Title: Battle Royale
Volume: 4 (of 15)
Creator: Koushun Takami & Masayuki Taguchi
Format: Unflipped
Original Publisher: Young Champion Comics
US Publisher: Tokyopop
Release Date: 12/9/03
Pages: 216
ISBN: 159182317
MSRP: $9.99
Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama
Rated: M (Mature Ages 18+)
Description: Soccer player, Kazushi Niida gets a kick out of 'the program' when he decides to think of it as an exhibition game. How many goals will this all-star player make before his time on the field runs out? When Takako Chigusa's leg is on the receiving end of his bow-gun, Kazushi may experience a permanent time-out from Sugimura. Only 25 students remaining!
Contains Chapters 25-32:
- 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
Review:
Cover: The covers in the Battle Royale series line continue to stun me, especially with the release of Volume 4. The cover stays with a nice black background. In the center is a nice fading shot of Shuuya, Noriko, and Kawada. They made the shot with red ink, which makes it look even more gruesome as it is the color of blood. Underneath the pic is a Parental Advisory stamp (yes people, there are mangas that they can card you for buying. This is one of them as I was carded when the first Volume came out). On the top we have the Battle Royale Logo (which I highly respect the look), followed by the Volume Number. Underneath that we have the Mangakas. On the right side we have the usual Tokyopop strip that graces all of their covers (it fits rather nicely though as it looks to be dried up blood).
The Spine is rather nice as well. The color is the same as the strip on the front. From top to bottom we have the Tokyopop Logo, the Series Title (the Original Series Title), The Mangakas, and the Volume Number on a pic of a bullet.
The back is very well done as well. The left side we have the continued dry blood, Tokyopop strip. The main part of the back cover uses a black background. The Series title is on the top, Mangakas underneath. Then we have a nice quote from Entertainment Weekly, followed by the Manga Volume Summary. To the left of the summary we have the 100% Authentic Manga Stamp (and it does live up to its name).
Altogether the cover looks really nice and has a somewhat dark feel to it, just like the content insider of the manga.
Artwork: I know this might sound morbid, but the Artwork in the Battle Royale series continues to dazzle me. Everything looks so nicely done in this volume and well thought up. The scenes run smoothly. All the shots have a lot of detail into them. It’s well worth the time just to look through the manga.
Translation: Translation is very accurate. We have all the characters names intact. None of the plot line changed. And what really pleases me, Untranslated Sound Effects. Who could want anything more?
Content (Warning: May Contain Spoilers): As I have said in the past, Battle Royale is not for children, nor is it for the likes of anyone who can not bare to see some graphic pictures. As for how this Volume begins with the continuing fight of Chigusa and Niida, which end much bloodier and with more emotion then what was shown on the movie. We also have quite a bit more back-story between the characters Sugimura and Chigusa, with a nice flashback scene between the intense struggle of survival between Chigusa and Niida. In the end, of this 2 Chapter struggle, we end up with Chigusa gouging out one of Niida’s eyes with her thumb, and then she gets an arrow and plunges it into his delicate neck, which punctures all the way into his tongue (yes, this volume is very graphic as it starts out). As Chigusa finally realizes that she has beaten Niida and assured her survival, Mitsuko has witnessed the whole event, and fires a shot to Chigusa’s chest with her gun. Chigusa is left for dead, but she hangs on to her life until she is reunited with Sugimura. Chigusa says her final goodbyes to Sugimura, and then she dies in his arms.
Our story then changes course and returns back to Noriko, Shuuya, and Kawada. As our team looks for a stable place to rest for awhile, Noriko falls ill. Kawada then decides to go find the hospital, so he leaves Noriko and Shuuya alone. Shuuya thinks it is no good to stay put in one position for long, so he decides to find a better area to take Noriko to, so she would be more comfortable in her sick state. In the process, Shuuya has a run in with two female students, Minami and Shimizu, who are firing shots at each other. Shuuya gets in the middle of the two and says that they should stop fighting and be friends. The girls begin to think it over. Shimizu then agrees with Shimizu and puts her gun down. Minami begins to go a little crazy and her lighter with a picture of a pop star on it begins to tell her what she should do. Minami takes fire at Shimizu and hits her. Shimizu manages to get away. Minami then targets Shuuya and raises her gun to his head. Not knowing what to do, Shuuya stays as still as possible and tries to calm her down. Kawada then arrives and gives a devastating shotgun blast to her face, killing Minami instantly. Kawada then takes Shuuya and Noriko to the hospital where Noriko could now get proper treatment.
The final chapter of the manga has a little more back-story on Mimura’s past. He reveals the story of his uncle and how he was involved in some terrorist acts against the Japanese Government. When his Uncle died, he left Mimura with a bomb trigger. Mimura has his own plan, blow up the school and hack into the school’s system to release the collars from there neck. Will he be able to succeed? Only future Volumes of Battle Royale shall we learn the truth (I know the answers though).
As far as this Volume goes, it was well worth the buy, and next to Volume 2 it stands as one of my favorite Manga Volumes of the series. If you are at least 17, I recommend checking out Battle Royale. It is a great series and it has strong themes and lessons in it. So go buy Volume 1 before the series gets too many volumes to keep up with.
Objectionable Content:
- Language: Yes
- Violence: Yes
- Nudity: No
- Sexual Situations: Yes
Overall Rating: 5/5
Where Purchased: Walden Books
Original Review Date: 12/11/03
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