Rating: 
Summary: Lost in translation
Review: Battle Royale is the story of a class's internal and external struggles to survive. The movie and book are masterpieces in their own, rough ways. I expected the manga to follow that tradition.Tokyopop decided to let comic writer Keith Griffin adapt the story. He is quoted as saying - "This is bad, but how can I make it WORSE?" That sums up the adaptation quite nicely. The main character Shuya, is now a rock-star wannabe who lacks the character faults in the movie or novel. Noriko is now the bimbo who follows him along. The other stereotypes include the class ..., crazed psycho, karate star, ect. Griffin takes so many liberties with the script that I feel that I'm reading a different tale entirely. Gone are the 'Kill or be killed' mentality that plagues the primary characters (One line after a kill in the Japanese version reads - "It was either you, or me." Griffin changed it to - "Sorry, but, red isn't your color.") However - this is Battle Royale, and even though Griffin alters many aspects, a bit of what I love is still there. A particulary touching scene occurs when Shuya flashbacks to a time when the 'fat kid' was getting picked on by the class 'bullies'. The character's expressions more than tell the story, and when he met his demise, I actually became saddened at his death. In fact, all of the characters recieve characterization, be it during the course of the book, or right before they die. Unlike the novel, whose main character could care less about what was the truth and what was a lie about his classmates' lives' rumors, the manga embraces them and gives a small peek into who they were. This is Battle Royale's essence - not the gore, not the nudity, not the action - Battle Royale is the story of being forced to kill your friends, lovers, enemies - each who, like you, had a life and parents and siblings and friends and enemies and deserve to live. The adaptation is shoddy (reads like a B-level horror flick) but the small instances of characterization make the book shine and worthy to read. After all, 42 enter the game, and only 1 can survive.
Rating: 
Summary: Lord of the Flies on Amphetamines
Review: Battle Royale raises disturbing questions. There are inevitable comparisons to 'Lord of the Flies', except that BR is that on amphetamines, plus hormones. Terrifying, and heart-breaking, this is a tale of friendship, love and betrayal, that should not be missed. This is the second volume of the manga, which is based on the book of the same name, which resulted in a movie. Japan. The not-so-distant future. It is a nation run by a military dictatorship, which has control over the media and the country. This most popular of television shows makes 'Survivor' look like 'Sesame Street'. It's simply called the Program, and it's the highest rated show of all time. In Japan, 9th grade is the last year of required schooling, the last year of junior high. And it is the year that 9th grade students are subjected to a state run lottery. But no one wants to win this lottery. You've just woken up after passing out on your class trip. The 42 students in your class, including you, have just found out that they've lost the lottery: the class has been selected to be on the Program. It's a chance to be a star...if you live. 21 boys. 21 girls. The winner? The sole survivor. The Program has been on for years, and no one has ever escaped. You're trapped on an island, with an explosive collar around your neck. If everyone refuses to play, and if no one is killed in a 24 hour period, all the collars detonate, and everyone dies. Try to swim off the island? You'll be shot by the patrol boats; the collars are tracking devices, and transmit the health of the player. Hide, and hope to last things out? Well, the place is divided into grids on the map you've been given with randomly rotating danger zones. When an area is announced as a danger zone, you've 5 minutes to get out, or your collar explodes. Band together, try to take out the sadists who've done this to you and your friends? Ah, but they're located inside a permanent danger zone. You've all been given an assortment of weapons, ranging from knives, sickles, crossbows, shotguns, pistols, and semi-automatic machine pistols. So, you're in the game. What do you do? What will happen to the class cute couple? Will she turn on him? Will he, high on fear and adrenaline, kill her? Will idealists keep to their ideals? Will the person that helped you one day, be driven to kill 2 days later? What will happen when fear, desperation, and hysteria strike? Could you, would you kill your friends? Could you, would you, kill the girl you had a crush on, the guy who you've dated, the friend you grew up with? And if you can't kill them...will they kill you? Thought-provoking, this series is not for kids. This story uses graphic violence to drive home the horror of what has been done to these kids. There is gore, graphic gore, sex and rape. And it all is necessary; the rawness drives home the horror, shows the waste of lives. We often have flashbacks, showing the kids in prior times. Some of these are rotten kids, some of them are merely the products of a terrible background. Others are so sweet, so nice that you'll agonize should they die. And die they do. By the end of the first two books, 15 are dead. There deaths serve to illustrate how no one deserves to die because of the actions of outside authorities, whether it is at the orders of mad government, or from the bullets of a moron shooting up a workplace or school. The morons who did Columbine would no doubt have gotten the wrong message about this book. But the violence serves not to glorify violence, but to excoriate it. It serves not to praise murder, but to condemn murder and those who kill. This manga is about how incredibly precious life is. The only encouragement from the government? Try to die where there are at least two cameras, all the better for the DVD sales.
Rating:
Summary: Compeling, if not extremely violent.
Review: First off, both the manga series and the movie are based on the novel by Koushun Takami (also available at amazon). The movie has been extremely condensed, clues being that the book is 624 pages and that tokyopop has 12 volumes of the manga planed.If you have read any of the other reviews then you should now wether or not you would like this movie/manga/novel.This franchise is not for the fainthearted or squemish. I personaly liked the manga, and I plan to buy the book and see the movie.every thing about it is interesting, from the diverse characters and how they each take on the 'program' to the general concept. Be warned, the manga is rated Mature by tokyopop and is wraped in the store so it is only read if bought.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliantly Expanded Version of the Novel
Review: Having read the book and seen the movie, I think this may be the definitive version of the story. I loved the book, and highly recomend it, but I really like the way Takami has expanded on the characters and the backstory for this Manga version. Unlike the movie where they had to cram a 600 page book into two hours, with this eight vollume manga they have the oportunity to expand that 600 pages into 1600 pages. Sure, you can't fit as much information on a comic page as you can a page in a novel, but almost tripling the length really gives Takami the chance to flesh some things out that were only hinted at or briefly mentioned in the book. Again, don't get me wrong, I loved the book, but based on the first two Manga (the first 400 hundred pages of the comic story,) I think almost every character and situation has been improved, expanded, and refined. Shuya becomes even more noble and likable (and you get to see more about why all the other students seem to like and trust him,) and almost every confrontation he has becomes even more tragic because Takami gives him the chance to be more vocal about not wanting to hurt anyone. Also, in relation to that, Takami spends more time explaining on why the people who force Shuya into fighting act the way they do as well. Another scene that I think benifits greatly from the new telling is the scene where the two lovers commit suicide to avoid having to fight and to avoid losing each other. It's a great scene in the book, but even better in the manga -- the artistic flashback as they jump is heartwrending. An anime magazine in their revue of the Manga tried to say the scene was done better in both the book AND the movie, which I found rediculous. The book is arguable, but in the movie the scene lasts maybe a minute, you get no background information, and you care very little. How that can be compared to the comic, I don't know, but I really think the whole revue in that particular magizine was way off base. As for Giffen's dialogue -- I know some people have complained that he Americanized it -- well, to them I say "that's what he was supposed to do." It's a translation, and part of translating a book is getting the idea across -- not just the literal words. Japanese translated straight into english often seems vague, mystical, unclear, or just plain impossible to understand, and I'm sure English translated straight to Japanese is the same. When I read a translation, I accept that I'm not going to be reading the writers exact words, but that I will be reading his or her ideas instead. Giffen does a tremendous job in my mind of translating Takami's ideas into words the American reader can relate to, and I can't imagine a translation going any better. As for the art -- it's very well done. Some of it is gruesome -- but hey, that's part of the story -- but at the same time, some of it is beautiful. The characters are nicely done and easily distinquishable, and the action plays out in ways easy to understand visualy. I really can't think of a single complaint, artisticaly speaking. Then again, I'm not sure I can think of a single complaint about this manga at all. I even made my wife read it, and she loved it as well. In short, I loved the book, think the movie was pretty good (despite making some needless and overall plot weakening changes,) but feel that the Manga is the one that really tells the whole story and lets you know the characters the best.
Rating:
Summary: horrified...and loving it
Review: Hey kids, put down those video game controllers, get you're hands out of those greasy chips and pick up a copy of Battle Royale by Koushun Takami, actually, wipe your hands first.
I haven't had the chance to read the manga yet, but I am sure it won't do the book justice, of course I am kind of bias ,this is my new favourite book. The story is simple, the japanese government holds a lottery every year that determines which grade 9 class will enter the program. Whats the program you ask, well, the class is sent to a deserted island to particapate, willingly or not, in a battle for exsistance between their fellow classmates.
Each student is given a map, one weapon, basic food and water and a collar around their necks that tracks their every move. This collar isn't just a tracking device it is programed to blow up if said student is in a forbidden zone. The island is divided up into zones, and at certain times different zones will become forbidden keeping students on the move. If no one is killed in 24 hours all collars will explode, so students are forced to play this sick game.
What would you do in this situation, wait it out till no one is left, make an alliance with others and try to escape, or throw morales to the wind and kill'em all,becoming a star.
this book takes place in a world so close to reality that you wonder if there is a program.It comments on societies obsession with the reality based entertainment that has become so popular, and touches on our primal instinct to kill or be killed.
If you're sick of recycled garbage that claims to be the word of youth today, pick up this book and you will understand why it has become a pulp classic with people all over the world
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant story, horrible translation
Review: I am a big Battle Royale fan, having seen the movie and read the novel, I naturally bought this manga the moment it came out. Sadly Tokyopop's tendancy to try to make their titles "trendy" kicked into overdrive, so alas we have what can only be described as "an awful translation". Keith Giffen, I am disapointed in you. Here is a list of some of his "trendy dialouge". "Level with me, Yoshi, was I not born to rock? That's rock as in roll, ,'freind, just in case you haven't been paying attention." -Page 17 "What? No boogie-woogie flue?" -Page 146 "Don't mind Shu. Got a bad case of the rock and rool pneumonia" -Page 146 While the story is easily a 5 star affair, the mind numbing translation used detract from the story so badly that it merely falls into the 3 star category.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant story, horrible translation
Review: I am a big Battle Royale fan, having seen the movie and read the novel, I naturally bought this manga the moment it came out. Sadly Tokyopop's tendancy to try to make their titles "trendy" kicked into overdrive, so alas we have what can only be described as "an awful translation". Keith Giffen, I am disapointed in you. Here is a list of some of his "trendy dialouge". "Level with me, Yoshi, was I not born to rock? That's rock as in roll, ,'freind, just in case you haven't been paying attention." -Page 17 "What? No boogie-woogie flue?" -Page 146 "Don't mind Shu. Got a bad case of the rock and rool pneumonia" -Page 146 While the story is easily a 5 star affair, the mind numbing translation used detract from the story so badly that it merely falls into the 3 star category.
Rating:
Summary: The Greatest Manga...Ever? I Dont Know this is my first.
Review: I originally read the original 600-some page novel of the same title and author was and knocked out by it and wanted more...so I went to this. Not my best idea. It's intresting to read, but this menga copy changes some major aspects of characters from the novel. One character seems to just turn into a sex-crazed nut, which is not the same way at all it happens in the original novel. By changing this, the characters become alot less likeble. On the plus side, the characters are actually drawn differently, making it easy to tell one character from another. I most likely will end up checking out some of the rest of the series; however, I would HIGHLY recomend going through the original 600 page novel instead of this.
Rating: 
Summary: Changes the Story (Potential Spoilers)
Review: I originally read the original 600-some page novel of the same title and author was and knocked out by it and wanted more...so I went to this. Not my best idea. It's intresting to read, but this menga copy changes some major aspects of characters from the novel. One character seems to just turn into a sex-crazed nut, which is not the same way at all it happens in the original novel. By changing this, the characters become alot less likeble. On the plus side, the characters are actually drawn differently, making it easy to tell one character from another. I most likely will end up checking out some of the rest of the series; however, I would HIGHLY recomend going through the original 600 page novel instead of this.
Rating: 
Summary: A good manga, but not for the kids
Review: I really did like this manga. It is a lot faser moving than the novel, and is not bogged down by a serious case of ADD with the characters. The art is decent but a tad bit goofy at times, and a little to over drawn at other times (characters don't all look like 9th graders). Still, a good manga, although it is VERY violent, and does include a rape scene, as well as some mild nudity and panty shots.
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