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Battle Royale #4
Battle Royale, Vol. 04
In a country ruled by a ruthless totalitarian government, a group of ninth-grade students are confined to a small isolated island where they must fight each other for three days until only one survivor remains, as part of the ultimate in reality televisio
192 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2001
About the author
Koushun Takami
83 books1,442 followersKoushun Takami (高見 広春 Takami Kōshun) is the author of the novel Battle Royale, originally published in Japanese, and later translated into English by Yuji Oniki and published by Viz Media and, later, in an expanded edition by Haika Soru, a division of Viz Media.
Takami was born in Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture near Osaka and grew up in the Kagawa Prefecture of Shikoku. After graduating from Osaka University with a degree in literature, he dropped out of Nihon University's liberal arts correspondence course program. From 1991 to 1996, he worked for the news company Shikoku Shimbun, reporting on various fields including politics, police reports, and economics.
The novel Battle Royale was completed after Takami left the news company. It was rejected in the final round of the literary competition for which it was intended, owing to its controversial content. It went on to become a bestseller when finally released in 1999 and, a year later, was made into a manga and a feature film.
He is currently working on a second novel.
Takami was born in Amagasaki, Hyōgo Prefecture near Osaka and grew up in the Kagawa Prefecture of Shikoku. After graduating from Osaka University with a degree in literature, he dropped out of Nihon University's liberal arts correspondence course program. From 1991 to 1996, he worked for the news company Shikoku Shimbun, reporting on various fields including politics, police reports, and economics.
The novel Battle Royale was completed after Takami left the news company. It was rejected in the final round of the literary competition for which it was intended, owing to its controversial content. It went on to become a bestseller when finally released in 1999 and, a year later, was made into a manga and a feature film.
He is currently working on a second novel.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews
April 2, 2015
¿Cómo es posible que la librería donde compré los cuatro primeros tomos tengan toda la serie excepto los tomos #5, #6 y #7?
Inconcebible.
¿Y cómo es posible que otras librerías tampoco tengan los tomos que necesito?
Perdonen mi dramatismo nivel Sheldon Cooper.
Inconcebible.
¿Y cómo es posible que otras librerías tampoco tengan los tomos que necesito?
Perdonen mi dramatismo nivel Sheldon Cooper.
January 25, 2022
Better than the child prostitute volume but not by much.
This volume stars a girl called "Pizza Face." A normal fifteen-year-old with a crush on a teen idol and an acne problem. She's given a gun and descends immediately into bunny-killing insanity, complete with frothing from the mouth:
What do you say about art like that? I mean, what exactly do you say about art and characters like that?
Also, Noriko, the female lead, catches a fever and becomes even weaker than she previously was. She was already a damsel in distress from the start. Four volumes in, she has a fever and needs to be carried around by the boys...
The only female character with any sense of agency is the near permanently-nude child prostitute. Considering all the hype this series gets, I'm really just sort of disgusted by how it's treated every single female character thus far.
This volume stars a girl called "Pizza Face." A normal fifteen-year-old with a crush on a teen idol and an acne problem. She's given a gun and descends immediately into bunny-killing insanity, complete with frothing from the mouth:
What do you say about art like that? I mean, what exactly do you say about art and characters like that?
Also, Noriko, the female lead, catches a fever and becomes even weaker than she previously was. She was already a damsel in distress from the start. Four volumes in, she has a fever and needs to be carried around by the boys...
The only female character with any sense of agency is the near permanently-nude child prostitute. Considering all the hype this series gets, I'm really just sort of disgusted by how it's treated every single female character thus far.
January 15, 2018
Thankyouthankyouthankyou... after the slight disappointment of the last volume, this one came back at full force better than ever. Seriously, probably my favorite volume so far. I absolutely flew through this volume-- it was right back to the action of The Program, only diverting into side stories when it was fully relevant to the story. I still can't quite give this 5/5 (I struggle to give manga volumes 5/5-- the full series might end up being 5/5, but individual volumes rarely get 5/5), but it's a solid 9/10. Totally redeemed itself after some of the not-so-great aspects of the last volume.
Spoiler text is here for me to remember how the story is split up between volumes
Spoiler text is here for me to remember how the story is split up between volumes
June 23, 2017
"Staremo bene, tu più di tutti."
May 21, 2020
This one bounced back!
December 14, 2021
En este tipo de mangas encariñarse de un personaje es un error porque van a morir y vas a sufrir.... Diosito que no me maten al Sugimura ni al Mimura porque ya los quiero -Inserte mis lágrimas aqui-
June 12, 2017
Spoilers
Yes! I am right. While the third volume slowly built up the tension, it broke right through here. We get a lot more action and deaths compared to the previous volumes. At the end of the third volume we were expecting a battle, and right! At the start of the book the battle immediately starts, and I am really sad to see Chigusa go. Based on her backstories and experience, she is a really strong and independent character, and I'm glad that perv got his punishment! It got really emotional when Hiroki finds her dying body and spent their last moments together. Also the backstory at that part also added to the "emotional" concept.
We get to see more Mitsuko and Kiriyama killing off people. To be honest I found Kawada/Nanahara/Noriko's storyline the least exciting. Sure they are the main characters but with their storyline we get less action, and they seem to have less challenges than the others. The gunfight between Hirono and Kaori at the end was really exciting and suspenseful. In this volume we get a bit of everything, I see. This is more moving and emotional than the other volumes.
Overall this book had more suspense and action than the previous volumes, but I also got to see more storylines which I'm not really interested in (Nanahara/Kawada/Noriko and Mimura trying to hack).
Yes! I am right. While the third volume slowly built up the tension, it broke right through here. We get a lot more action and deaths compared to the previous volumes. At the end of the third volume we were expecting a battle, and right! At the start of the book the battle immediately starts, and I am really sad to see Chigusa go. Based on her backstories and experience, she is a really strong and independent character, and I'm glad that perv got his punishment! It got really emotional when Hiroki finds her dying body and spent their last moments together. Also the backstory at that part also added to the "emotional" concept.
We get to see more Mitsuko and Kiriyama killing off people. To be honest I found Kawada/Nanahara/Noriko's storyline the least exciting. Sure they are the main characters but with their storyline we get less action, and they seem to have less challenges than the others. The gunfight between Hirono and Kaori at the end was really exciting and suspenseful. In this volume we get a bit of everything, I see. This is more moving and emotional than the other volumes.
Overall this book had more suspense and action than the previous volumes, but I also got to see more storylines which I'm not really interested in (Nanahara/Kawada/Noriko and Mimura trying to hack).
February 12, 2011
Takako's story is further explored in this installment. I found myself increasingly warming to her character, I was just hoping that her survival would have lasted longer, I felt she had more to give and it was upsetting that her life was cut short so soon. I did love the story with her and Sugimura, though, it was sad but heartwarming in a way as well.
This book is just as good as all the other volumes, the usual deep psychological analysis of school children under the worst kind of pressure - the pressure to survive. It keeps you gripped throughout, something that can be easily said about all 15 volumes. Definitely worth the read and the five stars!
This book is just as good as all the other volumes, the usual deep psychological analysis of school children under the worst kind of pressure - the pressure to survive. It keeps you gripped throughout, something that can be easily said about all 15 volumes. Definitely worth the read and the five stars!
April 17, 2020
Los flashbacks no hacen que se pierda el ritmo trepidante, 200 páginas que vuelan, como te descuides te dura menos que algunas grapas.
June 28, 2022
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Such an awesome and twisted series! Sucks that it’s out of print.
Such an awesome and twisted series! Sucks that it’s out of print.
January 25, 2020
This one's fine, but it doesn't really feel like a coherent single volume. It's a convenient number of chapters/pages to gather up and sell, but the first volume was all introduction, the second started to separate and sort the characters, and the third volume, except for a bit at the beginning, was basically all about Mitsuko's gang. This one jumped all over the place and didn't really seem to have a coherent feeling about it. Kind of like if you made a 5-hour movie, and it was all edited for that 5-hour format, but someone made you cut it into 5 separate 1-hour episodes, and this is just a random one in the middle that's not really doing anything internally consistent.
And also, the "pizza face" girl is creepy and bad on almost uncountable levels.
And also, the "pizza face" girl is creepy and bad on almost uncountable levels.
July 5, 2011
Because of the concept, this is compared to the Hunger Games, but it really shouldn't be. This isn't a 1/4 as good as The Hunger Games and it seems a bit unnecessarily creepy. It has the suspense and part of the action, but it's greatly lacking in substance. Pretty good character development and a very shocking story line, but, so far, it's just "ok." The story isn't, to me, living up to it's premise.
February 13, 2022
(3.5/5)
En este tomó se vio una gran mejora en comparación a los anteriores.
No fue perfecto porque siguen apareciendo personajes fuera de sus cabales sin justificación, ni desarrollo, sólo para conveniencia de la trama.
En este tomó se vio una gran mejora en comparación a los anteriores.
No fue perfecto porque siguen apareciendo personajes fuera de sus cabales sin justificación, ni desarrollo, sólo para conveniencia de la trama.
October 11, 2022
Such a good manga series. A great adaption with wonderful art work.
March 26, 2018
After reading two volumes, I wasn't sure that the series had enough life to justify my buying fifteen volumes. After four volumes, I'm still expecting some padding, but I'm leaning toward a wholesale investing in the series.
Anyway, the flashbacks give a lot of depth to the various characters, but I wish that each of the characters had a little more variety to them. They are all either completely wholesome, misunderstood geeks who either pull it together to survive, or who completely fall apart; or they're vicious scumbags who embrace the evil of the Program. The art is solid, but I'm not a huge fan (the constant close-ups of crying, nose-running lunatics/desperate kids is more annoying than moving). The depravity of what these kids do to one another, and their various schemes for survival, make it a pretty compelling series though.
Anyway, the flashbacks give a lot of depth to the various characters, but I wish that each of the characters had a little more variety to them. They are all either completely wholesome, misunderstood geeks who either pull it together to survive, or who completely fall apart; or they're vicious scumbags who embrace the evil of the Program. The art is solid, but I'm not a huge fan (the constant close-ups of crying, nose-running lunatics/desperate kids is more annoying than moving). The depravity of what these kids do to one another, and their various schemes for survival, make it a pretty compelling series though.
July 13, 2022
Vale, se vienen cositas.
Con Mimura y su supuesto plan de hackear el sistema de El Programa, la otra chica que ha huido, Noryko enferma, etc. Ahora sí estoy algo más interesada en conocer a los demás personajes (me han llamado mucho la atención Kawada y Sugirama, pero también Mitsuko tiene su punto).
Los capítulos se me hacen algo cortos, y me cuesta bastante hacer las reseñas con tan poca información. Normalmente suelo explayarme en las reseñas pero creo que con este manga no será posible.
Con Mimura y su supuesto plan de hackear el sistema de El Programa, la otra chica que ha huido, Noryko enferma, etc. Ahora sí estoy algo más interesada en conocer a los demás personajes (me han llamado mucho la atención Kawada y Sugirama, pero también Mitsuko tiene su punto).
Los capítulos se me hacen algo cortos, y me cuesta bastante hacer las reseñas con tan poca información. Normalmente suelo explayarme en las reseñas pero creo que con este manga no será posible.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 24, 2023
La verdad no tengo quejas, redujeron muchísimo los aspectos más flojos del tomo anterior. Me gusta mucho como están desarrollando a los personajes, y me parece increíble la forma en que está escrito para que uno vuele entre las páginas. De verdad que la lectura se hace super ligera.
Me resulta curioso que se mantenga el balance entre hombres y mujeres vivos, así como también que haya algunos personajes que aparezcan justo justo en el momento y el lugar preciso... pero bueno, es algo perdonable.
Muy buen tomo. La verdad que me tiene completamente enganchado.
Me resulta curioso que se mantenga el balance entre hombres y mujeres vivos, así como también que haya algunos personajes que aparezcan justo justo en el momento y el lugar preciso... pero bueno, es algo perdonable.
Muy buen tomo. La verdad que me tiene completamente enganchado.
September 21, 2018
Just as I was hoping, the series is back on track. The repetitive nature of the last volume was beginning to make the conflict feel predictable and long-winded, but this one gave it a much needed upgrade to the pacing and the plot as a whole. It looks like things could be getting more complicated, especially now that the number of contenders is cut in half and numbers are still dwindling. Could they somehow lead a rebellion against their cruel capturers?
July 12, 2019
Great as always.
Artwork beautiful as always.
And of course I already knew I was going to enjoy the story since I already read and loved the book.
However I must say that I DO love all the added material that he wrote for the manga... more specifically all the little background information for the characters which come in the form of those flashbacks... Its kinda like LOST... lol...
Anyway, great volume in a great series with absolutely stunning artwork.
Artwork beautiful as always.
And of course I already knew I was going to enjoy the story since I already read and loved the book.
However I must say that I DO love all the added material that he wrote for the manga... more specifically all the little background information for the characters which come in the form of those flashbacks... Its kinda like LOST... lol...
Anyway, great volume in a great series with absolutely stunning artwork.
August 8, 2023
3,5⭐
Que alguien mate a Shuuya, please.
Lit es él quien hace que baje la puntuación del tomo. Su personaje no tiene desarrollo y sueña despierto por la vida. No lo mataron todavía porque tiene un Dios aparte.
Que alguien mate a Shuuya, please.
Lit es él quien hace que baje la puntuación del tomo. Su personaje no tiene desarrollo y sueña despierto por la vida. No lo mataron todavía porque tiene un Dios aparte.
Read
October 16, 2023The murky action and sleazy (in a bad, dumb way) treatment of female characters means I'm enjoying this considerably less than the novel or film, though I did enjoy the flashbacks to Shinji's uncle here more than in either of those.
January 31, 2018
Another good volume.
December 8, 2019
Tikigama es de otro mundo, acaso es inmortal el wey
December 19, 2019
1.5 stars.
March 16, 2022
bit of a pick up after the last volume
June 18, 2022
Con el gatito no, Kaori. Aahh, la odié.
August 16, 2022
Brutal, heartbreaking and brilliant.
February 10, 2023
Bajo un poco el Gore, algo de amor. Se hace presente un poco de locura de dos personajes.
March 1, 2023
Kaori sucks i’m glad she died.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 65 reviews