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A review by danarama
Battle Royale, Vol. 06 by Masayuki Taguchi, Koushun Takami, Keith Giffen, Tomo Iwo
3.0
This was recommended by Val.
It was a good read. I'd heard comparisons to Lord of the Flies and/or 1984. Despite the content, this was actually a more optimistic book than either of those. The totalitarian government isn't as all-power as the one in 1984 and the children actually acquit themselves better. Most of them actually try to avoid taking part in the game, even though it will mean their deaths. Only a small handful actively participate (and two of those are basically insane). A few people lose it, but only 3 or 4 kids are actively evil.
(I suspect the author wrote this during his "young people are awesome/don't trust people over 30" phase of his life)
What I didn't like: the main antagonist amongst the kids, Kazuo, seems like some weird version of a Mary Sue for villains. He inexplicable survives a massive explosion unharmed and is otherwise indestructible. He always knows what the other students are planning or attempting. He also pulls random skills out of his ass as needed. FIghting the class martial arts expert? Oh guess what? He's ALSO a master at martial arts!
I found that it really diminished the dramatic tension in the scenes involving him. The other students were so pathetically outmatched (including the ones who seemed like they should have stood a chance) that his scenes were annoying. It seemed like a copout on the part of the writer. I wish he'd tried to portray Kazuo as more cunning instead of simply giving him a million hit points and the magic ability to know what the other people were trying to do.
On the bright side, I was expecting a miserable, unhappy ending, but it wasn't too bad after all. Possibly it was a bit Hollywood.
It was a good read. I'd heard comparisons to Lord of the Flies and/or 1984. Despite the content, this was actually a more optimistic book than either of those. The totalitarian government isn't as all-power as the one in 1984 and the children actually acquit themselves better. Most of them actually try to avoid taking part in the game, even though it will mean their deaths. Only a small handful actively participate (and two of those are basically insane). A few people lose it, but only 3 or 4 kids are actively evil.
(I suspect the author wrote this during his "young people are awesome/don't trust people over 30" phase of his life)
What I didn't like: the main antagonist amongst the kids, Kazuo, seems like some weird version of a Mary Sue for villains. He inexplicable survives a massive explosion unharmed and is otherwise indestructible. He always knows what the other students are planning or attempting. He also pulls random skills out of his ass as needed. FIghting the class martial arts expert? Oh guess what? He's ALSO a master at martial arts!
I found that it really diminished the dramatic tension in the scenes involving him. The other students were so pathetically outmatched (including the ones who seemed like they should have stood a chance) that his scenes were annoying. It seemed like a copout on the part of the writer. I wish he'd tried to portray Kazuo as more cunning instead of simply giving him a million hit points and the magic ability to know what the other people were trying to do.
On the bright side, I was expecting a miserable, unhappy ending, but it wasn't too bad after all. Possibly it was a bit Hollywood.