Title: Battle Royale
Volume: 5 (of 15)
Creator: Koushun Takami & Masayuki Taguchi
Format: Unflipped
Original Publisher: Young Champion Comics
US Publisher: Tokyopop
Release Date: 1/13/04
Pages: 216
ISBN: 1591823188
MSRP: $9.99
Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama
Rated: M (Mature Ages 18+)
Description: Shinji Mimura's attempt to hack the government's computer that monitors The Program's progress is a big success. His plan to end The Program suffers a major setback, however, when he discovers that the collars are bugged and that the men in charge have been listening in from the start. Unwilling to give up, Shinji drafts a new plan, one that involves the use of the explosives his late uncle left him...
Contains Chapters 33-39:
- 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
Review:
Cover: The covers of Battle Royale continue to stay true to the original, and I was incredibly impressed with the volume five cover; more so then with previous volumes of the series. This cover is black like the rest of covers in the series. The series title is on the top, which is the same as the other volumes’ titles. I like how Tokyopop does the series title for Battle Royale. It has a nice splash shot of blood and a target to the left, underneath is a picture of Shuuya. This time the picture is in color, but it has dark shades and it appears as if he is being seen with a searchlight. On the right side is the Tokyopop strip, which looks like dried up blood.
The Spine from top to bottom has the Tokyopop logo, the series title, the mangakas’ names, and a bullet with a ‘5’ on it (referring to the volume #).
The back is plain, but still nice looking and not cluttered. It has a black background like the front. The Tokyopop dried blood strip is on the left side. The series title is centered on the top. Underneath the title is the same quote that has appeared on all of the covers so far, which came out of Entertainment Weekly. Following the quote is a summary of the manga, which doesn’t go into that much detail in terms of spoilers. It also has the ‘100% Authentic Manga Stamp.’
The cover as a whole is quite nice. The picture of Shuuya is done very well. The only problem I have is that they should include more then just Shuuya on the cover or group shots with Shuuya. A nice image of Mitsuko, Kawada, or Kiriyama would be really nice. Then again, they are sticking to the original covers, so why am I complaining?
Artwork: The artwork of Battle Royale still surprises me. A lot of dark and hard images are used, which brings the plot and emotion of the story up to the surface so the reader can grasp a hold of it more. The images are nice and clear in this volume and there are no blurry or fuzzy shots.
Translation: The Translation for volume five is completely accurate and left unchanged from the original manga. The side effects are all left in their original form (hiragana and katakana). It really pleases me to see plot and sound effects untampered with when I read my manga.
Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): Battle Royale volume five goes more in-depth into the pasts of our characters. In the first chapter of this volume we have Mimura and Sato discussing the bomb plans that they have with the school. This storyline is somewhat continued from the last volume without that much new info brought up. We do however, have a small flashback scene on how Sato and Mimura first became friends, which is somewhat a humorous read.
The first main arc of this volume takes place in the next two chapters. They deal with a rather new character, Tsukioka, who is a homosexual transvestite. He explains his back story of when he was at a club and he met a man whom he fell in love with. After the flashback he spots Kiriyama, our local transfer student, who has killed many times in The Program so far. Tsukioka takes a liking to this bad boy and decides to follow him for a while in hopes that he will get to “join” Kiriyama in this little game. Kiriyama leads Tsukioka to this little outhouse, which is in a danger zone. Tsukioka is a little scared that the danger zone will activate soon, but he shrugs it off since he knows Kiriyama would not do anything to endanger his own life. A few minutes pass and the door of the bathroom swings open, what Tsukioka thinks is Kiriyama peeing is really a water bottle spilling out its contents into the toilet bowl below. Tsukioka spots Kiriyama behind him, walking away in the distance. It is too late however for Tsukioka to run, as his collar explodes, severing his head from the rest of his body.
The next two chapters are another small arc. Shimizu, who was shot in the last volume, is continuing to look for a safe place to rest and get something to drink. She spots a well and decides to get a drink. As she gets a drink, she is attacked from behind by one of her classmates, Oda. Shimizu manages to shoot Oda, but he is not affected because of his bulletproof vest. Oda knocks Shimizu into the well, where she assumes that she will die.
Then, it begins to rain and the well begins to fill up with water. Shimizu begins to go crazy and hallucinate about a perfect ending as she meets back up with Shuuya. In the process she drowns from the well filling up.
The last two chapters of this volume shift back to Mimura and Sato. They find an empty warehouse where they set up a base of operations. They finally finish their “plan” and decide it is time to act. They climb the hill near the school and Mimura climbs a tree that he will release his bomb from. Sato is left to stand guard. Sato gets scared from some rustling in the bushes and he shoots. It ends up being an owl. Mimura climbs down, not doing what he wanted to accomplish, and tells Sato to take a nap. Sato rests while Mimura stands guard.
Meanwhile, a figure lurks near the location of Shuuya, Noriko, and Kawada. Who can it be?
The last chapter, or rather “Side Story” deals with Shuuya and his mother, which was one of the most moving and powerful parts of a story that I have ever read. I will not give any of this away, so you people who have not read this volume will have something to look forward to.
As a whole, I found this volume to be a much lighter volume of the series. With the death of only two students in this volume, a little humor, and a lot of angst with back-stories, it makes me anticipate the next volume even more. Battle Royale has already won a close place in my heart and it keeps getting closer with each volume as the end nears.
Objectionable Content:
- Language: Yes
- Violence: Yes
- Nudity: Yes
- Sexual Situations: Yes
Overall Rating: 5 (out of 5)
Where Purchased: Frank and Sons (Collectible Show)
Original Review Date: 1/5/04
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