Reviewer
Alexander Hoffman
Alexander Hoffman is more often than not, studying for his latest exam. A student in Ohio Northern's six-year Pharmacy program, what time he has that isn't spent learning the ins-and-outs of the human body and the drugs we use on it, is spent on comics, Magic: the Gathering, and games of all types. Alex got his start in writing through short fiction and poetry contests, and began writing about games in the Spring of 2005 at Magic Deck Vortex. He started his blog, Manga Widget, in the Fall of 2008 to talk about comics, and he's been writing almost full-time ever since.
http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Royale-1-ISBN-9781591823148/dp/B001G0PS3W/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1230000085&sr=8-5
Battle Royale Volume 1 (Written and Illustrated by Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi)
Tokyopop
Genre: Action
Age Rating: Mature
Price: $9.99
The lottery is not normally something to be feared, and it normally isn't a terrible curse. However, Battle Royale is anything but normal. In the post-apocolyptic world that Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi have created, the lottery is a death sentence. 42 students, one high-school class, are chosen at random to play a part in "The Program," a TV show that pits them all against each-other on a deserted island; 42 high schoolers are transported to the island, and only one leaves alive.
Battle Royale isn't just about high-schoolers killing one another. Through the horror and the action, you see into the depth of the souls of the characters, and the things you see aren't necessarily what you'd expect. The most gentle of people become adrenaline-fueled killers.
In a dark and twisted way, this manga speaks about the human psyche, and what it will take to destroy a person's conception of safety and normal. Although I wouldn't suggest this manga to just anyone, it is undoubtably a series that's worth a read; if you can stand the violence and gore, that is.
8.5
Summing Up:
Battle Royale is as brutal as it is entriguing. With every shot, death, and gruesome murder, Battle Royale probes the human psyche, and what it finds is often not what you expect.
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Comment by Glenn Carter at 20/01/2009 22:19:00
Having read them all and finding it one of the few Manga's I found myself really liking - it's good to see it reviewed.
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