This is a repost of a review I wrote quite a while back. I've really improved as a writer and a reviewer since then, and I'll probably tackle the book again once I get around to re-reading it. Until then...
I'd wager it would be difficult to find someone who hasn't heard of Battle Royale, what with the manga series and films. The book easily tops them all, and it's amazing that it's taken so long to be translated into English and actually released. My copy was imported from America, and other UK readers might run into similar problems.
In a land strictly controlled by the government, where you can be killed on the slightest whim, the American imperialists are the enemy, and rock music is strictly monitored due to its rebellious nature, maybe the BR program isn't such an odd idea.
The BR (Battle Royale, naturally) Program was inspired by the practice of the same name in popular wrestling. As explained in the prologue, a Battle Royale is a wrestling match consisting of any number of fighters, only one of whom can win. Some people may begin by joining together, to take out the others, but this doesn't change the fact that they must turn on one another eventually. This results in unexpected matches, most notably between members of tag teams, who would not normally fight against one another. Koushun Takami has run with this idea in his novel, using the idea of alliances and friend against friend to good effect. The themes of betrayal, and the idea of how close friends really are, how much you really trust the people around you, are striking because they're so plausible. Put in this situation, I can imagine acting in a very similar way, for the same reasons as the characters, and the whole idea of someone giving in to animalistic desires due to something so basic and primitive as fear and their own safety is handled with skill.
Within the novel, the government of Greater East Asia has decided, in its infinite wisdom, to bring the Battle Royale practice of pitting people against each other in fights to the death, into schools, the reasons for which are numerous and utterly fake. Every year, fifty third year middle school classes are selected for participation in the Program. For those unfamiliar with the Japanese school system, they are around fifteen years old. It's about control. The Government of Greater East Asia will result to any tactics to keep its citizens in the dark and under control, through any means necessary, and if elements of George Orwell's 1984 come to mind, you're not far off.
These school children are taken, under the guise of a study trip, to a deserted area, usually a small island, where they are given randomly selected weapons, ranging from various guns through sickles, hatchets, bow guns, knives, darts (complete with dart board) hand grenades, boomerangs and bullet-proof vests, and ordered to kill one another. Metal collars track their locations and status (dead or alive). These collars are triggered to explode if no-one dies within 24 hours, if someone attempts to either remove the collar or escape from the island and the game, or if the wearer is caught within a forbidden zones.
The forbidden zones are sections of the island which are off-limits, and more and more of them are announced as the game goes on. This forces students to move around. preventing anyone from simply hiding until the game is over.
The book follows one class which is partaking, involuntarily of course, in the Program. This group is notable for many reasons; mostly because one member of it is actually a survivor of a previous Program. Forced to retake his third year, the luck of the draw has resulted in this strange fluke.
The class consists of forty-two students, which perhaps goes some way to explaining why the book resembles a house brick. The narrative doesn't follow every single student, of course. Several die early on, while others stray onto the page halfway through, with only a short summary of their past before they are shot down. Or stabbed. Or strangled. Or blown up. There are a number of options.
Although, at the beginning, the reader may feel a sense of panic at the long cast list, somehow Koushun Takami has managed to give each of them at least a vaguely unique history. Some of the more fascinating characters include Kazuo Kariyama, Mitsuko Souma. Noriko Nakagawa, Shinji Mimura, Hiroki Sugimura, Shuya Nanahara and Shogo Kawada.
One of these characters was born without emotion, due to an accident, and so decides to play the game properly based on the toss of a coin. Another had an eccentric uncle, who taught him an awful lot about the world outside Greater East Asia, computer hacking, and explosives, skills which come in very handy. Yet another has her own reasons for expecting the world to do its worst, and her reasons for following the philosophy of the best defence being a good offence are sadly believable. Then there's the couple, not mentioned in the above list, who commit suicide early on, knowing that only one of them can survive. I won't say that the characters are free of stereotypes - Kazuo's hair wouldn't be out of place in any manga, and was closely replicated, unintentionally of course, in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Hiroki is the very image of a tall, dark brooding samurai, Heathcliff meets Gambit, a comparison which explains my growing affection for him. Then there's the rebel punk, the rocker, the class clown...yet these stereotypes are in the characters looks more than their personality, and add to the book rather than detract from it. All of these fascinating characters are explored to a great extent, something which I feel makes the novel even better. There are a number of interesting ideas and themes to explore, and Takami has skimped on few if any of them. The book is lengthy but fascinating and absorbing.
Almost 1984 meets Lord of the Flies, the gore in Battle Royale can sometimes be a little much. The description of someone's eyes being literally gouged out is particularly horrendous. The writing is occasionally stilted, which, in fairness, could be attributed to translation issues.
Still, none of the flaws detract from the book as a whole. A great novel, deserving of its fame.
I'd wager it would be difficult to find someone who hasn't heard of Battle Royale, what with the manga series and films. The book easily tops them all, and it's amazing that it's taken so long to be translated into English and actually released. My copy was imported from America, and other UK readers might run into similar problems.
In a land strictly controlled by the government, where you can be killed on the slightest whim, the American imperialists are the enemy, and rock music is strictly monitored due to its rebellious nature, maybe the BR program isn't such an odd idea.
The BR (Battle Royale, naturally) Program was inspired by the practice of the same name in popular wrestling. As explained in the prologue, a Battle Royale is a wrestling match consisting of any number of fighters, only one of whom can win. Some people may begin by joining together, to take out the others, but this doesn't change the fact that they must turn on one another eventually. This results in unexpected matches, most notably between members of tag teams, who would not normally fight against one another. Koushun Takami has run with this idea in his novel, using the idea of alliances and friend against friend to good effect. The themes of betrayal, and the idea of how close friends really are, how much you really trust the people around you, are striking because they're so plausible. Put in this situation, I can imagine acting in a very similar way, for the same reasons as the characters, and the whole idea of someone giving in to animalistic desires due to something so basic and primitive as fear and their own safety is handled with skill.
Within the novel, the government of Greater East Asia has decided, in its infinite wisdom, to bring the Battle Royale practice of pitting people against each other in fights to the death, into schools, the reasons for which are numerous and utterly fake. Every year, fifty third year middle school classes are selected for participation in the Program. For those unfamiliar with the Japanese school system, they are around fifteen years old. It's about control. The Government of Greater East Asia will result to any tactics to keep its citizens in the dark and under control, through any means necessary, and if elements of George Orwell's 1984 come to mind, you're not far off.
These school children are taken, under the guise of a study trip, to a deserted area, usually a small island, where they are given randomly selected weapons, ranging from various guns through sickles, hatchets, bow guns, knives, darts (complete with dart board) hand grenades, boomerangs and bullet-proof vests, and ordered to kill one another. Metal collars track their locations and status (dead or alive). These collars are triggered to explode if no-one dies within 24 hours, if someone attempts to either remove the collar or escape from the island and the game, or if the wearer is caught within a forbidden zones.
The forbidden zones are sections of the island which are off-limits, and more and more of them are announced as the game goes on. This forces students to move around. preventing anyone from simply hiding until the game is over.
The book follows one class which is partaking, involuntarily of course, in the Program. This group is notable for many reasons; mostly because one member of it is actually a survivor of a previous Program. Forced to retake his third year, the luck of the draw has resulted in this strange fluke.
The class consists of forty-two students, which perhaps goes some way to explaining why the book resembles a house brick. The narrative doesn't follow every single student, of course. Several die early on, while others stray onto the page halfway through, with only a short summary of their past before they are shot down. Or stabbed. Or strangled. Or blown up. There are a number of options.
Although, at the beginning, the reader may feel a sense of panic at the long cast list, somehow Koushun Takami has managed to give each of them at least a vaguely unique history. Some of the more fascinating characters include Kazuo Kariyama, Mitsuko Souma. Noriko Nakagawa, Shinji Mimura, Hiroki Sugimura, Shuya Nanahara and Shogo Kawada.
One of these characters was born without emotion, due to an accident, and so decides to play the game properly based on the toss of a coin. Another had an eccentric uncle, who taught him an awful lot about the world outside Greater East Asia, computer hacking, and explosives, skills which come in very handy. Yet another has her own reasons for expecting the world to do its worst, and her reasons for following the philosophy of the best defence being a good offence are sadly believable. Then there's the couple, not mentioned in the above list, who commit suicide early on, knowing that only one of them can survive. I won't say that the characters are free of stereotypes - Kazuo's hair wouldn't be out of place in any manga, and was closely replicated, unintentionally of course, in Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. Hiroki is the very image of a tall, dark brooding samurai, Heathcliff meets Gambit, a comparison which explains my growing affection for him. Then there's the rebel punk, the rocker, the class clown...yet these stereotypes are in the characters looks more than their personality, and add to the book rather than detract from it. All of these fascinating characters are explored to a great extent, something which I feel makes the novel even better. There are a number of interesting ideas and themes to explore, and Takami has skimped on few if any of them. The book is lengthy but fascinating and absorbing.
Almost 1984 meets Lord of the Flies, the gore in Battle Royale can sometimes be a little much. The description of someone's eyes being literally gouged out is particularly horrendous. The writing is occasionally stilted, which, in fairness, could be attributed to translation issues.
Still, none of the flaws detract from the book as a whole. A great novel, deserving of its fame.
