Resurrected Spotlight Manga: Battle Royale MAL Series Information Page: Battle Royale MAL Score - 8.21 (by 1746 users) Ranked - #227 Popularity - #78 For the next two weeks I would like to have a discussion about the series that focuses on the key elements that we here on MAL use to critically rate a manga: Art, Characters, Story, and Enjoyment. I would like everyone to approach this thread as if you were going to write a review and structure your initial post like this: Art - insert rating Characters - insert rating Story - insert rating Enjoyment - insert rating Art - discuss any pros and cons of the art styling used in the series, try to include some specifics. Character - describe any of the things you liked or didn't care for in regards to specific characters in the series etc... If you are having trouble writing up a review or coming up with specific pro's and cons, please don't worry. Just do the best you can with it and if you can only write two or three sentences about any of the 4 elements then that's OK. Not everyone here is currently at a level which will allow them to articulate their thoughts and opinions. After your initial post is made you can feel free to civilly discuss issues of contention. I am sure there will be many opinions expressed here that some of us will disagree upon and criticize and it is for that reason that this entire club exists. So I hope everyone has fun and I am really looking forward to seeing how this discussion will develop. RESULTS OF THE RE-VOTE POLL 11-02-2009 Battle Royale was NOT inducted into the club Manga list: 10 Yes - 55.5% 8 No - 44.5% 47 Don't know this manga - 67.1% of the total number polled 3 Abstained - 4.2% of the total number polled ----------------------------------------------------------------- RESULTS OF THE 'YOU DECIDE' POLL: 4-30-2009 Battle Royale was inducted into the club Manga list: 14 Yes - 73.7% 5 No - 26.3% 72 Don’t know - 79.1% of the total number polled |
BlackMagicSep 9, 2010 3:42 PM
| You do not beg the sun for mercy. |
| BR is i incredibly fun to read, it has memorable characters and nail biting plot. There are times when it seems like the artist is just saying "look at all the bloody violence i can draw" rather than using that violence to supplement the story, but that's a minor complaint. No, it's not really as interesting as the book imo, but it doesn't have to be, since it's a manga and it works well as a manga. 8/10 overall, and i'll vote yes. |
| Just pasting from the previous spotlight: Art - 10 I think the art in Battle Royale is top notch. Reading through the pages is a very fluid process since the panels are well organized but still stylish. As the series progresses, more and more often the reader will be treated to amazing 2 page spreads usually depicting dramatic moments in the story. I also loved the realistic approach to the character designs and attention to detail. The character designs also subtly change over the course of the manga. In the beginning, most of the characters have a younger look to them, but in later volumes the characters start looking more and more mature and have a much wider range of expressiveness. The attention to detail was just stupendous. Almost everywhere you look, especially in later volumes, the pages are packed with vibrant imagery and amazing detail. I really can't imagine this manga having the same impact with any other art style. Characters - 10 This is a very character driven story and I have never come across another manga with such a massive amount of unique and developed characters. While many of the characters are very realistically depicted, I'll be the first to tell you that some of them are greatly exaggerated. Many characters are used to inject a human element into the story, but some transform into something greater and embody larger concepts. Shuuya, Sugimura, and Kiriyama in particular evolve beyond simple human characters and become vehicles for something greater. Shuuya serves as an embodiment of trust and hope, but unlike many similar characters, I feel this was approached more realistically. For those who have seen Now and Then, Here and There, I think Shuuya is similar to Shuzo, except in Shuuya's case,his background is explored, the foundation for his beliefs is provided, and his experiences on the island mentally and emotionally take their toll. Kiriyama serves as one of the best antagonists I've ever seen. There are a lot of unrealistic scenes revolving around this character (think ridiculous action) sometimes, and at first I was a bit leery of it...I mean he wears his jacket over his shoulders like a mantle and yet it never falls off lol. But once I looked at Kiriyama for what he stood for rather than as a simple character, I was blown away. While sociopaths are a dime a dozen and make convenient villains, Kiriyama became something more than a simple psychopath killing people. He became everyone's worst nightmare and acquired a superhuman status in the minds of the other people on the island. While most of the characters are given back stories, Kiriyama past isn't explored until later volumes, leaving the reader (similar to the characters in the story) to perceive him in the form of his actions. Because of this, for most of the story, Kiriyama is usually viewed as a force of nature with his actions alone serving as a driving force in the story. Story - 9 Well first off, let me say that this is a very graphic story. There is a great deal of extreme violence, gore, and nudity. However, these aspects aren't merely there as a crutch for poor story. Battle Royale follows a class of 3rd year jr high students (14-15yrs) who are dropped off on an island, locked into explosive collars, given a random weapon, and told they must fight to the death until there is only one remaining. If 24 hours pass with no casualties, all the collars will explode. While the original version describes the Program as a military project employed with scare tactics to keep the population in line, the US version changes it to a reality tv show. I'm a little disappointed in that change, but I think they pulled it off well anyway. This story, obviously influenced by Lord of the Flies, does a great job of exploring the depths of human personality and depravity with its amazingly huge cast of characters. While some parts of the story unfolded unrealistically, this manga pulled no punches and wasn't afraid to upset it's audience. Many of the exaggerated scenes were employed to prolong certain encounters and maximize the experience.. and combined with the detailed and realistic art, I'd say it worked. If it were done differently, I imagine lots of people would complain that things happened too abruptly and without the exaggeration, people would have said it was too drawn out. Enjoyment - 10 I just enjoyed every bit of it. There were actually no characters I disliked and the over-the-top content was employed well to complement the subject matter and story rather than to subtract from it. Overall - 10 This manga is currently one of my three 10's with the others being Berserk and Hajime no Ippo. For me, the sum of Battle Royale's parts resulted in an amazing overall manga that puts it in a totally separate class from most others. |
| nah. i mean it's brutal and all, there are some great violent shots, but in general the social commentary here is extremely weak and the main characters are generally pretty bad. it's essentially a compilation of seinen manga stereotypes put into a situation you'd be less likely to encounter them in - you have the solid heart of gold character, the formerly weak Strong Guy who protects the weak, the sociopath, etc another manga that reads about the concept of backstory and thinks a character's backstory is a few setpiece events each with a clear causal relation to their persona now. this has to be one of my least favorite techniques - it supposedly builds depth for characters, but 'depth' has nothing to do with what a character has experienced - it in fact eliminates the possibility of depth since it clearly defines characters through specific key events in their pasts, the erasure of a Person who becomes instead a vessel for some set of historical events. it's fucking boring. and it squashes depth. there is nothing SPECIFIC here, this is maybe the most detrimental aspect - these are general traits and backstories and projected traits inherited from backstories, but they are not people perks: the villains look insanely grotesque and the violence is fun. but besides the art there is literally nothing here. the social commentary will not be impressive to most people who aren't in grade 10 or 11, the characters are just skin stretched over whatever trauma and basic archetype, etc |
Mayuka said: did you call holier than thou bitch right here last.fm |
| like idk "When Shuya shoots Kazuo, it is in just the right place to "re-wire" Kazuo's emotions, allowing him to feel again just before dying from other brain damages caused by the bullet." is a really corny plot point. i mean yes, it's very unrealistic, but unrealistic isn't the issue. the issue is that it's boring and melodramatic |
Mayuka said: did you call holier than thou bitch right here last.fm |
| another series that i don't remember shit anymore... fuck my memories.. it's fun, it's always put me on the edge, it's extreamly exciting looking forward to next volume.. but if you take aside intens, it seriously has nothing to look.. the character was weak, sometimes even illogical even considering their surrounding (illogical =/= realistic), the story it self is okay-ish when the massage in the series it self oftenly weak and injointed... what is this series about? why they make story that way? why character created like that? it seriously unanswered... not to mention the ending.. sure the ending it self was great, but i feel author betraying his own character and what he has been build only for "intense" sake... i rate this series 8/10, but as people who like balancing in his view on overall series, i think some of point does lowering this series light,,, but not bad enough to saying it's awful.. i think i will abstain... |
 "If taking responsibility for a mistake that cannot be undone means death, it's not that hard to die. At least, not as hard as to live on." |
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