Part 67: Hatoful Manga - Overload! Overflow! EX

Extra unused content? That sounds like the perfect segue / excuse to squeeze in a second review today:


_{This cover is less exciting than usual, but still good}

Hatoful Boyfriend: OVERLOAD! OVERFLOW! EX

So!

This one is going to take a bit more backstory than usual.

See, Hatoful Boyfriend had a manga series which ran on a webcomic anthology site called Manga Life WIN+. It ran for a total of 16 chapters comprised of 4-panel comics. The first 12 chapters got published in a trade paperback / tankōbon, along with a bonus feature. However, the other 4 abandoned chapters weren't enough material to do another print volume, and so the author faced a dilemma. The eventual solution was to create some bonus material, primarily a Hato House 10-page story, and publish the whole thing as an E-Book. The end result is what we have here: Overload! Overflow! EX.

_{Just for completeness, this is the cover of the actual 1-12 tank}


It's... not bad. For somebody who has already read the 4-panel comics from its original serialization run, there's not much new here for you. For somebody who hasn't, it would feel slightly incomplete, and there's no official English translation of the tankōbon, nor is there an E-Book of the tank's Japanese version, so it's hard to grasp from that angle as well. There are, of course, based solutions to both of these problems (although it's not really an issue since the manga itself is serialized for free online, so the English translations being serialized for free online is something the author is reportedly fine with). The end result, regardless, is that English audiences have no way to pay for the entire thing in order to support the creator. Since it's a gag comic with minimal plot, it's not like reading 1-12 is needed to enjoy 13-16... It would just be nice, and any excuse to give Hato Moa more money for these is good.

The bonus story is funny and cute, and shows off another IRL bird-based business akin to Kenzaburou's cafe: This time, however, it's a public bath-house! However, since it's a Hato House flashback story, there aren't any shenanigans with the main cast. However, for those who want to see more about Hitori's charges from the House, including their human form sketches, this is a neat pick-up. My biggest complaint about it, personally, is that the price does not match with the content at all: It's the most expensive of all the manga E-Books, despite being almost entirely re-printed free serialized content.

Overall, however, the content is still great, and the bonus story is good enough: I'll give this one 8 bathing birdies out of 10.

Hatoful Boyfriend Overload! Overflow! EX is $3.00 and can be bought here.

Oh, and Hato Moa has announced a new non-canon tie-in: Super Glyph Quest will have a Hatoful Boyfriend sidestory, complete with new Moa-made fantasy art of Anghel, Shuu-Wallenstein, mind-controlled Yuuya, and the Punkgeons! The announcement is over here