Title: Battle Royale
Volume: 6 (of 15)
Creator: Koushun Takami & Masayuki Taguchi
Format: Unflipped
Original Publisher: Young Champion Comics
US Publisher: Tokyopop
Release Date: 3/2/04
Pages: 208
ISBN: 1591824184
MSRP: $9.99
Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama
Rated: M (Mature Ages 18+)
Description: If the smart and athletic Shinji, hot-blooded musician Shuuya, and the kind-hearted kung fu master Hiroki were to work together, it might be possible to end this death game. But will this dream become reality? Is the god of destiny working for or against them?
Contains Chapters 33-39:
- Chapter 40: Sworn Friend
- Chapter 41: Flower of Courage
- Chapter 42: Parting
- Chapter 43: Raid
- Chapter 44: Hard Charge
- Chapter 45: Rescue
- Chapter 45: Encounter
- Chapter 46: Departure
Review:
Cover: The Battle Royale covers have all stuck to the original Japanese layout. The front is all black background, like the past 5 volumes. We have the series title on the top, with the volume number to its side. The main picture on the front this time has our four main supposed heroes, Kawada, Shuuya, Mimura, and Sugimura. The picture looks really good, as it has them doing some memorable poses from the series. We then have the Parental Advisory Stamp. The Right side continues to used the dried up blood art, with the Tokyopop Logo on the top.
The spine is the same as usual. From top to bottom we have the series title, the mangakas, and the volume number on a picture of a bullet.
Back cover is really plain. On the left we have the continued dried blood artwork. The majority of the back cover is black. The series title is on the top, followed by the summary of the manga underneath it. We are also graced with the 100% Authentic Manga Stamp.
The covers to the Battle Royale series continue to make me feel good. Tokyopop has shown a lot of devotion to their titles, as well as their fans, and this is a big example of it.
The Artwork: This volume has the best Artwork I have seen out of the entire series, not just by the design and the consistency, but also because of the action scenes in this volume. The mangakas really put a lot of work into this volume with all of the clever shots they used for the majority of the “Battle,” which I will explain in the content section of this review.
Translation: The translation is very accurate. All names are left unchanged and there is no editing what-so-ever to the blood or sound effects.
Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): I have seen the movies, I have read the novel, but nothing could compare to the manga version of my favorite fight of Battle Royale, Kiriyama vs. Shuuya and Sugimura.
The majority of this volume, well, all of this volume is dedicated to the escape of our heroes from the dreaded Kiriyama, who starts a mini attack by throwing grenades at our heroes, while they are trying to cross an empty corn field. Shuuya tells Kawada to take Noriko and bring her to safety, and he will handle Kiriyama. So Kawada and Noriko run for it, giving way for a 1-on-1 showdown between Kiriyama and Shuuya.
Shuuya lures Kiriyama out of his hiding spot and the two take off into a nearby forest area. Kiriyama is right on Shuuya’s tail, jumping from tree to tree, with a semi automatic weapon in his hand. Shuuya manages to only get so far before Kiriyama catches up to him. Kiriyama manages to get a few shots at Shuuya, injuring our hero. As Kiriyama is about to finish his prey, Sugimura arrives and takes over the battle with Kiriyama. Sugimura manages to get away with Shuuya as they jump into the sea. Kiriyama loses his targets . . . for now.
Sugimura and Shuuya wind up back on shore, where they are found by six armed female students. Are they friends or enemies?
The last chapter of the manga goes back to the story of Mimura and Sato. Thier plan of blowing up the school is about to be set in motion, when they are caught by Iijima. The tables turn as Iijima only has a knife, while Mimura has a gun. Can Mimura and Sato trust Iijima?
The scenes in this volume were very breathless. The shots of the grenades being thrown at out heroes and Shuuya trying to deflect them just made me say “WOW.” As far as this volume goes, even though it had no deaths whatsoever, it had the most action so far out of the six released volumes. We also get to see another side to Shuuya, which was quite interesting. Let’s hope the next volume will top this one.
Objectionable Content:
- Language: Yes
- Violence: Yes
- Nudity: No
- Sexual Situations: No
Overall Rating: 5+ (out of 5)
Where Purchased: Orbitz
No comments:
Post a Comment