The manga adaptation of Battle Royale book, which was released just before the film, details the lives and actions of the students of Shiroiwa Junior High School in Kagawa as they fight for survival, being part of the deadly Battle Royale program.

The second volume of the manga introduces us to the silent and deadly genius Kazuo Kiriyama, as well as each member of his gang. We learn that Kazuo's apparently cold indifference to the game lets him decide between playing the game, and taking down the teacher and the guards, through the single flip of a coin. With his mind made up, he starts on his killing spree, starting with his gang, as well as Izumi Kanai, and Yukiko and Yumiko, keeping his usual expresionless face as he does so.

The volume also sees two characters commit suicide, due to the pressures of the game, as well as showing us how some students have snapped under the fear, and have submitted themselves to the game.

Meanwhile, Shuya and Noriko, now alone, team up with the hardened Shogo Kawada and begin a hunt for other friends.


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The second volume of the manga is just as great as the first, with fantastic attention to detail on the characters, and how to develop them. We start to get a good idea of what the main characters are like now, although the reasons for their actions and personalities aren't quite explained yet. It's something that we'll get to in later volumes. I like how well they're spacing out the plot, though. They usually add a bit of the major characters' lives while detailing a minor character (who's probably just about to die), which results in getting some really good development for the main characters, as well as a clue about the others, making them more human and a bit less like just fillers for a hunger for blood by the readers.

The art is again really good, with some great details, and some even greater gore. It's like every bullet is shot in slow motion, and we can see the pain every student goes through. It's pretty unnerving stuff, but it's incredibly cool art.