It may seem hard to believe now, but it’s been nearly seven years since the first release of Hatoful Boyfriend in Japan, six here in the US. I’m sure we all remember the pigeon dating sim/visual novel, which became a cult legend before it was even released. What if I told you, its creator, Hato Moa, was working on a follow-up called Black Holmes? What happened to that game?
Elementary, My Dear Noah
Black Holmes was officially announced by Moa sometime in 2012. The soonest I could find was at Comiket 82, a twice annual comic convention in Japan. There, these pamphlets were handed out advertising the game. They give some details on its two leads, Moa, and American writer Luke O’Brien.
Word of the game didn’t officially leave Japanese shores until January 2013, when the Black Holmes website went live. The website was entirely in Japanese, but an eventual English version arrived to give us the details. Unfortunately, the Japanese site has been taken down, replaced by a single image of one of the characters and the words “We’ll Be Back.”
As the name and artwork implied, Black Holmes was a twist on the classic Sir Arthur Conan Doyle character Sherlock Holmes. Three alternate Conan characters were announced, including Noah Holmes, Judas Moriarty, and a mysterious woman named Ray.
For more about what Black Holmes is or was, and, more importantly, what happened to it, check out the video above. If you want to see more riveting videos just like this one, check out our YouTube channel.
