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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