Batoru Rowaiaru (Battle Royale)

[Private|Par]

I'm wondering if anyone has seen the movie, or read the book and/or the manga. I'm about to get the movie and watch it, and have been reading the manga online for a while. I think it's one of the best mangas I've ever read. I love the concept and the execution, at least in the manga, is excellent. For those who have no idea what Battle Royale is, I'll give you the same definition I've been giving everyone else ever since I stumbled upon it:

Battle Royale is about Japan in the near future. They have a program, called The Program, which involves putting all these Year Nine kids (14 to 16) on an island and putting explosive collars around their necks. They give them a bag containing a map, a compass and a random weapon (could be a fork, could be a machete, could be a shotgun) and then making them kill each-other for sport. They have three days to kill each-other, or they all die. To stop people from trying to escape the island, the coast guard is stationed around the island with orders to shoot on sight. The island is also divided into grids, which become danger zones to stop people from hiding in one area.

Definitely worth a read/download. I've heard that the stories differ a lot in the different mediums (book/manga/movie), and was wondering if anyone else had come across it as well.

 

[moozxy]

I've seen both the movies. I thought the first one was very good, second one sucked ass.
I hear the manga is much much much better though, you actually get to know the characters before they die etc., so I'll get around to reading that one day.

 

[Cermage]

seen the movies and loved it. kinda reminds me of lord of the flies in a way. need to read the manga though. haven't got around to that just yet.

 

[shaunj66]

First movie was awesome. I was hooked all the way through

 

[xcalibur]

second movie sucked ass
probably (i'm assuming) since the first is based on the manga and the second is just milking it

i loved it too

 

[jaz]

^^^

What he said

 

[cosmo2389]

Hey! Battle Royale is Great!!

I liked the first movie a lot, but the second one was just mediocre...

I'm reading the book and it's really great, I like how it is written and I think it was translated very well. As for the manga, the Tokyopop "translation" was actually an adaptation (which ended up causing problems later in the series, and also led to so odd mess-ups)...

So are you reading the Tokyopop manga? If not, what is the name of the scanlation group (because I want to read the manga too, but I don't really care to read the Tokyopop version if I don't have to)?

 

[Akoji]

Im a huge fan of the mangas and the book, I liked the first movie, but the second sucked, because yeah... it wasn't based on the manga/book. And yeah scanlation all the way, way more readable and close to the original material.

Im such a huge fan of the manga that I got a T-shirt with The Program logo

 

[Doomsday Forte]

Ended up reading the entire book by accident when I borrowed it from my roommate many years ago just to pass time during class. I now own my own copy. =P

 

[Bluntsly]

Only saw the first movie, I thought it was great. I remember my friend had said "this looks like something tarantino would like..", then later found out he had cast one of the females from battle royale in kill bill.

 

[ENDscape]

This movie is awesome. I agree with most people when they say the second one is a disappointment.

 

[gov78]

ahhh Battle Royal 2 rugby teacher death lol "KURRRRRAWRI *beep,beep...BOOOOM*"

 

[miruki]

Awww... saw the first movie some years ago together with my best girlfriend, actually we spent most time drooling at that psychopath guy.. but lol yeah, the story is absolutely awesome too... I'd like to read the book some day when I have more time.. and sadly the German DVD is totally sold out.. I wanted to make my bf watch it together with me but he hates subs, boo. :/

 

[layzieyez]

Y'all might as well go and watch Suicide Circle while you're at it.

 

[miruki]

Ugh... Suicide Circle was kind of... I seriously had to stop watching it after 30 minutes... too much for my faint heart.. XD

 

[layzieyez]

Well, then you should probably stay away from Ichi the Killer.

 

[miruki]

ohh but that one is amazing XD

 

[[M]artin]

I saw it after a Game Design instructor recommended it to me. When he explained what the movie was about and all, I fell in love with the concept, plotline, everything (mainly because I had a somewhat similar game concept in mind).

Once I saw the movie, however, it left it kind of disappointed. The movie was good, just not great. I think I set my expectations a little high, also, you could see the movie's aging at times.

Most of the movie was just a killfest, which was in good fun, but it often times overshadowed the progression of the story. Some parts grabbed me, such as wondering how long certain character's relationships were really going to last, what's going to happen to Character A down the line, and whatnot. The climax was what really disappointed me, though. It kind of just threw everything together at the end...

I'm willing to give the book or manga a whirl, however. Which would you recommend first?

 

[jargus]

I've only seen the first movoe and part of the manga and second movie. Very interesting. All the friends I show it to make jokes about it.
Recent Example: In the lighthouse scene, they were laughing and said that everyone was going into Last Stand. Even I couldn't help but laugh at that one.

 

[Doomsday Forte]

artin]
I saw it after a Game Design instructor recommended it to me. When he explained what the movie was about and all, I fell in love with the concept, plotline, everything (mainly because I had a somewhat similar game concept in mind).

Once I saw the movie, however, it left it kind of disappointed. The movie was good, just not great. I think I set my expectations a little high, also, you could see the movie's aging at times.

Most of the movie was just a killfest, which was in good fun, but it often times overshadowed the progression of the story. Some parts grabbed me, such as wondering how long certain character's relationships were really going to last, what's going to happen to Character A down the line, and whatnot. The climax was what really disappointed me, though. It kind of just threw everything together at the end...

I'm willing to give the book or manga a whirl, however. Which would you recommend first?

Personally, the book. It's incredibly well-written, for being a translation (I think). There are two plots after the action starts, but it's not hard to follow, really. There's a LOT of character interaction that the movie doesn't touch on, and some of the deaths are just outright better (one guy pretty much gets his skull cleft in half, and this opens a whole different can of worms with other survivors who witness this).

I haven't read the manga, but I really don't want to. I like the book that much.

You would probably like it too, if you can keep up with the story. I found it a little hard to follow sometimes because of me being unused to Japanese names and it tends to jump around a little.