Battle Royale
First edition cover, as published by Ohta Shuppan.
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| Author | Koushun Takami |
|---|---|
| Translator | Yuji Oniki |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Genre |
Dystopian Horror |
| Publisher | Ohta Publishing |
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Publication date
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April 1999 |
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Published in English
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February 26, 2003 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 666 |
| ISBN | |
Battle Royale (Japanese: バトル・ロワイアル Hepburn: Batoru Rowaiaru?) is a novel by Japanese writer Koushun Takami. Originally completed in 1996, it was not published until 1999. The story tells of junior high school students who are forced to fight each other to the death in a program run by the authoritarian Japanese government, now known as the Republic of Greater East Asia.
It was previously entered into the 1997 Japan Horror Fiction Awards but was eventually rejected in the final round due to its content. Upon publication in 1999, the novel became a surprise bestseller.
In 2000, one year after publication, Battle Royale was adapted into a manga series, written by Takami himself, and a feature film. The film was also controversial and successful, with it being condemned by members of Japan's National Diet, yet becoming one of the year's highest-grossing films. The film spawned a sequel, and two more brief manga adaptations were also created.
Battle Royale takes place in a fictional police state version of Japan in the year 1997. The state, known as the Republic of Greater East Asia (大東亜共和国 Dai Tōa Kyōwakoku), originated after a population uprising was put down by the combined military and police forces. From time to time, fifty randomly selected classes of third-year junior high school students are forced to take arms against one another until only one student in each class remains in what is officially called the Battle Experiment No. 68 Program (戦闘実験第六十八番プログラム Sentō Jikken Dai Roku Ohako Puroguramu). The Program was created, supposedly, as a form of military research, with the outcome of each battle publicized on local television. A character discovers that the Program is not an experiment at all, but a means of terrorizing the population. In theory, after seeing such atrocities, the people will become paranoid and divided, preventing another uprising.
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