise alone of the term BL being changed to Bird Love is a good enough joke for me to like it, and the fun way this extra information is packaged adds to the whole experience.



3/5 The humor and ridiculousness gets it this far, amazingly.




             And, now that I spent a few hours courting pigeons because I just had to get the perspective, I'd like to add that the manga is a really honest portrayal of the game. Playing the game really added to my liking of the manga, and I recommend anyone who hasn't tried Hatoful Boyfriend to give it ago. As a dating sim its pretty original and not too difficult for anyone who just wants to play casually. Now, who should I seduce next…

It's super effective, apparently.