The Only Female Bird in the Game (or, Azami Koshiba Speaks)

Elana Lev Friedland

February 14, 2018

“Let’s get something out of the way first: Hatoful Boyfriend is, indeed, a Japanese pigeon dating
simulator. It is a game in which you romance pigeons. You, the central character, are not a
pigeon – you are a girl, who is embarking on her second year at St Pigeonation’s Academy for
Gifted Students, and every other student there is a bird.”
– The Guardian’s Hatoful Boyfriend Review

 

Too sexy, too cool, too
pink scooter scooting: Hell
hath no fury like a
birdie scorned. Thistle named
meaning sharp. No rock dove,
no king quail: true sparrow
my sweet little protégée.
Wait’ll they get a taste
of sparrow kick smackdown—
bugger off, budgerigars!
Eye ring pink, mauve stomach
I know which hues chicks dig.
Us ladies are going
to ride tandem all night
pink skin matching pink bird
matching pink bike. Your cave
an invitation I
couldn’t refuse. No boy
bird enough for you.
Everything about you
screams sparrow. I’ll look to
the future, cruise the speed
limit—together: our
all-girl delinquent gang
beak clicks to lips, whisper
Carve it into your soul, kid.
Carve it into your soul.