Battle Royale Manga
Synopsis Every year, a class is randomly chosen to be placed in a deserted area where they are forced to kill each other in order to survive. Initially believing to be on a graduation trip, Shuuya Nanahara and the rest of Shiroiwa Junior High's Class B find that they have been chosen to participate in this game of life and death known as 'The Program.' Waking up to the realization that they have been quarantined on an island, the 42 students discover they have been fitted with metal collars which will detonate if certain conditions are not met. In order to obtain freedom, they must slaughter everyone else by whatever means necessary, and the last one standing is deemed the winner.
As each member of the class heads down their own path, Shuuya makes it his goal to get off the island without playing the game in order to put an end to this madness once and for all. Written by MAL Rewrite. Background Battle Royale is an adaptation of Koushun Takami's novel of the same name which was published in April 1999 (and later published in English by VIZ Media).
The novel was adapted into a live-action film the following year and became one of Japan's highest grossing films, though it was condemned by the National Diet. The series was published in English by Tokyopop from May 13, 2003 to April 11, 2006. The Tokyopop version was extensively rewritten by Keith Giffen which eventually led to contradictions and plot holes in the later volumes. Tokyopop rereleased the series in 5 omnibus volumes under the name Battle Royale: Ultimate Edition from October 16, 2007 to February 10, 2009.
It was also published in Brazilian Portuguese by Conrad from November 2006 to November 2011 and in Polish by Waneko since March 2012 to March 4, 2015. Overall 9 Story 10 Art 10 Character 9 Enjoyment 8 A Psychological, Action, Thriller that will take you on the most extreme thrill ride you can imagine. But be warned, you must be 18. Battle Royale is basically about survival of the fittest, where kids have to duke it out with each other in a sort of 'last man standing game'.
This interesting plot brings forth a great deal intensity and emotional turmoil, of which you have never seen. It’s also surprising how long and in-depth the story is, even though it only covers a short time-frame. The problem with this set-up is that it almost completely removes the thought of getting attached to any characters because they usually end up the same way. However at least some of them are developed so well that you cannot help but get attached to them. The artwork is perfect in depicting a disturbing amount of gore and violence that you'll feel sick to the stomach, because the one thing this manga is famous for is going over the top. A lot of readers may have a problem with the extreme level of gore but one thing I personally had a problem with was how old the students looked, when they were supposed to be 15-16.
Battle Royale is an excitingly, gut-wrenching manga that will keep you on edge. It is really interesting how this manga was put together, in 15 Volumes, without the story feeling dragged. However the TokyoPop version did mess it up a bit with their poor translations. BR is also one of the few manga out there that allow readers to express so many emotions; from sadness, to frustration. Unlike the similar manga 'Gantz' BR has this lingering feeling of hopelessness that makes the story very depressing.
With this really depressing story it can make Battle Royale less enjoyable to read but there are plenty of shocking moments and cliff-hangers to keep you going. Overall 9 Story 9 Art 9 Character 10 Enjoyment 9 A few years ago I saw a god-awful movie called Battle Royale, I discussed the movie with a friend and he said: Well if you hate the movie that much but liked the concept why don’t you read the original source material. This came as a shock to me at that time, I had no idea that the movie was based on a novel. I never got my hands on the novel so I decided to buy the manga.
I was astonished with the artwork in Volume 1, I kept staring at certain panels trying to figure out how much work they put into this. I was determined to add the complete series to my collection. Volume 1 starts of with introducing the main characters and a little of their background.
Battle Royale (バトル・ロワイアル, Batoru Rowaiaru) is a 2000 Japanese dystopian film adapted from the 1999 novel of the same name by Koushun Takami. Battle Royale Manga - Read Battle Royale Manga chapters online for free at MangaPark.
Unlike most series the main characters are not the only ones with a well thought out background. Every student in Battle Royale is a character so well developed that it could breath and walk right of the panels. I could even sympathize with the most evil of characters. The artwork is extremely detailed, and not always for the faint of heart. One of the few flaws of Battle Royale in my opinion may be hidden within the beautiful artwork.
Sometimes panels are so extremely detailed that it may be nauseating to stare at it too long. If you like a little gore, some sexy antagonists, a flinch of love and an air of despair, then there is not another manga I could recommend as much as Battle Royale. Overall 10 Story 10 Art 10 Character 10 Enjoyment 10 'Kill or be killed. This is how this fucking game works'. It's more violent than your Tokyo Ghoul and much more emotional than Eren's mom being munched by a Titan. This, ladies and gentlemen is 'Battle Royale' - an original story featuring a very gruesome gladiator fight imposed by the government act, between innocent teenagers on a deserted island. One thing is for sure - Battle Royale encapsulates trust, betrayal, love, insanity, gore, fear, anxiety, despair for survival and most importantly, hope into this incredible 15 volume manga that is just incomparable with the movie.
For most of you out there, who've seen the Battle Royale movie and are bitching how it's better than its 'successor' The Hunger Games You haven't read the manga or the novel that was used to make, what is in my eyes now, poor of an excuse movie. Battle Royale is so surreal and down to Earth gory and explicit, yet somehow it feels frighteningly real and close to our own universe.
A group of 9th grade students are chosen to participate in The Programme called the Battle Royale. It is part of the law, that each year, a 'randomly' chosen 9th grade class, will be participating in this battle to death game, broadcasted all over Japan. A similar story, isn't it? Yet this is the original 'Hunger Games' and I'll go against my own opinion to say - 'Hunger Games' is nothing compare to Battle Royal in every single sense, be it books or the film (I'm being highly subjective here, but hey, this is my review and my own humble opinion) STORY: 10/10 The story is following the original novel written by Koushun Takami, but expands greatly into a backstory of each single character.
The story in this manga is very high paced, yet it doesn't feel too rushed at all, neither is it complicated to comprehend what's going on. It feels very natural and easy to read and the flow is never interrupted with unnecessary scenes. 'Battle Royale' has quality what most present day mainstream 'kawaii' manga lack. It is as if the majority of todays mangakas are aiming at readers who would prefer something 'light' and 'fluffy', but nothing that would seriously shake their already soft brains and challenge them to think deeply about the world they're living in.
'Battle Royale' makes you open your eyes to the reality that we are living in, but do not bear to admit - the brutality of everyday life, be it abused or neglected children, homeless and damaged people, prostitution and mental insanity. It questions the stability and the governments ability to control a nation. It's constantly in motion to question, break and push the limits of morals, such as the value of human life, the value of your own life and the value of friendship and love.
One thing you'll be taught after reading 'Battle Royale' is how fragile and easily altered human nature is. How one can crack quickly under pressure when told 'Kill or Be Killed', and what was once a 'friend' is your ticket out of this hell. It makes you realise that there are more things one should treasure and more things one should be willing to sacrifice. It also explores how to show compassion and love towards those that would least expect to receive it, how to forgive those damaged by life people (ref. To Kiriyama).
Every single character in this story gets a chance to shine, and I'm serious - every fucking 42 students get's an opportunity to expose their inner personalities and backstories, that makes it seems like they're real people. It gives us, the readers, a chance to explore the reasons behind their actions, the reasons behind who they are. It is so down to Earth in terms of honesty and in terms of portraying the mentality of the majority of teenagers out there, that I doubt any other manga can do that. ART: 10/10 'Battle Royale' aims at very realistic approach towards manga illustrations. The eyes are all aiming towards natural shape, the faces of most children are oddly shaped, which brings a great sense of reality.
There are no sparkles, neither there are any neglected characters - each and every one of them has features that reflect their own personality. There is NO fan service, and this is what I love about it.
Oh don't get me started on how detailed and impeccable, Masayuki Taguchi's art in this manga is. I think if it wasn't for his art, this manga wouldn't be that meaningful or that popular. He breathes life into the characters and makes them all seem so ordinary, yet so unique in their own sense.
If you think Attack on Titan had extreme expressions, you haven't seen what facial expressions did Kazushi Niida did whilst trying to rape and murder his class mate Takako Chigusa. Taguchi makes the characters to express a lot of pain, anger, desperation, sadness with a little grain of happiness and hope. Because of how extremely violent this manga is, those moments when characters are seen happy, like Nanahara's and Noriko's reunion, makes you believe that even in the most darkest moments, there's always hope.
And yes, this manga is most known for it's brutal, violent and highly sexual depiction. Now I must say, I've seen a lot of gore in manga such as Deadman Wonderland, yet not as EXPLICIT and OVERWHELMINGLY bloody as 'Battle Royale'. It makes Deadman Wonderland look like child's play. The shooting scenes and the way the bullets are portrayed protruding from the persons head with all the brains splashing, might make some of you gag as it's so realistic, it seems like you can hear the blood trickle and smell that sickening metallic smell that it brings. The anatomy can be sometimes exaggerated and the reason why I gave it a 9, is because most teens look like they'd be in their early 20's, when they should be 14/15. Well I guess none manga is flawless CHARACTER: 10/10 However, the shining coin is the way the manga is divided into small arcs that are each dedicated to a different characters story line.
The stories are all individual, meaning they're told from each characters perspective, making the plot very variable and not dragged on AT ALL (emphasis on this). You have your protagonist, Shuuya Nanahara - a typical wannabe teenager who has big dreams to reach the top in the music industry and become the next 'Elvis'. He's way too loud (often scoulded to 'keep it down' by Kawada) and too quick to trust, but he has a good heart. A heart wanting to save everyone from the hell they're in. The story does revolve about Nanahara's struggles to come to amends with the reality of the game and it can be sometimes annoying, since he's usually turning on the waterworks, but he has a strong character. Noriko and Kawada are two characters who keep Nanahara together.
You could say they are his rock. Kawada must be my favourite. He is a previous winner of the game and his realistic approach usually throws Nanahara off balance, but at the end of the day, if it wasn't for Kawada's strong and sharp mentality, Nanahara wouldn't be Nanahara. Kawada made him to question his own morals, to question his priorities and most importantly, to value Noriko and protect her with his might.
Shinji Mimura was one of my favourite characters. A popular basketball prodigy, Mimura was a ladies man, a heartthrob, but also an extremely intelligent and caring man. His plan to go against the game was my favourite scheme in the series and I deeply miss him.
Hiroki Sugimura was another major character, a friend of Mimura and Nanahara, he was the odd one out. Being socially awkward yet disciplined in the martial arts, Sugimura's caring nature was what made him so unique. You have your main antagonist, Kazuo Kiriyama - a cold blooded killer who's dead on on wining this game. Kiriyama never speaks in the manga, but his personality is shown through actions. In the movie, he was a 'transfer' student, but in the manga, he was a gang leader and a genius who could learn anything he set his eyes on. His past is revealed in the last chapters. Mitsuko 'Harcore' Souma is your another 'hot' antagonist, and myGod, does she like to flash her body.
Abused since childhood, Souma developed a complex character that made her very manipulative and aggressive. In the manga, the chapters about her are the most sexually explicit. ENJOYMENT & OVERALL: 10/10 Nothing more to add. This was one hell of a manga that took me through a roller coaster of emotional turmoil. It holds a lot of virtues discussing and touching upon so many loopholes in today's society and social background. What it is to truly love?
To truly trust? To truly believe in another human being? Is hope really the mother of idiots?
Or is it a grain of victory in the middle of war? Are those who scarify themselves for the sake of others are heroes or idiots? If you want to find out the answer to these questions, 'Battle Royale' is the answer, After all, this is something that will change you as a person after you read it. Overall 8 Story 8 Art 8 Character 8 Enjoyment 9 It had to be a bit rubbish. That's what I always thought to myself when I saw Battle Royale mentioned. I assumed this because it doesn't have an anime adaptation.
What I didn't know back then was the reason for this - I thought it was because the series wasn't that interesting. I never suspected it was because what's included in the story is so extreme that it would have to be butchered to make the jump from manga to anime. There's just no way a series that involves someone getting raped whilst dying by a psychotic girl, with flashbacks to her being abused by her stepfather as a child appearing during what was happening, could ever be faithfully adapted into an anime. Once I actually read a description of the story and saw its high ratings I was sold - it sounded like something different, and it most certainly is different from anything else I've encountered.
Battle Royale was everything I expected it be prior to buying it. Nothing was held back, everything was shown in graphic detail, there was lots of death and the situation the characters found themselves in is the kind that no-one would want to be in. But it's also a situation everyone is interested in from a voyeuristic perspective. A 1 in 42 chance of survival, where survival is only possible if you kill people you once thought of as friends. I wouldn't want to be in that situation, and I don't know how I'd handle it if I was. The story painted a bleak (and accurate) picture of how humans act when there are no laws and only fear and lust governing their actions.
I read manga to see what's too extreme or not moe enough for anime, so in many ways Battle Royale was perfect for me. The story starts with 42 students, all aged 14-15, on a bus.
The students think they're going on a school trip. They talk, laugh and act like teenagers do. Then they all start falling asleep, only realizing when it was too late that the bus driver had put a gas mask on and gas was being pumped onto the bus. They then wake up in a classroom, sat at their desks, with some kind of ring around their necks.
Once everyone starts to wake up, a person who introduces himself as their new teacher walks into the room, calling himself Mr. After pausing to distress the confused students a little more, he reveals to them that their class has been chosen for The Program - an event that takes place every year (and has done since 1947 in the Battle Royale universe) where a random 9th grade class is selected for an 'educational' battle to the death at a deserted location (the story of Battle Royale takes place on a small island).
Smiling, he tells them that if they don't kill they'll be killed, either by their classmates or by the ring around their neck that will explode if there's more than one person left by the deadline. Kamon is a truly great bad guy. He looks more evil than any other character I've seen. He's the sort of character that readers will want to see die as painfully as humanly possible. If I was to describe his looks, I'd say he looks inhuman, like he was modeled from clay, and that suits him perfectly. This guy enjoyed seeing the suffering caused by strangers being put in a truly hopeless situation, joking about how seeing the daughter of a famous person get raped on live television would increase the ratings and even going as far as to push the kids into attacking him during the first few chapters. With an evil grin and perverted tongue movement, he was happy to inform one of the kids that, after the woman in charge of the orphanage he was staying at argued against he and his friend being taken, he gave her 'tough love' that she was only too happy to provide after 'proper persuasion.'
He got kicks out of watching him get so angry he cried, and then blew his face off after, fueled by pure hate, he charged at him. It's too bad he appeared very little after the start of the story, only speaking when giving updates every six hours. The first volume was fantastic just because of Kamon. He explained the rules of the game to the class of 42 with a smile and happy tone, showing a dead body of a teacher (he was on the bus with the students at the start) who was against them taking part in The Program and killing a female student who was speaking while he was explaining the rules as an example of how little he valued their lives.
He then sent them off alone, one by one, onto the island to kill each other. They were sent out with the belongings they had with them on the bus and another bag, which contained a random weapon, map, watch, compass, water and bread. He made it clear that there would be no escape because the ring around their necks would explode if they tried to take it off and, if they still tried to escape knowing their head would be blown off eventually for doing so, then the ships around the island would shoot them in the water. He gave them no time to think, throwing them out into the wilderness with the knowledge that they'd die in a few days if they weren't the last student alive on the island. Trust is hard to come by once you're given the task of killing everyone else to ensure your own survival.
If you were in a class with 41 other people then you'd only be friends with a small percentage, and out of those few how many would you truly be able to trust? Most likely only a few. In that sort of situation the fear alone would cause many to kill - people would become too paranoid to trust even the friends they'd spoke to daily at school. When a person is presented with a choice between death and friendship, the real person, who had put on an act in the past in order to get on in the world, comes out.
It's horrible to think what fear and paranoia can cause a person to do, isn't it? If there's one thing Battle Royale is then it's over the top. When people go crazy in this they have saliva coming from their mouths, their eyes are as wide as possible, they do the 'zombie walk', with their feet twisted inwards and their knees bent, and they act more like animals than humans. The ability the artist has at depicting extreme emotions is a huge plus in a series like this, where the situation is hopeless and death seems all but inevitable, but he goes too far at times, often showing brains, guts, breasts, dicks and everything else needed to make it near impossible to adapt into an anime.
Personally, I would've liked to see a more realistic and less exploitive art. But, on the plus side, the art is very clear and nearly all of the action sequences were easy for me to follow, which isn't something I can say about a lot of the series I've read to date - I usually have to go over panels numerous times in order to understand how one panel flows from the next. The over the top comment also goes for the story at times. At this point I can't say if it was anywhere near as silly in the novel because I haven't read up to that point yet, though the novel has come across as somewhat less insane so far, but there's a part of the story in the manga that was impossible for me to take seriously. I'm referring to a scene where a guy runs away from another guy (a sociopath/terminator wannabe called Kazuo) after being shot, with his stomach hanging out, running into a warehouse. In the warehouse he has time to set the bomb he was building before Kazuo enters, as well as the time to wrap duct tape around his stomach, and he then manages to kick the bomb at Kazuo AND jump out of the window as he entered the warehouse, without getting shot.
A truck then flies out of the warehouse as a result of the bomb blast, over the head of the guy who escaped through the window, and that's followed by Kazuo appearing out of the truck, unharmed. Kazuo then unloaded his machine gun on the guy who jumped through the window. And, as if to make it all a little more silly, the guy who had just had many bullets inserted into him still had the strength to pick up his handgun in one last attempt, after playing dead, at killing Kazuo. After all that, I wasn't sure whether to praise Battle Royale for being a bit too much or attack it for its distance from reality! There are some other issues I have. Shuuya, the main character of Battle Royale, is the main problem. The manga artist had the annoying habit of turning Battle Royale into something of a soap opera at times, showing needless flashbacks involving Naruto 2.err, Shuuya being a goodie-goodie, acting on his feelings instead of his brain, and helping his friends back when he was at school (he got to know just about every important character at school after helping them in some way).
The artist was determined to highlight the fact that near enough the entire cast liked Shuuya for acting brainless, just like in shounen stories where the main character does stupid things and gets loved for it. The flashbacks involving Shuuya saving the day did stop once all the characters had been introduced. However, they were replaced with (often chapter long) dream sequences that showed Shuuya getting support from his deceased friends.
I hate it in anime when the plot advances through dreams/visualizations, and I hate it even more when characters are shown speaking to people long dead in an attempt to add character development. Would it have been so hard to just have Shuuya think for a few panels instead?
There was no need for a large amount of chapters, many reusing the same art, to be used for repetitive conversations with the dead. I disliked Shuuya's character because, as well as being an idiot, the very existence of his character resulted in the story lasting 10+ chapters longer than it needed to. Continuing on from what I said in the above paragraph, the pacing wasn't perfect.
The story of Battle Royale takes place over the course of a few days, and it lasts for 15 volumes. If you do the math then you'll see the problem already - a lot of chapters were created but not a lot of time passed.
It's understandable when you consider how many characters are in the series but I must confess to often feeling that the story was dragged out and could've ended sooner. I didn't mind most of the flashbacks, which every main character had in order for them to be fleshed out before their deaths, but it became tiresome when dialogue was repeated time and again for no real reason. Kawada, an experienced character who joins up with and helps Shuuya and his female friend, Noriko, seemed to be pointing out in every conversation that Shuuya needed to kill to survive, no matter if he wanted to play the game or not. If Shuuya didn't get it then I certainly did, and I quickly became bored of seeing it being said.
And, sadly, lots of the dialogue was like that, and it wasn't unusual to see panels used to repeat what another character had said in the past. But don't get me wrong: the pacing wasn't awful, it's just that I feel the story could've progressed quicker and, in my opinion, it would've been far more enjoyable if it had. If the pacing had been truly bad then I would've struggled to read 15 volumes in 3 days. Another issue I had, which also had something to do with the pacing, was the ending. Near enough every story ends in disappointing fashion. No matter how talented the writer, it seems they all struggle to finish their stories in style.
Battle Royale was no different. The ending wasn't what I consider bad, and it had a few twists that kept it interesting, but it could've been better. The final battle was rather anti-climatic, with the most prominent bad guy in the series getting shot in the head (after a car chase) and still not dying, like some sort of monster, which took away from what was supposed to be a battle to the death between high school students. He'd shown himself to be near impossible to kill before that but still fighting after taking a bullet to the head took it a tad too far. And, as if to finish the fight in the most boring way possible, Shuuya spent something like 1.5 chapters getting pep talks from his dead friends (in his head, obviously) because he found it too difficult to finish off a guy who'd mercilessly killed most of his classmates.
Things did improve for the last stretch once the battle ended and the final the twists started hitting, but I wasn't best pleased with what was a rather upbeat and forced ending to a mostly very, very, very depressing story. Going on the start I was expecting everyone to die, and I feel the story would've been better if not for the final twist.
One final flaw I need to mention isn't anything to do with the actual story - it's the English translation. There were many occasions throughout where the translator missed a word out of sentences, making what was said not come out right, and there were also a few times where sentences quite simply didn't make sense. The 'F' word was also thrown around a bit too much, as if it was done just to make sure it got an 18+ rating. Seeing a friendly and polite character randomly say 'F.
a duck' didn't sit right with me. And, although this is a plus or minus depending on how you look at it, some of the characters speak in an informal manner - like any public school kid would in all fairness - and what they say can be a little difficult to follow. The translation isn't a major problem that ruins the experience; it's just an annoyance, but I still expected better. But, anyway, enough of the negative. There's far more good than there is bad on show.
It's true that Battle Royale is over the top and it's also true that the pacing isn't great and the story is often overly dramatic because of the Shuuya flashbacks/dream sequences that slow down the story. However, Battle Royale is impossible to put down because of the realistic way many of the characters cope with being put in a hopeless situation. There are many different personalities in the series and most offer something the others don't, meaning there's at least one character the reader can connect with and feel for. Like the story itself, there are a few characters that are too far-fetched, but there are also those with believable backgrounds. I've always said that a story that's able to get the reader watery-eyed has great characters, and one of the early death scenes, where a female character died in the arms of her childhood friend, made me a little watery-eyed because of how beautifully it was handled.
You'd have to be a pretty cold person not to feel anything as you watch her die after only just having seen her fight bravely against a guy trying to rape her AND seeing a flashback of her and her childhood friend together away from the island, back when they were normal high school students. There are a number of other parts of the plot that will prove hard to forget, two of which I'll mention now as examples. The first is a scene at a lighthouse that involves 6 girls having a complete breakdown of trust and going from working together as a team to suspecting each other of having poisoned someone - it captured what paranoia can cause in the type of situation the characters found themselves in amazingly well. The other is a showdown between Sugimara, the kindhearted martial artist who doesn't want to kill anyone, and Kazuo, the sociopath who feels nothing and would give the terminator a run for its money. The fight itself was great and the build-up, which involved around 3 chapters of Sugimaru and his girlfriend talking, showing what Sugimaru had to protect, was even better.
Because Battle Royale has a huge amount of characters, there were many short stories like those I just mentioned, some one-shot and some lasting for a few chapters, so there wasn't any shortage of tragedy on show, and we all know that what gets the most emotional reactions out people is death. It's a great series to read if you, like me, enjoy seeing short stories that have a chance of pulling on the heart strings.
So, what are my overall thoughts? Well, I think the series was well worth the £30 I paid for it. You know you're dealing with something high quality when you spend time with.insert whatever here. and time seems to speed up.
This happened when I read Battle Royale. I read 6 volumes on the day the books arrived, 4 on the following day and 5 on the day after, never having any trouble reading for lengthy periods. I'm not going to say it was a perfect series because it wasn't, its pacing and the insanity of it all often taking away from the experience a little, but as dark, depressing and involving reads go there aren't many better stories in existence. If you think the premise sounds interesting then give it a go - you'll enjoy it a lot if you can handle lots of death.
Rating: 8.5/10.
(former) Demographic Magazine Original run 2000 – 2005 Volumes 15 Manga Battle Royale II: Blitz Royale Written by Published by Original run December 21, 2003 – May 27, 2004 Volumes 2 Battle Royale (: バトル・ロワイアル,: Batoru Rowaiaru) is a Japanese series written by and illustrated by Masayuki Taguchi. It is based on Takami's, telling the story of a class of junior high school children who are forced to fight each other to the death. It was serialized by in from 2000 to 2005, and later combined into 15 volumes, which were released in English by from 2003 to 2006. In October 2007, a special edition of the manga began being released. The manga follows the plot of the novel fairly closely, but expands on the backstory of each of the students. It is far more sexually graphic than the novel and film versions, but like them, is noted for its intense, gory violence. The English adaptation of the manga makes several changes to the plot, such as claiming that 'The Program' is a reality TV show and changing the time setting of the story by almost 10 years; both changes are contradicted in later volumes.
Main article:. Shuya Nanahara ( 七原 秋也, Nanahara Shūya) is a fictional Japanese student and one of the three main protagonists. Shuya, who is nicknamed 'Shu', lives in the fictional town Shiroiwa in. Noriko Nakagawa ( 中川 典子, Nakagawa Noriko) is the main female protagonist of the series.
She is one of the class of third-year students in Shuya's school. Noriko has a crush on Shuya, whom she admired for his music and song-writing. Shogo Kawada ( 川田 章吾, Kawada Shōgo) is a and the winner of a previous Program. At the very beginning he meets Shuya and Noriko and joins up with the two of them. Kazuo Kiriyama ( 桐山 和雄, Kiriyama Kazuo) is the main antagonist, who tries to win the Program (using a coin-toss to decide whether or not he plays), killing the most number of students in the class making him the largest threat. It is later mentioned he had been in a car crash at a young age (where he witnessed his mother's death), causing brain damage and resulting in a lack of emotions and regret.
Mitsuko Souma ( 相馬 光子, Souma Mitsuko) is the secondary antagonist, considered one of the most beautiful girls in the program, she is also the most deranged, and the female with the most kills, succeeding in using her feminine wiles and ability to feign emotions to manipulate then kill her classmates. It is later revealed that these psychological issues stem from her father leaving after her parents divorced, and the subsequent sexual abuse she received from her new stepfather as well as physical abuse from her own mother. Development Writing style At first the creators of the original version of the 'Battle Royale' manga kept the story close to the original Japanese novel. As publication increased, Taguchi took increasing liberties with the story. Takami said that he looked forward to new installments of Taguchi's story and Taguchi said that he more strongly cared about the characters.
Takami liked how Taguchi distributed the time among characters; Takami said that in the manga the characters changed and grew as the story progressed, unlike in the original novel. Taguchi said that in the manga version he modeled most of Takami's characters after people he personally knew. Takami describes Taguchi's stance as closer to his own than the stance of, the director of the film. Takami describes the manga as containing the feeling of 'a general, nonjudgmental love for.' Art style Taguchi said that many people describe his art style as 'reminiscent of ', or that it's realistic.' Taguchi disagrees with the descriptions, instead characterizing faces in his works as 'manga faces' since he feels that it is 'really easy to put my own emotions into the faces.'
Taguchi said that when he shows sadness in characters, he locates the characters' eyebrows 'down as far as possible.' Takami describes Taguchi's art as 'directly descended from ' and 'manga-esque.' Takami described the style as 'easy to overlook' because the art contains 'clean lines.' Takami believed that the art style fit the Battle Royale story. In the beginning Taguchi said that he felt that all of the characters had to 'look like students.' Taguchi said that as the story progressed for many of the characters he began to draw them 'more naturally' and add 'specific expressions for certain things they would say.' Takami describes the newer style as 'more grown-up looking.'
English-language adaptation An English-language release of the collected volumes, published in the, and by was extensively rewritten by, whose script does not completely follow the original manga. Their adaptation mentions several dates that change the time the story is set in by almost 10 years. It uses the line 'in the near future', but on Shogo Kawada's profile, it references the 2005 'program'; he says his last program was a year ago, leading to the assumption that the manga sets the story in 2006. In volume one of the English-language version, Shinji Mimura and the news channel reporter mentions the 2007 record of three days, seven hours and twenty-two minutes. In volume 14, Kamon refers to the 2009 program.
None of these dates are mentioned in the original Japanese version. But the major difference between the Japanese and Tokyopop version is that Giffen rewrote the BR program as a show, rather than keeping it in tune with the BR Act, which leaves plot-holes through the manga, especially in volume 15. This can be partially attributed to the fact that when Tokyopop had released volume 1, the Japanese version was only up to volume 9 at that point, thereby not giving Tokyopop or Giffen ample material to prove that their rewrite would backfire. According to Tokyopop editor Mark Paniccia, in the Newsarama article: 'For adapting the work, Giffen was given a tight Japanese-to-English translation of the story, but his assignment was by no means just to tweak a translation. 'I told him to do what he felt he had to do', Paniccia said.
'I told him to Giffenize it.' ' To which Giffen responds: 'It's a good story that Takami is telling', Giffen said. 'What I do is go in and make bad scenes that much worse. I loved the movie of Battle Royale, and also love the manga.
I just wanted to do it right. I wanted to do justice to it, and I knew I couldn't get away with doing a straight translation, because it would be horrifyingly bad.' ' In April 2006, Tim Beedle, a former associate editor of the English version Battle Royale, stated on the Tokyopop Messageboard the reasoning behind the decision to have a fairly loose adaptation: 'Prior to starting work on the first volume of Battle Royale, its editor (Mark Paniccia, who has since left Tokyopop) made a decision to hire Keith Giffen, a well-known American comic book writer, to provide a much looser adaptation than usual. He made this decision for a variety of reasons, but two seemed to be more prominent than the rest. First, due to BR's extreme content and M rating, it was going to be a tough sell. (Some of the large chains refuse to carry M-rated books.) Hiring a known writer could help compensate for this by driving sales. Second, more than any other book we were publishing at the time, BR had the potential to find a crossover audience in the direct market among American comic book readers, who often are adverse to trying manga.'
The plot changes to turn the BR Program into a sponsored by the Government held similarities to ' 2008 novel. Pointed out that the premise of the novel is 'nearly identical'. Although Collins maintains that she 'had never heard of that book until her book was turned in,' reports that 'the parallels are striking enough that Collins's work has been savaged on the blogosphere as a baldfaced ripoff,' but that 'there are enough possible sources for the plot line that the two authors might well have hit on the same basic setup independently.' Other adaptations from Brazil began publishing a Portuguese version at the tail end of 2006.
It follows the original 15-volume format, and does not adapt the Giffen 'Reality Show' version (although the cover of the first edition mentions the reality show). It was cancelled after 12 volumes in 2007, but returned in 2011. From Argentina published a Spanish version. Chapters The following titles reflect the English-language version. Japanese release date Japanese ISBN English release date English ISBN 1 November 29, 2000 May 13, 2003. Chapter 1: The Worst Game in History. Chapter 2: Best Friend.
Chapter 3:. Chapter 4: The Oath. Chapter 5: Other Side of the Door. Chapter 6:. Chapter 7: Trust.
Chapter 8: We are introduced to the main characters and how the class was kidnapped and sent to the island. Most of this volume in set in the classroom and 's instructions about the program.
Hayashida, the class teacher, is killed before the Program begins for resisting. Kamon shoots and kills for attacking him after he, Kamon, says that he raped Anna Ryoko, the caretaker of the orphaned Shuya and Yoshitoki. Kamon also kills by throwing a knife in her head while she whispers during class.
After the event begins, kills who is discovered by Shuya. Shuya knocks out Yoshio when he threatens Noriko and runs off and settles in the woods for the night. Yoshio is killed off by and finally, hiding in the residential area, is killed by by slicing her neck open. 2 November 29, 2000 July 15, 2003.
Chapter 9: (Part One). Chapter 10: Kazuo Kiriyama (Part Two). Chapter 11: Treasure.
Chapter 12: Those Who Come Forth. Chapter 13:. Chapter 14: Nightmare. Chapter 15: Conditions. Chapter 16: The Right Thing To Do. Sidestory: Energy In this volume we are introduced to and his gang. It is revealed, that due to Kazuo's apparent, he determines whether to play the game by the flick of a coin.
This inevitably begins his killing spree, including his entire gang, and Yukiko and Yumiko. And commit suicide. Attacks Shuya but kills himself by accident; also attacks Shuya but is killed by Shogo. Shuya and Noriko meet and team up to find more friends. 3 April 19, 2001 November 10, 2003.
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Chapter 17: Past. Chapter 18: Odds. Chapter 19: Problem Child. Chapter 20: Acceptance.
Chapter 21: Forfeiture. Chapter 22: Battle Plan. Chapter 23: The Ultimate Team. Chapter 24:.
Side Story: Fallen Angel This volume is mainly about, when he finds close friend Yutaka Sato and begins his plan to defeat the program via implanting a worm into The Program's main computers. We also meet and, later it introduces and. 4 July 12, 2001 December 9, 2003. Chapter 25: Honor. Chapter 26: Bond. Chapter 27: Respect and Affection. Chapter 28: Insanity.
Chapter 29: The Right Answer. Chapter 30: Persuasion. Chapter 31: Everybody's Thoughts.
Chapter 32: Secret Weapon This volume continues Takako's fight with Niida, Niida is killed but Mitsuko kills Takako, Hiroki finds her dying body and she dies in his arms. Shinji is disheartened to discover that his plan has failed, yet it is discovered that the prodigy had a back-up plan by the way of his beloved, deceased Uncle and a well hidden Aunt. It shows some of Shogo's past with Keiko.
Until it comes to Kaori Minami and in a gunfight, Kaori shoots Hirono in the arm (she escapes) and Kaori is killed by Shogo. 5 November 8, 2001 January 13, 2004.
Chapter 33: Rouse. Chapter 34: Last Man Standing. Chapter 35: Trap. Chapter 36: Thirst.
Chapter 37: Existence. Chapter 38: Set Up. Chapter 39: Anxiety. Side Story: Man of Justice The volume introduces and his past and Kazuo's sneaky plan which kills Sho. It also continues Hirono's escapades until she is shoved into a well by and drowns. Shuya, Noriko and Shogo are staying in a nearby house while Noriko is resting from a wound.
6 April 4, 2002 March 2, 2004. Chapter 40: Sworn Friend. Chapter 41: Flower of Courage.
Chapter 42: Parting. Chapter 43: Raid. Chapter 44: Hard Change. Chapter 45: Rescue. Chapter 46: Encounter.
Chapter 47: Departure This volume shows Shuya's fight with Kazuo, saves Shuya's life by jumping in the ocean with him from the crazed Kazuo. Hiroki then finds and her gang who offer to help the unconscious Shuya (having received bullet wounds from Kazuo). Shogo runs away with Noriko away from the battle 7 August 8, 2002 July 1, 2004.
Chapter 48: Bug. Chapter 49: Firing. Chapter 50: Demolition. Chapter 51: Team. Chapter 52: Versus. Chapter 53: Explosion.
Chapter 54: Bonds. Chapter 55: Trajectory In this volume, Shinji's plan is about to succeed, but they are distracted. Shinji argues with him (and accidentally kills him) Kazuo shows up and kills Yutaka. Shinji is shot multiple times in the upper body as well as his ankle making his guts spill out.
Shinji then realises he must blow up the shed with Kazuo inside to get rid of the gun shooting menace. However Kazuo hid in a tractor and kills Shinji. 8 December 12, 2002 August 3, 2004. Chapter 56: Sixth Sense.
Chapter 57: Unfortunate. Chapter 58: Liars. Chapter 59: Soap Opera. Chapter 60: Allure. Chapter 61: Sorceress and the Bullet. Chapter 62: Split Personalities.
Chapter 63: Traumatic Games In this volume, bumps into and who capture her. Later on Yuichiro talks to Mitsuko and she realises that, unlike the other guys she's known, he does not want to sleep with her. Mitsuko finds a moment of solace with Takaguchi. But when Mitsuko tries to kill Tadakatsu after kissing him, he escapes and tries to shoot her, Yuichiro saves her by taking the bullet, Mitsuko finishes off Tadakatsu and rapes Yuichiro's dying body and kills him.
We also get to learn a little about Mitsuko's troubled past. 9 March 27, 2003 October 5, 2004. Chapter 64: The Well. Chapter 65:. Chapter 66: Surviving. Chapter 67: From Afar. Chapter 68: Confession.
Chapter 69: Doubt. Chapter 70: Crevice.
Chapter 71: Collapse In this volume, Hiroki continues his search for, until he finds Toshinori, Kazuo shows up and kills Toshinori while Hiroki escapes. Later, Shuya wakes up in the lighthouse in the care of girls (one of them, witnessed the death of who was accidentally killed by Shuya) and sees Shuya as a 'Demon Boy' due to her sensitive nature and belief in the lord and the Devil. Yuko poisons some stew that is meant for Shuya to get rid of him, but one girl, tastes it and dies, this is when the girls become panicked and shoots all her friends (except Yuko) but she is finished off by the dying. Shuya hears the gunshots and runs to the kitchen.
10 July 24, 2003 December 7, 2004. Chapter 72:. Chapter 73: Wish. Chapter 74: Reparation. Chapter 75: Funeral.
Chapter 76: Rain. Chapter 77: Bleak Reunion.
Chapter 78: Message. Chapter 79: Faith Shuya finds all the girls' corpses and discovers the depressed Yuko. She runs to the top of the Lighthouse and commits suicide by jumping off but not before finding her faith again and forgiving Shuya. Shuya gathers the bodies together and laments their deaths and leaves. While on his way back to Noriko and Shogo, he stumbles across mentally deranged (she thinks she's in some kind of fantasy world). Shuya pleads with her, but to no avail, ignores Mizuho's gun shooting and clears off.
He finds the bodies of Keita, Yutaka and Shinji and breaks down into tears while clutching Shinji's body, though an inscribed dying message telling Shuya to 'Take the shot' from his deceased friend raises his spirits. Shuya is then reunited with Noriko and Shogo, Mizuho creates a shrine to speak to her God, but she is killed by Kazuo. 11 November 20, 2003 February 8, 2005. Chapter 80: Encounter. Chapter 81: The Tidings of Happiness.
Chapter 82: Limits. Chapter 83: The Devil's Tactics.
Battle Royale Manga
Chapter 84: Truth and Untruth. Chapter 85: Proposal. Chapter 86: Violent Fist. Chapter 87: Devil of Nothingness Most of this volume is focused on Hiroki and Kayoko (he finds her) and we learn about how they first met. They both travel together to find Shuya until Kiriyama arrives. Although Hiroki manages to disarm him, Kiriyama seems to have learned from their previous encounters and quickly adapts to Hiroki's melee style.
12 March 25, 2004 April 12, 2005. Chapter 88: Despair.
Chapter 89: Awakening. Chapter 90: Transcendental.
Chapter 91: Copy. Chapter 92: Inversion. Chapter 93: Promise. Chapter 94: Incubation. Chapter 95: Reason This volume continues the battle between Hiroki and Kiriyama, and Kiriyama gains the final advantage with his bulletproof vest from Toshinori in Vol 9. The injured Hiroki tells Kayoko to save herself but she refuses to leave and stays to die with him.
13 July 29, 2004 July 12, 2005. Chapter 96: Closed Off Future. Chapter 97: Natural Born Killers. Chapter 98: Magic Tool. Chapter 99: Where The Gun Points.
Chapter 100: The Identity of the Heart. Chapter 101: Rejection. Chapter 102: Going Home.
Chapter 103: The Thinking Heart Mitsuko finds Kazuo and they both get into a gunfight, with Kazuo's kevlar giving him the edge once again. In desperation Mitsuko tries to seduce Kazuo but she is repeatedly shot and killed. Later on, Shogo's last nightmare in the program with Keiko is revealed as well as how she was killed.