Battle Royale: The Novel
By: Koushun Takami
Translated by: Yuji Oniki
Published: April 1999 (Japan); February 26, 2003 (in English)
Genre: Science Fiction/Dystopian/Horror
PLEASE NOTE: The following contains spoilers from this novel. You have been warned.
Shuya took a moment to think before he received his black day pack, and he did the same as he approached Fumiyo Fujiyoshi’s corpse, shutting his eyes. He wanted to remove the knife from her forehead but decided against it.
When he stepped out of the classroom, he felt a pang of regret, wishing he had removed it for her.
40 STUDENTS REMAINING(Chapter 6).
The Most Dangerous Game (1924) by Richard Connell and Lord of the Flies (1954) by William Golding are two of the many required readings for schools in the United States and in other countries. Their plots are straightforward: protagonist(s) ends up on an island in which they have to survive on and survive from the individual(s) who are trying to kill him/them. Then, on September 1, 2009, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was published with a movie deal in the works. After the movie was released in 2012, a few critics of “independent” and “foreign” movies were mentioning Battle Royale. Some fans of the movie accused Suzanne Collins of “stealing” the concept of Battle Royale for The Hunger Games. And, that’s not true. Adults (and children) killing each other for no reason happen all the time, sadly.
It is said that the author, Koushun Takami, read Lord of the Flies and found it to be good, but “outdated.” Inspired by other books and action movies, Takami wrote Battle Royale.The text is an expansion to Golding’s book in that there are both male and female students, there are 42 of them, there are more point-of-view chapters from many of those characters, and the deaths are plentiful and gruesome!
In addition to the 42 students and two teachers, there is the “Team Leader.” While we don’t get the P.O.V.s of all of the characters, we gain both the personalities and the upbringings of all of them. And, since this is a novel about adolescents in a dystopian society, it’s not a spoiler to let you know that some of these students do NOT come from good homes. Plus, multiple P.O.V.s means that the readers will learn the reasons the students either participate, or don’t participate in the “program.”
The plot of Battle Royale is straightforward: an entire class of Japanese students are abducted and forced to participate in a deadly game of manhunt. Each student is given a duffel bad with supplies and a random weapon. All of the students are set loose on an island and the “game” remains active until one student is left alive. Additionally, someone must die every 24 hours, or a detonation device goes off, killing ALL OF THEM!
The narrative goes from 1st person to 3rd person over and over again. This is done when more than one student is around to comprehend the mood of the story. Plus, we learn the backstory of several of the students and we learn why, or why not, each of them participates in the “game.” Some of these students are damaged, some are entitled, and the rest are scared.
The style is action-paced with students dying throughout the “game” in numerous ways. Takami’s tone reflects what he’s attempting to pull off: a cringe-worthy and addictive story of kids who are forced to take part in what their broken society wants them to, without their—or their families’—consent.
The appeal—like any other story of this sort—was originally controversial. It turned out Takami was worried that his novel would be classified as “dark” and “violent,” and he waited two years to have it published! At first, critics in Japan were disturbed by the violence. Afterwards, it became both popular and a best seller. The quick-paced plot and the storyline and believable characters intrigued the public. Takami gave his readers something that William Golding did not: female characters. Battle Royale reminds readers that everyone has a dark and lethal side within themselves.
Almost immediately after Battle Royale’s publication, a movie was ordered and released in 2000. Directed by the late Kinji Fukasaku, the movie matches the pace of the book, and the death of the characters. The film adaptation was a success in Japan and was going through “the undergrounds” outside of its home country. You can watch it on Netflix. Of course, the movie has been called “one of my favorites” by Quentin Tarentino, and is labeled as “the story ripped off by The Hunger Games, which (again) is not true, but more on that another time (Read: “It All Started with…Lord of the Flies). There is a manga adaptation that I have NOT read, but will eventually, but the movie will NOT let you down!
I enjoyed this novel because the author took the concept of “fighting to the death” to a whole different level. Unlike The Hunger Games, the location is deserted, so the characters are allowed to reside inside the buildings. Similar to Lord of the Flies, the characters, these adolescents, run amok due to their emotional state. And, let’s not forget the influence from The Most Dangerous Game! A handful of these students are hunting down their classmates! Battle Royale is an update and an expansion to our school assigned readings. But, keep in mind you’ll need to read those three stories in order to appreciate this import from Japan.
My final rating: Enjoy It!
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