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johnreadsthings's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
THIS IS INCREDIBLE AHHHHH
It lost me in the middle a bit, but that introduction and conclusion were so brilliantly constructed. The menace was so palpable. And the characters, alive!
During the middle part, Takami introduced most of the students, something that could be daunting to write and not rewarding in the end. It did get a bit repetitive and predictable every time a new student was presented because you'd know that they'd be dead by the end of the chapter. But I'd have to commend Takami because each student had their own lives and personalities, and were not treated as merely numbers and side characters that would forward the story to its eventual and inevitable end or serve as a respite from the leads. In fact, some of the kids really left a mark. My personal favorites among them were Takako Chigusa and Sho Tsukioka.
I wasn't feeling Shuya and Noriko as the main leads right at the beginning and I only somewhat tolerated them coming at the ending, but I did grow to like them! I'd still like read more about Shinji Mimura and Hiroki Sugimura whose arcs were brilliantly written. But I guess it's safe to say that Takami's best constructed character here was Shogo Kawada. I'm not going to spoil anything by talking about Shogo, so let's leave it at that.
The game itself was relentlessly violent and gore. The author didn't shy away from giving the whole picture, along with its dirty, disgusting bits. And his political critique was equally scathing and explicit. He didn't sanitize and bow down to anything. And this made the novel much more revolting, effective, and memorable.
That ending came like Shogo's rushing truck across the island. It was the cherry on top of this really, really good book.
At first I thought that Koushun Takami's Battle Royale simply had the advantage of being one of the first of its kind (it's not lost in me that this is called a somewhat of a retelling of Golding's The Lord of the Flies), but it's more than that: this was also an intelligent, well-constructed, and amazing piece of work.
It lost me in the middle a bit, but that introduction and conclusion were so brilliantly constructed. The menace was so palpable. And the characters, alive!
During the middle part, Takami introduced most of the students, something that could be daunting to write and not rewarding in the end. It did get a bit repetitive and predictable every time a new student was presented because you'd know that they'd be dead by the end of the chapter. But I'd have to commend Takami because each student had their own lives and personalities, and were not treated as merely numbers and side characters that would forward the story to its eventual and inevitable end or serve as a respite from the leads. In fact, some of the kids really left a mark. My personal favorites among them were Takako Chigusa and Sho Tsukioka.
I wasn't feeling Shuya and Noriko as the main leads right at the beginning and I only somewhat tolerated them coming at the ending, but I did grow to like them! I'd still like read more about Shinji Mimura and Hiroki Sugimura whose arcs were brilliantly written. But I guess it's safe to say that Takami's best constructed character here was Shogo Kawada. I'm not going to spoil anything by talking about Shogo, so let's leave it at that.
The game itself was relentlessly violent and gore. The author didn't shy away from giving the whole picture, along with its dirty, disgusting bits. And his political critique was equally scathing and explicit. He didn't sanitize and bow down to anything. And this made the novel much more revolting, effective, and memorable.
That ending came like Shogo's rushing truck across the island. It was the cherry on top of this really, really good book.
At first I thought that Koushun Takami's Battle Royale simply had the advantage of being one of the first of its kind (it's not lost in me that this is called a somewhat of a retelling of Golding's The Lord of the Flies), but it's more than that: this was also an intelligent, well-constructed, and amazing piece of work.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
thegr8estangell's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
I'm glad this author wrote only one book. I really liked the premise of this book. I think they were way more brutal in this book than in the Hunger Games (a series with a similar plot). I liked the way that some of the deaths were from the 1st person POV of the person being killed and other deaths were from different POVs. I wished we got more POV time with Kiriyama.
The pacing of this book was all over the place. Sometimes it was fast and tense, other times it was slow and arduous. There were so many flashbacks to stupid elementary school grudges and stuff like that. It got old pretty quick. I skimmed alot of those since they had little to nothing to do with the actual plot of the story.
What really bothered me about this story was the sexism and causal homophobia. Do I expect anything different from a middle-aged Japanese man in the 90s? No. Does that mean I have to look over that to enjoy this book? Not really no. I can still criticize it and still think the book is okay. Noriko was about as useless as Sakura during the Zabuza arc in Naruto. She was written as a damsel in distress and that was all she played the entire time. Just a helpless little school girl who just wanted to survive and was content with letting her big strong men of Kawada and Shuya protect her. Shuya was this weird, white knight character that felt like every girl had a crush on. He was so popular but didn't know it. That was really annoying. He was always this, ethical person during the whole thing. He never had to make a bad or hard choice about killing someone. There was no morally grey with him like there was with Kawada. He was in this situation where he had to kill people but he never had to make that tough decision without weighing the consequences. Kawada was a cool character. I liked him. He was the only rational one in the whole book. I know it's because this was round 2 for him, but still. Good character.
The BIGGEST plot hole was the GOD-TIER status of that stupid bullet proof vest. After one bullet, those things are done. They don't last 14 other bullets to the chest, a shot gun blast, and 300+ rounds of an UZI. They don't. That's not how they are made. That was plot device that got tired real quick.
Overall, I think the violence and stakes were done well. But the actual plot needed some work. Would I read this again? No. Would I recommend this book to someone? Maybe, depends on the person.
The pacing of this book was all over the place. Sometimes it was fast and tense, other times it was slow and arduous. There were so many flashbacks to stupid elementary school grudges and stuff like that. It got old pretty quick. I skimmed alot of those since they had little to nothing to do with the actual plot of the story.
What really bothered me about this story was the sexism and causal homophobia. Do I expect anything different from a middle-aged Japanese man in the 90s? No. Does that mean I have to look over that to enjoy this book? Not really no. I can still criticize it and still think the book is okay. Noriko was about as useless as Sakura during the Zabuza arc in Naruto. She was written as a damsel in distress and that was all she played the entire time. Just a helpless little school girl who just wanted to survive and was content with letting her big strong men of Kawada and Shuya protect her. Shuya was this weird, white knight character that felt like every girl had a crush on. He was so popular but didn't know it. That was really annoying. He was always this, ethical person during the whole thing. He never had to make a bad or hard choice about killing someone. There was no morally grey with him like there was with Kawada. He was in this situation where he had to kill people but he never had to make that tough decision without weighing the consequences. Kawada was a cool character. I liked him. He was the only rational one in the whole book. I know it's because this was round 2 for him, but still. Good character.
The BIGGEST plot hole was the GOD-TIER status of that stupid bullet proof vest. After one bullet, those things are done. They don't last 14 other bullets to the chest, a shot gun blast, and 300+ rounds of an UZI. They don't. That's not how they are made. That was plot device that got tired real quick.
Overall, I think the violence and stakes were done well. But the actual plot needed some work. Would I read this again? No. Would I recommend this book to someone? Maybe, depends on the person.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Car accident, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
rovardotter's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder
_fallinglight_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Yall what a wild ass ride. The book is insane. Sardonic. Brutal. Gore porn. Chaotic brilliance. The satirical tone with the biting Japanese society social commentary/critique and sarcastic remarks throughout might be weird and seem inappropriate or out of place but that added to the dehumanization of the Program and the regime's “successful fascism”.
I was spooked, heartbroken, amused, disgusted and absolutely glued to this book once I got really into it. Yes, the pacing and the translation were a little clunky and repetitive (how many times can the phrase “That's right.” be written in a book? Read this book to find out lmao) but it also made the experience of reading this like a past citizen of the Republic of Greater East Asia was the one telling the story, you know. Also, even if the end result of the translation is a little wonky, I don't know how much I can fault the translator bc Japanese is a very intricate language and English can be so limiting to expressing the same tone or context. Especially a book heavy in satire and sarcasm as this one, the humor really would be hard to translate.
I think all the little backgrounds were effectively employed and gave the kids varied and dynamic personalities. And the junior high school crushes throughout the book were believable enough. I mean they're exploring their sexualities and hormones are going crazy. As for the inability of some of them to get over the fact they had to kill their classmates they'd known for years, like what do you expect? Even I as an adult would freak tf out if I were in the same situation and would take me a long time to reconcile with the fact I had to kill other people. I don't know I probably even wouldn't man, it's not worth it. So I don't think the kids's reactions were corny or unreasonable and I think the book really conveyed a realistic spirit of mistrust and fear in the mind of 15 years old, imo. Which in turn, reveals the extensiveness and effiency of that distrust in the general population. Contrary to other dystopias where the regimes are established through questionable ways and the existence of such seems unlikely and unachievable, the efficacy of the Program, the murders of the kids parents, and like Shogo says, the given propensity of their culture and society to respect hierarchies, be submissive, and not revolt, makes it chillingly real.
Characters wise, Kazuo Kiriyama is pretty iconic and terrifying af (in both versions). Shogo Kawada and Shinji "The Third Man" Mimura were amazing and sympathetic. I cried buckets reading Shogo's ending even though I knew it was coming and like I had seen the movie. It was definitely more emotional here, though. I think I would have wanted a more conclusive, hopeful ending for Shuya and Noriko (but then it wouldn't be a dystopia, huh). (I watched the movie so long ago I don't remember the ending exactly but I think it was a lot more optimistic??) But also the idea of them always on the run but together is captivating enough. Still the ending brought it down one star.
I was spooked, heartbroken, amused, disgusted and absolutely glued to this book once I got really into it. Yes, the pacing and the translation were a little clunky and repetitive (how many times can the phrase “That's right.” be written in a book? Read this book to find out lmao) but it also made the experience of reading this like a past citizen of the Republic of Greater East Asia was the one telling the story, you know. Also, even if the end result of the translation is a little wonky, I don't know how much I can fault the translator bc Japanese is a very intricate language and English can be so limiting to expressing the same tone or context. Especially a book heavy in satire and sarcasm as this one, the humor really would be hard to translate.
I think all the little backgrounds were effectively employed and gave the kids varied and dynamic personalities. And the junior high school crushes throughout the book were believable enough. I mean they're exploring their sexualities and hormones are going crazy. As for the inability of some of them to get over the fact they had to kill their classmates they'd known for years, like what do you expect? Even I as an adult would freak tf out if I were in the same situation and would take me a long time to reconcile with the fact I had to kill other people. I don't know I probably even wouldn't man, it's not worth it. So I don't think the kids's reactions were corny or unreasonable and I think the book really conveyed a realistic spirit of mistrust and fear in the mind of 15 years old, imo. Which in turn, reveals the extensiveness and effiency of that distrust in the general population. Contrary to other dystopias where the regimes are established through questionable ways and the existence of such seems unlikely and unachievable, the efficacy of the Program, the murders of the kids parents, and like Shogo says, the given propensity of their culture and society to respect hierarchies, be submissive, and not revolt, makes it chillingly real.
Characters wise, Kazuo Kiriyama is pretty iconic and terrifying af (in both versions). Shogo Kawada and Shinji "The Third Man" Mimura were amazing and sympathetic. I cried buckets reading Shogo's ending even though I knew it was coming and like I had seen the movie. It was definitely more emotional here, though. I think I would have wanted a more conclusive, hopeful ending for Shuya and Noriko (but then it wouldn't be a dystopia, huh). (I watched the movie so long ago I don't remember the ending exactly but I think it was a lot more optimistic??) But also the idea of them always on the run but together is captivating enough. Still the ending brought it down one star.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, and Rape
Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Child abuse
bex_knighthunter's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I found this very enjoyable, and incredibly well paced, with almost continuous action. The world does feel a little like an afterthought, but the psychology of the kids and their observations still feel very real and true. The ending was also really satisfying with a good set of twists I didn't see coming. (Unusually for me) I really appreciated this books length and getting to understand and care about characters before they died. Unfortunately, despite the extra airtime I wasn't a fan of the main character (a little too perfect 'hero') and his love interest didn't seem as fleshed out as some of the other characters that had only a short point of view. The transfer student was also a incredibly overpowered but his dialogue was some of my favourite! There were a few parts that made me nervous that the author would be insensitive (mentions of rape, the only queer character being referred to with slurs), but the author walked the line closely enough that this personally didn't put me off too much. It was gruesome with quite stylised unrealistic violence but overall it worked for me!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Kidnapping
Minor: Homophobia, Rape, and Sexual assault