Battle Royale (novel)
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 both controversial and successful, becoming one of the year's highest-grossing films as well as prompting condemnation by Japan's National Diet. The film spawned a sequel, and two more brief manga adaptations were also created.
Battle Royale takes place in a fictional fascist Japan in the year 1997. The state, known as the Republic of Greater East Asia (大東亜共和国 Dai Tōa Kyōwakoku), arose after an alternate World War 2, after a rebellion was put down by the combined military and police forces. The government controls everything, and anything "immoral", such as rock music, is banned, unless it beatifies the government, along with an unnamed dictator with a strong cult of personality able to bend the whims of the populace.
The government has established a military program, 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), wherein fifty randomly selected classes of third-year junior high school students are kidnapped, dropped into a remote location, and forced to kill one another until only one student of each class remains. Ostensibly, it is to help the government and its military research survival skills and battle readiness - in actuality, it is meant to instill terror and distrust in all of Japan's citizens to curb any attempts at rebellion, by showcasing the government's power and ability to target citizen's families and preying on the fear of being killed by a friend.
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