Battle Royale
バトル・ロワイアル (Batoru rowaiaru)
Genre	Drama Romance Science Fiction
Novel
Authored by	Koushun Takami
Publisher	Ohta Publishing VIZ Media Gollancz Calmann-Lévy Heyne Ulpius Ház
Publish date	April 22 1999 February 26 2003 July 6 2006 August 23 2006 2006
No. of volumes	1

Battle Royale (バトル・ロワイアル, Batoru Rowaiaru^?) is a novel written by Japanese author Koushun Takami. Battle Royale may refer to: Battle Royale, a novel written by Koushun Takami in 1999 Battle Royale (film), a film adaptation of the novel, directed by Kinji Fukasaku in 2000 Battle Royale II: Requiem, the 2003 sequel to the film Battle Royale (manga), a manga series adaptation of the novel... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... A drama film is a film that depends mostly on in-depth character development, interaction, and highly emotional themes. ... A romance novel is a novel from the genre currently known as romance. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... This article deals with the American media company. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... A Gollancz edition of The Door Into Summer, displaying the distinctive yellow dust jacket style. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Hungary. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan. ... is the 112th day of the year (113th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... is the 57th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_Kingdom. ... is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Hungary. ... A novel (from French nouvelle Italian novella, new) is an extended, generally fictional narrative, typically in prose. ... ...

Battle Royale (ISBN 4-89392-958-5) was first published in Japan in April 1999, and it is one of Japan's best-selling and most controversial novels.^{[citation needed]} It later formed the basis for a popular movie (which spawned a sequel), and has been adapted as a manga series (released in 15 volumes, which were later adapted into English by Keith Giffen and published by TOKYOPOP), which itself now has a sequel. See also: 1998 in literature, other events of 1999, 2000 in literature, list of years in literature. ... Battle Royale ) is a film released on December 16, 2000, in Japan — based on the novel of the same name — released on April 22, 1999, in Japan. ... Kinji Fukasaku started work on a sequel to Battle Royale, Battle Royale II: Requiem in 2003 but died of bone cancer on January 12, 2003, after shooting only one scene. ... Battle Royale has been adapted into a serialized manga, written by Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi, was published in Japan by Akita Publishing. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... For the music movie, see Tokyo Pop. ...

An English translation of the novel (ISBN 1-56931-778-X) was published in the United States by Viz in February 2003. The English language version is also available in the United Kingdom, published by Gollancz. Furthermore a German translation exists, published by Heyne. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Viz, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, California, is a major American manga publisher. ... See also: 2002 in literature, other events of 2003, 2004 in literature, list of years in literature. ... A Gollancz edition of The Door Into Summer, displaying the distinctive yellow dust jacket style. ... Odysseus and Euryclea, by Christian G. Heyne Christian Gottlob Heyne (25 September 1729-14 July 1812) was a German classical scholar and archaeologist. ...

Plot

Okishima Island map seen inside the cover of the novel.

Battle Royale takes place in an alternate timeline - Japan is a police state, known as the Republic of Greater East Asia (大東亜共和国 Dai Tōa Kyōwakoku). Every two years fifty 3rd year junior high (grade 9) classes are chosen to forcibly fight against one another until only one student remains alive. The "Program", as it is known, was supposedly created to aid military research and population control, but it is more likely that it is simply a betting opportunity for high ranking Japanese army officers, or as Sakamochi puts it, to rid the country of trust for one another. The outcome of each battle is later revealed on local television. In the novel, one person discovers that the program is not an experiment at all, but a means of terrorizing the population. In theory, after seeing such atrocities, the people will become paranoid and divided, preventing an organized rebellion. In the film, the "Program" was created to discipline teenagers, who had become out of control delinquents, angry at the adult world. Image File history File links Battle_royale_novel_map. ... Image File history File links Battle_royale_novel_map. ... A police state is a political condition where the government maintains strict control over society, particularly through suspension of civil rights and often with the use of a force of secret police. ...

Okishima Island map seen in the first volume of the manga.

Under the guise of a 'study trip', a group of students from Shiroiwa Junior High School (城岩中学校 Shiroiwa Chūgakkō), a Junior High School in the fictional town of Shiroiwa (in Kagawa Prefecture), are gassed on a bus, only to awaken in a school on an isolated, evacuated island (southwest of Shodoshima, also in the Kagawa Prefecture), wearing metal collars around their necks. After being briefed about the program, the students are issued survival packs (along with a random weapon or a tool) and sent out the island one by one. While some of the students receive guns and knives, many students acquire useless items like boomerangs, some common dartboard darts, and forks. In some cases, instead of a weapon, the student receives a tool; Hiroki Sugimura finds a radar that tracks nearby students, and Toshinori Oda receives a bulletproof vest. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1302x2009, 657 KB) This image is a single panel from a comic strip or the interior of a single issue of a comic book and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the comic or... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1302x2009, 657 KB) This image is a single panel from a comic strip or the interior of a single issue of a comic book and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the comic or... Battle Royale has been adapted into a serialized manga, written by Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi, was published in Japan by Akita Publishing. ... For other uses, see Battle Royale (disambiguation). ... Kagawa Prefecture ) is located on Shikoku island, Japan. ... Kagawa Prefecture ) is located on Shikoku island, Japan. ... This article is about firearms and similar devices. ... traditional Norse knife A knife is a sharp-edged hand tool used for cutting. ... This article is about the wooden implement. ... Assorted forks. ... Hiroki Sugimura is a character from the novel Battle royale and in the manga and film based on it. ... Shigehiro Yamaguchi as Toshinori Oda in the film Battle Royale. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...

To make sure the students obey the rules and kill each other, the metal collars around their necks track their positions, will explode if they linger in a 'Danger Zone' or attempt to remove the collars, and listen in on their conversations. The Danger Zones are randomly chosen areas of the map that increase in number as time goes on, re-sculpting and shrinking the battlefield and forcing the students to move around, eventually meeting in one small area.

Okishima Island map seen throughout the film (the special edition film DVD case also contains a small card size map); the lists in Japanese are the students' names

The students are also given a time limit. If twenty-four hours pass without someone being killed, then all of the collars will be detonated simultaneously and there will be no winner. It is mentioned that only 0.5% of Programs end in this fashion. (In the film version, this occurs after a total of 3 days have passed since the start of the Battle Royale, regardless of the timing with which people die; this was a change made for the film version.) Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x768, 139 KB) This image is a screenshot from a copyrighted film, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by the studio which produced the film, and possibly also by any actors appearing in the screenshot. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1024x768, 139 KB) This image is a screenshot from a copyrighted film, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by the studio which produced the film, and possibly also by any actors appearing in the screenshot. ... Battle Royale ) is a film released on December 16, 2000, in Japan — based on the novel of the same name — released on April 22, 1999, in Japan. ...

In the end, only four students remain: Shuya Nanahara, Noriko Nakagawa, Shogo Kawada, and antagonist Kazuo Kiriyama. There is a car chase and shoot-out between the three main characters and Kazuo. Kazuo is killed after the chase ends. Shogo then takes his two partners to a hill where there are a lot of trees. After telling Shuya and Noriko that he will kill them, Shogo shoots in the air twice, faking their deaths for the microphones planted on the collars. He then dismantles the collars. When Shogo is on the winner's ship, Shuya and Noriko board it and kill the soldiers on board. Shogo tells Shuya how to escape, succumbs to his wounds and dies. The two remaining students go to the mainland, where they become fugitives. Tatsuya Fujiwara as Shuya Nanahara in the film Battle Royale. ... Aki Maeda as Noriko Nakagawa in the film Battle Royale Noriko Nakagawa ), also known as Girl #15, is a main female character in the novel, manga and film Battle Royale. ... Taro Yamamoto as Shogo Kawada in the film Battle Royale Shogo Kawada ) a. ... An ... Masanobu Ando as Kazuo Kiriyama in the film Battle Royale. ...

Student list

The main cast of the film version of Battle Royale.

Image File history File links ShiroiwaClassB.jpg‎ The 42 students and their teacher from the film Battle Royale. ... Image File history File links ShiroiwaClassB.jpg‎ The 42 students and their teacher from the film Battle Royale. ... Battle Royale ) is a film released on December 16, 2000, in Japan — based on the novel of the same name — released on April 22, 1999, in Japan. ... Shin Kusaka as Yoshio Akamatsu in the film Battle Royale. ... Tsuyako Kinoshita as Mizuho Inada in the film Battle Royale. ... Ren Matsuzawa as Keita Iijima in the film Battle Royale. ... Yukie Utsumi is a character in the novel Battle Royale, and the film and manga of the same name. ... Gouki Nishimura as Tatsumichi Oki in the film Battle Royale. ... Megumi Eto (or Etou) is a character in the novel Battle Royale, and the film and manga of the same name. ... Shigehiro Yamaguchi as Toshinori Oda in the film Battle Royale. ... Tomomi Shimaki as Sakura Ogawa in the film Battle Royale. ... Taro Yamamoto as Shogo Kawada in the film Battle Royale Shogo Kawada ) a. ... Tamaki Mihara as Izumi Kanai in the film Battle Royale. ... Masanobu Ando as Kazuo Kiriyama in the film Battle Royale. ... Yukiko Kitano is a character in the novel Battle Royale, and the film and manga of the same name. ... Yoshitoki Kuninobu is a character in the novel Battle Royale, and the movie and manga of the same name. ... Misao Kato as Yumiko Kusaka in the film Battle Royale. ... Osamu Ohnishi as Yoji Kuramoto in the film Battle Royale. ... Kayoko Kotohiki is a character in the novel Battle Royale, and the film and manga of the same name. ... Hiroshi Kuronaga is a character in the novel Battle Royale, and the film and manga of the same name. ... Yuko Sakaki is a character in the novel Battle Royale, and the film and manga of the same name. ... Shirou Gou as Ryuhei Sasagawa in the film Battle Royale. ... Anna Nagata as Hirono Shimizu in the film Battle Royale. ... Hiroki Sugimura is a character from the novel Battle royale and in the manga and film based on it. ... Kou Shibasaki as Mitsuko Souma, in the film Battle Royale Mitsuko Souma ) is one of two main antagonists in the novel Battle Royale and the manga and film adaptations. ... Yutaka Shimada as Yutaka Seto in the film Battle Royale. ... Satomi Ishii as Haruka Tanizawa in the film Battle Royale. ... Junichi Naitou as Yuichiro Takiguchi in the film Battle Royale. ... Chiaki Kuriyama as Takako Chigusa in the film Battle Royale Takako Chigusa (千草貴子 Chigusa Takako) is a character in the novel Battle Royale, and the film and manga of the same name. ... Shigeki Hirokawa as Sho Tsukioka in the film Battle Royale. ... Mayumi Tendo (天堂真弓 Tendō Mayumi) is a character in the novel Battle Royale, and the film and manga of the same name. ... Tatsuya Fujiwara as Shuya Nanahara in the film Battle Royale. ... Aki Maeda as Noriko Nakagawa in the film Battle Royale Noriko Nakagawa ), also known as Girl #15, is a main female character in the novel, manga and film Battle Royale. ... Kazushi Niida is a character in the novel Battle Royale, and the film and manga of the same name. ... Satomi Hanamura as Yuka Nakagawa in the film Battle Royale. ... Mitsuru Numai is a character in the novel Battle Royale, and the film and manga of the same name. ... Sayaka Kamiya as Satomi Noda in the film Battle Royale. ... Satoshi Yokomichi as Tadakatsu Hatagami in the film Battle Royale. ... Aki Inoue as Fumiyo Fujoyoshi in the film Battle Royale. ... Takashi Tsukamoto as Shinji Mimura in the film Battle Royale Shinji Mimura (三村信史 Mimura Shinji) is a protagonist in the novel Battle Royale, and film and manga adaptations. ... Asami Kanai as Chisato Matsui in the film Battle Royale. ... Ryou Nitta as Kyoichi Motobuchi in the film Battle Royale. ... Kaori Minami is a character in the novel Battle Royale, and the film and manga of the same name. ... Yasuomi Sano as Kazuhiko Yamamoto in the film Battle Royale. ... Takako Baba as Yoshimi Yahagi in the film Battle Royale. ...

Other characters

All versions

• Masao Hayashida (林田 昌朗 Hayashida Masao): The teacher of Class 3-B at Shiroiwa Junior High School. He is executed when he pleads for the lives of the 3-B students. He is nicknamed "Dragonfly" because of his glasses.
• Keiko Onuki (大貫 慶子 Ōnuki Keiko) (Keiko Inoue in the English-language manga): Shogo Kawada's girlfriend from his previous school in Kobe; Keiko was in Shogo's class when the two were in a Battle Royale. His relationship with Keiko and the outcome of the previous Battle Royale hardens Shogo Kawada.

This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Shogo Kawadas photo of Keiko and him in the film Battle Royale Keiko Inoues appearance in a manga flashback Keiko Onuki (大貫慶子 Ōnuki Keiko), known in the manga as Keiko Inoue, is a character in the novel, film and manga Battle Royale. ... Kobe ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture and a prominent port city in Japan with a population of about 1. ...

Novel and manga

• Ryoko Anno (安野 良子 An'no Ryōko): The superintendent of the Charity House, a Roman Catholic orphanage. In the novel and manga, she is raped when she protests the conscription of Shuya and Yoshitoki into the program. Anno never makes an actual appearance in the film.

The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ...

Novel

• Kinpatsu Sakamochi: The teacher in the novel version. He enjoys watching the students die and bets on Kazuo winning. His name is a takeoff on Kinpachi Sakamoto, the protagonist of Kinpachi Sensei. He dies when Shogo impales him with a pencil.
• Private Toshihiko Tahara (田原 俊彦 Tahara Toshihiko), Nomura (野村), and Kondo (近藤 Kondō): The soldiers in the novel version. Tahara, described as "the frivolous one," shoots Noriko in the leg. The soldiers are killed by Shuya and Shogo in the end. They are named after characters in Kinpachi Sensei.

Kinpatsu Sakamochi (Sakamochi Kinpatsu) is a villain character in the novel Battle Royale. ... Kinpachi-sensei is a Japanese soap opera. ... Kinpachi-sensei is a Japanese soap opera. ...

Manga

Yonemi Kamon is the instructor in the manga version.

• Yonemi Kamon: The teacher in the manga version. He is very similar to Sakamochi and dies the same way.
• Nakata: A student in Shogo's first class. He has a crush on Keiko and stalks her. He witnesses her argument with Shogo the day before the class is captured, and is enraged. During the Program he makes it to the final four students and, when Shogo approaches him, grabs Keiko and holds her hostage. He complains that Keiko always comes back to Shogo even though he treats her badly, and insists that he will take care of Keiko, saying that if need be he will shoot her since he thinks that she is better off dead than being with Shogo. Shogo calls him out on being a stalker, says that he is a rapist in training, and then recommends that he take the safety off of his gun. Nakata glances down to do this and Shogo shoots him, revealing afterwards that Nakata's revolver had no safety.

Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (434x953, 154 KB) This image is a single panel from a comic strip or the interior of a single issue of a comic book and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the comic or... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (434x953, 154 KB) This image is a single panel from a comic strip or the interior of a single issue of a comic book and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher of the comic or... Yonemi Kamon ) is a fictional character in the manga version of Battle Royale. ... Yonemi Kamon ) is a fictional character in the manga version of Battle Royale. ...

Film

Kitano is the instructor in the film version.

• Kitano: The teacher in the film version. Unlike Sakamochi and Yonemi, Kitano is not overly sadistic. He has an unhealthy obsession with Noriko.
• Lieutenant Anjo: A soldier in the film version.
• "Big Sister": The announcer in the orientation video to Battle Royale students. Her cheery manner feels out of place with the situation. The lady announces the departures of students after the orientation is finished.

Image File history File linksMetadata BR1_Kitano_1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata BR1_Kitano_1. ... Takeshi Kitano as Kitano in the film Battle Royale. ... Takeshi Kitano as Kitano in the film Battle Royale. ... Lieutenant Anjo is a minor fictional villan character from Film version of Battle Royale. ...

Game

B-R-U.net developed a free Internet game Battle Royale Ultimate with PHP and Perl in Japanese. This site distributed a game and it has been translated into both Simplified and Traditional Chinese by the community. PHP is a reflective programming language originally designed for producing dynamic web pages. ... Wikibooks has a book on the topic of Perl Programming Perl is a dynamic programming language created by Larry Wall and first released in 1987. ...

The English-language official Battle Royale site stated that it had a Flash mini-game in development.

See also

There have been a number of adaptations into other media which themselves have spun off sequels. These include:

• Battle Royale, the film adaptation
  • Battle Royale II: Requiem, the film sequel
• Battle Royale, the manga adaptation
  • Battle Royale II: Blitz Royale. the manga sequel
• Tokyo 10+01 (a.k.a. Tokyo Eleven), which heavily parodied the Battle Royale film [1]

Battle Royale ) is a film released on December 16, 2000, in Japan — based on the novel of the same name — released on April 22, 1999, in Japan. ... Kinji Fukasaku started work on a sequel to Battle Royale, Battle Royale II: Requiem in 2003 but died of bone cancer on January 12, 2003, after shooting only one scene. ... Battle Royale has been adapted into a serialized manga, written by Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi, was published in Japan by Akita Publishing. ...

References

• VIZ Media's official page on the English translation of the novel
• Conrad Editora's official page on the Brazilian edition of the manga
• Visual Filmes' official page on the Brazilian release of the movie

External links

• Battle Royale - battleroyalefilm.com
• Asian Cinema Website - Insightful reviews of the original movie and its sequel.
• Official English-language Battle Royale film website
• Battle Royale Trading Card Game
• Battle Royale preview at Mangareviewer.com
• Comparison of Special Version and Original Version
• ThePPN:Battle Royale
• Battle Royale Center (Taiwanese)