Author: Koushan Takami
Published: 1999 (English: 2003)
Publisher: VIZ Media
614 pages
I have been wanting to read this for a long time. I used to really be into anime and manga, and this title came up a lot as a bloody, graphic story of a bunch of students forced to kill one another. Then with The Hunger Games being released, I remembered this title again, mainly because I thought, “Wow, The Hunger Games sounds like it copied Battle Royale.” (To which I say, now that I have read it, it probably didn’t — the basic concept is the same, but the stories are completely different from one another. Anyway, I think Battle Royale is much better than The Hunger Games. I like THG, don’t get me wrong (I have it 5 stars and all), but I’m one of the people who really doesn’t understand the intense liking other readers have for it. I digress). I saw the movie first, but the movie isn’t exactly the most faithful rendering of the novel (great movie, just not the same as the book).
Battle Royale takes place in an alternate timeline in what used to be Japan, but is now the Republic of Greater East Asia. A class of 42 students are going on what they believe is a class study trip somewhere, but during the bus ride, sleeping gas is turned on and all the students are knocked out. When they awake, they find themselves on a tiny island and are told that they are this year’s chosen class to participate in the Program.
This immediately scares the daylights out of the students, and causes quite a few of them to become angry as well. The Program is, well, a program that selects, at random, one class a year to play a game where they are forced into a confined area (in this case, an island) and are forced to kill one another until one is left standing. This is the government’s way of controlling everyone — through fear and intimidation, a constant reminder that they have your lives in the palm of their hands. However, Shuya, our main character, does not want to play the game and instead, wants to strategize a way to escape. This proves to be most difficult because when the game begins, he cannot tell who is willing to play and who he can truly trust.
I loved this book. It was pure addiction to read it. As a warning though, there are many violent scenes in this book that make the violence in The Hunger Games look like a joke. Actually, I never really thought THG was a very violent book in the first place — I mean, Katniss nearly always does indirect attacks, or attacks that allow her to maintain a considerable amount of distance between herself and the enemy. In Battle Royale, we have in-your-face violence. I’m talking about bodies riddled with bullet holes, heads bashed into mush, etc. So if you can’t stomach that kind of stuff, this really isn’t the book for you so I won’t even try, but if you’re okay with it all, all the violence keeps you on the edge of your seat. It’s freaking scary because you don’t know who’s going to die next and you don’t know how it’s going to happen. And yes, some of the deaths made me squirm a bit.
Then there are all the relationships in the novel that made the novel extrenely intriguing. Okay, so I thought it was a tad odd that in one class, there was this huge web of love relationships. Half the characters seemed to have a crush on someone in the same class, which seemed like an oddly high amount to me. But these love relationships did pull on my heartstrings a bit in some scenes … especially the Hiroki scene near the end of the book. Oh, that was just so sad, and a harsh reminder that life is short so use your opportunities while you can.
There was also the trust-or-don’t-trust dynamic in the book. While I was placed in the perspective of many students in the game, a large number were shrouded in mystery. Even I did not know who to trust and who not to trust (okay, I lie — I watched the movie after all — but I know if I was completely brand new to the story, I would be very cautious of every character’s motives). You just don’t know who is pretending to be friendly, and who is playing the game for real. It’s kind of crazy how such a brutal situation reveals a person’s true nature. This was cause for some really eye-popping scenes (both literally and figuratively!)
Character-wise, I thought they were really well done. With 42 students and the instructor, it’s extremely difficult to go in depth with each character and flesh them out, so Koushan Takami didn’t do it. I believe I read somewhere once that he was completely aware that his characters are pretty one-dimensional. I’d have to agree with that, but at the same time, I think he gave great back stories to his main characters that do flesh them out a bit; only their motives are a bit one-track-minded, but hey, you’re in a survival game — you don’t really have too many other priorities at the moment besides living.
Even though it is quite a thick novel, the scenes go by quickly and the prose is easy to read. Now, with the prose, as an English speaker who has a basic understanding of conversational Japanese (studied it for 4 years and went on a student exchange trip thingy once to Japan — granted, my knowledge of the language is pretty rusty these days), I understand why some may not feel it is “good writing” because it does not sound 100% natural in the English language. However, when I think of how it may be said in Japanese, it makes perfect sense to me and does not feel weird in the slightest.
So I think I may have a bit of an advantage in regards to the writing, but honestly, everyone should know that it is difficult to judge the quality of a book’s writing when it is a translated piece of work. You can judge the translation (which I thought was fairly good), but that’s not the same as the intentions the author had when he/she was writing the book. At least, that’s my opinion. It’s the same thing with some of the behaviours of the characters. I think some of them won’t make that much sense to a person of the Western world, but if you have some basic understanding of contemporary East Asian cultures, particularly Japan of course, it would make a lot more sense and you’d realize it’s not really out of the ordinary for someone to say or do a particular thing.
Battle Royale is really a great book and makes for a thrilling read. I totally understand how it came to such popularity (and controversy!) in Japan and I am so glad that it was translated for English-speaking audiences to read and appreciate as well. If you are interested in this book at all, don’t hesitate to find a copy and read it! However, I don’t necessarily recommend reading this just because you read THG and kind of expect the same thing, because it’s VERY different and this book isn’t meant for everyone.
My Rating: 5/5
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