I postponed reading this book for more than a decade. Not that I had access to the book itself, but I suppressed my curiosity for far too long.
Even though I have the feeling that I had heard about Battle Royale before, I saw it's "resurgence" upon the reaction to a popular film... The Hunger Games (yes... here we go. Put the sit belts on for a journey down the nostalgia sinkhole). I watched the Hunger Games movie, liked it a lot, didn't consider reading the book at all (I hated reading at that age - only read what was mandatory for school - and even then... not always). Then, still oblivious to the real Battle Royale, I started playing "Battle Royale"... even though it was not called "Battle Royale" and was not even directly inspired by Battle Royale. I started playing the "Hunger Games" minigame on some Minecraft server. And let me tell you... even now, with games like PUBG and Fortnite, nothing compares to the trill of those Minecraft Survival Games. From time to time I log into Minecraft and give a a try again... but it's all completely different. Nowadays most games are really fast paced, the "arenas" are much smaller and players have access to a bunch or perks and such, making some (sometimes pay to win) players simply invincible.
Back on the "good old days", in a Minecraft Survival Games, there were no special items, just the vanilla ones, sword, bow and arrows, and food, scattered on chests around the map. The arenas were HUGE (I have to see if I can find some old gameplay on youtube to post below), maps made by hand and full of detail, with plenty of options for all play styles! Just like it's shown on the Battle Royale book, not all players approach the game the same way (the only big difference being that, everyone is willing to play the game... no one was kidnapped by the government and put on an island... no, everyone logged in and pressed "play"). There were always those who rushed for combat, others that decided to stockpile on supplies and then enter the fight, those who where well equipped but hid and waited for their moment to strike, those who got unlucky and were not equipped at all, so they hid in hopes to survive as long as possible... among other types of players. Due to all this, the matches could take more than one hour! The arena didn't "shrink", no arenas became off limits! This gave everyone a chance.
I have the memory of a game were I started really poorly, had nothing at the start, and just ran away as soon as the game started. I ran for a long time until I reached the limit of the arena, there I hid, with low hitpoints and no weapons, for more than half an hour. Only when there were about 8 players remaining, did I dared to start moving. I have this memory of being on top of a crumbled down building, the terrain was relatively flat, with some trees scattered around it. Slowly, and trusting that running into one of the few remaining players was unlikely, I moved from tree to tree, hill to hill and building to building. Eventually I managed to equip myself with the scraps left out by others and saw my chances rise a bit... though I was (still am, really bad at PvP). I'm not sure when did it start, but after most players where dead, due to the size of the map, thunder would start sporadically marking the locations of the remaining players. When start started I always kept on the move, avoiding everyone and hiding. Eventually it came down to 3 players, me and two others. My heart stopped when the thunder marked the death of one of the players and showed their location (and mine)... they where only about 50 blocks (Minecraft measures) from me, just around a building. Diagonally, via two windows, I had a glimpse of my opponent, fully equipped with diamond armor and iron sword... and there was me, with half leather, half iron armor and a wooden sword... I could not beat him, so I ran away again. "But why run away? It's just you and him, just get it over with and start another game." - See that's "Fortnite" mentality right there, every match fast paced and meaningless (not saying that it's not fun). I ran and hid, my opponent didn't see me right away, so I got lucky. But my luck would run out the next time the thunder would give my location, he would find me, and I would die. And then I looked up! At this point I was near the center of the map, in a city section with huge buildings, some where ruined skyscrapers leaves and moss hanging from it's ruined tops and broken windows. A plan formed in my head, I had a "secret weapon", something that I had created myself, but had completely disregarded it, due to the concept of wearing armor.
A few weeks after I started playing, I made a skin, or better, I adapted a skin. Originally, I just downloaded a fairly regular Minecraft skin, made by some other player. A simple guy with a blue shirt, dark blue pants and a dark belt. Then, I modified that skin... and it's the one that I still use today. (*logs into Minecraft, just to take a screenshot and show the skin*)
So I had to prepare quickly, I needed to find just the right location to face my opponent. I was green... very green, and night was coming, the only light inside the buildings came from the moon. I could not win in a open fight, so I had defeat him by deceiving him. I entered one of the skyscrapers, and ran up the stairs until I reached the part where the stairs had collapsed, to keep going up I had to do some simple "parkour", nothing impossible, but most of this "parkour" was only possible by stepping on "leave blocks". So I found just the right position, on a dark corner amidst a bunch of leave blocks, and next to two crucial blocks that allowed the climb near the top. There I removed my armor and weapon, and proceeded to crouch (to hide my name - that floats above my head on multiplayer). Shortly after the thunder came and showed that my opponent was somewhat near, thought it took him one more "thunder" to determine my position. To me, his thunder was irrelevant, from his perspective he must have seen the thunder hit the top of the skyscraper, but he had no idea where I was on said building. Logically I would be on one of the flours, waiting to attack him. So he searched but, since there was no trace of me, when thunder hit again, he must have thought that I must have been on the roof. And so be started to hop, from block to block, up the "parkour" path that lead to the roof, carefully and slowly, always looking up, probably afraid that I would shoot an arrow at him while he was jumping (I had many arrows actually, but I didn't have a bow¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ).
Meanwhile I was waiting on a section of the "parkour" path that was set outside the skyscraper, where one had to climb some vines in order to reach the top floor, before the parkour resumed up to the roof. From where he was coming, we would first see my legs (But I have the high ground! - No no... in Minecraft having the high ground in a melee fight give you a disadvantage. Your opponent can strike at your legs, before you come in reach of his head). So all depended on my skin and his eyes! If he noticed my I would be dead with two swings of his sword. But if he didn't notice... well I might just become the winner.
By this point the game had been going for almost an hour, almost half of it with only me and him. I see and hear him getting closer, my heart started beating, and I think that I even suspended by breath while watching him climb towards me. Then, two blocks below me, he stopped, looked up, waited... and finally resumed the climb, he passed by my legs, didn't react, less than a second after, just when he passed in front of the entrance I was in, I pressed my left mouse button as hard as I could... just one time. And that's all it took, one little punch, it must not even have taken him half a heart due to his diamond armor, and he was falling! falling down the outside of the skyscraper, a fall impossible to survive. It took about 3 seconds for him to hit the ground, and then the game ended and I had won... against all odds! For me, this was the true trill of the game, being able to win while being on a great disadvantage.
I think this was the map, where it took place... if not it was a very similar one:
Oh damn, but I have already wrote too much without reaching the book itself.
So, many people mark this book as "senseless violence", and yes this book is violent... very violent. But I think that marking it as "senseless violence" misses the core of the story.
For me, Battle Royale is about friendship, about trust, about a oppressive regime... about humanity. The "game" server was a window into the society in the Republic of Greater East Asia (witch, to me, is a reference for Imperial Japan during WW2, as well as the current North Korean dictatorship). Even inside an oppressive and controlling regime, each student has their own way of living. Some lived a somewhat normal life, some where more "outgoing", others more introverted, but all where mentally (some physically) affected by the country that they where born in. I can't say that this book as a character as the villain. All of the kids, even the ones like Kazuo Kiriyama and Mitsuku Souma, were basically products of their country. Shaped, in one way or other, to play that game.
But above all it's a story about humanity, anyone put in that situation would probably behave in a similar way to one of the kids. Hell, even what I described above about Minecraft pretty much shows the same. In the end, all continues the same, the games will continue to happen. But now, two kids made it out, and they are set on starting a movement against their government. I liked that such aspect is left open, we don't even know if they managed to survive a few more days. In a way, I would like to know what happened next, on the other hand I think that the ending is perfect!
My favorite character was, unsurprisingly, Shogo Kawada. His will to save his friends, even though they had "just became friends", as well as his hate for the system is what holds the story together.
I might watch the original Battle Royale movie tonight, to see what they changed.
In any case, my only complaint is that Kiriyama sometimes felt like he was superman... even with a bullet proof vest, I think he should have died sooner from injuries, explosion, car crash...
But anyway, I enjoyed the book very much, ate the entire thing in only a few days, and I see how it influenced other books, movies, games. Now I know where it all began.
Even with some minor flaws, for me this one is a classic. 5/5!
Ps: Just saw the movie. It's ok, but the book is much better. The movie ruined the character of Kawada and Kiriyama... why? Oh well. Time for me to sleep and have nice dreams.
