Battle Royale volume 12 sets up the final confrontation
It is difficult to express how much I wish I was wrong. The writers of Battle Royale told us all along that no one was safe, but there was still that part of me that desperately wants to believe that plot armour exists in this manga. Unfortunately, I get to sit here, once more choking back tears because of these characters.
Battle Royale volume 12 is quite explicit with its goal: clear the board of the lesser characters so the final confrontation can happen. And in that respect, it is very effective. Painfully effective.
Battle Royale’s endgame is here
Battle Royale volume 11 gave us the showdown we all knew was coming. Sugimura finally tracked down his beloved Kayoko, only for the pair to be found by the murderous Kiriyama. The volume ended with Sugimura seemingly overwhelmed by Kiriyama’s skill and, more importantly, his lack of regard for his own safety. Most fighting styles are focused on defense and self-preservation, so Kiriyama’s cold indifference becomes a great advantage in this martial arts battle.
Still, the momentum of the fight swings back and forth. Sugimura might be blind in one eye and missing most of his fingers, but he still has someone to fight for. It is appropriate that they directly reference Dragon Ball Z multiple times in this translation, as the power of friendship that often forms the core of shonen shows seems to be what is fuelling our boy.
What strikes me during this fight is the philosophy the writers are trying to present. Sugimura decides not to worry about the outcome of the fight – the fear of failure was holding him back from landing his blows. Instead, he would focus on that exact moment before moving on to the next. Life, like a fight, is nothing but a series of moments that we don’t always have control over, so the best we can do is to make each moment our own and adapt when chaos comes for us.
There is some truth and wisdom to this philosophy. In our lives, we have startingly little control over what happens around us. The best we can do is to focus on adapting to the chaos we encounter and learn to make it our own and turn it to our advantage. Sugimura has some success in this regard; Kiriyama sends him flying with a blow. Rather than resist it, he literally rolls with the punches and finds himself with a gift – the gun that Kiriyama dropped at the start of the fight.
This is the cruellest moment in all of Battle Royale so far. Because it has shown that it is willing to subvert expectations along the way, I believe for a moment that the bullets find purchase in Kiriyama. We see them land, after all, and Kayoko runs to Sugimura’s side. The two exchange a tender moment, expressing their feelings for the first time. It would have been a fitting moment to end the volume.
Unfortunately, Battle Royale doesn’t end at such happy moments. We’re reminded that Kiriyama tends to loot the weapons and items from the people he kills, using them for his own gain. We saw him kill Oda back in volume 9 in the most unceremonious and undignified way, who had a bulletproof vest.
There is an amount of suspension of disbelief that is needed here as none of the bullets that Sugimura sprayed at Kiriyama hid anywhere but his chest and back, but he soon shows up once again. Seemingly unharmed, he kills Kayoko in front of Sigumura before finishing off his foe. The two lovers die alone in each other’s arms and a little piece of me dies along with them.
Battle Royale is always effective at toying with my heart, giving me moments when I want to see hope in a hopeless situation. I know Kiriyama must survive. There is no story to this manga without the villain. No plot without conflict to drive it forward. We need Kiriyama for what will be The Program’s finale, but still, I wanted a better, happier end to Sugimura’s story. We’re twelve volumes into Battle Royale and I still haven’t learned my lesson.
The rest of Battle Royale volume 12 consists of Shuuya and Kawada debating their chances against the two remaining players in The Program. Kawada rightly notes that both are broken in very different ways. Mitsuko feels everything but in the worst way. She needs to feel that drives her to act impulsively, but she still feels. We know, thanks to volume 8 of Battle Royale, why she is the way she is.
Meanwhile, Kiriyama feels nothing. He is empty inside and acts only for the sake of moving forward. His sociopathic tendencies would have, in Kawada’s words, made him an excellent CEO of a company. Instead, it has allowed him to become the greatest killer in The Program’s history. He is dangerous because he doesn’t care about the impact his actions will have on other people. I expected the manga to unfurl the reason behind Kiriyama’s trauma. Instead, they have left a bit more mystery for the final three volumes.
The setup here appears to be a conflict between Mitsuko and Kiriyama. How that can pay out will be interesting, as Kiriyama has shown little to no interest in talking to his victims and Mitsuko seems to like to play with her food before she eats.
Of course, the greatest mystery of all is how Kawada plans to escape from the island with Shuuya and Noriko. So far, he’s given no details to the reader or even his companions, who seem content to just believe that he really has a plan and isn’t stringing them along for some nefarious purpose. It would be the ultimate betrayal but would seem par for the course for Battle Royale. They are running out of time to set it up, as it seems all he’s done so far is sit in the woods and brood.
Three volumes of Battle Royale remain and I’m still no clearer about how it will end, which is to its credit. Few titles have kept me guessing all the way through like this.
Battle Royale volume 9 can be tough to get hold of today, but if you want to try your luck with Amazon sellers, try here!
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