Book Review: Battle Royale Slam Book

Book Review: Battle Royale Slam Book

            Book to movie adaptations aren’t a new genre of film, many books have been adapted into film during the short history of cinema. Although many have caused controversy over the years none have caused such a stir as the adaptation of the cult novel Battle Royale. The story of Battle Royale is simple but also devastating, a group of 30 students are trapped on an island with collars on their necks, they must kill one another until one is left standing as the ultimate victor. In The Battle Royale Slam Book: Essays on the Cult Classic by Houshun Takami edited by Nick Mamatas and Masumi Washington [Haika Soru; 2014; San Francisco; 185 pgs; $14.99; ISBN” 978-1421565996] is collection of essays analyzing the impact of not just the novel but the movie and Japanese manga as well. Mamatas and Washington brought together writers from every spectrum to show that the cult phenomenon that was released over 15 years ago still has an impact on the world today. As well as how the story of a group of classmates trapped in a battle to the death has changed the dystopian movie genre completely. So why is it important to look at this book? As an adaptation Battle Royale the movie as well as the books have thoroughly influenced other movies. In a time where dystopian movies where the central focus is a group of kids fighting the government or an outside power this book demonstrates why characters and history matter as well as teaching these stories within a school setting.

            In the introduction of the book “Blood in the Classroom, Blood on the Page: Will Battle Royale Ever Be on the Test?” editor Nick Mamatas addresses the historical perspective of Battle Royale in comparison to William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War as well as other books within the dystopian genre. The main objective of Mamatas’ introduction is about whether Battle Royale would be taught in the classroom in the same manner as any of the classics in analyzing the social and socieital after effect of what is happening in the novel. Battle Royale itself is considered a cult novel compared to other books it’s over 600 pages long and addresses the troubles of a government in control of every aspect of its population’s lives. Mamatas addresses why some books aren’t taught in schools versus the latter,

“Cult novels find their audience because they are about something. [Most novels are sadly about nothing, whereas the true classics are about many things and thus invite multiple competing readings.] And that something—usually some social criticism—is easy enough for kids to understand… But nobody gets paid just to read interesting books, so out sensitive cultist end up teaching high school and find themselves faced with the same bullies and creeps who terrorized them in their own school days. But if only these kids would just read my favorite book, maybe they’d understand…” (13)

Since Battle Royale is considered a cult novel it may never be taught in school, yet throughout The Battle Royale Slam Book Mamatas and his co-editor have gathered essays from several writers to show that Battle Royale isn’t just a bloody book and movie but it shows how these cult favorites force viewers to see the history of Japan, why female characters’ matter to a story, and how this novel has changed an entire genre of movies.

            Before The Hunger Games pushed a girl from the poor side of the tracks into the forefront of a political revolution, Battle Royale put forth several female characters that don’t live up to the stereotype of the regular pretty girl in a novel. Carrie Cuinn’s essay “Girl Power” within this collection demonstrates how four different female characters within the Battle Royale movie prove that women aren’t just the damsels in distress. Cuinn writes, “Rather than weak, they are wiser than their male counterparts, recognizing how dangerous society truly is before Class 3-B even gets on to the island.” (67) Each of the four female characters described throughout Cuinn’s essay are common in most movies, “the aspiring femme fatale, the boyish rebel, the teen suicide, and the innocent who must be saved.” (65) This essay is the most well researched and thought out essay throughout the book because it puts female characters at the forefront of story over their male counterparts. The main protagonist of the story is a male character but Cuinn’s essay shows that the female characters have a lot more control of the storyline. Where else would the secondary antagonist, who is female, of a story rival the primary antagonist, who is male, in their backstory? Cuinn wants the reader to see the tragic lives of all of the female characters as well as the reasons that they make their decisions in the movie. It’s not about survival for some, it’s redemption and the willingness to be able to make your own decisions.

            The Historical perspective of how Battle Royale came to be and why the impact of the novel as well as the influence of the movie on countries outside of Japan should be looked at more closely is brought up in Kostas Paradias’ essay “Battle Royale Generational Warfare,” where Paradias outlines the reasons behind the children murder reality show comes from. Paradias states that “if this is not the product of shadowy forces, set up by a shadowy dictatorship, if this is actually some sort of franchise, a national pastime, then where does the consumer demand that supports if come from?” (87-88) Throughout the essay Paradias brings the history of Japan, the story’s author, as well as a generation known as bosozoku (the Japanese equivalent of Biker Gangs (88) as the background to the rise of the story that would become Battle Royale. The history of the country that the story is based on is as important as the story itself because it shows what would have happened that would have created this kind of brutal storyline. Showing how Japan rose from the devastation of World War II to become an economic powerhouse only to lose it all is what Paradias is trying to bring forward. Movies are created with a semblance of reality attached to it and for the most part what happens in the outside world is just the beginning to what would happen within the reel of film.

            What happens to these children of war when society has effectively thrown them into a fight to the death? In Nadia Bulkin’s essay “The Postwar Child’s Guide to Survival,” the opening line says “Disaster documentaries of the last few years have tried their best to mold us into better, faster, stronger people: survivors, tough enough to endure impossible hardship. The people that stumble out of the wreckage of the burning airplane, outlast the global pandemic, kill the last zombie (or terrorist).” (127) The essay demonstrates what the world wants to see, the survivor, that one person who lives though the devastation around them. This is what Battle Royale is about, the reason people watch captivated is because in the end someone will survive. Albeit they’re doing so by killing everyone they went to school with. Bulkin’s essay brings forth the one ideal thing that people rally around during a tragedy and that is the survivor the one who would tell the story that would make sense of all that had happened. The perfect example of this is the face of the young girl in the movie that had survived a Battle Royale, “That girl definitely just smiled!” the journalists squawk as the winner emerges with a bloody doll” (129) This girl is the survivor the one who lived through the horrible battle but it also shows something else, as the young girl smiles into the camera was she truly happy about killing her classmates or was she just smiling because she was in front of the cameras? All it shows is the true horror of the game and what it would do to someone psychologically.

            The reason that this book is important is that the voice of the author isn’t restricted to one person who has researched every aspect of the movie, book, and Japanese manga. The methodology behind this book is to give everyone a voice and though all of their research and hard work show the impact of these three separate entities on the world as a whole. The book may expand in the future as advances in psychological theories are made. as other books and movies within the dystopian genre are released, and as the world rewrites history to show the true devastation of our ancestors. This book’s take on one specific brand known as Battle Royale shows that humanity reduced to one class of teenagers in the same manner as William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and the problems of the world around them describes the inherit problems within our own society. The reason I chose to read this book is because within its pages are the opinions of many and the writers don’t want to give you the reasons why you should think like them they want to illustrate that everyone differs in opinion. Battle Royale is a violent and bloody movie; the book is worse in comparison but together they create the visual to the true violence of the world. As a part of cinematic history this book shows that even in the most violent and bloody movies stories are meant to be told, girls are as strong as the boys, history is important to the storyline, and lastly survival is what a person strives for when faced with a difficult situation.

Works Citied

Mamatas, Nick, and Masumi Washington, eds. The Battle Royale Slam Book: Essays on the Cult Classic by Koushun Takami. San Fransisco: Haika Soru, 2014. Print.