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miketilford's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The story opens up with a huge info dump regarding the world, and the 42 characters in the story. As if I am going to remember anything about any of those 42 different characters with Japanese names, not going to happen. After this, things do pick up, but the book is plagued with info dump chapters that just kill the momentum. I suppose these chapters are suppose to better fill out the world, and maybe give some philosophical view of society, but I wasn't interested in the world.
Don't get me wrong, the story is good, but the writing itself is terrible. I want to believe that most of this is due to translation, but I don't know. Edit: Okay, it turns out that there are multiple translations. I began reading this on Kindle with the original translation, and switched to the new Nathan Collins translation around the 50% mark. The newer translation is way better, but be forewarned that the character names slightly change if you switch translations as I did.
It almost feels like Takami wanted to write a Manga, but couldn't find a publisher, so he wrote a novel instead. Fun fact, after the success of the novel, he did make this into a Manga, so I may not be too far off.
The main villain of the story is comically evil. He's a straight up sociopath that can't experience feelings. Okay sure, this is straight out of Manga / Anime, but fine whatever. This part is a bit much, but I can deal with. The fact that this 15 year old is basically the Terminator is a bit of a joke. Also, I'm pretty sure bulletproof vests are a one time thing.
With all this criticism, you may think that I didn't like Battle Royale. You wouldn't be further from the truth. The story was great, and despite the few criticisms I had, I loved the rest of it. My favorite scene involved the Lighthouse. The entire scene from the setup to the payoff was absolutely great, and completely believable.
Overall, I found this a surprisingly good read.
Graphic: Gun violence, Physical abuse, Child death, Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Child abuse, Gore, Grief, and Death
Moderate: Suicide
Minor: Pedophilia and Adult/minor relationship
thedinosaurkid's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Obviously (or maybe not) I went into this comparing it to Hunger Games. It faired pretty well. If anything I probably liked it more. If you're looking for a book like Hunger Games but with more murder (first off get therapy), this is a good pick. It has the potential to be a 4-5 star read.
However, that is not what I'm giving it.
Despite the good characters, twists, and overall plot, this book was very obviously written in the 1990's (specifically 1999). There is major misogynistic language throughout the book. Nothing outright,
Another reason for the rating is because of a specific chapter that follows a gay character and how homophobic it feels.
The plot is good, don't get me wrong, but its hard to ignore the misogynistic tones throughout the book. The ending was enjoyable and my attention was kept during the whole book but reading about "weak girls" really brought me out of the experience.
Graphic: Gun violence, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, Child death, Blood, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Trafficking, Torture, Stalking, Sexism, Physical abuse, and Pedophilia
woona's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Child death, and Violence
leftovercarnage's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, Sexual assault, Gun violence, Violence, Sexual violence, Torture, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Gore, Car accident, Bullying, Body horror, and Blood
taleofabibliophile's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Cursing, Murder, Child death, Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Death of parent, Sexism, Misogyny, Car accident, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Vomit, and Grief
Minor: Medical content and Homophobia
johnreadsthings's review against another edition
- 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
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.
Graphic: Car accident, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Violence, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse
akira_outofthegravity's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Murder, Violence, Gun violence, Blood, Body horror, Confinement, Cursing, Gore, Grief, and Suicide
Moderate: Bullying and Child abuse
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual harassment
cheybrary's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing and Medical trauma
Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Rape, and Vomit