Mike’s Reviews > Battle Royale > Status Update

I have to admit: I genuinely did not see that coming. That was a very, very good ending.

"Her body was dehydrated from lack of water..."
Wow. I don't know if that's because of the translation or because of Takami, but either way... wow.

That was really interesting. Takami is definitely adding to the themes of suspicion and paranoia.

The scene with Mitsuko was very effective. More of that, less of Shuya treating Noriko like delicate china.

I'm starting to feel like 42 students was maybe overkill. I mean, there definitely needed to be random students who weren't main characters, but 25 of them? That's a bit much.

I like the undertones of distrust and paraonia. Takami really captures how scary it would be to have your friends be out to kill you.

I don't think anyone died in the last 30 pages. Very unusual indeed.

Of course the gay character is effeminate. Of course he is. Man, the characterization was looking really good until that rolled around.

Hey. Hey, guess what? MORE PEOPLE DIED! I'm shocked, too.

On a more serious note, the characters are getting harder to keep track of. It was actually easier in the beginning, weirdly enough.

The characters seemed kinda like blank slates at first, but I'm starting to like them a lot better. Particularly Shogo. (And man, that twist involving him was great.) The writing is also getting better - it was blatantly a translation at first, but nothing has stood out as being awkward for a while.