Tuesday 26 June 2012

Battle Royale- The Novel


With all the renewed interest and my recent rewatching of the film I just had to re-read the novel and I did, and finally completed it today. I forgot just how sad and detailed it was, every character had a moment of development, something that made them different from everyone else and memorable in their own way. I have to admit, though the interest has died down (probably for the best), the similarities to The Hunger Games were horribly noticeable, and I know it's something that needs dropped because no matter how much anyone protests or argues nothing's going to be done about it but still, there are more similarities to the Battle Royale novel than even to the film, which really does make you wonder if Suzanne Collins really knew nothing about it.

For one Battle Royale mentions people betting on who will win, it is set in the future and the country has been reshaped into one unity- Republic of Greater East Asia- much like Panem and it is revealed that the authorities having been lying to people about things- when the dictatorship was formed, if the Dictator is real, who's actually in control etc, much like the government in The Hunger Games lied about District 13. This with the other, already stated similarities, of backpacks, a male and female lead forming together and surviving together thus beating the sytem, one lead getting injured, one lead taking out the chief bad guy in the games (in the novel it is Noriko who kills Kazuo, though Shogo shoots him after in an attempt to have Noriko believe that he killed him not her), danger zones (in THG these are created by interference from external sources i.e fire, and unleashing the Mutts), having an even number of boy, girl competitors and so forth. Yes there are differences but it's the similarities which are key here.

Regardless, that's my piece on the matter. The lighthouse sequence, Shinji, Yutaka and Shogo's deaths, and Takako and Hiroki's almost too late reunion were just as poignant and tragic as in the movie. Shinji showed even more intelligence as when his computer hacking was thwarted because he didn't know the collars were bugged he still kept going and formed a new plan with Yutaka only to be stopped by Ijima and Kazuo. Ijima in the book didn't find Shinji and Yutaka until much later then Shinji refused to let him join them as he recalled Ijima abandoning him when thugs set upon him. He ends up shooting Ijima in cold blood, which draws Kazuo to them. It's an interesting layer to Shinji's character as in the film he kills no one, and Ijima was considered a friend to him.


It was nice to see Mitsuko's development in the novel though it was horribly tragic to the point of disbelief, virtually every male in her life violated her- her mother pimped her out and left her to be raped by three men, she told her teacher, trusting him, only to be violated by him and a friend who witnessed it didn't help her but instead spread rumours. She then killed her mother to stop her from pimping her out again and when she was sent to live with relatives she was bullied by their child who died falling off a roof, which she was blamed for, the child's father then defended her only to start molesting her after. It certainly explains Mitsuko's bloodthirsty, callous nature, how she can turn on her own friends (Yoshimi) and kill her classmates ruthlessly.
It was also sad to see how Yuichiro almost reached her and how she almost sympathised with him in return and even gave him a genuine smile. He never believed she was evil, not even when his ally Tadakatsu insisted she was. When Tadakatsu tried to shoot her after she seduced him and almost killed him with a razor, Yuichiro jumps in the way and takes the bullet. He also untied her hands and gave her water previously, trusting that she couldn't be as bad as everyone thought. She hugs him, kisses him, shoots him and then hugs and kisses him again, thanking him for making her a little happy. It seems like she shot him to put him out of his misery though chances are she would have killed him regardless, yet you wonder if maybe they had talked sooner could Mitsuko have found some happiness in life?

The love affair and deaths of Yoshimi and Yoji was just tragic. In the film they hang themselves but in the book they have a reunion during which Yoji tries to kill her, he insists he slept with her because she was easy and that because of her past of being one of Mitsuko's friends and sleeping with men for money he thinks she's an untrustworthy whore. Yoshimi insists she changed for him and is devoted to him and in the end he realises he loves her too much to kill her. This sad reunion is ruined by Mitsuko stabbing Yoji with a sickle. Mitsuko insists she did it because she thought Yoji was attacking Yoshimi when in truth it was because she realised he wasn't going to kill Yoshimi. Her plans to use Yoshimi as a human shield are ruined when Yoshimi attacks her and Mitsuko is forced to shoot her.


Hiroki's character and death were equally sad, he had a bit of extra development here and was the only one to whom Mitsuko revealed her history, why she chose him is unclear, perhaps because he was simply there. He travels the island looking for his best friend Takako and true love Kayoko. He is stabbed by Mitsuko in the shoulder and Kazuo in the stomach and knows that he is dying when he reaches Kayoko. She flees from him then shoots him thinking he was going to kill her and only when he starts telling to light a fire and listen to a bird call that will lead to her to Shuya, Noriko and Shogo does she realise she's made a mistake. Kayoko then laments that she has been in love with another man for so long that she did not notice Hiroki when he helped her clean the top of the blackboard because she could not reach and when he called her foolish for liking this man. Hiroki calls her by her first name, tells her he loves her and does not mind that she shot him and dies. She falls on him and decides she wants to die with him and hears a voice asking her if she wants to, she answers yes and when the voice tells her to go ahead she realises too late that it's Mitsuko who shoots her.

Another nice development in the book was that of Yuko Sakaki, the girl who tried to poison Shuya and thus brought about the Lighthouse massacre. The book reveals she mistrusts Shuya not just because she thought he killed Tatsumichi but because she seems to mistrust men in general as her father was violent and beat her, her mother and her brother, almost blinding her brother and burning her with cigarettes. Initially she runs to the top of the lighthouse not to die but to evade Shuya, she slips and falls off and is grabbed by Shuya. When she sees him struggling to save her despite his pain she realises at last how wrong she was, tells him the truth, prys her fingers loose and falls to her death. In the film she simply runs up, frees Shuya and jumps without explanation leaving him in grief and confusion. With the book it's a lot more sad as at first she just wanted to escape Shuya but then realisation took over and guilt consumed her.
Another interesting aspect of the lighthouse sequence in the book is that despite his growing feelings for Noriko when Yukie admits she likes Shuya and doesn't want to contemplate him not being in the world he considers his feelings for her, admitting to himself that Yukie is a nice girl and that perhaps they would go well together.

Like all books, the novel isn't perfect, the drive scene with Kazuo in a van chasing Shogo, Noriko and Shuya in a truck was a bit ridiculous, never mind that his machine gun never seems to run out of ammo and Shogo and the others never ran out of guns. Mitsuko's death was sadly too quick, the movie at least let her have a slight chance. Also, the fact that Shogo had all the tools to remove the collars and a ladder in his backpack with none of the authorities checking it before and maybe thinking it odd (albeit he might have made the ladder on the island, I don't think it was stated), and being able to threaten to kill Nuriko and Shuya and then get to be silent after this and trust him without a blunder was a bit farfetched. Although I suppose it wasn't quite without a blunder as the man running things, Sakamochi, did suspect the truth in the end but couldn't outright stop Shogo as one of his superiors had bet a lot of money on him.

The ending itself was bitter as even then it seemed like Shuya and Noriko weren't really free, a policeman noticed them and tried to shoot them and though they fled you have to wonder how long before it happens again and will they really make it out on a boat?

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I haven't read the book yet but your review really makes me want to! I read the manga and found it's gratuitous fanservice more than a little gross and certain aspects being otherwise off putting and the times when it gets serious and doesn't meander around it sort of lost a lot of the gravity it had in the film version.

One thing that makes me sad about THG being as big as it is in the US now is that when I tell my close friends and family who like THG about BR, I can tell they've immediately written off liking it before giving it a shot because they don't think they can like something foreign because of subtitles or unfamiliar names. And when I tell them they'd be surprised how much they'd see past it because BR has a more intense and realistic story where the scenes aren't pussyfooted around, they think that it's going to lack substance because of it showing death scenes. It's so frustrating! >_<

I do like THG enough to see why they'd be loyal don't get me wrong, but it's evident that it most likely had some influence from BR and even if not it would be good for fans to see as a similar film that does things a better in many areas (especially since the students were all classmates not just strangers).

March Hare said...

Oh you must read the book! I read a few volumes of the manga but never got into it, the fanservice went a little too far, particularly with aspects of Mitsuko's character. In saying that people still do praise it for the character development, though it does change the plot in several aspects, but I suppose that could be interesting too. The book and the film had different plot points too, though not many.

Of the series the book is the original and the best, it gives you so much detail about each student that you feel like you know them even if their time is brief.

THG's popularity bugs me too, I've read the books and seen the film, they're good but they're not mind blowing, I don't understand this fad anymore than I understand the Twilight one. I also have tried to introduce people to BR but they're put off because it's foreign. I've heard they dropped plans for an American remake film because people would accuse it of ripping off THG but they're considering a tv series. Now I'm wary of remakes and I think Western adaptations always pussy foot around the violence but if it happens it might encourage more people to seek out the original book.

I'm actually doing another post on the two, stating why I prefer BR and one of my points is that the players knew each other, for me that really made such a difference. Also, you learn something about all of them, you learn very little about the other tributes in THG.

Unknown said...

I've always heard that some directors have been eager to do an American retelling of BR but it's been very troublesome due to fear that students would emulate the violent aspects.

I can sort of see why they're hesitant to since it's a very realistic movie. BR isn't set in a world like THG which was set in a very different reality and because of it being that way it makes the gravity of the situation feel less real; where as BR seemed harsher and realer and without changing that it seems like it would be a tough sell especially since there are always school shootings every year.

The TV miniseries idea seems much more suitable since it seems like TV is becoming a bit more sophisticated with regards to making a series serious, dark, adult, and high budget so it wouldn't have trouble finding an audience and it would get a good treatment. I would be a little worried about TV doing the violence, that's a big thing they edit out of series and even horror shows don't show very graphic scenes, I guess the best they could do is make a TV suitable version then release unedited parts on the bluray set.

Though for me I'm satisfied watching the original since a US version would be nice to see but the original is very often the better made one.

And I agree fully about the being classmates having much more impact in BR than strangers in THG. You watch BR and it's more eerie to contemplate being in that situation. I mean, how well does anyone know their classmates? BR having them know each other made it more psychological and gave the deaths gravity since you learn a little something about each student.