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Battle Royale

Koushun Takami,

Nathan Collins (Translator)

4.16 · Rating details · 66,312 ratings · 5,155 reviews

Koushun Takami's notorious high-octane thriller envisions a nightmare scenario: a class of junior high school students is taken to a deserted island where, as part of a ruthless authoritarian program, they are provided arms and forced to kill until only one survivor is left standing. Criticized as violent exploitation when first published in Japan—where it became a runaway ...more

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Paperback, Remastered Edition, 647 pages

Published April 1st 2014 by Haikasoru (first published April 21st 1999)

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Apr 23, 2009 Tatiana rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, dystopias-post-apocalyptic, only-i-will-like

I came across this book after reading “Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins which was claimed to be a “Battle Royale” rip-off. Needless to say, I was curious…

I have to admit, similarities between these two books are undeniable. They both are based on the same idea of teenagers forced to participate in a deadly game where only one person wins and lives. However at the same time these books are completely different. I believe you can enjoy and appreciate them both equally. If “Hunger Games” is more of ...more

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Oct 08, 2007 Marley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: the non-squeamish, trash film fans

Shelves: amazingnotyetreread

So unputdownable it's ridiculous. Took a 4-hour plane ride i intended to sleep on and instead read all 624 pages of this; and while I'm a fast reader, even I'm not THAT fast usually.

Basically, as everyone else is saying, it's a book about one class of Japanese junior high kids put on an island with a small bag of supplies, a random weapon (grenade? crossbow? Uzi? fork?), an exploding tracking collar, and orders to kill, kill, kill. Nice fascist dystopia world you see around the edges of this pla ...more

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Dec 02, 2011 Emily May rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: dystopia-utopia, 2012

I first read this story in Manga form a few years ago (one of only two manga series I've enjoyed) and I quickly became addicted to these characters and their individual stories. Whilst reading Battle Royale, you go on an intense journey into the minds of nearly all 42 students and discover what it is about them that enables normal high school kids to kill their classmates - or decide not to.

I'd recommend reading the manga before or instead of the novel for a few reasons. For one, it makes it a l ...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Mizuki rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: chinese-translation

Before reading this book, I believe Ms. Collins, author of The Hunger Games, had ripped off Battle Royale, and after reading BR the novel, I continue to believe THG is a rip-off. For example:

(1) different bags of weapons and food given by the government

(2) the battle filed gets smaller everyday

(3)(view spoiler)

(4) The backstory of a former winner who had lost a girl he loved in a previous game

(5) said former winner doing what he could ...more

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Dec 25, 2013 Dan Schwent rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, christmas-2013

A busload of Japanese teenagers is kidnapped and dumped off on an island, where they are forced to fight to the death until one student remains, all in the name of The Program. Which of the 42 students will survive?

I remember hearing about the film version of Battle Royale ages ago but never managed to watch it. Seeing that a lot of people compare The Hunger Games to Battle Royale, I figured I should give it a shot and I'm quite glad I did. Battle Royale is The Hunger Games with more gore and wi A busload of Japanese teenagers is kidnapped and dumped off on an island, where they are forced to fight to the death until one student remains, all in the name of The Program. Which of the 42 students will survive?

I remember hearing about the film version of Battle Royale ages ago but never managed to watch it. Seeing that a lot of people compare The Hunger Games to Battle Royale, I figured I should give it a shot and I'm quite glad I did. Battle Royale is The Hunger Games with more gore and without the annoying love triangle.

Battle Royale takes place in an alternate present, where Japan is largely a totalitarian police state. Every year, a class is chosen for The Program, a free for all that makes Thunderdome look like an episode of The Care Bears. Each student is given a backpack and a weapon and turned loose one at a time. To make things interesting, there are forbidden zones on the island and anyone caught in one is killed instantly via the explosive collar they are all forced to wear. Sound good?

People are killed right off the bat and the book never lets up. I had a pretty good idea who would survive based on who got the most time on screen but the journey was well worth it. Kazuo and Mitsuko both needed their hash settled from the opening bell.

I mentioned gore earlier and this book has more than its share of gruesome killings. Hatchets to the face, many, many stabbings, gunshots galore, and lots of betrayal and deception on top of it.

The writing was also pretty good. Aside from a couple very minor hiccups, I would never guess it was a translation. In the afterword, Takami mentions Stephen King and Robert Parker as his big influences and I think it shows in the text. The explosive collars are straight out of the Running Man movie (not from the novel). The intro reminded me of the intro to Needful Things.

Since I'm only giving it a four, I guess I'll complain about a couple things. Shuya didn't have much personality enough though he was supposed to be the hero. Kazuo was overly powerful and seemed to have unlimited ammo. It was hard to keep track of who was who at times because of similar sounding names. However, all these were minor complaints and I found Battle Royale to be quite an enjoyable read. Four out of five stars.

...more

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Nov 12, 2010 Simeon rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: apocalypse, favorites, mystery-thrillers

I read the first hundred pages of Battle Royale and fell asleep. That night I dreamt that I was in The Program. (I remember fleeing a pretty intense gunfight and thinking nonsensically: dammit, at least I'm getting good exercise.)

I hardly thought about it until the next evening, when I began to read again and only finished as the sun rose.

You cannot know gunfights or car chases until you've read Battle Royale.

It's fantastical, it's pulpy, and it's brilliant. I wish it had been written with more ...more

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Apr 12, 2016 Michelle rated it really liked it · review of another edition

There's this rumor that Suzanne Collins ripped off the idea for "The Hunger Games" from "Battle Royale". After reading the supposed original, I could say that the plot for both books are pretty similar but Koushun Takami's novel is of an entirely different league -- it's quite incomparable.

"Battle Royale" does have a very colorful and well handled take on the the fight-to-the-death premise than anything I have ever read before. It's a book of mass-slaughter: more than forty deaths and practical There's this rumor that Suzanne Collins ripped off the idea for "The Hunger Games" from "Battle Royale". After reading the supposed original, I could say that the plot for both books are pretty similar but Koushun Takami's novel is of an entirely different league -- it's quite incomparable.

"Battle Royale" does have a very colorful and well handled take on the the fight-to-the-death premise than anything I have ever read before. It's a book of mass-slaughter: more than forty deaths and practically each one is described, and a litany of brutality and betrayal that even in its many variations, can be a bit of overkill. Still, for such a long book littered with so many bodies, Takami manages to keep things moving, and hold my interest. There's constant tension, and a few good surprises. There are too many characters to really get much of a sense of many of them, but the strongest point of the novel describes how some characters descend into madness, while others keep their wits. This psychological element is like a twisted reflection of high school life which can often seem this brutal sans the bloody consequences. In extreme situations, true colours are shown, and they're often surprising ones. The narrative is quite riveting, and there are a lot of moments when I want to throw up and cry, and jump up and down at the same time.

I have a few qualms though, including the fact that the program is so enormous with fifty classes a year. That's roughly 2000 students killed, quite a huge casualty for even a large nation to take. The purpose of the program is never really made clear either. It's also important to note that the translation isn't as great as it should have been. It doesn’t hinder the plot, but a “him” is called a “her” every once in a while and some helpful adjectives are left out.

In the end, I could still say that "Battle Royale" is a perfectly fine thriller, with a fun premise and a well drawn-out story. If you plan to read it, I suggest that you pick up the graphic novels too, they are visually stunning and just as riveting. ...more

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Jun 17, 2014 Becky rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: politicalish, made-my-eyes-bleed, reviewed, 2015, bad-shit-and-atrocities, disappointing, dystopias

For the last, oh, 200 pages of this book or so, I kept thinking about what I'd say in my review. I never know how I'll start a review, but this time I kept thinking of possible opening lines. But, like Lays potato chips, I couldn't stop at just one, so here are my top 3, in no particular order:

1. There... once... was... a... book... of... ellipses... which... occasionally... had... words... in... between... them...

2. I'll never read the phrase "That's right" the same way again.

3. I see dead p ...more

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Apr 25, 2012 F rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: seen-movie, 2013, japan

This is more like a 4.5 out of 5.

I loved this book so much. Such an original twisted story.

I got a little confused over all the japanese names but luckily once they started to die off I got to grips with who a lot of them were.

I love books that have some short chapters and some long chapters.
The student count at the end of each chapter.

Loved shogo.

Also LOVED the end. Even though I seen the movie years ago i had forgot what happened.

Brillant

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Jun 18, 2014 Will M. rated it it was amazing

Shelves: will-read-again, favourites, books-i-own, 2015, crime-mystery-thriller, best-of-2015

42 children forced to kill each other. Around 15 year old children forced to become violent and merciless killers. Only one can survive this brutal bloodbath. It's all about strategy and being emotionless. Who will prevail?

The premise was not new to me, but the execution was spectacular. Not only did the author managed to impress me with the plot, but he also managed to make me feel sympathy toward some of the characters. I'll be honest and say that it would be impossible to feel sympathy toward 42 children forced to kill each other. Around 15 year old children forced to become violent and merciless killers. Only one can survive this brutal bloodbath. It's all about strategy and being emotionless. Who will prevail?

The premise was not new to me, but the execution was spectacular. Not only did the author managed to impress me with the plot, but he also managed to make me feel sympathy toward some of the characters. I'll be honest and say that it would be impossible to feel sympathy toward all 42 of them, but I still managed to feel a sense of connection toward a few of them.

The most impressive attribute of this novel would be the writing. It was vivid. Some would say too vivid, but for me, the more violent, the better. This novel promised a battle royale among teenagers, but what happened was not completely unbelievable. If thrown in together with a bunch of your classmates and forced to kill each other, some people tend to lose their minds. The whole idea of it is not completely unlikely to happen, but odds are it wouldn't. The children here were brutal to the point that they had no hearts. I'm not Japanese, but I still think that Japanese people don't exude the violent characteristics that the author portrayed. The defense though would be that this is a work of fiction. It can be as absurd as it can be. There are some work of fiction that tend to go overboard regarding the absurdity, but for me this novel had the perfect amount. It was believable, and honestly I'm a bit terrified because of it.

The amount of violence clearly exceeded the normal level. I liked that. I wanted the blood bath and I got it. The Hunger Games in comparison was a lot more mellow and teenager friendly, but this one was gut wrenching awesome. If you cannot stomach even a little amount of violence, then stay away from this novel.

The fucking plot twist in the end. I didn't see it. Wait, let me correct myself, the plot twists. Multiple plot twists simultaneously showed up and it was a mind fuck experience. The author decided to wait for the last few chapters to make me feel like shit for not expecting the ending. I really didn't expect that to happen at all. He slowly gave the ending away near the end though, so I actually did see some things happening, but only when he started to hint them coming. All throughout the novel I was fixating that (view spoiler).

Despite all the great things mentioned, I still had some problems with the novel. The main thing would be that there were too many characters to begin with. At first I thought it wouldn't be a problem, but along the way some characters weren't even that interesting. I'm aware of them being minor characters, but I still wanted at least an in depth explanation of who they were. Some characters were forced to be explained and they ended up pretentious and annoying. The good side though was that the good characters had more attention and were developed perfectly.

Another problem would be the safe zones. They weren't evident enough to be interesting. They were only mentioned at least 5 times if I remember correctly, so the students didn't seem like they were really being forced to be near each other.

And the last would be the lack of survival strategies present. There were some, but not interesting enough. I wanted to see more ways of them looking for food, building shelters, and more. Despite not being centralized as a survival book, it should still be heavily implied that the students would be looking for ways to survive, while trying to kill each other(or not) at the same time.

This novel will always be compared to Collins' The Hunger Games and Stephen King's The Long Walk. The Hunger games was more similar to this, but still different in its own way. The Long Walk had a different take on it, despite some similarities. Everyone should be aware though that there's really no such thing as a new idea when it comes to writing. Somewhere in the world someone has probably written about your idea already. The only thing one can hope for would be the terrific execution. Battle Royale and The Long Walk both were executed perfectly. I'm not going to chose which one I liked better because I believe I liked them both perfectly the same. I honestly can't say the same for THG, but that was still good nonetheless.

5/5 stars. Terrific writing, interesting characters, and a perfect ending. I will most probably read this again in the future. Highly recommended.

...more

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Mar 15, 2009 Brandy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: adult, 2009, boy-books, library, dystopian-post-apocalyptic

I picked this up based on the fervor over "OMG The Hunger Games so totally ripped this off." And for the first half of this book, I agreed: I thought I knew exactly where BR was going, and how it would get there. It's the story of 40 teens who are instructed to kill each other until only one remains, and are each given a bag containing food, water, and a weapon--some as great as machine guns, others as worthless as forks. Early on some alliances are made, then broken; people are betrayed and kil I picked this up based on the fervor over "OMG The Hunger Games so totally ripped this off." And for the first half of this book, I agreed: I thought I knew exactly where BR was going, and how it would get there. It's the story of 40 teens who are instructed to kill each other until only one remains, and are each given a bag containing food, water, and a weapon--some as great as machine guns, others as worthless as forks. Early on some alliances are made, then broken; people are betrayed and killed.

But about halfway through, Battle Royale and The Hunger Games part company. By the end, I don't think it's the same story at all. It's a similar story, definitely, but BR's strength is that most of the 40 characters manage to be sympathetic characters. We get backstory on just about all of them, find out who they were before they were thrown int this crazy game, what motivates them to do certain things, and we even see their individual battles against each other. There are a couple of factions we return to multiple times, the ones who are clearly our heroes, but with only one or two exceptions we don't have villains. Hunger Games, everyone who wasn't from District 12 was a villain, someone to be avoided and distrusted, and that was easy because we didn't know who those other characters were. In Battle Royale, we know all these people--they're classmates, some dating back to elementary school. There are histories here, friendships and crushes and romantic entanglements, and that makes the killing that much more horrible.

Oh, and for those who thought Hunger Games was a violent book? Whooooooooo boy. This was absolutely horrifying at times. The gunfights were bad enough, but the graphic descriptions of hand-to-hand combat were particularly brutal. It's not the violence that's gratuitous, exactly, but the lengthy descriptions of it, and even that goes a long way toward world-building and accurately conveying the horror of the situation.

A bit on the writing: This is not Shakespeare. There's a lot of "basically" and "of course" and "in other words," and there's a LOT of use of the passive voice. Whether this is a writing issue or a translation one is a mystery to me, but you'll roll your eyes at the writing at least once a chapter, I'd say. (Note that I remember seeing at least 70 chapters here... start your eye exercises now, so you're prepared for all the rolling!) But writing quirks aside, this is really engrossing, the kind of book I blew bedtime by several hours for three nights running. ...more

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Sep 02, 2009 Cassy rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Cassy by: Reviewers of "Hunger Games"

Shelves: region-asia, translated, fiction-dsytopian-post-apocalyptic, 2010, physical-own

Whenever I think of this book, I picture Takami sitting down with a piece of paper and making a list of dozens of cool, violent ways to kill a person. Poison! Jumping off a cliff! Lot of guns! Strangulation! An exploding head! Falling off a roof! And my personal favorite, splitting open a head with a machete like it is a ripe watermelon!

Then he goes about the task of writing a book that incorporates each and every one of these deaths.

And are you concerned that you will never keep up with all the ...more

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Mar 02, 2009 Meredith Holley rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: punching-tour, utopia-dystopia, reviewed

Everything about this book makes me throw up a little bit in my mouth. I say again, "yuck yuck yuck," both to the absurd violence and the shallow emotion of this story. Every time the plot turned toward something interesting, it was quickly replaced by a turn toward Lame. I get why SO MANY people compared The Hunger Games with this book (which is the reason I picked Battle Royale up in the first place) because of the basic Lord of the Flies, kids-will-be-kids premise. I, however, found Battle Ro Everything about this book makes me throw up a little bit in my mouth. I say again, "yuck yuck yuck," both to the absurd violence and the shallow emotion of this story. Every time the plot turned toward something interesting, it was quickly replaced by a turn toward Lame. I get why SO MANY people compared The Hunger Games with this book (which is the reason I picked Battle Royale up in the first place) because of the basic Lord of the Flies, kids-will-be-kids premise. I, however, found Battle Royale nowhere near as disturbing or thought provoking on a personal level as The Hunger Games. The violence is ridiculous, and even from the first chapter the plot is so obvious, even the way various characters will meet their tragic ends is so obvious, that the only conflict it caused for me was whether to give in to my stubbornness about finishing books or just give up after the first hundred pages.

I'm not prepared to defend the violence in The Hunger Games, or comment as to whether I thought it was cheesy or not, but in that book it is not the sole focus of the story. I think the violence is basically boring in both, but in the Hunger Games there is at least less of it, so I have less to be bored with.
For me, the value of the Hunger Games is in presenting a model of a girl action hero who is genuinely there as a female perspective and not ultimately an object of male desire like most female characters who are set up as being girl action heroes.

I think that is why the comparison of the two doesn't seem very valuable to me. Battle Royale obviously does more with the violence, so if that is something that is a draw to a reader, that reader will definitely prefer Battle Royale. Hunger Games does more for changing the narrative of female protagonists, so if that is a draw to a reader, as it is to me, that reader might prefer Hunger Games.

The descriptions were very anime, which makes me think that if the writing had been beautiful, or if any of the emotion had seemed deep, I may have liked this book. The end was plot-twist after plot-twist (you thought they were dead?! No! Alive! No, wait, dead. Like that part in Eddie Izzard, Dressed to Kill), and half of the twists gave me hope that they would redeem the story. The other half killed those hopes. My advice is that if you think you feel like reading this book, maybe you actually feel like watching Cowboy Beebop. I don't think you'll regret it. ...more

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Jan 04, 2016 Jilly rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, 2016-machalo-reading-challenge, fucking-brilliant, dystopia

E.T.A.: So, I watched the movie today online. (It's everywhere). If you saw the movie, you still don't know the book. Totally different! The movie is even more like the Hunger Games, but it doesn't scratch the surface of the book. It also is not true to the book at all. Even character names were changed. Read the book instead! ;-)
****************************************
(Back to your previously scheduled book review):

Holy Massacre, Batman!

If you feel like the Hunger Games was way too sweet, touch ...more

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Jan 17, 2016 Edward Lorn rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Fans of Japanese literature and menstruating polar bears.

First off, if you go shopping for Battle Royale based on my review, you need to look for Battle Royale: Remastered. I stayed away from this book for years because of reviews from friends that said the translation was broken. All too often, translations are rushed due to the piece's success in the original language or an upcoming film adaptation. Recent fuckery would include the first Stieg Larsson book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which remains one of the worst translations I've set eyes on First off, if you go shopping for Battle Royale based on my review, you need to look for Battle Royale: Remastered. I stayed away from this book for years because of reviews from friends that said the translation was broken. All too often, translations are rushed due to the piece's success in the original language or an upcoming film adaptation. Recent fuckery would include the first Stieg Larsson book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which remains one of the worst translations I've set eyes on. Have I read the original Swedish? No. But there were clear moments when I could tell the translator could not be bothered to do his job correctly. For more info on that, read my review HERE. I also cannot speak to the quality of the original Japanese text. I can only speak toward this particular version, a version someone on Goodreads decided to combine with the original translation, because reasons. Suffice it to say, Battle Royale and Battle Royale: Remastered are not the same book. This version had five typos stretched over 624 pages (the final 20+ pages of the book is an interview with the author that I didn't bother to read). That's pretty fucking good, if you ask me. I've seen more than that in traditionally-published American-English books. Anyfuck, on with the review.

I loved almost everything about this book. It's full of blood and guts and betrayal and love and emotionless killers and endearing characters. Pretty much everything I look for in my fiction occurred in this novel. I was constantly amazed at the variety of deaths and situations in which those deaths happened. We have misunderstandings, suicides, cold-blooded murder, manslaughter, murder in self defense, and the list goes on. If you're a gorehound, you'll likely enjoy this experience.

What really shocked me was the depth of character development showcased herein. I was expecting a bunch of death and destruction and not much else. And while I received plenty of that, I also got a healthy dose of character writing. The author takes the time to thoroughly establish even the smallest role. I think the least amount of time he spends developing a character is the absolutely hilarious death of the anime fan near the end of the book. The scene lasts all of three pages, but it's one of the more memorable deaths of the book because the author put forth the effort to make the scene feel more important than it was.

I dug the hell out of this hunk of book, but it is not without its faults. The ending is sillier than an erection on a nun. Everything is tied up far too perfectly, damn near creating a parody which mocks the bleak nature of the previous 600 pages. I wish it had ended on the mountain, but this is not my book. Besides, people like happy endings. Although I think it's been established time and time again that I am not most people. I am perfectly happy with everyone dying. I dig it when favorite characters bite the dust. The reason for this is, I expect the heroes to live because that's what most people want. Because of that, most fiction is predictable. You don't have to read a majority of popular novels to the end these days due to the expectation and delivery of the same people surviving and the same villains being dispatched in all the same fashion. There's nothing wrong with the cookie-cutter bullshit floating on the top of bestsellers lists, but there's not much right with them either. Some people read for escape, and that's cool. You do you. But there are some who read to be challenged, both intellectually and emotionally. I reside somewhere in the middle, and for the most part, this book checks both boxes: challenging escapism. Until the end. Yeah, the ending sucks. Taking a star away for that predictable-ass shit.

In summation: If you dig books like The Hunger Games and The Running Man and The Lottery, you'll likely dig this massive motherfucker. I was never bored during its 624-page runtime, but I'm special. I like character development and multiple story arcs. If you prefer your fiction condensed to a few major players, you'll likely spend the majority of this novel confused, especially if you have trouble keeping track of non-Anglo-Saxon names.

Final Judgment: The journey rocks; the destination, not so much. ...more

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Apr 23, 2008 Katherine rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: the-elite

"Lord of the Flies" meets "The Most Dangerous Game" meets the gruesome, bloody stylings of Quentin Tarantino... on acid who killed Stephen King and tossed his body into BTK's backyard.

I have read this book twice in the last two years both times within two days and I can guarantee that I'll read it a time or two (or three) again in the future (NERD!). The very thought of being 15-year-olds and being thrust into a situation where you have to kill or be killed, your best friends become your enemies ...more

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Dec 11, 2010 cindy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, own, favourites, sci-fi-fantasy, atlp-review

This review may also be found on A Thousand Little Pages.

I think it's been about five minutes since I read the last word of Battle Royale. My heart is still pounding abnormally fast, and every few seconds, I have to take a break from typing to watch the French countryside rushing by outside the train window instead.* The view is strangely soothing, and I definitely need some calming right now.

So. Battle Royale. Was. Epic. Dare I say it? It was better than The Hunger Games, and The Hunger Games i ...more

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Sep 12, 2016 AMEERA rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.75/5

absolutely this book like the hunger games or the hunger games like it but of course has different things and I think i loved the Hunger Games more

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Aug 23, 2018 Hayley ☾ (TheVillainousReader) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: dark, dystopian, thriller, reread-worthy, badass-females, favorites

“Now then, I want you to write this down. To memorize something, it’s best to write it down. Write this. ‘We will kill each other.’ Write it three times.”
...
“Okay then. ‘If I don’t kill, I will be killed.’ Write this down three times too.”

This was truly madness.

I remember when The Hunger Games came out everyone was saying it was the poor man’s version of Battle Royale. Damn, was that an understatement. Don’t get me wrong, I loved The Hunger Games but it’s nothing compared to the masterpiece tha ...more

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Nov 15, 2008 Trudi rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: love-the-premise, uber-graphic-extreme, in-translation, pulpy-goodness, survive-this, 2009, young-adult, deadly-games, group-in-peril, dystopia

I'm a huge fan of dystopian books, where the future is bleak and infinitely dangerous and if you're gonna survive, you better check your morals at the door. With reality TV everywhere we look these days, and the UFC a mainstream pastime, it's easy to imagine a Survivor where tribe members voted out don't go home, but are executed instead. I figure society's perpetual blood lust is never as deeply buried as we think (or hope).

Stephen King describes Battle Royale as "an insanely entertaining pulp ...more

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Jul 15, 2008 Larix rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Cult novels are hard to resist. Lord of the Flies. Naked Lunch. A Clockwork Orange. Fight Club. Startling. Brutal. Original. Compelling. They frighten me to death, yet I love them. It's that kind of complicated.

I picked up Takami's Battle Royale mainly because the guy in the bookshop opened his mouth and said 'cult novel'. Just two little words and I was immediately consumed with the need to know why.

Wikipedia gives the following plot outline:

"The novel and manga Battle Royale takes place in an ...more

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Jun 23, 2007 Albert rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I heard about the movie before I read the book, so I knew that the premise was a combination of Lord of the Flies and automatic weapons. I just didn't expect the violence to affect me so deeply. I guess I've never been exposed to extreme violence in books where my imagination comes up with images. I definitely discovered a new closet of images with this book.

I started this book on a long subway ride home. I was so engrossed by the book I missed my stop by five stations. I will admit there was a ...more

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May 18, 2018 Kate rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorite-standalones, read-in-2018

5/5 stars

DON'T TOUCH ME RN ...more

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May 23, 2012 Mike (the Paladin) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: post-apocalyptic-dystopian, fantasy, action, science-fiction

I will try to keep this from becoming a long review. I'd like to say up front that I do recommend this book. I'll have some more detailed things to say throughout concerning the actual writing, plot, characters and so on but on the whole, good book.

I got the print version of this book from the library and later purchased the audio from Audible. Both are good versions and I don't think you'll miss anything no matter which version of it you choose to go with. It starts off a little slowly but tha I will try to keep this from becoming a long review. I'd like to say up front that I do recommend this book. I'll have some more detailed things to say throughout concerning the actual writing, plot, characters and so on but on the whole, good book.

I got the print version of this book from the library and later purchased the audio from Audible. Both are good versions and I don't think you'll miss anything no matter which version of it you choose to go with. It starts off a little slowly but that doesn't last long. Within a few pages you launch into the main story and from there on this is a fast bloody ride with some teen angst and self discovery thrown in.

I suppose (as has been demonstrated in other reviews and comments) the comparison between this novel and The Hunger Games is inescapable. There is the obvious similarity however I can also see a certain congruity with Lord of the Flies and also 1984. However...the one everyone talks about is Hunger Games. I'd say that simply as a book this is superior. Some may be a bit stymied by some of the actual text but that is I think more translation difficulties than actual storytelling. A few of the idioms seem to have been translated directly into English and that can lead to a few, "huh?" moments. Still it doesn't hurt the novel. The construction here is very well done drawing you in and holding you. Different characters (students) are introduced and detailed to different extents. This actually works very well.

(view spoiler)

So, you'll see some apparently clumsy sentence structure here and a few apparently unwieldy metaphors and similes but as I said, this seems to be more from translation problems not authorship problems. The book itself is on the whole I think better (as I said before) than Hunger Games, it makes it's point tells a story with a nice twist at the end and doesn't pull punches.

This one I can recommend. ...more

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Sep 27, 2007 Shannon (Giraffe Days) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2007, sci-fi, favourite, dystopian

Wow. The movie was pretty full-on, the book perhaps more so (the book came first). I finished reading it last night and it's still revolving around in my head.

The gist of the plot is this: in an alternate present-day Japan, 50 grade 10 classes from across the country are forced into the Program, a Government-run initiative designed to subdue the population. The students in these classes are gassed while on a "study trip", and wake up in isolated locations - in this story, a tiny island - with co Wow. The movie was pretty full-on, the book perhaps more so (the book came first). I finished reading it last night and it's still revolving around in my head.

The gist of the plot is this: in an alternate present-day Japan, 50 grade 10 classes from across the country are forced into the Program, a Government-run initiative designed to subdue the population. The students in these classes are gassed while on a "study trip", and wake up in isolated locations - in this story, a tiny island - with collars around their necks, and are ordered to kill each other.

There are 42 students in Shirowai Junior High School Class B. Some of them are playing the game. No one can trust anyone. And there can only be one survivor. Each student is given a bag, containing water, bread, map, flashlight and a weapon. Weapons range from all-out machine guns to a fork. Let no one say the perverted government in this story doesn't have a sense of humour! While officials place bets on who will win, the students must avoid the Forbidden Zones, or else their collars will explode, each other, and the deadline. If no one dies within 24 hours, everyone's collar will explode.

The novel follows the students as they hide around the island, keeping track of the body count - or, rather, of those who remain - at the end of each chapter. The hero is Shuya Nanahara, who is determined to keep Noriko alive, first for the sake of his best friend who had a crush on her, who was the first to die, and later because he falls in love with her. They are helped by Shogo, who, in a truly sick twist, was the previous year's winner. Because he was so badly injured, he fell behind and had to repeat a year at another school, putting him once more at risk of being in the Program all over again. But this time, Shogo has a plan, and if Shuya and Noriko can bring themselves to trust him, they just might be able to beat the system.

This is one violent book! While the movie was pretty gory too, we are getting pretty desensitised to graphic scenes of violence these days, but it is less usual to come across them in books. It is not sexually graphic at all, though some of the things that happened to a few of the characters when they were younger is sickening to read about. But this book isn't really about violence. It's about how we respond to unlikely, terrifying situations. It's about our humanity, our efforts to think well of others, our trust issues, and love.

I recommend this book to anyone who was affected by Lord of the Flies (it has similar themes), and anyone not easily sickened by gory scenes. There were only one or two scenes that made me really grimace, most just made my heart clench for the characters' dire situations. What I love about these kinds of stories is the trapped feeling. It reminds of the movie Cube. (Watch it with a friend, I watched it alone and had a great deal of trouble sleeping afterwards!) In that movie, a seemingly random group of people are trapped within a giant, moving cube, containing smaller cubes all linked on every side, top and bottom. Some are death traps. The really scary thing about the entire concept is that, there is no reason behind it. It's completely - what's the word - it's slipped my mind, but I want to say that although there is a shadowy figure behind it all, there's no point. Although Takami has gone to the effort of making the Program slightly logical - to its creators, anyway - the movie was perhaps more effective for making it seem completely arbitrary.

Anyway, this isn't everyone's cup-of-tea, and it would have benefited from a good proof-reader (it's riddled with typos and grammatical errors, small enough to read over), but if you're interested in the darker, psychological side of things, this is one truly fascinating "experiment". ...more

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Jun 08, 2017 Chris_P rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bring-ur-daughter-to-the-slaughter

There's room at the top they're telling you still
but first you must learn how to smile as you kill
if you want to be like the folks in the hill

The above lyrics written by John Lennon kept playing in my head over and over while reading Battle Royale and it's really no wonder. A bunch of 15-year-old students are thrown into an island with the mission to kill each other until only one remains. This is actually the predecessor of all the similar books and movies that have been popping out the last co There's room at the top they're telling you still
but first you must learn how to smile as you kill
if you want to be like the folks in the hill

The above lyrics written by John Lennon kept playing in my head over and over while reading Battle Royale and it's really no wonder. A bunch of 15-year-old students are thrown into an island with the mission to kill each other until only one remains. This is actually the predecessor of all the similar books and movies that have been popping out the last couple of decades (see The Hunger Games). Set in a dystopian Japan, Battle Royale is not only a ridiculously gripping thriller but also a brilliant specimen of the dystopian genre, with all the social commentary that comes with it. Brilliant I say, although this doesn't mean it's without flaws.

First of all, the particular translation is poor and the reason for most of the writing issues. Besides that, due to the nature of the story, there were bound to be a few improbabilities and some far-fetched details that, in my humble opinion, weren't enough to destroy the experience. Nonetheless, they were enough to make me hold back a star. That said, I found the execution, as a whole, brilliant. Greatly written action, twists and gore without end. Although it's famous for the gore, however, there's also great depth to the characters. A few pages of background are dedicated even to the ones that are killed off quickly, which makes the uneasiness even bigger. The relationships between the students are also well crafted. There are friendships, betrayals, romance, unrequited love, you name it. Pretty much everything there is in a teenage universe. Every single character is treated with respect by the author and nothing is done swiftly. What else could one ask for?

Battle Royale was also adapted into a movie in 2000 whose further success ended all governmental controversy that had broken out due to the themes described in the book. It should be noted that said film is one of Quentin Tarantino's favorites.

A great novel which should have been an example for the west and not something to cheaply rip off. Although I liked the first of The Hunger Games series, Battle Royale makes me want to go back and throw it in the one-star pit once and for all. ...more

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Jul 13, 2007 Colleen Venable rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-adult, re-read

In a terrifying way this TRULY the most realistic portrayal of 9th grader emotions I've ever read. I might argue this should be considered YA, and brilliant YA at that, but considering the amount of folks who are determined to keep this book, and the movie it derived from, banned, I might want to keep my mouth a bit more shut.

A surefire way to get me to pay attention to something is to tell me how often it's banned. That was the original reason I sought out the film (and an all-region DVD playe In a terrifying way this TRULY the most realistic portrayal of 9th grader emotions I've ever read. I might argue this should be considered YA, and brilliant YA at that, but considering the amount of folks who are determined to keep this book, and the movie it derived from, banned, I might want to keep my mouth a bit more shut.

A surefire way to get me to pay attention to something is to tell me how often it's banned. That was the original reason I sought out the film (and an all-region DVD player aka the best purchase I ever made, since this and many other amazing movies are not available in the US market). The film was both extremely violent and utterly charming. I hated it at first, watched most with my eyes half covered, but as I got to know the characters it was so much more about their emotions than the game they were stuck in...40+ students stuck on an island forced to play a "game" of war where one student would survive.

Back to what makes YA YA. Nowadays you can get away with almost anything sex related in YA. Sure you'll still wind up on the banned list, but that's practically an honor. Violence, however, especially violence of this magnitude, is still utterly taboo. (Though I may argue the real reason for the international banning is more related to the strong anti-government themes.) They claim the violence would give kids "ideas" and they would go attacking their peers, but the thing about this book in particular was it was beautiful...the pages which dealt with characters deaths were eloquent and stunning. Glimpses into final thoughts and pages of memories before the final black-out. All the while remaining utterly teen, most of the motives behind all of the characters were crush related, a literal amplification the "if he doesn't love me I'll die." This book made me remember exactly what it felt like to be a 9th grader "in love" and how over-the-top my emotions and reactions to everything were.

There's one memorable scene where one boy has been refusing to fight, but searching endlessly for one particular girl the entire game. You assume they are in love and he's trying to save her, but when they finally meet up you find out not only aren't they a couple, but he's barely ever said one sentence to the girl. She assumes he's there to kill her, and reacts accordingly, having no idea what he went through to "save her." As he dies he tells her he loves her, only to have her say something along the lines of "wait, what! you jerk! You've never even spoken to me!"

Now if you are a fan of the movie, keep in mind the book differs immensely. They didn't try as hard to put in humorous moments between the warring and there is no such thing as compassion from any of the adults represented, BUT characters who only got 10 seconds of screen time get huge chapters here. No one feels slighted and the details only add to the story more.

Definitely one of the most gripping things I've read this year....and while I might argue the YA card, even I didn't feel it right to put this on my YA-fiction shelf.

(originally read March 27, 2008. Re-read: May 15, 2013) ...more

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Jun 07, 2017 P.E. rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, japanese-literature, vivid-dream, utopia-dystopia

In post WW2 victorious Japan, the military have kept an unchallenged grip over high politics. Periodically, a random group of high school students are kidnapped and made to play a deadly game, at the end of which only one of them remains.

Nobody knows for certain the true purpose behind this gruesome display of seemingly blind violence towards the civilians. Students from the newly selected batch will handle the matter in highly contrasted ways. Some will follow the orders almost unflinchingly, ...more

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Jun 25, 2019 Maria rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites

HOLY SMOKES!
Plot twist of the century. This was fantastic.

P.S. So, I’ve watched the movie. To say that it’s the worst adaptation I’ve ever seen is to say nothing. I’m disgusted. Read the book, folks.

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Mar 19, 2018 Stepheny rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I had heard several times that the Hunger Games was a rip-off of Battle Royale. I personally always thought the Hunger Games was a combination of The Running Man and the Long Walk. But now, having finally gotten around to reading Battle Royale…I can only say wow.

People have very valid complaints here. There are entire sections that are almost word for word. Was Collins ever actually accused of plagiarism?

Anyway, I digress.

There are a bunch of students on a bus for a school field trip. Or so t ...more

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The Book Cult: Battle Royale	4	58	Feb 11, 2020 09:38AM
The NoSleep Podca...: February 2020 Book of the Month: Battle Royale by Koushun Takami	1	21	Jan 27, 2020 08:16AM
Vampires, Weres a...: Big Books Challenge: Battle Royale	10	21	Sep 25, 2019 11:26AM
GUIDE TO REMEMBERING THE CHARACTERS	24	564	Aug 20, 2019 05:12AM
Teen Fiction / Dystopian future	1	2	Aug 08, 2019 01:56PM
Letras Macabras: Battle Royale, de Koushun Takami	7	64	Jun 28, 2019 08:39PM
Lectores Argentinos: 08) Koushun Takami - Battle Royale - 17/06/19-12/07/19	2	34	Jun 26, 2019 11:24PM

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About Koushun Takami

Koushun Takami

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Koushun Takami (高見広春 Takami Kōshun) is the author of the novel Battle Royale, originally published in Japanese, and later translated into English by Yuji Oniki and published by Viz Media and, later, in an expanded edition by Haika Soru, a division of Viz Media.

Takami was born in Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture near Osaka and grew up in the Kagawa Prefecture of Shikoku. After graduating from Osaka Un ...more