Russie Reviews: Battle Royale

Forty-two Junior High students wake up inside a random classroom with weird collars around their necks. As part of a merciless authoritarian program, these students are given the following: a survival pack and a random weapon of choice which could either be totally useful or completely useless.

Sent out into a 'deserted' island where parts could trigger the collar's explosion any moment, the task given to these students was simple. 

Kill or be killed. 

Be the last student standing. 

Good evening, Darlings! Yes - it's finally time for another review. And tonight, I'm going to review a novel which sparked a manga, two live action moves and (perhaps) controversy all over the globe...Battle Royale. As usual, I'll be avoiding spoilers but do take care once you click the 'read more' button down below! 

If you're not into gory descriptions of weapons thrown into people's heads or six girls killing each other due to a misunderstanding, then this might not be the book for you, buddy. 

Battle Royale is extremely detailed. It doesn't shy away from the harsh cruelty of murder or the thought processes of the forty-two students stuck inside the island. And that's something I really enjoyed - rather than fumble in the dark about what the hell the character's motives are, they are given to me directly along with a side dish of blood, guts or heads being cut off. *chuckles* 

Another thing I really liked about the book was how each of the forty-two students had their own distinct personalities. None of them were alike - none of them were reduced to background characters because each of them had their own relevance. Having getting to know each of them resulted to a punch in the gut when my favorites were (un)surprisingly killed off. 

The thing about Battle Royale is that it makes you get to know those who are participating in the program. Each of the students has a distinct and unique personality about them, so you end up connecting to at least three or five of them. As horrible as it sounds, you start rooting for your favorites and end up disappointed if they die - which is what happened to me 80% of the time. *laughs*

This is what happened around 99% of the time.

The book also gives an interesting take on Japan as an authoritarian place - where the program seeks to horrify and terrorize its own population. There was nothing out of the ordinary around the setting - except for the fact that they willingly send a bunch of students to murder each other in cold blood - which makes the story more unsettling. To make it even more unnerving, these are students who have grown with each other for the past years of their lives.

Chilling, isn't it?

Overall, Battle Royal was a beautifully haunting piece of Japanese literature from Kousun Takami. He knew how to make the moments perfectly gripping and chilling to the bone, dousing the story with moments that would take your heart and smash it to smithereens. 

He was able to convey the most desperate and horrible side of people - high scholers, mind you - when tainted with fear and desperation, wanting to get out of that place alive...even if it meant sticking a knife in your best friend's chest and watching them die.

I highly recommend this book - for those who are faint of heart, take caution - and suggest watching the movie adaption, which is also as gory. (Though not really 100% doing the book justice - but it's still a nice watch, yes?)