Jap: Battle Royale

[WeLoveJen]

Battle Royale (バトル・ロワイアル, Batoru rowaiaru?) is a film released on December 16, 2000, in Japan — based on the novel of the same name — released on April 22, 1999, in Japan. The film was directed by Kinji Fukasaku, and stars Takeshi Kitano and Chiaki Kuriyama. Like the novel on which it is based, it aroused much controversy.

The plot of the film is fairly faithful to that of the novel, with a few key differences. The prologue is as follows:

"At the dawn of the millennium, the nation collapsed. At fifteen percent unemployment, ten million were out of work. 800,000 students boycotted the school. The adults lost confidence, and fearing the youth, eventually passed the Millennium Educational Reform Act AKA: The BR Act..."

(It should be noted that for a Japanese audience, even in the late 1990s, after decades of very low unemployment and usually life-long work with a single company, a 15% unemployment rate would have called to mind a collapsed society)

source: wikipedia.org

[WeLoveJen]

Cast

The main cast of Battle Royale.

Actor Role
Tatsuya Fujiwara-------Shuya Nanahara
Aki Maeda----------------Noriko Nakagawa
Taro Yamamoto---------Shogo Kawada
Sousuke Takaoka-------Hiroki Sugimura
Kou Shibasaki------------Mitsuko Souma
Masanobu Ando---------Kazuo Kiriyama
Chiaki Kuriyama---------Takako Chigusa
Takeshi Kitano----------- Kitano

source: wikipedia.org

[WeLoveJen]

Shuya is played by Tatsuya Fujiwara in the 2000 film and the sequel Battle Royale II: Requiem.
Shuya, who lives in Shiroiwa (the novel and manga set the town in Kagawa Prefecture, while the film sets the town in Kanagawa Prefecture), is deeply emotional and somewhat sentimental; he is impulsive and quick to trust people (this particular aspect often proves to be a liability during the course of The Program, nearly resulting in his death several times). He is also very caring, honorable, easy going and likable. It is more than once said it is hard to be sad around him even in sad times.

He is a dreamer and an idealist, and never remains silent when he feels anyone around him is being mistreated, regardless of the consequences.

Shuya was born in Autumn (the first character of his given name (秋), which means "autumn," reflects this fact).

Shuya's blood type is B. Shuya is 171 centimeters tall and weighs 58 kilograms. His eyesight is 1.2 in his right eye and 1.5 in his left eye. In the novel, Shuya's hair is described as being wavy and long; the hair covers his neck and touches his shoulders.

Shuya's strongest subjects in school were the humanities, English, and literature.

[WeLoveJen]

Noriko Nakagawa (中川典子, Nakagawa Noriko?), also known as "Girl #15", is a main female character in the novel, manga and film Battle Royale. In the English-language manga she is nicknamed Nori.

Noriko is played by Aki Maeda in the film version and its sequel Battle Royale II: Requiem. Ai Iwamura "stands-in" for Maeda as Noriko in one of the scenes in Battle Royale [1].

Noriko has a blood type of A.

Noriko Nakagawa is one of the class of third-year students at the fictional Shiroiwa Junior High School in the fictional town of Shiroiwa (the novel and manga set the town in Kagawa Prefecture, while the film sets the town in Kanagawa Prefecture). Noriko has a younger brother. She was not a member of any clubs or groups at school, but she often hung out with Yukie Utsumi and her group. In the film, Noriko is best friends with Megumi Eto. Noriko had a crush on Shuya Nanahara, whom she admired for his music and song-writing. Literature was one of Noriko's best school subjects, and it was her ambition to become a teacher.

In the film, the audience sees Noriko arrive in class (Shiroiwa Junior High), with no one present apart the teacher (Kitano). When Kitano leaves the classroom, he is slashed by a male student with a butterfly knife in the rear of his leg. The male student, Yoshitoki Kuninobu, drops the knife and runs away, and Noriko picks it up and hides it behind her right before Kitano turns around after washing his blood off his pants.

Later, the audience sees a small flashback scene where Noriko is locked up in a toilet stall by three other girls (left side image). Different insults, written on the wall of the stall, were definitely targeted at Noriko, as her name is written on the tombstone

[WeLoveJen]

Shogo Kawada (川田章吾, Kawada Shōgo?) a.k.a. Boy #5 is one of the main heroes of the novel, film and manga Battle Royale, and is largely the same in all versions. In the film he is played by Taro Yamamoto.

Prior to the events of the film, manga and novel, Shogo Kawada was not the combat-hardened survivalist that he is in the present game. His personality differs in the three versions. In the novel and manga, he is quite proficient in first aid, as his father is a doctor, appears to be quite intelligent although slightly unsympathetic. In the film, not much is known of his life before he went through the Program, only that he learned several skills from his father such as cooking and how to drive a motor boat.

His relationship with Keiko also differs. In the flashback sequences in the novel and manga, he is in a relationship with her, and while they seem to be a happy couple most of the time, he upsets her frequently with his unsympathetic nature. One most notable incident was when he felt no ounce of pity when a couple had their child taken from them as they were guilty of stealing money. This happened the day before he was taken to the Program. In the film, it is not known if Keiko and Shogo were really a couple, but they did care for each other in a similar way Shuya cares for Noriko in a deliberate parallel by the film makers. Certainly, Shogo cares for Keiko in a way he does not for his peers, as evidenced by his claim (unsubstantiated) that he killed a friend in order for them to be the final two.

[WeLoveJen]

Kazuo Kiriyama (桐山和雄, Kiriyama Kazuo?) is a fictional character in the best-selling Battle Royale novel and manga by Koushun Takami. He is also a character in the film of the same name, played by Masanobu Ando.

Kazuo has AB-type blood.

The characters in Kazuo's given name mean "peace" and "male," respectively. The characters in his family name mean "tree" and "mountain."

In the novel and manga, it's implied that he is an illegitimately born child due to maternal infidelity. After killing his gang in the novel, he touches his left temple due to some elusive feeling he infrequently has. Kiriyama states that since the doctor who operated on him died and, as he puts it, "his real father" dying of complication, he has no one to question about this.

[WeLoveJen]

Mitsuko Souma (相馬光子, Sōma Mitsuko?) is one of two main antagonists in the novel Battle Royale and the manga and film adaptations. In the English-language manga she is nicknamed Mitsu, Mi-chan and "Hardcore" Souma.

Mitsuko is the second most dangerous person on the island next to Kazuo Kiriyama. Mitsuko as a teenager is portrayed Kou Shibasaki in the film; the young Mitsuko in the flashback is played by Suzuka Tonegawa.

Mitsuko has blood type A.

The audience sees a flashback scene of young Mitsuko (played by Suzuka Tonegawa) going home from school and saying goodbye to her friends. She then walks into her house and finds her mother drunk and a strange man sitting in the kitchen. It seems he had paid Mitsuko's mother for sex, and she runs upstairs in disbelief. He then follows and presents Mitsuko with a doll, saying, "This little girl's name is Mitsuko too. Isn't she cute? And she’s really fun." He then pulls the doll's head off and proceeds to remove all the doll's clothing, finally saying, "Now all her clothes are off! It's the other Mitsuko's turn, let's take them all off." She, however, resists his advances and pushes him down the stairs, breaking his neck and killing him. After these events she becomes a hollow shell of a person that does not know how to handle all the anguish and hate she feels from her past.

Mitsuko is described as very attractive and has what most men like (large breasts and shapely legs etc.) which helps her in her life as a gang girl.

* In the film, the only information given on her is that she has slept with a few of the boys at school, although it is never specified who or which class they are in. She has stolen Hirono Shimizu's boyfriend, leading to animosity between the two girls. It also appears that at school Mitsuko was harassed repeatedly by other students and causes much of her cold behavior on the Island. A passing reference is made to her pimping Yoshimi Yahagi, but it is never elaborated.

In the movie, she was one of many students who bullied Noriko Nakagawa.

[WeLoveJen]

Takako Chigusa (千草貴子 Chigusa Takako) is a character in the novel Battle Royale, and the film and manga of the same name. In the English-language manga she is nicknamed Taka.

In the film Chiaki Kuriyama starred as Chigusa.

Takako is one of the class of third-year students at the fictional Shiroiwa Junior High School in the fictional town of Shiroiwa (the novel and manga set the town in Kagawa Prefecture, while the film sets the town in Kanagawa Prefecture). Chigusa was the best sprinter on the girls' athletics team; her record time on the 200 meters sprint was second best in the school's history. She was very pretty, described by many students as the second prettiest girl in the class, with Mitsuko Souma being the first.

Chigusa managed to get away with her unusual hairstyles and excessive jewellery at school because of her sporting abilities and good grades. She resented having to dress unattractively for school, and was quite vain. Chigusa's blood type was B. She had a sister, Ayako, who was two years younger than her, and a pet dog, Hanako.

Chigusa's best friend was Kahoru Kitazawa, a girl from another class who had been her friend for seven years. Her best friend in her class was Hiroki Sugimura, the only classmate she trusted, and whom she had been friends with since primary school. Hiroki had been her classmate for two years, starting in the 8th grade (the second year of junior high school). She was in love with Hiroki, but she did not realize that fact immediately. She also had a crush on an unnamed older person. When rumors started in the class that she was dating Kazushi Niida, Chigusa was unimpressed, and was angry that Niida did nothing to stop the rumors. When she was angered, Chigusa would always break into a grin.

[WeLoveJen]

my favorite scene is the lighthouse scene. ang galing nung killing scene. hehehe..

[61cm]

Rufa Mae, kaw ba yan? ;D