Book
Battle Royale
By Koushun Takami

Film:
Battle Royale (1999)

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 a fictional authoritarian Japanese government known as the Republic of Greater East Asia.

The dystopian novel was previously entered into the 1997 Japan Horror Fiction Awards but was eventually rejected in the final round due to concerns over its depictions of students killing each other. 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. Suzanne Collins author of The Hunger Games would be accused of ripping off the plot of Battle Royale.



The Japanese action-thriller film directed by Kinji Fukasaku, with a screenplay written by Kenta Fukasaku, Starring Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, Tarō Yamamoto, and Takeshi Kitano, the film follows a group of junior high-school students that are forced to fight to the death by the Japanese totalitarian government. The film drew controversy, and was banned or excluded from distribution in several countries; Toei Company refused to sell the film to any United States distributor for over a decade due to concerns about potential controversy and lawsuits, until Anchor Bay Entertainment eventually acquired the film in 2010 for a direct-to-video release.

Battle Royale became a cultural phenomenon, and is considered one of the most influential films in recent decades, having been highly influential in global popular culture. Since the film's release, the term "battle royale" has been redefined to refer to a fictional narrative genre and/or mode of entertainment inspired by the film, where a select group of people are instructed to kill each other off until there is a triumphant survivor. It has inspired numerous media, including films, books, animation, comics, visual novels, and video games; the battle royale game genre, for example, is based on the film.

Opening Credits; Introduction (1.01); Forming the Plot (09.20); Plot Synopsis (11.18); Book Thoughts (18.07); Queston of the Week (46.20); How many stars? (52.41); Introducing a Film (55.27); Battle Royale Film Trailer (58.18); Lights, Camera, Action (1:00.14); Epilogue (1:21.51); End Credits (1:24.21); Closing Credits (1:25.47)

Opening Credits– Classical Jingle by Dan Hughes

Closing Credits – Who’s Gonna Save You Now by Rina Samayama. Taken from the album Samayama. Copyrights 2020 Dirt Records.

Rina Samyama’s new album. Hold That Girl out 02 September 2022.

Original Music copyrighted 2020 Dan Hughes Music and the Literary License Podcast.

All rights reserved.

Used by Kind Permission.

All songs available through Amazon.