Intro

You’re a kid living under a bit of a totalitarian rule but it’s manageable. You still have fun. Despite the strict rules you still have dreams of becoming a rock star or some other kinda 1980s kid’s dream. One day you awaken. Only you don’t recall falling asleep. The setting is very familiar to you. Pick a building surrounded by a good deal of land… got it? Okay. You weren’t here just a second ago and don’t remember falling asleep. Surrounding you are at least 41 familiar people -they can be whoever came to mind at the thought. Wow, aren’t you the social butterfly? An unassuming man is escorted into your building, ignores the obvious, collective confusion, then starts going on about how you and these 41 other people are what’s wrong with society as a whole and that you knew good and well that what’s happening right now was always a possibility. But what is happening right now?

Well RIGHT now you’re tuned into TWIMB episode 30, covering the progenitor of the Battle Royale literary genre, aptly titled Battle Royale by Koushun Takami. This episode will focus on the novel and first film, with some coverage on various media within and without the franchise. 

A word of warning: the topic at hand and associated historical event are not pleasant. Graphic details are not the focal point but if you aren’t a fan of adolescents brutally murdering each other then this may not be the episode or content for you.

Insert Battle Royale video intro

Welcome

Yo! Welcome to The World is My Burrito AKA TWIMB, a podcast where I pit children together in a confined space, give them weapons of ass destruction then let ‘em duke it out just for sheer entertainment value. And no, Erik with a K, I’m not covering the American school system without you.

As the propaganda foretold this is your host, Kory T, comin’ at ya from Tampa FL this bloody date 

Before we get too deep I gotta do some

Dish duty

This is hella belated but thanks to Tim for not bringing me up on another episode of You Didn’t Ask for This, the podcast answering life’s least pressing questions. They’re great guys to know but after that episode, I’m glad I’m not related to them. That’s episode #110: The Kaczynski Method. Also Tim is 1/3rd of a podcast, Against All Oddities. In current times they’ve been covering transcendental meditation or its baby steps

Synopsis

Battle Royale is the story of junior high school students who are forced to fight each other to the death in a program run by a fictional, fascist, totalitarian Japanese government known as the Republic of Greater East Asia. Nobody of any social rank is excluded from this game.

The only slight change across the franchise is that the movie is exclusively confined to what we know as Japan. Nothing about a change in world order is ever mentioned, at least in the subtitles.

Why did I choose this topic?

I can’t give you a first watch date but I was older than the players in this tale.

This was one of the first films where young protagonists can quote “win” yet left me questioning the value of that victory. Over the years this utter hopelessness no matter the level of success is a theme in Japanese pop culture that constantly gains more appreciation - the most recent culmination being mentioned in episode 23 covering No Longer Human. It went from allure to obsession. 

Despite owning the novel for a long while, it didn’t get cracked open until maybe 2018? It’s a little fuzzy and could be longer but that sticks out the most so let’s go with it. And it also blew me away in new ways, further sealing my love for the title. 

The movie and novel both sit upon their own unique pedestals, neither one reducing the qualities of the other. This is kinda like Clive Barker’s Hellbound Heart + Hellraiser or the AKIRA film and manga. No matter where you begin, you will be inspired to seek out the other.

And then once you consume that, you’ll want to go back to the first one again.

Also, this is the progenitor of the dystopian battle royale genre of novels and film. Not Battle Royale as a concept, which began with wrestling as far back as the early 70s. And it also isn’t the first ever violent battle royale, but where there’s a smattering preceding this there are tons immediately following.

Hot Take

Battle Royale has been one of my top Japanese film and novel recommendations for a long time. Seriously, it has come up several times for several years. It’s not right at the top because of the content but if someone is interested in dystopian stories involving young adults or wants to get into unique, heavier foreign content, this is the first mention.

I’m also going to use this hot take to cover the least pressing topic in this entire episode: the audiobook. It’s not bad and certainly a viable option if you don’t have the time to sit and read. Thankfully the narrator states the chapters so it was very easy to bounce back and forth between the audio and physical. It reads from the older translation with a different writing style which can be a little weird if you do both, but it isn’t bad.

That said, I’m not a huge fan of the narrator’s voice and it doesn’t help that he kinda sucks at pronouncing Japanese names. Kinda like Jose from Cinema Villains. “Mitsuko Sowma” made me cringe every time, and there were a few parts of the book where I had no idea who he was talking about because he made several names sound nearly identical. 

Author History

Before reaching that sweet, sweet bloodshed we gotta talk about the authoritative man himself.

Kōshun Takami was born on January 10, 1969 nice as Hiroharu Takami. The name Kōshun comes from a play on the kanji from his given name. 

He graduated from Ōsaka university with a degree in literature, then moved onto Nihon University’s liberal arts correspondence course program where he dropped out. 

From ’91-’96 he worked as a reporter at Shikoku Shimbun, covering politics, police reports, and economics.

He quit the newspaper to complete his first novel, Battle Royale.

In the 2009? translation, VIZ managed to interview Takami. He had ideas of being a lifelong author but is still living off of Battle Royale. Before the VIZ interview he claimed to be working on a second novel but that has never seen fruition. He is still part of every remix of Battle Royale so he really do be rolling in the success of one title. Good for him, but kinda sad for those who wanted to see what else was in his brain.

Hey Phil and Eric from The Wait For It Podcast, Takami straight up said he was hesitant to do an interview because he doesn’t believe foreknowledge of any creator should be relevant to enjoy whatever medium you’re consuming, and if it is that is a quote “fundamentally poor” decision.

He’s wrong. You’re wrong. And you two should feel bad about yourselves. The Boy and the Heron was amazing. This is my personal ad for your podcast.

The Director

The main thing that separates Battle Royale from AKIRA and Hellraiser is that it was not directed by its creator despite having an equal level of personal passion. Instead, the genius was capture by Kinji Fukasaku. Dude was born in 1930. That’s right, homie was 69 at the making of this film.

This is the only film of his I’ve ever seen despite him being a prolific director, having 71 titles under his belt before his passing in 2003.

You’ll never guess where we’re about to go…
 
  Kinji’s own class was drafted to work munitions when he was 15 years old -that’s right, we’re back in WW2 again- and whaddaya know? This is the same age as the participants in the game. His warehouse was bombed in ’45 and the only way to survive was by using bodies as shields. When the dust settled the living had to dispose of the corpses and get back to work as usual. Also extremely similar to the film.

Maybe this is why there is so much passion between Kinji and Battle Royale.

World History

Before getting into the topic there is a singularly important world event worth mentioning: The Kobe child murders. This series of events is what caused the book to be banned for a little bit. I won’t go super deep into the gruesome deets but history happens.

Between March and May of 1997 five children were attacked resulting in two casualties - one in a particularly gruesome manner. The murderer was later discovered to be a 14-year old boy reportedly named Shinichiro Azuma who used the moniker Seito Sakakibara. Shinichiro Ain’t even his real name as Japanese law has a thing about doxxing people, so he was given that or “Boy A”. One video I found mention they don’t release names of any criminal under 20.

The final murder was of 11-year old Jun Hase on May 27. Jun’s decapitated head was found in front of Tainohata Elementary School before students arrived. He had been beheaded by handsaw and a note written in red ink was stuffed in his mouth. 

Quick disclaimer: that was the chill version

The note read: “This is the beginning of the game... Try to stop me if you can you stupid police... I desperately want to see people die, it is a thrill for me to commit murder. A bloody judgment is needed for my years of great bitterness.”

さあゲームの始まりです

愚鈍な警察諸君

ボクを止めてみたまえ

ボクは殺しが愉快でたまらない

人の死が見たくて見たくてしょうがない

汚い野菜共には死の制裁を

積年の大怨に流血の裁きを

SHOOLL KILLER

学校殺死の酒鬼薔薇

On June 6th the local newspaper, Kobe Shimbun, received a letter claiming responsibility for Jun’s murder and threatening more. It also contained a 1,400-word letter claiming police need to put more effort into finding him and that he feels liberated and at greater peace when killing and causing others to suffer. He also disses the compulsory education system.

When reporting the news, the media mistakenly translated the killer’s surname as Onibara or “demon’s rose” instead of Sakikabara. If you don’t know anything about Japanese, many kanji can be read in multiple ways. This prompted another written response: “If you misread my name again I will kill three vegetables a week. If you think I can only kill children you are greatly mistaken.” “Vegetables” is used for the people around him. Did your parents ever tell you to pretend a crowd was naked to keep you from being nervous? His parents used vegetables as an example.

Only after arrest did Seito confess to the previous murder of Ayaka Yamashita and assault of 3 other girls all on or around March 16 of ’97.

Days after the arrest, Cabinet member Shizuka Kamei called for restrictions on horror films released in Japan, stating they directly influenced Seito’s assaults and murders.

Police compiled a list of 10 Hollywood videos depicting similar acts, distributed it to video rental shops in the area where the murders took place, and kept names of anyone who rented the films.

The only film on that list found in Seito’s possession was Friday the 13th.

There is some conflicting information at the end of this tale with Wikipedia stating he was released in 2005 while Asahi Shimbun states he was sent to an mental institute until 2015.

Hey, this is kinda the worst this whole episode is gonna get all things considered. 

The Dead Meat Podcast lists a few articles about youth violence rising in Japan, however, 3 of the 5 are from after the novel was written. That’s not to say youth violence as a whole wasn’t an influence, it’s just easy to find the topic of youth violence trending in Japan as far back as the 60s, and if you’re a fan of Japanese pop culture you’re likely aware of the American bad boy aesthetic that has been going on forever. Pompadours and biker boys never died in Japan baybeeeee.

For the first time ever, you get an ad break. And there’s only one podcast I can think of that deserves to follow this tragic-as-shit world event

Book History + Specs

According to the author, the idea of Battle Royale came to him via hallucination due to lack of sleep. 

I was lying in my futon, half asleep, half awake, and I got the mental image of a teacher from a school drama I saw on TV long ago. He said, “All right class, listen up.” [...] “Now today, I’m going to have you kill each other!” The image of him grinning as he spoke was so vivid, I laughed, but was also terrified. [...] And with just that, I knew I had something to write about.

The first draft of the Battle Royale novel was entered into the literary competition: 日本ホラー小説大賞, Nihon Horaa Shōsetsu Taishō or “Japan Grand Prix Horror Novel” in 1997 -just a year after the murders- where it was rejected in the final round due the whole children killing children thing being pretty recent.

It saw some rewriting and eventual publication in April of 1999 where it immediately became a bestseller, then adapted to a movie and manga just a year later. 

Published by Ohta Publishing, released in April 1999. Looks like the original version had 666 pages which is fun.

In August 2002 it was revised and released in a 2-part bunkobon format by Gentosha. Bunkobon are a small format book made to save space. 

First published in English by Viz Media on February 26th 2003, translated by Yuji Oniki.

There was a revised translation in 2009 which included an interview with Takami. No idea what was revised. This was released under the Haikasoru division which was like Viz’s super serious line of novels that they dissolved in 2019 after only putting out 4 books. 

The audiobook was released in 2012 and was likely based on that 2009 edition.

Viz’s more recent April 1st, 2014 (2009?) release was translated by Nathan Collins. This is the physical book I will be referencing.

Movie History

In a 2001 interview with Midnight Eye, Kinji mentions that this film doesn’t have a particular message to the children, just that it was his way of saying words to a completely different generation.

In that same interview, he was upset that the censor board gave his film an R-15 rating because it would prevent 15-year olds from seeing a movie that cast mostly 15-year olds as 15-year olds. The age is kind of important to the story. 

In the US this would be akin to brandishing Harry Potter with an R rating. Yeah, sure, adults like it but it is intended for everyone beneath that R rating.

Before he could get anywhere, Japanese parliamentarians spoke out saying this movie would be harmful to the youth overall, halting any efforts taken against the board. It wasn’t resolved by the time of this interview and, based on the opening rating of the film, seems like that never happened.

The Specs

The Battle Royale film released on December 16, 2000 with a run time of at 1hr 53min. 

Directed by: Kinji Fukasaku

Screenplay by: Kenta Fukasaku

Produced by

Masao Sato

Masumi Okada

Teruo Kamaya

Tetsu Kayama

There are a ton of people in here but the main listed stars are:

Tatsuya Fujiwara

Aki Maeda

Tarō Yamamoto

Chiaki Kuriyama

Kou Shibasaki

Masanobu Andō

Beat Takeshi

Cinematography: Katsumi Yanagishima

Edited by: Hirohide Abe

Music by: Masamichi Amano

Production

company: Battle Royale Production Committee

Distributed by: Toei Company

Spoiler Warning

If you don't want to watch this burrito get systematically murdered and ooze salsa y chorizo everywhere, now is the time to take a break, go watch or read the action for yourself, then come on back cuz it’ll still be here.

The Topic

Battle Royale puts in a lot of work and I can’t escape the pull of presenting it to you the same way that I think about it: by approaching the novel and film as one.

The Youth

The most stated premise in the film is that the youth are the problem, so let’s take a look at ‘em.

The oldest events in the film take place in Kitano’s flashback 2 years prior to this game, when our then teacher arrives at an empty classroom to a note saying everyone is playing hooky.

Somehow, Nobu randomly appears behind Kitano, stabs him in the leg, then runs off.

Back to present, Nobu’s biggest grievance is skipping school for the entire semester then showing up for this road trip.

Yoshio Akamatsu, the second death outside the school, had so much PTSD from being bullied over his weight that he was playing the game out of sheer fear. The nuances are different between mediums but the character remains the same.

Kazushi Niida was so horny for a girl that he was willing to kill her because that’s what toxic masculinity and a complete lack of confidence while fixated on one person does to a kid. Dude never had the confidence to speak to her until murder was on the table.

Mitsuko Souma -not “sow-ma”- is easily one of the most sadistic characters in the game. She plays victim to everyone, lowering their defenses to take whatever she needs, then kills them. In the film her alcoholic mother attempted to pimp her out as an actual child to an old man whom she accidentally killed in self defense. In the novel she was straight up sex trafficked to three dudes at the same time then, upon informing her school teacher, was raped by him.

It doesn’t get better, because these events lead her to pimp out other students.

The film version of Kazuo Kiriyama is very one dimensional and probably the most standout character. He survived a previous game and figured he’d do another for shits and giggles. 

On the other hand, Novel Kiriyama is a far more interesting topic. His mother got in a car accident while he was still in utero, killing her and lobotomizing the part of his brain that feels emotions and empathy. He kills because of a coin toss. There’s not even motivation to live or win. 

Shogo was already drafted once, won, changed schools, then inconveniently got drafted again, this time with a plan in mind. 

Have you noticed the common thread connecting many of these traumatized children? Most of these issues are not only solvable, but can only be solved by the very adults who refuse all accountability.

The Adults

Director Kinji himself stated the adults lost confidence in themselves. Briefly setting aside the children, there is no better example than the teacher/game runner, Kitano. He takes getting stabbed in the leg like a champ up front but leaves his job, later acting out his revenge by joining the program to cover that class.

He has a gangster entrance: arrives by helicopter wearing a tracksuit, got a military escort, everything just screaming “tough”. He’s pretty enthusiastic albeit apathetic. Clearly, he wants these fuckers to listen to him one last time. He really sets the perceived tone by quickly dispatching the first girl then Nobu.

However, throughout the film we learn that he is a failed father and husband. I can understand that getting stabbed in the leg would be a pretty terrible experience worth mourning and worry, but the character we see did not have much in the way of mental fortitude. There’s no telling how long his family was disappointed in him but I get the feeling it began before the stabbing.

The Japanese Water in the room: Kitano’s relationship with Noriko. This is certainly a weird series of scenes spread through the latter parts of the film but he comes off to me as harmless. He addresses that it might look weird and it certainly can but this is that moment of generations trying to find common ground. My guess is that he had so little to grasp hold of that he was kinda obsessed with Noriko’s innocence and purity. She was the only student who showed up to class while everyone else played hooky. Much like Niida, this weird attraction combined with revenge grew in tandem over the course 2 years, becoming something far more twisted. Still kinda like Niida.

In fact, he most resembles Kazushi Niida, the boy who killed the girl he wanted to bone. They both have a weirdly timed attraction and desire to possess something that cannot be possessed, then have childish reactions when confronted with reality. Kitano isn’t motivated by sex, but revenge.

 The only other adults are the military. The film version come off as buffoons who are easily intimidated by these weaponless kids and are constantly surprised by the most mundane of events. They don't know how to react or how to respond. The book adults are very quick to point a gun and pull a trigger. 

To tie this point up we'll address the unseen adults. 

Nobu and Shuya are both part of the foster system. The first was the product of an affair, abandoned by both parents. The second from a household where his mother left, resulting in his dad committing suicide down the line.

Kazuo was from an insanely wealthy family yet his dad couldn't afford to pay attention.

Shogo was created by the very government that called him a problem. Crazy how someone who’s forced to murder people might end up murdering people.

Who was in the right?

Now that we’re on this end of the main topic, who do you think was in the right? Everything tries to portray Shuya or the Shuya archetype as a hero, but by attempting to survive he does end up participating in the game. He’s not educated enough 

Humor

The final topic with any weight is the comedy.

And there is no better place to begin than the legendary

“Beat” Takeshi aka Takeshi Kitano

I would love to cover this guy some day because he is amazing. But this episode ain’t about him.

Yes, the character in the film is also named Kitano. It’s like they just gave up on creativity.

He is predominantly known in Japan as a comedian and game show host with his most well known and beloved series being (風雲!たけし城 Fuun!Takeshi-jō), which most of my listeners will recognize as Most Extreme Elimination Challenge on Spike TV.

If either of those are familiar to you, don’t forget to do yoga tonight! Your joints need it.

He is globally known as the filmmaker of such amazing titles as Violent Cop, Boiling Point, A Scene at the Sea, Getting Any?, Kids Return, Kikujiro no Natsu, The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi, Outrage, Beyond Outrage, Hana-bi, and so much more.

He has acted in many films including most of his own but can also be found in well known American films like Johnny Mnemonic and the live action Ghost in the Shell remake.

If you were paying attention, he is very deadpan in his deliveries, even when excited. This allure comes from his injuries. In 1994 he had a motorcycle that left facial scarring, paralyzed the right side of his face, and introduced facial tics. You don’t have to watch closely to see how his eyes independently blink or flutter. His lips move unnaturally. Everything about his face is just a little off, adding so much to the character. 

This is what makes his character shine. He feels so non-plussed by all things, good or bad, whether he’s doing the thing or someone else. This wishy-washy persona combined with the camera angles, situational framing, dialogue, lens filters, and just plain weirdness - these are what make me want to laugh alongside him

Observations

The short dream and memory sequences in the film pull a lot of weight despite being so short. As a 30-something year old, the repeated flashback of the basketball game -and the baseball game in the novel- seemed a bit much. Several of the characters are known by one specific sports act in one specific game. But the more I thought about that time of life, the more I realized how much those singular moments mattered. There aren’t a ton of important group experiences prior to that time, so these kids doing their one thing in middle school, leading into high school certainly makes sense. Looking back, it’s normal to identify someone by one event in their teens until some time in their 20s.

If we take a quick step back to the adults’ perceptions, they were also viewing the kids by a single act. The children saw the success in each other while adults saw only the bad.

The book really pushes for Shinji to be fighting for Noriko for the sake of his best bud. Whether interested in her or not, she is his buddy’s interest even in death. Shinji feels kinda like an idiot, not picking up on the signs that Noriko likes him. The manga is ready to get straight to it people opening up about how they feel. Noriko just says it ASAP.

Final Thoughts

One of the myriad of reasons Takami worked on the film was to better flesh out his characters. He felt they were too one dimensional in the novel, which I kinda disagree with. 2 hours doesn’t give a lot of these characters time to flesh out. 

The death of Nobu doesn’t hit quite as hard. The book spends a lot of time framing his and Shuya’s childhood 

Sakamochi is a real asshole in the book. All of the adults are. They are quick to murder anyone. Sakamochi claims to rape and murder Shuya’s caretaker at the orphanage.

I’m going to mash-up 3 answers by Kinji himself to convey his thoughts concerning this film's relationship to the youth. Again, dude was 70 presenting a film to 15 year olds.

I didn't make the film with such strong thoughts in mind [of warning or advice]. This film is a fable. The themes which are included in the film are very much realistic modern issues, youth crime is a very serious issue in Japan. It's not that I'm not concerned or not interested, but those simply form the basis of the fable.

The final word, “run”, was the conclusion of the fable that was developed throughout the film. I guess it could be seen as a message. To me, these are greetings to the young people. Those were my words to the next generation of young people, so whether you take that as a message or as a warning or as advice is up to you as the viewer.

The young people's existence in the current time in this world presents different issues. To themselves as well as to others, the adults. Looking back to when I was fifteen I went through a certain period and experience. For this film I posed myself the question "How would that be for these young people?" I am fully aware that there is a generation gap between where I stand and where those kids stand. How we fill this gap was one of the issues we had to deal with during the actual shooting of this film.

So I wondered what the significance of making this kind of film in today's Japan would be. What sort of result or conclusion would that bring? To be honest to you, that was something I had to wait for until the film was actually made. When I mentioned it wasn't as strong as a warning or advice, I couldn't answer your question in a strong, positive way, that this was the message or that. It was just my way of talking to them, saying some words to the children.

These feel like the words of a dude who has lived enough life to know that his experiences mean very little to everyone who isn’t him.

The contrast

There are plenty of differences between the two but one is a 666 page novel while the other is a tight 2-hour movie. I think both are equally great and can be consumed based on mood or allotted time

You don’t get anywhere near as much individual backstory in the film 

Some of the changes mean nothing, like different weapons going to different characters

Takeshi’s flippancy to murder resounds much heavier as everyone else is kinda chill with the killing. Everyone in the book feels very rigid while the movie they’re more apt to shoot the ceiling or floor than the students.

The novel adheres to a particular beat of introducing a character, giving some of their backstory, then maybe immediately killing them off. Some develop a little more over time, some do not.

The best unique part of the movie is the introductory video.

I’ll read this difference verbatim from the Battle Royale wiki: The film portrays Mitsuko's coldness as having stemmed from her youth during which she inadvertently kills a man to avoid being raped after she is pimped by her mother for money. In the novel, Mitsuko is unable to escape several incidents of rape in which she is a brain-washed and love-starved participant. They neglect to mention something the film alludes to, but she also coerces other girls into having sex for money. Not as a pimp, but as like a terrible business advisor.

Manga History

Battle Royale (TokyoPop, 2000-2005)

This project began with the intention of reading all of the available manga. There is very good reason that plan fizzled out so hard.

Battle Royale was first serialized in Young Champion from 2000-2005. It looks like TokyoPop released it to American audiences in tankobon form beginning in 2003. The wiki & Wikipedia articles state it was trying to go even harder than the novel.

After reading 2 volumes totaling 17 chapters I found it very distasteful to the original content. Where the film understands that some things have to be changed to fit the new medium or just add some of Kinji’s directorial pizzazz, this manga is devoid of all passion and the worst version of caricatures. 

For starters, let’s look at the game runner. In the novel he is Kinpatsu Sakamochi, an angry asshole who is under the thumb of the government but also kinda seems to approach his job as just a job. He’s twisted, sure, but in a way that comes off as following a single-page rulebook that says, “Fuck them kids”.

In the movie we have Kitano, an abject failure with a weird attraction to lost innocence that has a more vibrant personality. This is a pretty big deviation from novel but with Beat Takeshi at the helm he really sells the new character.

And then there’s the manga version named Yonemi Kamon. He’s basically Sakamochi from the novel but truly enjoys all of the violence with the added bonus that he’s a pedophile. And it’s just…. Boring. He truly is an overpriced, theme park caricature that is made to stand next to timeless works in an art museum.

What really shut me down was the moment we first see Hiroki Sugimura, who is now a “kung-fu master” in the style of Bruce Lee and in his 30s at bare minimum. I understand the want and importance of having characters stand out to limit reader and viewer confusion, but they’re all supposed to be 15. They are still discovering themselves. Not every single one of them has insanely refined traits. The film can get away with Shogo and Kiriyama being played by actors in their mid-20s because Kiriyama is never said to be a high school student, and both stand on opposite sides of “the rule of cool”.

In the novel, Hiroki is kind of a baller because he runs around an entire island of crazed children just looking for the two girls he loves. One as his best friend and the other as his crush. And now he’s a kung fu master? Fuck right off.

The added confusion is that this version of Shogo has the story of the novel but is visually based on the film, also aging him up to his 30s.

My last complaint is that, if at any point in time you felt like the novel was lingering too long on backstory or anything, honestly, this does it so much worse.

Battle Royale: Enforcers (VIZ Media, 2024)

Battle Royale: Enforcers began last year. I don’t know what they’re trying to do with this but it’s failing. This is supposed to be an entirely different story and different program yet, somehow, all of the characters are the same. And because this is the 3rd or 4th adaptation, the writing is godawful. Read the first chapter or two and you’ll pick up on just how bad it is.

Angel’s Border (2014, June)

I’ll end this section on a positive note with 2014’s Battle Royale: Angel’s Border. The most perfect addition to the series.

Angel’s Border is comprised of only 2 stories from the perspective of girls in the lighthouse, covering 226 pages of actual manga. The remaining pages the script which is pretty cool.

The first story follows Haruka Tanizawa and Yukie Utsumi. It mostly focuses on a conversation they have atop the lighthouse and turns out to be a bittersweet love story, as the closeted Haruka comes to the top of the lighthouse to give coffee to her best friend and love, Yukie Utsumi, who is in love with Shuya.

The second story follows a day in the life of Chisato Matsui and Shinji Mimura who coincidentally meet on a train. Due to reasons they hop off early and basically have a date. This story spends less time on the island but further expands how the nation functions. We learn that Chisato takes cultural lessons hosted by the Republic's Nonaggressive Force’s Wives Association, not because she’s into politics but because she likes flower arranging, tea ceremony, etc. She’s also proficient in English and would like to get a job that would take her away from the country. 

If you’ve read the novel, I don’t think this really tells you anything about Shinji’s political affiliations than that. But it does give us a lot of insight as to his character outside of the killing scenario.

Both interlace several timelines between bits of dialogue, but in the end there’s always a lighthouse.

Alternatives

Danganronpa

During research the title Danganronpa popped up as a clear nod to Battle Royale. I knew nothing about this anime and video game franchise other than the character Junko, who has been a very common cosplay at conventions for my past decade of work.

It’ll be easier if I start this by saying I don’t recommend it and will spoil it. It is conceptually good but honestly feels like like an advertisement for the video games.

15 students awake in a school and are informed by a psychotic stuffed bear that the only way out of the school is to kill another student with one caveat. That being: they cannot be found out. After each body is discovered the students have limited time to do some investigative work, convene in a round table jury, argue their points, then place a verdict. If the actual murderer is convicted, the bear kills them. The next bit is hazy because it never matter but, if the murderer goes unconvicted, everyone who didn’t vote them as the murderer gets killed instead and the murderer goes free.

Here’s all of the spoilers: the school was actually a safe zone. Something apocalyptic that is never explained happened in the real world and these 16 students were selected to live their lives in the school until things cleared up. Imagine it’s The Winchester Tavern.

After one year, the absolutely insane Junko who is obsessed with human disparity somehow gives everyone amnesia, hacks the airwaves to air every camera in the school, then pits the students against one another in an attempt to lessen the hope of mankind.

Again, cool concept. In the final episode Junko is found out and punished for her crimes, which she happily accepts true to her passion for despair.

Dislikes

I don’t like everyone wanting to bone Shuya?

The Nobu stabbing in the film is definitely pointless. Neither the book nor film portray him as that kind of character so while it may be somewhat impactful on first watch, that wears off almost immediately.

Also, Nobu in the novel is more fleshed out as a close friend to Shuya. The film does a terrible job of showing that.

Trivia

May as well throw it in here, but the reason it didn't see a quick wide release in America was due to the Columbine High School shootings. 

The first reported screening of Battle Royale in the United States wasn't until 2002 in California

Only a few of the cast were within their character’s age range with the remainder being early 20s. The oldest students were played by a 25- and 24-year old and it really shows. 

Kaiji Tang, English voice actor for Satoru Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen, Ichiban Kasuga in several Like a Dragon games, Detective Pikachu from all of the modern games, and GUTS from the 2016 remake of Berserk, also voiced Kiriyama in the English release of Battle Royale! This is only important because I’ve met him more than once at conventions. He’s a swell dude.

Quentin Tarantino stated in an interview that he was told by Kinji Fukasaku that when Koushun Takami wrote the lighthouse scene of the original novel, Takami was influenced by the final stand-off in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs.

Speaking of Tarantino, did Takako Chigusa look familiar to you? Actress Chiaki Kuriyama played Gogo in Kill Bill 1-2!

Beat Takeshi’s directorial debut was the film Violent Cop, which was supposed to be directed by Kinji Fukasaku before he stepped down.

Takami intentionally excluded two models of gun because they would be easily recognizable as pop culture references: the Walter P38 and Smith & Wesson M19, carried by Lupin and Jigen respectively from the longstanding series Lupin the IIIrd.

Takami has very little knowledge of guns, save what he has read in novels and gun magazines purchased from secondhand bookstores. After release he got a lot of fan letters correcting him about gun stuff.

When the original manga first released there was a hanging ad campaign, a rare treatment for manga. 

Hey if you want to be even more saddened: the court lost basically every important document related to the case. Trial rulings, records of his confessions compiled by the police and prosecutors office, a psychiatric evaluation, and more!

Y’all. Not only did the murderer write an autobiography -a common joke on the Ridiculous Crime podcast- but it was published by the same company that published Battle Royale. What the fuck?

Your thoughts?

What did I learn

Scream’s release in Japan was pushed back from June to August because of the murders.

References

• Novel Wikipedia
• Kobe child murders wikipedia
• Asahi Suimbun - Lost documents
• Mainichi Shimbun - Letter
• Zekka video
• 1997 Variety Article
• Midnight Eye interview with Kinji Fukasaku

Motivators

Humano Studios

The Japanese band simply title “Sigh”

Additional thanks to Tim from Against All Oddities for their music channel in their discord server, which has basically just become he and I recommending music to each other.

DJ Bobby Ganoush

Artist Hideki Saijo, who did music for Turn A Gundam and has covered songs such as Careless Whisper, Don’t Stop Me Now, and Bailamos - all in Japanese.

Nacho Business

• Mega Ran, Starbenders, Magic Sword
• 46 miles bike ride
• Kayaking
• Many conventions
• Neatcast episodes 180 and The All Spook Special, E41 of Damsels Never Finish, upcoming Wait For It Podcast episode