♥ My Hatoful Boyfriend Diary ♥

Hatoful Boyfriend is an interactive visual novel, developed by PigeoNation Inc. and Mediatonic. It follows the story of a girl who has enrolled as the only human in a school for gifted birds. The player can then make friends and romance different male, avian characters, resulting in multiple branching paths and possible endings.

It’s surprisingly well-written, amusing and actually quite touching. If you feel like playing a short, farcical game, this is the one for you. To help you decide, here is my interpretation of one of fifteen possible story-lines, from the perspective of the main character.

Osamu’s diary of sophomore year at St. PigeoNation’s Institute

8th April.

Today was my first day back~

Ryouta was meant to meet me before school, but he barely made it to class on time. He’s in my tutor group again this year, so I can’t let myself get annoyed at him this early. And I don’t know anybirdie else in class T_T. Most of the students I’m with this year are total jerks, too. There’s Okusan, a jock who can barely speak Japanese (what a baka), Sakuya, some uppity rich dove who won’t even speak to me, and my teacher Kazuaki, who just sleeps through every class.

I did meet one nice guy, though. A fantail dove, Yuuya. He’s so dreamy~ ♪ Ryouta says he’s always flirting with girls, but has never had a girlfriend. Challenge accepted! He’s in the year group above me, but I’m sure I’m old enough for him. After all, he couldn’t be more than a couple of years old.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better. We get to pick which school club to join later this week, too! I wonder if Yuuya’s part of any… I’ll ask Ryouta.

11th April

Ryouta didn’t know which club Yuuya was part of, but it turns out that he’s the rich bird Sakuya’s brother. How can such a perfect guy like Yuuya be related to someone as fowl as him?! Anyway, I have it all planned. Sakuya is part of the student council. And now I am too.

Sakuya was as rude as usual today. He demanded I have some ambition and be the vice president… but there’s only two of us. I can call it whatever I want and I’m still beneath his lordship. I asked him about Yuuya and he just ignored me. They don’t get on, but I’ll figure this out. I have all the ambition I need.

21st April

We went on a class hike today. I asked Ryouta if I could spend the day with Sakuya, but he didn’t really mind. We’ve not been talking much the last few weeks, and when we have it’s usually about Yuuya… hopefully he’s not upset. Actually, he’s a pigeon. Who cares?

Sakuya was totally out of his comfort zone. His feathers were a mess and I’m pretty sure if he could sweat he would have been. I didn’t bother bringing Yuuya up too much. I don’t want to scare away my only route in. Sakuya mentioned that neither of them would be racing at the sports day next month, and that’s all I needed. We ended up walking behind the rest of the class until he got his breath back. By the end of the day he was back to acting like a peacock.

21st May

Today was sports day. I’ve been neglecting gym class, since I knew I wouldn’t be racing, so I was allowed to pick a job to help out. Yuuya was in the infirmary tent, in case anybirdie got injured in the races. I asked him if I could help, but he just spent the day teaching me how to wrap wounds, like a doctor or something. He didn’t even compliment me like he does the other girls.

And worst of all? Ryouta had to go and hurt himself in the three legged race. I ended up talking to him more than Yuuya. Yuuya said my big human hands were too clumsy to do it right. Whatever, I don’t care. I’ll get him to notice me, even if I have to tape wings to my back.

20th July

It’s the end of the first term, and I’ve had no luck with Yuuya recently. I’m starting to wonder if there’s any point. He treats every other girl in school like a piece of bread to gawk at. And then here I am, the crumbs.

I spent the day cleaning up the student council room with Sakuya. He was actually a gentleman for once. He picked up a tiny, bird-sized mop and spent the day wiping the floors while I sorted out all our paperwork. He even told me not to feel down about Yuuya, that Yuuya was only a half-breed. I didn’t want to ask too much about it, but that must be why they don’t talk much. It sounds like Yuuya hasn’t got much to do with their flock anymore. 

1st September

I have been awful with this diary lately. Summer was so busy with working at the café and writing up my project that I’ve barely scribbled Yuuya’s name down. Well, diary, you haven’t missed much. I didn’t speak to anyone over the summer, but from the sounds of it, we’ve all been busy doing our own thing. Ryouta’s mother got worse, so he’s had to work three jobs to help look after her, and Sakuya’s been hiding in his nest from the summer sun.

He had a fight with that jock, Okusan, today too. The first day back and he’s already at people’s throats. For a bird that’s meant to be a sign of peace, he doesn’t do a very good job of staying out of trouble. Okusan started pecking him all over, so I jumped between them and tossed Okusan out the window. I tried to speak to Sakuya about it later in the music room. He was playing piano and just stared into the distance, tickling the ivories with his wings. He said I should invite Yuuya to the autumn festival. He’s never been so encouraging like that before. I don’t get it.

31st October

Oops! Another two months with nothing said. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, I guess. Yuuya’s been as distant as ever, and I’ve not felt like writing. I try to speak to him in the halls, but he just flies by without a second look. The autumn festival was today. The school was putting on a haunted house, and everyone wanted to go but Sakuya. I guess rich boys don’t do well with monsters?

He asked me what I was doing, so I just took him into town instead. There were some stalls selling treats and masks and he bought me some candied apples. He was amazed at how I could bite chunks out of it. It took him all day to peck through his. It was a lot of fun, actually. He’s nicer than he pretends to be.

10th November

Not much has happened lately, but I’ve promised I’d update you regularly! I’m trying to get fit again, since I let myself go a little over the summer. I want to look good for the holidays, you know? No more udon noodles for me. Just running, and swimming, and maybe some of Ryouta’s birdseed.

Actually, I saw Yuuya while swimming today. He was having a fight with Sakuya over who could swim faster. He even asked me who I thought would win. They’re birds, so I just said neither. I thought their feathers would get all wet and they’d just sink. Apparently they’re amazing swimmers. Who w0uld have thought?

It felt strange to watch them swim. I felt all tingly, watching their feathery chests get wet like that… is that weird? I guess not, I’ve been chasing after Yuuya all year. Sakuya looked great, too, which I didn’t expect. I think he turned one recently, so he should have reached sexual maturity by now…

This is getting weird. Should I rub that bit out?  —- Note to self: Stop writing in pen

24th December

Today was… unexpected. Sakuya and Yuuya’s family are originally from Europe, so they celebrate some kind of festival around this time of year. Sakuya asked if I could come, so I was the only low born person there. Well, I was the only person. You know what I mean.

We had a good night. We danced, and had some drinks and foods that I’d never tried before. It turns out that high born birds eat snails instead of worms. Is that really any better? I pretended to enjoy them. Sakuya seemed happy enough with that.

Yuuya didn’t even show up, but I’m starting to give up on him altogether. I haven’t even scribbled his name in the margins of my workbook for, like, 3 days. Sakuya said they hadn’t spent the end of the year together in years, so we just talked to each other instead, and he played some songs on the piano for me. He said that he hopes San-Talons is good to him this year. Foreigners are weird.

14th February

Sorry for another big break, diary. The last few months have been a bit of a whirlwind. I haven’t even seen Yuuya this term. I’ve mostly been talking to Ryouta (obviously) and Sakuya. He’s a really cool guy. He’s been helping me in music class and has taught me a lot about high society, and I’ve told him about humans and how my life was before I came here.

If you hadn’t guessed, diary, today was Legumintine’s day. It’s a tradition here to give some beans to the boy you like, so I made a trip to the store earlier and bought the fanciest, most expensive beans I could find. Ryouta helped me choose them, but kept going on about how he hoped he’d get some. Maybe if he spoke to some other girls, he would. He’s meant to have almost 360 degree vision, but he’s so blind to the truth sometimes.

I managed to find Sakuya in the music room again. He seemed… surprised. I guess he thought I would give mine to Yuuya. He took the beans from me and said he would keep them. It’s funny, he acts like everything is beneath him, but looks happy whenever I give him even the littlest gift.

He said he’ll meet me tonight. We’re going to go for a walk under the stars. I never thought I’d end up with a boyfriend like him – all hard on the inside yet soft in the middle. I guess not all birds come out of their shell as soon as they’re out of the egg.

I think I’ll stop writing in here for a while. I have something… no, someone, to dedicate my evenings to now. ♥