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:
· "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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