Battle Royale (manga): Difference between revisions

Battle Royale (manga)
	File:BR cover 1.JPG Cover of Battle Royale Manga Vol. 1
Genre	Action, Romance, Thriller, Science Fiction, Horror, Splatter
Created by	Kousan Takami
Manga
Written by	Koushun Takami
Published by	Akita Publishing; TOKYOPOP; Play Press Publishing ; Soleil Productions; Conrad Editora; Ulpius-Ház

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Revision as of 14:39, 10 August 2007

Battle Royale has been adapted into a serialized manga, written by Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi, was published in Japan by Akita Publishing. The manga consists of 15 volumes and is distributed in English by Viz Media.^[2] There is a manga sequel called Battle Royale II: Blitz Royale. At October 2007, a new special edition of the Manga will be released.

The manga follows the plot of the novel fairly closely, but also expands on the backstory of each of the students. It is also far more sexually graphic than the novel and film versions, and is also noted for its intense, gory violence. The name of the main character is transliterated as Shuuya Nanahara in this version (rather than 'Shuya' as it is spelled in the novel). Also, the manga changes the time that the story is set in by almost 10 years, using the term 'in the near future', but on Shogo Kawada's profile, it references the program 2005 season; he says his last program was a year ago, leading to the assumption that the manga sets the story in 2006. In volume one of the English language version, Shinji Mimura and the news channel reporter mentions the 2007 record of three days, seven hours and twenty-two minutes. In volume 14 Kamon refers to the 2009 season, which is presumably the 2009 one.

The manga revolves around seven main characters, including the righteous Shuuya Nanahara, the gentle and caring Noriko Nakagawa, the hardened veteran Shogo Kawada, the genius Shinji Mimura, the kind-hearted kung-fu master Hiroki Sugimura, the troubled Mitsuko Souma, and the cold, merciless Kazuo Kiriyama. As of January 2006, all 15 volumes have been released in Japan. In the US and UK all 15 of the volumes have been released as of April 2006.

Characters

List of characters in Battle Royale

TOKYOPOP Version

An English-language adaptation of the publication, published in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom in a multi-volume format by TOKYOPOP, was extensively rewritten by Keith Giffen, whose script does not completely follow the original comic.^[3]

The major difference between the Japanese and TOKYOPOP version is that Giffen rewrote the BR program as a Reality TV show program, rather than keeping it in tune with the BR Act, which leaves plotholes through the panels of the manga, especially in Volume #15. This can be partially attributted to the fact that when TOKYOPOP had released Volume #1, the Japanese Battle Royale was up to Volume #9 at that point, thereby not giving TOKYOPOP or Giffen ample material to prove that their rewrite would backfire.

According to TOKYOPOP editor Mark Paniccia, in the Newsarama article:

'For adapting the work, Giffen was given a tight Japanese-to-English translation of the story, but his assignment was by no means just to tweak a translation. "I told him to do what he felt he had to do", Paniccia said. "I told him to Giffenize it."'

To which Giffen responds:

'"It's a good story that Takami is telling", Giffen said. "What I do is go in and make bad scenes that much worse. I loved the movie of Battle Royale, and also love the manga. I just wanted to do it right. I wanted to do justice to it, and I knew I couldn't get away with doing a straight translation, because it would be horrifyingly bad."'

File:Battle royale manga island.JPG

Okishima Island map seen in the first volume of the manga.

In April 2006, Tim Beedle, a former associate editor of Battle Royale, stated on the TOKYOPOP Messageboard the reasoning behind the decision to have a fairly loose adaptation:

'Prior to starting work on the first volume of Battle Royale, its editor (Mark Paniccia, who has since left TOKYOPOP) made a decision to hire Keith Giffen, a well-known American comic book writer, to provide a much looser adaptation than usual. He made this decision for a variety of reasons, but two seemed to be more prominent than the rest. First, due to BR's extreme content and M rating, it was going to be a tough sell. (Some of the large chains refuse to carry M-rated books.) Hiring a known writer could help compensate for this by driving sales. Second, more than any other book we were publishing at the time, BR had the potential to find a crossover audience in the direct market among American comic book readers, who often are adverse to trying manga.'^[4]

Brazilian Portuguese edition

Conrad Editora from Brazil began publishing a Brazilian Portuguese version of the Manga at the tail end of 2006. From the contents of the first two volumes (it follows the original 15-volume format) it does not seem to adapt the Giffen "Reality Show" version, but instead apparently follows the original premise of the Novel and Manga. The small preview on the cover that appears in all Battle Royale editions mentions the program being filmed and airing live on TV, which would only make sense in the United States adaptation.

Chapters

The following names reflect the English-language version.

Volume 1

Chapter 1: The Worst Game in History
Chapter 2: Best Friend
Chapter 3: Shinji Mimura
Chapter 4: The Oath
Chapter 5: Other Side of the Door
Chapter 6: Yoshio Akamatsu
Chapter 7: Trust
Chapter 8: Mitsuko Souma

Volume 2

Chapter 9: Kazuo Kiriyama (Part One)
Chapter 10: Kazuo Kiriyama (Part Two)
Chapter 11: Treasure
Chapter 12: Those Who Come Forth
Chapter 13: Shogo Kawada
Chapter 14: Nightmare
Chapter 15: Conditions
Chapter 16: The Right Thing To Do
Sidestory: Energy

Volume 3

Chapter 17: Past
Chapter 18: Odds
Chapter 19: Problem Child
Chapter 20: Acceptance
Chapter 21: Forfeiture
Chapter 22: Battle Plan
Chapter 23: The Ultimate Team
Chapter 24: Takako Chigusa
Side Story: Fallen Angel

Volume 4

Chapter 25: Honor
Chapter 26: Bond
Chapter 27: Respect and Affection
Chapter 28: Insanity
Chapter 29: The Right Answer
Chapter 30: Persuasion
Chapter 31: Everybody's Thoughts
Chapter 32: Secret Weapon

Volume 5

Chapter 33: Rouse
Chapter 34: Last Man Standing
Chapter 35: Trap
Chapter 36: Thirst
Chapter 37: Existence
Chapter 38: Set Up
Chapter 39: Anxiety
Side Story: Man of Justice

Volume 6

Chapter 40: Sworn Friend
Chapter 41: Flower of Courage
Chapter 42: Parting
Chapter 43: Raid
Chapter 44: Hard Change
Chapter 45: Rescue
Chapter 46: Encounter
Chapter 47: Departure

Volume 7

Chapter 48: Bug
Chapter 49: Firing
Chapter 50: Demolition
Chapter 51: Team
Chapter 52: Versus
Chapter 53: Explosion
Chapter 54: Bonds
Chapter 55: Trajectory

Volume 8

Chapter 56: Sixth Sense
Chapter 57: Unfortunate
Chapter 58: Liars
Chapter 59: Soap Opera
Chapter 60: Allure
Chapter 61: Sorceress and the Bullet
Chapter 62: Split Personalities
Chapter 63: Traumatic Games

Volume 9

Chapter 64: The Well
Chapter 65: Toshinori Oda
Chapter 66: Surviving
Chapter 67: From Afar
Chapter 68: Confession
Chapter 69: Doubt
Chapter 70: Crevice
Chapter 71: Collapse

Volume 10

Chapter 72: Yuko Sakaki
Chapter 73: Wish
Chapter 74: Reparation
Chapter 75: Funeral
Chapter 76: Rain
Chapter 77: Bleak Reunion
Chapter 78: Message
Chapter 79: Faith

Volume 11

Chapter 80: Encounter
Chapter 81: The Tidings of Happiness
Chapter 82: Limits
Chapter 83: The Devil's Tactics
Chapter 84: Truth and Untruth
Chapter 85: Proposal
Chapter 86: Violent Fist
Chapter 87: Devil of Nothingness

Volume 12

Chapter 88: Despair
Chapter 89: Awakening
Chapter 90: Transcendental
Chapter 91: Copy
Chapter 92: Inversion
Chapter 93: Promise
Chapter 94: Incubation
Chapter 95: Reason

Volume 13

Chapter 96: Closed Off Future
Chapter 97: Natural Born Killers
Chapter 98: Magic Tool
Chapter 99: Where The Gun Points
Chapter 100: The Identity of the Heart
Chapter 101: Rejection
Chapter 102: Going Home
Chapter 103: The Thinking Heart

Volume 14

Chapter 104: The Right Path
Chapter 105: The Final Battle
Chapter 106: Death Race
Chapter 107: The Pursuit
Chapter 108: Magician
Chapter 109: Hit
Chapter 110: God's Child
Chapter 111: Wishes

Volume 15

Chapter 112: Cause and Effect
Chapter 113: Destiny
Chapter 114: Determination
Chapter 115: One's Last Moment
Chapter 116: Deception
Chapter 117: Inference
Chapter 118: Counterattack
Chapter 119: Hope

Battle Royale Ultimate Edition

Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi have agreed to create a special edition of the Battle Royale Manga, It seems there is the first edition released on the 9th october 2007. It will include more details on the characters (a discussion called 'On the Couch'), Colour pages and new cover art, and more extras. the first edition is the first three volumes so it will be a total of five volumes with unknown dates.

References

^ Battle Royale ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia. Accessed 2007-02-21.
^ Battle Royale at viz.com. Accessed 19 July 2007.
^ Mile High Comics Presents Newsarama @ view Askew.
^ http://messageboard.tokyopop.com/forums/showpost.php?p=69332&postcount=22 Tokyopop Messageboard post on subject of edits made to manga.

External links

The Tokyopop battle royale manga page

[1] Battle Royale ({{{type}}}) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia. Accessed 2007-02-21.

[2] Battle Royale at viz.com. Accessed 19 July 2007.

[3] Mile High Comics Presents Newsarama @ view Askew.

[4] ttp://messageboard.tokyopop.com/forums/showpost.php?p=69332&postcount=22 Tokyopop Messageboard post on subject of edits made to manga.

[2]

[3]

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 [[Category:Tokyopop titles]]
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v t e Koushun Takami's Battle Royale
Print	Novel (1999) Manga (2000–2005) Battle Royale II: Blitz Royale (2003–2004) Battle Royale: Angels' Border (2011) Battle Royale: Enforcers (2022-present)
Films	Battle Royale (2000) soundtrack Battle Royale II: Requiem (2003)
Related	Characters Battle royale genre game The Hunger Games film series Danganronpa Avengers Arena
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