Battle Royal ~ just saw manga of them here

[Rocketshipper]

YAY! I found the BR topic. I'm a huge fan of Battle Royale. I have the book, both movies, and 9 volumes of the manga. The first time I saw it was when a friend brought volume 1 of the manga to school and I flipped through it. I thought it was the grossest thing I'd ever seen, lol, and I told myself I'd probably never think about reading it. But then I decided to snag the book and was hooked. The storyline was interesting and I was really drawn into the characters. Shogo Kawada rocks! There are way too many horror stories and war movies where people just die randomly with no character development. Anyone who has seen a Jason or Freddy movie knows about this; characters who are there JUST to die. Battle Royale isn't like this at all. Almost every student in the class is given some sort of background exploration, so you end up caring about nearly everyone. I didn't want anyone to die . Even the villainous students, Kazuo and Mitsuko, have character development. After I finished reading BR I had dreams about being in the game myself, and the ending almost made me want to cry, it was hopeful and sad at the same time. After I finished the book I picked up the Manga and movies. The Movie isn't as good as the book, but it does turn the teacher into a sympathetic character and it did a good job with the students. I was worried that in the limited time the movie had it wouldn't flesh out the students enough, but it turned out alright. I think the manga is the best incarnation of the story, actully. It's now one of my three most favorite manga series (the others being X/1999 and Evangelion). It adds MORE character development than even the book had. For example, in the book when the main character walks out of the school he's attacked by the kid with the crossbow, Akematsu, and runs away with Noriko, just like in the movie. But in the manga he actully stops and tries to talk Akematsu into joining him, and they have some flashbacks to show some of Akematsu's character. I know the manga is REALLY violent and has strong sexual content (volumes 3 and 8 are hentai) and I can understand how it can make some people sick, but that's the whole point. I don't think the violence in the manga is really gratitous and pointless, it serves the story. I think part of the point of the Battle Royale story is that violence and fighting are often pointless. The kids are forced into this horrible situation where no one wins, where friends and lovers have to turn against eachother, and the strong violence is needed to give a sense of just how horrible the situation is and how pointless and wasted all the killing is.

Noriko: (after overhearing that Shuya has a crush on her, thinking to herself) "Get a grip, your friends are still dieing out there. The program, it's still on. The program is still on and Shuya cares, talk about bad timing, way to go Nori. No one asked for this, bad timing is just...bad timing. I bet this happens all the time, even with war and famine and all the horrible things in the world, people find one another. People learn to care. (spots an eagle flying over head) How much have you seen from up there? How many games have you witnessed? Did friends come together, or were they lost to one another? Did they play to win, or just to survive? Did any of them learn to care?"


The sexuality aspect is also important for the character of Mitsuko. The stuff in Volume 8 especially is used to show just how screwed up and tragic a life Mitsuko's had. The only problem I really have with the manga is the language. I don't think having a bunch of profanity ever serves any functional purpose. Most of it was probably added to the english translation just to make it even more mature. Anyway, the overall positive message and social criticism behind the plot of the movie still comes through, even stronger in my opinion, in the manga. I could probably go on for hours about all the positive story elements of the manga ^_^. It's just admittedly harder to notice all of them when your stuck on the artwork.

Some random BR trivia: The book came first, and I think the manga and movie were released at the same time. The manga is based on the book, not the movie, and it's still running in Japan, where volume 13 was the last release. It was predicted to end with volume 14, but now fans estimate it will end with 15 or 16, because there is NO WAY they could fit the final battle between Shuya-tachi and Kazuo AND the ending into one volume. A second manga series, based on movie 2, started running recently. Both manga series are written by Koushun Takami, who wrote the book. The movie is not banned in America, several companies actully wanted to release it here but Toei refused to sell the rights. The japanese version of Kill Bill begins with a dedication to Kinji Fukasaku, the director of the first BR movie, and Quentin Tarrantino was offered a role in Battle Royale 2 as the president of the US, but couldn't accept because of scheduling.

[IfIWereAnAsian]

wow* hey, finally someone who can answer our questions~~ yay Rocketshipper! (and someone from the minority positive opinion on BR*)

Almost every student in the class is given some sort of background exploration, so you end up caring about nearly everyone. I didn't want anyone to die . Even the villainous students, Kazuo and Mitsuko, have character development. !

*very true* the characters are practically all known about* the reader/viewer learns about each story of each life* and the connection between students too. That really adds to the involvement of the reader/viewer* (if you're paying attention!! lol and can identify who's who )

After I finished reading BR I had dreams about being in the game myself, ...

*hmm... I was thinking of doing a thread on anime related dreams~~*

(volumes 3 and 8 are hentai)

so I guess if I ever do get some of the manga, I'll stay away from versions 3 and 8... although I'd like to find out more about Mitsuko's past..

lol* so it's not banned here~ nice to know*
So is there a good place to find them here? or a good site? I don't think I've even seen them in English dubbed... only Japanese subbed*

[Rocketshipper]

(if you're paying attention!! lol and can identify who's who )

LOL, yeah. In the movie it's hard to keep track of who everyone is. Hatagami and Yuichiro didn't even have any lines . I like them in the manga, Yuichiro was especially cool!

(manga quote, volume 8)
Yuichiro: Sometimes when I see you, you eyes look so hard. Scary...
Mitsuko: My eyes?
Yuichiro: But always sad. Sometimes, sometimes only sad.
Mitsuko: Sad? I suppose. (is suddenly surprised) You notice....my eyes?
Yuichiro: Yeah. So sad and caring and...trusting. Like your looking for something. I don't think really bad people... I don't think their eyes can EVER look that way. So I don't think your all bad. I think maybe your lost, and lost people...sometimes they do bad things. I hope you find whatever it is your looking for mitsu, I really do.

You could probably still pick up volume 3, the hentai segment is really only the last chapter, which is a Mitsuko flashback. Volume 8 would be a little hard to get through if you can't handle the strong sexul content, so I guess you could skip it without losing too much, since it's almost all focused on Mitsuko, with the main characters pretty much left out. But it still has a ton of positive stuff, mostly between Yuichiro and Mitsuko, and Yuichiro and Hatagami. The first time I read the scene above it gave me shivers, it was so cool. That scene also has some of the best artwork I've ever seen in any manga series. I wish I could scan the two page spread of Mitsuko and post it here. It also, through a rather harsh example, it shows the truth of how abuse in a young child's life can severely screw them up when they are older.

Hatagami: (yuihciro gives him his gun) You sure about this?
Yuichiro: Yeah, positive. I can't even find the safety. It's better off with you don't you think? I was nevr good at games. Name one time I ever beat you at anything. Just one. Thought not. Besides, it;s already game over when you can't trust your best friend. And we've got other friends out there Tadakatsu. I think we should try trusting them too. What do you say?

The movies aren't banned here, but since Toei won't sell the rights to any american companies, there aren't any english dubs. You'd have to get it from some other region, or off ebay.

[Cap'n Nick]

With all of the great character development and hard-hitting themes in Battle Royale, what possessed the writers and artists to think they needed so much blatant fanservice and explicit gore to move their product? Violence is an integral part of the story and the horror of sexual abuse is central to some of the characters, but even this does not necessitate multiple full-page spreads showing rape and dismemberment in more detail than was put into the last five pages combined. There is shocking and there is titillating and such excess cannot be artistically defended when there are so many better ways to convey the bleakness of the situation.

What really bugs me about it is that this story really had a lot of potential from a Christian perspective. There is darkness to be sure, but the manga especially emphasizes the struggle to find hope where there is none and the value of morality even when it costs you everything. Granted, none of this is attributed to any kind of faith, but the ideas are still there.

P.S. to Bobtheduck - I did see a movie awhile back that had people of all ages and conditions forced to kill each other by government lottery. They were allowed to go anywhere in town, so they weren't confined to a coliseum per se, but it did sound a bit like what you were talking about. But, I wouldn't be afraid of writing something similar as "people being forced to kill each other" is such a general concept...and the movie was really sorry.

[Kenchii]

Erg... heres the thread on the movie(s) http://www.christiananime.com/showthread.php?t=10027&highlight=battle+royale

[Rocketshipper]

replying to Cap"n Crack: I guess it comes down to personal tolerance levels. I, personally, don't think the manga would have been nearly as effective and emotional if the violence wasn't so graphic; I view it the same way I view the violence in a movie like Saving Private Ryan. That movie needed the realistic violence to show how war really is, and I think this manga needs its violence as well. I also wouldn't really call the sexuality in the manga "fanservice". Fanservice is there to please and tittilate the fans, and it's usally associated with comedy. There is a difference between "fanservice" and "adult content". (like comparing Burn Up Excess to Perfect Blue). I think anyone who is titillated by the nudity in the BR manga is probably disturbed, I don't think it's supposed to serve that purpose.

There is darkness to be sure, but the manga especially emphasizes the struggle to find hope where there is none and the value of morality even when it costs you everything.

I like that, that's a nice way to summarize the positiveness of the story ^_^.

[IfIWereAnAsian]

oh cool~ Kenchii made a thread on the movies this summer ~ ^^ thanks for the link*

[Rocketshipper]

Just picked up BR volume 10 yesterday. It covers the end of the lighthouse scene and Shuya's journey back to Shogo and Noriko. It also moved up Mizuho Inada's appearance. In the book she was the second to last person to die, but she's out already in the manga. This volume was really sad, and didn't have as much action or violence as some previous volumes. The majority of it was more of a recap, as Shuya journeyed across the island and thought back on the events that had happened and his friends who had died. The first part gave a lot of new character development to the character Yuko Sakaki. The manga made her religious; however, it's not clear if her religion is Christianity, or some other monotheistic religion. I felt so sorry for her. After everything was over Shuya gathered the bodies of the lighthouse girls, cleaned them up a little, and laid them all down beside each other with their hands holding one another. It was SOOOOO sad! This volume really got across the pointlessness of the situation.

Yuko's mom: And even if she did come back...were that even possible...How much of her comes back? How much of her gets left behind on that horrible island. Girls win? Yuko? Tell me HOW she wins!?

Shuya: Only one survives. Play to win. Nobody wins! That's their dirty little secret. Nobody wins! What did winning buy Shogo!? Does he qualify as a rerun?


Shuya's confrontation with Mizuho was also really tense. In the end he refused to compromise his morals and kill her, even though she was trying to attack him.

Shuya: (talking about how he lost it) Know what brought me back? Everyone I couldn’t save. Remember Yumiko and Yukiko? The observation post? They died while we watched. You said you thought they might be heroes because they did the right thing. What does that make us? We watched while they died. We didn't even try. Because if we did anything, we'd be dead too. That's the way the program works. That's how they get you, fear. The girls at the lighthouse, they saved me. Yukie, Haruka...They did the right thing and died for it, just like Yukiko and Yumiko. I like to think I did the right thing when I lured off Kiriyama. He almost got me. Almost. But he didn't because those girls did the right thing and I lived. I honor their memories, everyone who did the right thing when it counted most. Me? I've got one more right thing needs doing.

Only two things about this volume really bothered me. 1. The way Mizuho died. In the book at least she went down fighting; in the manga her killer sneaks up from behind and gets her before she even knows what’s happening. Not fair! 2. It made NO sense to have Mizuho in her underwear for the final scene. It was the most blatant instance of fan service in the whole series, and unlike the Mitsuko related stuff, had NOTHING to do with character development.