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Battle
Royale
Vol.1
May/2003
Publisher: Tokyopop
Writer: Koushun Takami
Artwork: Masayuki Taguchi
Translation: Takako Maeda & Tomo Iwo
English Adaptation: Keith Giffen
Price: $9.99 US/R88.00 SA
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Here it is, one of the biggest manga events of the year…Battle
Royale! One of the most controversial comics ever
hits the stores, so let’s see if all the hype is true. Can
this manga based on the hugely successful live action movie be just
as much of a hit?
42 Ninth grade pupils are chosen via a random process by the Government
to participate in ‘The Program’. A
televised game where there is only one survivor, the rest must be
killed. What happens when best friends are forced to murder each
other? What kind of damage can a sadistic class bully do with a
sub-machine gun? The answers await.
Ok before getting any further into this review let me state the
painfully obvious. This is a mature reader’s title
and is not directed towards children or anyone squeamish. Blood
and guts abound so if you are the slightest bit sensitive then don’t
even bother to open the first page of this one.
Lets proceed, the biggest asset this book has is that the translation
into English is top notch and big name talent, namely Keith
Giffen, has been pulled in to bring the story across in
a manner that is interesting and appropriate for Western readership.
It’s great to finally read a manga in which you can catch
every joke and nuance as it’s intended to be. So
often translations get bogged down in simplistic dialogue which
in turn makes a lot of manga insufferable to read in a sensible
fashion.
This story is a nerve wracking explosion on your senses and will
have you turning those pages quicker than you can read them. With
twists, turns and cliff hangers galore this is a book I couldn’t
put down and was forced to feverishly read in one sitting.
The art is first class as well and the fine linework and realistic
style of Taguchi is a perfect match for the ultra-graphic
violence that takes up a large part of the content of this
book. His action based storytelling is particularly good as he shows
characters flying through the air and exploding into all kinds of
acrobatic moves.
I must admit that the violence can get to one after a bit and in
places the graphic representation of the slayings is just too much.
If this had not been so I would have easily given this volume full
marks, but it just irked me that they had to over do it in some
places, one feels it’s for show and not for helping the story
telling in any way.
This is a shocking book, no doubt, but at the same time it’s
a thrill a minute read that you will struggle to
put down. Slick high-detailed artwork assists in telling one of
the most extreme tales of the year.
Score 9/10
Reviewed By:Iain Duncan
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Comic Reviews
