We Appreciate Manga

Too horrific that Steven couldn't even finish reading it! We talk about Maruo's work that would eventually become adapted into a controversial anime.

026: Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freakshow | Shoujo Tsubaki (1984)

By Suehiro Maruo

Translation by Yoko Umezawa and Laura Lindgren

(Blast Books 1992)

Some context:

Maruo is known for his 'Ero-Guro' (erotic grotesque nonsense). The genre is nothing new, it's heavily inspired by shungo prints, a prime example being Hokusai's 'Dream of the fisherman's wife'. In turn the UK artist Aubrey Beardsley who illustrated Oscar wilde's Salome during the Victorian era is an early example of the genre.

H.R. Giger is a massive influence on 'ero-guro', his iconic Alien being an interplay between sex and violence as a film series.

Topics:

· James' interpretation of events and ending:

1. Magician loves Midori by creating respite from the horror through his illusions. He gives her the opportunity to leave to Tokyo by faking his death. But because Midori makes the choice not to leave without him, this causes the magician to punish her in hopes of scaring her off. She isn't physically able to kill them so she finds herself alone in the world. To escape one horror, she has to endure the horror of another, the horror of loneliness.

2. Magician, like the rest of the freaks despises Midori for her beauty and innocence and chooses to torment her.

3. Magician is but a figment of Midori's imagination. Midori is actually a contortionist whose act is to fit inside a glass jar. When an insect crawls inside her ear it begins to munch on her brain causing her to hallucinate and make her fantasies more real to her. Where ever Masamitsu is real or not is besides the point.

· Is the author, Suehiro Maruo, being obscene and deplorable by creating this manga? And are people who enjoy this story contemptable?

· Steven's objection at Maruo's take on child abuse and the threat of paedophilia in stories.

· "Comfort Women"; Maruo's imagery is evocative of the great depression and post - world war japan and the very real horrors of that era. The main character, Midori, could be viewed as a "comfort woman", the name given to victims of World War II sex trafficking. For more on the subject just follow the link [Here].

· Film adaptation by Hiroshi Harada was released in 1992

· A 2016 live-action film adaptation was notably tame compared to the source material but otherwise contained beautiful production design. To tie-in with the release of the 2016 film, café 'Holy' in Shibuya made a menu in order to promote it.

Culture Reference:

Oculolinctus, also known as Gankyū namé purei "eyeball licking play" an ero-guro trope that Suehiro made popular. A widespread myth came about when reports of Japanese students were adopting this as a craze.

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Domu: A Child's Dream

By Katsuhiro Otomo

Way before Stranger Things and before the masterpiece of the Akira anime, there was the psychic horror of 'A Child's Dream' Skip synopsis @ 14:00 contact us at [email protected]

Topics:

· The cinematic act Structure

· How Otomo creates a sense of fear

· Otomo's aesthetic and attitudes towards gentrification

Notable Product Placement/Pop Culture reference:

· Beeper/pager

(patented in 1949 by Alfred J. Gross)

· The English translation references GhostBusters (1984 movie)

Synopsis:

Inspector Yamagawa starts an investigation after an alarming rate of deaths occur at the Tsutsumi housing complex. He meets the landlord who tells him of the suspicious types, the drunk Yoshikawa who is still unemployed after a leg injury, Mrs. Tezuka, a mentally unstable woman in apartment 783 who walks around at night pushing the pram of her dead child. A gigantic man with a mind of a child, nicknamed Little Yo, he was accused of child molestation. Then there's Shojiro a.k.a old sho, an old senile man who sits outside. We also learn about Tsutomu Sasaki, an underachieving student who still lives with his parents.

Yamagawa sends two policemen to patrol at night but one goes missing, his gun is never found. Eventually Yamagawa arrives alone at the complex and confronts the killer. Knowing that the killer is collecting trophies, Yamagawa gives him his pager. The killer is petty and breaks the pager using his psychic powers. Yamagawa runs after the psychic killer. He runs up the tower of apartments and hears the killer prying into his mind. Taunting him on every doubt and teasing him. When Yamagawa makes his way to the roof he finds the door is already open and he hesitates to step forward. There he sees Old Cho playing with the gun as if it were a toy.

One morning later, a new kid on the block arrives, her name is Etsuko, during her arrival Old Cho causes a baby to fall from the tower block. The child is saved by Etsuko and having read old cho's thoughts she tells him off. Etsuko quickly makes friends with the residents but having an affinity for outsiders she chooses to play with Yoshikawa's son, the lonely Hiroshi and Little Yo. As the sun falls Etsuko quickly makes her way to the shop, during this time Tsutomu Sasaki spends the knife choosing to craft model planes instead of study.

Cho takes control of Tsutomu and forces him to confront Etsuko on the elevator, failing to kill her with his craft knife, Tsutomu turns the blade onto himself and cuts through his own neck. Etsuko is hospitalised across the street. After seeing Yamagawa's ghost, inspector Takayama brings a shaman to the housing complex but the shaman becomes overwhelmed by what she feels, unbeknownst to Takayama, Etsuko is making an attempt on empowering Old Cho from her bed window but is easily distracted by her mother.

At night, Yoshikawa is caught under control by Cho and is given the policeman's gun so to kill Etsuko. Little Yo and Hiroshi do there best to hold him off and protect her whilst she hunts down Old Cho. It becomes clear that Cho struggles to fight her, he decides to create a gas explosion all around the housing complex. Etsuko smashes out the windows but fails to stop one explosion.

She almost kills Old Cho but he flees amongst the fire brigade. The building collapses and the stressed-out Etsuko loses her friends within the chaos. She endures an emotional breakdown and kills a fireman in the process. Cho soon disappears and Etsuko returns to her mother. Inspector Takayama has the chance to question Old Cho, but visions of Yamagawa's ghost pre-empt him. Takayami decides to set him free and watch him from a safe distance, specifically Old Cho's usual place, the bench by the play area. He watches Old Cho but no one can see that Etsuko is there sat on the swing doing the same. No one except for Old Cho. With a look from Etsuko the killer's walking stick explodes and the old man finally dies. There is no sign of Etsuko, it's as if she was never there that day.

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Suicidal schoolkids (one with PTSD) meet online with their teacher and plan to blow up their school. In short, Steve finds the plot doesn't gel with Rika's emotional arc, but Rika sleeps with Ryo! Can finding love stop someone from causing terrorism?

X-Day (vol. 2)

(X-Day of her and the others / Kanajo tachi no x-day)

By Setsuna Mizushiro

Translation by Lisa Blank

Synopsis:

Rika's plans seemingly come to fruition, the school blows up in an explosion of fire, sending debris everywhere as Rika watches on. Amongst the rubble she finds Kako begging for help. Rika, being responsible for the explosion is cruel and refuses to aid Kako.

X-day was all a dream and Rika wakes up in the bed of Kako's boyfriend. She goes home ashamed and upset. She logs in to the chat room to contact her friends and feel better. Mr. Money notices that Rika is upset but the next morning he tells Jangalien, that despite his feelings for Rika, he is afraid of women. In another room Polaris is riddled with anxiety as the class vote her to be the swimming anchor.

Later, they conspire to blow up the school, Rika holds Mr. Money's hand, however he flinches, knocking Rika's bag and spilling the school journals. Rika accidentally takes Mr. Money's journal home with her. She calls but gets no answer, then uses the address in his journal to go find him. She finds him at home living with a violent and abusive mother.

The next day Jangalien doesn't go to class and instead buries his dead pet, Polaris skips her class to help him. Soon Jangalien's stalker shows up to visit, Polaris pushes her out, and the well-meaning stalker falls down the apartment steps. Both Polaris and Jangalien flee the crime scene. They spend the afternoon at an amusement park before hiding at a hotel. With Polaris full of hopelessness, Jangalien prevents her from jumping off the hotel roof and the two embrace each other.

Ryo calls Rika, he tells her he has the house to himself but rejects Ryo. Rika starts to worry about Mr. Money, she leaves her place to go and meet him. Once there she confronts Mr. Money's mother. He tells her that unhappy people do terrible things, and so Rika and Mr. Money spend the night together. The next day Jangalien is informed by the school chancellor, the father of his stalker, that she is well and has only sustained a mild concussion. Jangalien confesses to the chancellor that he has no feelings for his daughter and wishes to be left alone. Jangalien thinks it best he resigns due to his relationship with Polaris. In the meantime, the chancellor delays such action so not to cause harm to the school's reputation. The next time Rika meets up with Polaris, Jangalien and Mr. Money they decide to light fireworks from the school roof, postponing their plan to collect gun powder and to bomb the school.

In Rika's dreams, she sees Kako and Ryo on the school roof, she runs past through them, forward and goes for the high jump, a record-breaking jump over the bar. She lands safely in bed with Mr. Money. X-Day has been delayed, at least for now.

Topics:

· The delay of X-Day (Using the fireworks as a cathartic release of celebration instead of blowing up the school)

· Rika sleeps with Ryo.

· Mr. Money and his abusive mother.

· The "stalker" of the story being a plot device.

· Is X-Day a coming of age story?

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Suicidal teens plan to blow up their school. EXPLICIT CONTENT

023: X-Day vol 1

(X-Day of her and the others / kanojo tachi no X-Day)

Art + Story/writer: Setona Mizushiro

English Translation by: Shirley Kubo and Lisa Blank

Helplines:

UK SAMARITANS: 116 123

JAPAN: 03-5774-0992

USA SUICIDE PREVENTION: 1-800-273-8255

Synopsis:

Rika has begun her senior year of high and she is stressed out. She has lost her boyfriend along with her passion for track and field to the young Kako. Looking for a distraction she enters the chatroom of her high school website but becomes apprehensive when her words of jest are taken seriously. She finds herself in a conspiracy to destroy the school with Polaris, who is not seeing any sarcasm on the matter. Polaris decides to give out clues on where the others can find her next chatroom.

Following the clues, Rika determines that Polaris is referring to a constellation, she finds Polaris' chatroom along with Mr. Money and Jangalien. Rika is given a warm welcome, especially by Polaris. She does however stay up all night, laughing and enjoying the time with them. Before they go to bed, they decide to give their phone details to one and another.

The next day, Rika receives a suicidal message from Polaris. She spots Polaris on the roof and messages Jangalien and Mr. Money before she runs up there. When Rika meets Polaris she finds her excuses to be minute but endless. Her favourite band breaking up, the watched that she loved broke, a fight with her dad, a girl laughing at her, the rush hour train etc etc.

Rika asks herself how can such small things hurt so much yet she understands Polaris and decides to jump off with her.

Jangalien and Mr Money arrive and interrupt the girls. Soon after they meet outside school hours to plot the school's destruction. Although they reveal their true identities, they still refer to each other by their usernames, Rika's username is 11. They each decide to get gunpowder by purchasing fireworks. They all have personal problems, Rika ends up developing feelings for Mr. Money, conscious that he'll be a good distraction from her ex-boyfriend, Ryo, who is now showing abusive behaviour in the form of accidental text messages and blaming her for the break up. But Mr. Money is showing signs of post traumatic stress.

And Jangalien is the science teacher, his problem is the school chancellor's daughter, who won't leave him alone amidst false accusations that she's engaged to him.

Rika sees that the gym teacher has a new favourite for track and field, the same girl who Ryo is dating. Rika turns to Mr. Money for comfort but feels rejected and blames herself for it. On the train home she meets her ex-boyfriend and the two confront each other about their feelings. Rika thinks of Mr. Money, but only for a fleeting moment as she kisses Ryo. Hoping to win Ryo's love back from Kako.

Topics:

· Romance

· Polaris' suicide attempt

· Loss

· Abusive relationships, manipulation and grooming tactics.

Pop culture references:

· Lolligoth and the Yami Kawaii aesthetic (Polaris)

See Refinery 29's Yami Kawaii video for more:

· Text Messages (SMS vs Email in japan)

· Chatrooms + websites

Product Placement:

Marlboro cigarettes p29

Apple Laptop p59

EXPLICIT CONTENT! The final volume to Battle Royale! We finished recording this run in October 2018. Listen as we recount the tropes used, the differences between the source material and the goal of the authors. Skip the synopsis @ minute 12:00

022: Battle Royale vol. 15

Art: Masayuki Taguchi

Story: Koushun Takami

Translation by Keith Giffen

Topics:

· Kiriyama's death

· Kawada's betrayal

· The authors

…and their intentions with the book and handling violence

Differences between the Japanese and English translation:

(Note: the English Vol 1 was released in 2003,

same year the Japanese vol 9 came out, both the English and Japanese runs ended in 2006)

'"It's a good story that Takami is telling", Giffen said. "What I do is go in and make bad scenes that much worse. I loved the movie of Battle Royale, and also love the manga. I just wanted to do it right. I wanted to do justice to it, and I knew I couldn't get away with doing a straight translation, because it would be horrifyingly bad."' – Keith Giffen

§ There isn't a reality TV show aspect

§ Sakura doesn't make any bets prior to the program

§ Izumi was at the reef before Kiriyama and the rest arrived. This means Kiriyama would have flipped the coin on meeting Kazumi and way before the others arrived. It also means there was no allusion to rape what-so-ever.

§ Originally Niida makes up excuses for his actions and isn't as psychotic as he is in the English version.

Basically, Keith Geifen makes it a lot darker than the comic needs to be.

Differences between other adaptations:

· Yonemi Kamon is an original character that replaces, Kinpatsu Sakamochi in the novel and Kitano in the movie.

· In the movie, Kazuo Kiriyama is one of two transfer students, the other is Shogo Kawada. They are specially selected to take part in the Battle Royale program and have no prior relationship to the other students.

· In the novel Soma is setting the campfires to cause confusion, until Kiriyama tracks her down and kills her. Then Kiriyama continues setting the smoke signals.

· Kiriyama decides to take part in the Battle Royale before his gang arrives, having killed Izumi kanai before they arrive.

Pop culture references:

· "A star is born kiddies" Mirroring Soma's line, a reference to the film 'A Star is Born'.

· "News flash, Oz is a slum, the white knight's a retard and the seven dwarfs gang rape pixies" – Shojo Kawada

1.) Frank L Baum's The Wizard of Oz (Judy Garland movie, is Keith a fan?)

2.) White Knight:

Medieval trope that is derived from myths of courtship and valour. It's a very respectable title but common usage can be derogatory as of 2010.

First records of anyone having the white knight title is the Fitzgibbon and Fitzgerald family of Ireland. Fitz-suffix meaning they were either raised by or were illegitimate sons (bastards).

Modern culture shows we've given such titles to sports heroes. 3 lions are worn by the English soccer team, not soldiers! And Russian hockey player Evgeni 'Geno' Malkin is nicknamed 'white knight' according to Wikipedia.

3.) Snow White and the Seven dwarfs (Brothers Grimm story, famously Disney's first feature length movie)

· Kawada calls Nanahara "Pollyanna" once again. 3x now!!! Based on the titular character of Eleanor H. Porter's novel.

Product placement:

· 7-Up (Soda-pop drink owned by Pepsi outside the U.S.)

· Coca Cola (world famous caffeinated Soda-pop drink, originally marketed as an elixir)

· SuperTrapp (motorcycles and gear retailer)

Notable Tropes:

· Tsundere (Takako Chigusa)

· Playing Possum (Frogboy with the Kevlar vest)

· Chi energy powers (Sugimura)

· Femme Fatale (Mistuko Soma)

· The determinator/implacable man

(Kazuo Kiriyama)

· The stoic (Kiriyama and Kawada)

· Mind vs Heart paradigm a.k.a. the tin woodsman and scarecrow thesis

(Nanahara and Kawada)

For a more comprehensive list visit the TV Tropes website.

Synopsis:

Mere days ago, 42 school students were marooned on an island, given random weapons and ordered to kill each other in a brutal game of death. Now only 4 remain… but that's still 3 too many.

Nanahara, Noriko and Kawada team up to defeat Kazuo Kiriyama, the most dangerous competitor of the students. Nanahara makes the killing shot, as he watches Kiriyama die, Nanahara expresses regret and wishes that he could have saved him. Kiriyama's final words being "I can feel again".

Kawada takes Noriko and Nanahara to the end of the island by the edge of the cliff. He pulls his gun on both of them and wins the game.

He is escorted off the island by boat, he is not given any aid or chance to clean himself before Mr. Kamon enters the cabin to question him. Kamon suspects Kawada for faking the death of Noriko and Nanahara, his evidence to support this suspicion is that documents about the explosive collars and the chosen class were hacked into before the game began. he tells Kawada that helicopters are flooding the island with poison as they speak and pulls a gun on Kawada.

Mr. Kamon is distracted due to Nanahara's ambush on the boat. Kawada kills Kamon with a pencil to the neck. He goes onto the upper deck where he finds Nanahara and Noriko have kept the guards subdued and tied down. When one guard breaks loose he attacks Kawada but Nanahara takes the bullet as Kawada shoots the guard's hand off. Nanahara is protected by the Kevlar vest he took from Kiriyama. The 3 send the guards into a dingy and cut them loose.

As Kawada teaches Nanahara how to control the ship he succumbs to the sustained gunshot wound from Kiriyama. Kawada dies on the ship.

Both Noriko and Nanahara become wanted criminals during the Christmas holidays. They discover Kawada's plan was to die in that game but rescue Shinji Mimura, in doing so they would declare war on the program. Mimura's aunt is kind enough to secure a boat to the U.S. for Nanahara and Noriko but before they leave Nanahara spies on Miss Ryoko to see if she is safe and Noriko calls her mother. The two make their peace with the students they fought and start a new life in the U.S.

The End.

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We talk about Kiriyama's synaesthesia and that car chase! Skip synopsis @ 11:00

021: Battle Royale vol. 15

Art by Masauki Taguchi

Story by Koushun Takami

Translation by Keith Giffen

Topics:

· Kiriyama has synaesthesia…And can choose to feel emotion, but prefers to distract himself and numb himself from the pain. "I hear Rubi crying, red face and crying red"

· The Car chase

· Taking out the windows

· Dopey "Wire-Fu"

· Kiriyama's backstory

Pop culture references:

· Elvis

· Pollyanna

Synopsis:

The penultimate volume involves Kawada, Nanahara and Noriko fighting for their lives against Kazuo Kiriyama, the one student who has killed the majority of the class.

After speaking about where they should flee to, the characters are soon alerted by Kiriyama's presence once the announcement of Sugimura's death is made. Kawada realises that Kiriyama will arrive at any second, following the smoke trail and bird signals meant for Sugimura. Kawada's makeshift alarm is triggered and the chase begins.

The chase leads them using cars to rush through the island. Kawada is driving the heavier vehicle and decides to use it to ram into a head on collision with Kiriyama along with suppressive gunfire to take out his tires, a la a game of chicken. They use their remaining rounds of ammo to blow up Kiriyama's car.

Kiriyama survives, having bailed out of the car before the crash and explosion. He finds another car and the chase continues, this time taking them through the site where Mimura died and finally to the site where Kiriyama first ambushed them.

Kawada uses this place to get hold of the shotgun. He uses it to get a surprise attack on Kiriyama, sending his car flying and shooting Kiriyama mid-air.

Noriko and Nanahara walk away from their car. Noriko spots something glistening in the sun as Nanahara speaks to Kawada. Kawada is shot. Kiriyama rises from a prone position with a damaged Kevlar vest showing under his torn shirt. Noriko shoots Kiriyama in the cheek with the gun she found, it shocks him, a sensation of bright colours has him feeling rage at Noriko. He remembers how his life was like before everything felt grey to him. A child prodigy, amazingly gifted with everything, including a kind and compassionate personality. Until a car crash gave him brain damage that is.

As Kiriyama retaliates Nanahara remembers the dart that Sugimura crafted for him and he uses this on Kiriyama to stop him once and for all. Sugimura's spirit is with him through this moment. The spirit to protect the one you love.

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Battle Royale vol. 13

Art by Masauki Taguchi

Story by Koushun Takami

Translation by Keith Giffen

Talking about Kiriyama vs Soma! And bout our arguments with the opposite sex, plus stalkers! You can skip the synopsis @ minute 4:00

Topics:

· Kiriyama vs Soma (Soma's death)

· Keiko and Kawada's argument (arguments with the opposite sex)

· Stalkers

Pop culture references and idioms:

Natural Born Killers

(A movie directed by Oliver Stone, starring woody Harrelson and Juliet Lewis. The story is by Quentin Tarantino and is considered a controversial movie.

(ICN Neural network medical journal) A phenomenon, whereby a personality change happens after transplant.

"One scoop of raisins in cornflakes".

"I use to believe the brain was the most important organ" – Emo Phillips (comedian)

Synopsis:

The deadliest contestants, Kazuo Kiriyama and Mitsuko finally stand-off. Kiriyama throws glass at her, blinding her before he shoots her shoulder. Out of desperation she strips naked and resorts to goading him into rape, Kiriyama fails to be seduced by Soma's beautiful looks and shows no signs of a sadistic joy.

Soma reverts to her child personality, she grabs a Gatchapon ring; an old gift from her father and begs for pity.

Soma is relieved as she watches Kiriyama lower his gun. The gun slips out of Kiriyama's hand, he's able to catch it with his other and blasts Soma point blank. Destroying her beautiful face. In her final moment she thinks of her real father, who was forced to leave her whilst she was young.

Kawada talks to Noriko and Nanahara about the former love of his live, Keiko. He reveals to them that he would have been the "kiriyama" of the last game, he was playing the game for Keiko and would kill for her.

Before this game, Keiko and Kawada witness a family being arrested whilst on a date. This prompts them to have another argument about Kawada's cynicism, a reliance on logical explanation in spite of a lack of sympathy and sensitivity in comparison to Keiko. Keiko becomes upsets, she leaves kawada and takes Kawada's gift with her, a bird call whistle. The same whistle he's using now to call to Sugimura.

During their own Battle Royale, Kawada becomes an effective killer, He finds Keiko held captive at gunpoint by her stalker, Nakata. Nakata tells Kawada on the day of the argument that Keiko would run errands that evening, her eyes still red from crying. Kawada distracts Nakata, telling him the safety switch to his gun is on before he kills him and saves Keiko.

Keiko questions on how he is playing the game and raises the gun towards him. Kawada draws his gun at Keiko and retaliates. After Keiko is shot he senses the last contestant is behind him, and realises that Keiko was trying to protect him from her. The two trade shots resulting in Kawada being the only survivor of the game.

Through Kawada's long and arduous recovery of losing his father and girlfriend he finds out a package was delivered to his home. It was Keiko's bird call.

Kawada uses the bird call for the sake of Sugimura after Noriko tells him not to feel guilty about Keiko's death. He chooses to honour Keiko's memory and the love she always had for him. Unbeknownst to Noriko, Nanahara and Kawada is that Kiriyama is drawn to the bird call.

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Battle Royale vol. 12

Art: Masayuki Taguchi

Story/writer: Koushun Takami

English Translation by Keith Giffen

WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT! Kiriyama is "Donald Trump with a semi-automatic" Real talk on the "flow", rolling with the punches and how it can save your life.

Topics:

· Sugimura's mortality

· Indirect dialogue as a story telling technique

· Flow and how it can save your life.

Firsts:

Kiriyama has a conversation with a fellow competitor, not done since vol 2.

Pop culture references:

• Dragonball Z

· "Donald Trump with a semi-automatic"

Nanahara describing Kiriyama

· Serial Killers, Ted Bundy and Ed Gein

Synopsis:

Sugimura is in the middle of the fight for both his life and the woman he loves, Kayako. How can a man win against someone who is already dead on the inside? How do you fight someone who does not feel pity, remorse, frustration or fear? Sugimura must find answers to these questions if he is to defeat his enemy, Kazuo Kiriyama. A hard task when Kiriyama observes that Sugimura is having the flight or fight instinct kick in. An adrenaline rush has Sugimura vomit but the fight is evened out when Kayako threatens Kiriyama.

Sugimura harnesses the power of chi and enters a flow state, Kiriyama mimics Sugimura's power and launches him into a tree. As the fight continues Sugimura is launched further, a brutal blow landed from behind. Kiriyama picks his gun up and attempts to kill Kayako only for gunfire to hail down on him. Sugimura literally allowed himself to go with the flow and roll with the punches, so that Kiriyama would launch him far enough to the machine gun that was previously dropped.

Kayako runs to Sugimura and in this moment, he confesses his love to her. Kiriyama creeps up on them. Sugimura is late to realise that Kiriyama acquired body armour before the fight.

Immediately Sugimura regrets confessing his love as Kayako chooses to die by his side. He watches her die and Sugimura dies soon after.

Later that day, Mitsuko Soma finds a house to wash herself and masturbates in the lounge. Kiriyama is in the neighbouring house and suturing a gunshot wound he sustained during Sugimura's fight.

The remaining contestants, Noriko, Nanahara and Kawada stay together and brace themselves for what's to come. Kawada draws a Rorschach test consisting of Kanji symbols and philosophises on the nature of evil. He deduces that Soma became sick and would laugh at the test but Kiriyama is different, a sociopath that does not laugh. He hopes that the gunshots he heard was a fight between Soma and Kiriyama. But he also believes that Kiriyama will kill Soma and Sugimura.

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Battle Royale vol. 11

By Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi

With English translation by Keith Giffen

WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT!

It starts looking like Rocky with a slice of Dragonball in here.

Topics:

· The art work and use of tone.

· The pacing of the entire volume (like Stallone's Rocky)

· Kiriyama vs Sugimura

· Kayako's broken family life.

Pop culture references:

· Dragonball z – Kayako mentions it when describing the energy she emits, "Chi energy"

Synopsis:

The announcement of 7 students recently killed during the program motivates Sugimura to find and protect Kayako. Between his martial arts classes, Sugimura would watch Kayako perform her flower arranging and it was during this time he found her attractive. Only later did he develop loving feelings towards her, when he took a stray kitten into class. Sugimura struggled to take care of the kitten until Kayako noticed, she helped him nurse the kitten and gave him advice. Kayako herself reveals that she was afraid of him, due to hearing the noise from his martial arts class, one room above her flower arranging class. Seeing his sensitive and compassionate side had changed that.

Now Kayako is a victim of the Battle Royale as is Sugimura and although he successfully finds Kayako it is obvious that she is frightened. In a display of trust, Sugimura throws down his gear and weapons. He tells her about the cat, the name he gave it, which was in her honour and the books he read so to help it, as she suggested. Kayako puts down her gun and the two team up.

Sugimura tells Kayako about their fellow students, Kawada's plan to escape their prison island and the need to join him and his group with Noriko and Nanahara. Sugimura also talks about the dangers they face. About his encounters with Mitsuko Soma and Kazuo Kiriyama as well as the skills he has to protect her. And although Sugimura does have skill, he lacks resolve.

He speaks of one occasion where during a gym class, the judo teacher would bully him and demand a demonstration since he was not Sugimura's personal sensei. The class could see that Sugimura did not have the resolve to fight back. And when one of the intelligent students humiliates the teacher, this vexes him enough to pick on more students. Including the mild mannered Kiriyama, who not only had the resolve and disregard to fight back but did so with the help from only reading a manual. Sugimura does not tell what happened next so not to frighten Kayako, although it became school rumour. Kiriyama went for the eye and went on to mutilate and cripple this teacher in front of the class.

Kayako demonstrates her ability to harness taichigong energy, long thought to be the stuff of fiction and martial art myth. She remains trustful to Sugimura even if Sugimura has never explained why he's risking his life for her. Sugimura reasons that it would be best to confess his feelings for her sooner than later. The moment is wasted however as Kayako spots Kiriyama on the offensive.

Sugimura and Kiriyama begin their fight to the death. Sugiumura uses his dart to disarm Kiriyama of his guns and goes for the chi powered strike he used in their first encounter. This time it fails, as Kiriyama uses his own chi to blast Sugimura's hand away.

Kiriyama becomes offensive, getting an eye poke on Sugimura's right. Sugimura starts to anticipate the next moves and counter attacks. Kiriyama responds by being defensive. Which sends Sugimura into a panic and gets his fingers inexplicably cut off. During Sugimura's wandering thoughts Kiriyama picked up the dart. He throws it at Sugimura's good eye.

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017: Battle Royale vol. 10

By Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi

With English translation by Keith Giffen

Schoolkids are forced to fight to the death until only one survives. 35 down, 6 to go!

Skip to the synopsis @14:20

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Theme Music: 'Electro Hype' by Liam Bradbury

Podcast created by Jim Fitton and Steven Gorton.

Topics:

· Stream of conscious narrative done right!

· Lighthouse aftermath

· Nanahara's Reunion

· Mental illness (PTSD, suicide, survivor guilt, schizophrenia)

Pop culture references:

· Demon on TV in the style of Go Nagai / Toshio Maeda

· Dungeons and Dragons Sourcebook 2 (monster manual) D&D fan

Adaptation differences:

In the manga Inada worships the "Trinity" (Peliphon, Meodius and Lucien) most likely derived from 'Dungeons and Dragons'. In the original novel she is Monotheistic, and worships Ahura Mazda (derived from ancient Iranian religion Zoroastrianism or Mazdaism, derived from Avestan word for wisdom)

Synopsis:

The most optimistic of the student contestants, Shuya Nanahara is nursed back to health by Utsumi's gang of girls. When a bowl of soup meant for Nanahara is poisoned it breeds mistrust in them, resulting in a massacre. Nanahara survives by being locked in the upstairs bedroom of the lighthouse. The girl who is responsible for the poisoning is Yuko Sakaki.

None understand Yuko Sakaki more so than her parents. At home her mother looks at her photo album, the father is watching TV in the hope of seeing his daughter survive. When a horror movie appears on TV he switches it off. A force of habit due to Yuko's nervous nature and belief in the devil. Her parents have had to deal with Yuko's trauma of seeing boys fight in her class, knowing that she is now in a genocidal program has forced their denial to turn to grief.

With 9 contestants left, Nanahara makes his way downstairs and confronts the paranoid and frightened Yuko Sakaki. She runs off upstairs to escape Nanahara, stopping to fire at him. Whilst at the top the recoil of her gun causes her to fall. Nanahara rescues Sakaki before she experiences an epithany. Having believed that Nanahara was a demon, she realises that her inner demons, her paranoia, have caused her to hurt the ones she loves. She jumps from the lighthouse, choosing suicide.

After giving the recently passed girls at the lighthouse their dues, Nanahara leaves to search for Noriko and Kawada. He meets Izuno Inada, he can't save her, she is delirious and is playing the game on her own private terms. Nanahara manages to flee but Inada's paranoid schizophrenia has her now worshipping a god.

Nanahara travels through the woods and recalls all the people he has seen die. His survivor guilt takes its toll when he comes across the bodies of Keita Ijima, Yutaka and Mimura.

­He learns of the fight with Kiriyama, the microphones in the collars, the bomb that was made and the confidence that Yutaka gained in the end.

When Nanahara finally meets Noriko and Kawada he sees that the 3 of them are all they have to rely on. Noriko who so loves Nanahara has drawn a sketch of him in his absence. Meanwhile Izuno Inada has stripped down to her underwear and has made a sigil for her god, a deluded belief that it will protect her from all harm and bestow divination on her. Waiting for her prayers to be answered, Kazuo Kiriyama comes forth and provides a bullet to her thoughts.

35 down, 6 to go.

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