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Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Koushun Takami

Battle Royale: Angels’ Border

July 6, 2014 by Ash Brown

Battle Royale: Angels' BorderAuthor: Koushun Takami and N-Cake
Illustrator: Mioko Ohnishi and Youhei Oguma

U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421571683
Released: June 2014
Original release: 2012

In 1999 Koushun Takami’s controversial cult classic Battle Royale was released upon the world, the novel soon after spawning a fifteen-volume manga adaptation illustrated by Masayuki Taguchi and inspiring two live-action films. I became a fan of the original novel after reading the 2009 English translation, and so was very interested to learn that Takami (with the assistance of N-Cake) had returned to Battle Royale with the manga Angels’ Border. Released in Japan in 2012, the collected volume includes two related episodes about the young women whose efforts to survive a brutal government sponsored death match by grouping together end in tragedy. The first story is illustrated by Mioko Ohnishi while the second is illustrated by Youhei Oguma. I was happy that Viz Media licensed Battle Royale: Angels’ Border, releasing the manga under its Signature imprint in 2014. Angels’ Border makes a nice addition to Viz’s other recent Battle Royale releases: The Battle Royale Slam Book, and a new English translation of Takumi’s original novel.

Every year a class of ninth grade students from the Republic of Greater East Asia is selected to participate in the Program. The students are given a small survival pack, a random weapon, and forced into a situation where they must either kill or be killed. In the end, only one person will survive. This year’s Program pits the forty-two students of Shiroiwa Junior High’s ninth grade, Class B against each other. Under the leadership of Yukie Utsumi, six of the girls band together, taking shelter in the lighthouse on the island serving as the Program’s arena. There they hope to avoid and wait out most of the violence. The group includes her best friend Haruka Tanizawa, who has recently come to the realization that she is in love with Yukie, though she hasn’t been able to confess those feelings. Another girl at the lighthouse, Chisato Matsui, has her own secret–she shares a special connection with Shinji Mimura, a star basketball player with smarts, good looks, and dangerous anti-government tendencies. But because she has joined up with the other young women for safety, it is unlikely that she will ever see him again.

People who have read the original Battle Royale, or who have experienced its adaptations, know very well how the incident at the lighthouse plays out; those who haven’t can probably very easily guess. Most (but not all) of the violence occurs off-page in Angels’ Border, but the characters still have to deal with its aftermath. The atmosphere at the lighthouse is strained but relatively quiet; the tension, fear, and despair is present even as the young women are resigning themselves to their fates. They witness the deaths of their fellow students and try to come up with excuses for the classmates who have resorted to killing one another, partly because they are in denial about what is happening and partly because the entire situation is incomprehensible to them. For a time they are safe, but every decision that they make for their own survival has an impact on the survival of everyone else forced to participate in the Program. The alliance formed by the six young women and their trust in one another are extraordinarily fragile things. None of them want to kill, but none of them want to die either, even though they know it will be impossible for all of them so survive. The result is a highly stressful and volatile scenario.

Generally, Angels’ Border can be read on its own, but it will probably appeal most to those who are at least familiar with Battle Royale. I hadn’t anticipated it when I began reading Angels’ Border, but both of the manga’s episodes are actually love stories. Granted, because they occur within the context of Battle Royale, they are both dramatic romantic tragedies. The first story is told by Haruka as she deals with what she sees as the futility of her feelings for Yukie as well as with the futility of the situation in which they find themselves. She reflects briefly on their past friendship, but generally the episode’s focus is on their unfortunate present and bleak future. The second story is seen from Chisato’s perspective. Much of it is devoted to a single encounter between her and Shinji six months before the start of the Program. Both episodes are more about the characters’ interpersonal relationships than they are about death and violence, although those are certainly a constant concern and bring those relationships into sharper focus. Both stories also talk about “forever,” which is heart-wrenching; “forever” for these young people will be a tragically short period of time.

Filed Under: REVIEWS Tagged With: Battle Royale, Koushun Takami, manga, Mioko Ohnishi, N-Cake, viz media, VIZ Signature, Youhei Oguma

The Battle Royale Slam Book: Essays on the Cult Classic by Koushun Takami

May 11, 2014 by Ash Brown

The Battle Royale Slam BookEditor: Nick Mamatas and Masumi Washington
Publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421565996
Released: April 2014

Battle Royale has recently seen something of a revival in North America in recent years. Koushun Takami’s controversial novel was originally published in Japan in 1999. Both the novel and its manga adaptation illustrated by Masayuki Taguchi first appeared in English in 2003. The novel was released again with a slightly revised translation and additional supplementary material in 2009 by Viz Media’s speculative fiction imprint Haikasoru. (This tenth anniversary release was my introduction to Battle Royale.) However, it wasn’t until 2012 that the film version of Battle Royale and its sequel Battle Royale II: Requiem received an official release in the United States. And now, in 2014, we’re seeing the releases of a new English translation of Takami’s novel by Haikasoru, the recent Battle Royale: Angels’ Border manga illustrated by Mioko Ohnishi and Youhei Oguma, and The Battle Royale Slam Book: Essays on the Cult Classic by Koushun Takami, which is also notable for being Haikasoru’s first foray into nonfiction. Takami’s original novel left a huge impression on me, so I was very excited to read all of these new Battle Royale releases.

The Battle Royale Slam Book, edited by Nick Mamatas and Masumi Washington, collects sixteen essays (seventeen including the introduction by Mamatas) which examine various aspects of the entire Battle Royale franchise. The core of that franchise is of course Takami’s original novel, but The Battle Royale Slam Book also explores many of its manga and film adaptations as well. The contributors to the volume include award-winning writers, academics, fans, and many others from around the world–the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and even Japan itself are particularly well-represented. I was specifically excited to see an essay by Toh EnJoe included in the volume, but the rest of the lineup is great, too: Nadia Bulkin, Carrie Cuinn, Raechel Dumas, Isamu Fukui, Sam Hamm, Masao Higashi, Brian Keen, Gregory Lamberson, Kathleen Miller, Konstantine Paradias, Jason S. Ridler, Adam Roberts, John Skipp, Steven R. Stewart, and Douglas F. Warrick. All of their essays were written specifically for inclusion in The Battle Royale Slam Book.

The Battle Royale Slam Book includes several types of essays ranging from academic ruminations to literary and film criticisms to the authors’ more personal experiences with Battle Royale in all of its iterations. The topics of the individual contributions are also varied, though some recurring themes do emerge. Many of the essays focus on some of Battle Royale‘s most controversial aspects, such as extreme violence and the deaths of school-aged youth, gender portrayals and sexism, and so on. Other essays position Battle Royale within a greater context, exploring its place within and relationship to not only Japanese popular culture but Western popular culture as well. School literature, professional wrestling, teen films, and other similar subjects are all addressed. The volume also examines the historical context of Battle Royale and its themes. The Battle Royale Slam Book shows how the Battle Royale phenomena has been influenced by, uses, and challenges literary and genre conventions in addition to showing its impact and continuing influence on individual people.

Several assumptions are made with The Battle Royale Slam Book, primarily that the readers are adults already familiar with Battle Royale, have a basic understanding of the novel’s premise, or have been exposed to at least one of its adaptations. It’s also helpful but not absolutely necessary to have some grounding in literature and film, and especially with speculative fiction and horror. The Battle Royale Slam Book will probably appeal most to those who are already interested in or who have already experienced Battle Royale in some form. Though the contributors don’t hesitate to point out the flaws and challenges presented by the Battle Royale novel, manga, and films, it is very clear that they are all either fans or are fascinated by the material and the responses to it. There is criticism to be found, but in general the volume tends to take a positive approach. The Battle Royale Slam Book was written for people like me who want to learn more about Battle Royale, its influences, and impacts. I found The Battle Royale Slam Book to be utterly fascinating and would highly recommend the volume to similarly minded individuals.

Filed Under: REVIEWS Tagged With: Battle Royale, Haikasoru, Koushun Takami, Masumi Washington, Nick Mamatas, Nonfiction, viz media

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