Crystal Clear

I don't dislike The Hunger Games, and yes - it's suspicious how similar it is to Battle Royale (who knows if the plagiarism rumors are true), but yes, it bugs the hell out of me that people are ALWAYS comparing them


Battle Royale took way more risks than HG did. It showed violence, suicide, defiance to the EXTREME. It's totally one of a kind.

Mi||iê Måë

I read THG games books and got through them but I wasn't fan crazy over them like some are. I liked the movies and have watched them more than once, but again, it's just an okay series for me.

Maybe that stems from having already seen Battle Royale and the concept was similar, so I'd already 'been there done that', so to speak.

Crystal Clear

We're totally on the same page about that


And honestly? I think the reason The Hunger Games was so well-received by the fandom was because it was in some weird competition with The Twilight Saga and Divergent Series. I hated the fandom wars.


Battle Royale is wayyyyyyyy more interesting.

LindaL100

I love Battle Royale, it's 1 of my fav Japanese movies I liked the sequel too, even though it wasn't nearly as good as the first movie, but I still enjoyed it. Anyone here watched the sequel?

Sugimura and Kotohiki's relationship didn't really do much for me, maybe because I love Chigusa and I was more invested in her scenes with Sugimura, I don't really care for Kotohiki...maybe because we didn't see much of her character compared to the others?
Anyway, in the movie there was obviously a love triangle between Chigusa, Sugimura and Kotohiki, while Sugimura loved Kotohiki, Chigusa loved Sugimura, and while Chigusa's love for him was unrequited, Sugimura still cared for Chigusa very much as she was his bestfriend. One of my favourite scenes in the whole movie was when Mitsuko fatally injured Chigusa and she laid dying just as Sugimura found her, even though Chigusa knew that she was not the one whom Sugimura loved, she still prayed to god to give her a little bit more time to spend with the boy she loved before she eventually died in his arms, she was still content that she was able to spend her last dying moments with Sugimura. And he was visibly heartbroken when she died, he cried out her name, it was so sad, I cried Sugimura might not have loved Chigusa romantically, but he certainly loved her as his close friend.


source

Chigusa was such a great character, she's my fav in the movie who are your fav characters?

Crystal Clear

Hi Linda! Great to see another BR fan


I think I'm in the minority, but I didn't really care about Chigusa. I felt more sympathy for Kotohiki because she was more innocent and alone. Sugimura saw Chigusa as a sister, and he did care for her - but in a totally platonic way.


I think the manga did a better job of showing it, the love story between Sugimura and Kotohiki - there were more scenes between them. Also, she wasn't responsible for his death in the manga. From what I remember, Kiriyama was. In the comic book version, Sugimura manages to escape with Kotohiki and they spend more time together talking about their history, when he first saw her, and his feelings for her - until Kiriyama tracks them down.


Kiriyama was this guy -




I think he was my favorite character in the movie. Just a full-on madman


EDIT: I haven't seen BR 2 Is it good?

LindaL100

well compared to many of the other student characters, Kotohiki had little screentime in the movie, and I often don't really care for minor characters, so that's probably why I don't care about Kotohiki.

I love Chigusa, she kicked ass and was feisty and strong, but still had compassion she was basically like the empathetic version of Mitsuko...while Mitsuko was a crazy and murderous madwoman with blood that was ice cold, she was basically the female version of Kiriyama. And while we are on the subject of Kuriyama, I do like him too, but I'm probably a bit bias about him because I like the actor Masanobu Ando who played him

As for the sequel, well...compared to the first movie, the reviews for the sequel have been largely mixed, most people think it's very mediocre compared to the original, but I personally enjoyed it, so I'm probably in the minority in this case. They still use the explosive collars in the sequel, but the storyline is completely different, and the collars work differently in the sequel. I would still recommend the sequel to anyone who loved the first BR movie, I think it's still worth watching at least once, even despite the negative reviews, because everyone has different opinions and preferences and you don't really know how you actually feel about a movie unless you watch it for yourself

Crystal Clear

That's the issue I have with the movie - they lessened Kotohiki's screentime. She was such an important character in the manga and they really stressed how much Sugimura has always adored her in the writing.


I still don't understand why the writer/director changed Sugimura's killer to Kotohiki instead of sticking to the manga version, Kiyiyama Maybe he wanted it to be more tragic and Romeo + Juliet ish, with the ultimate irony of being killed by the person you love.


Masanobu Ando played Kiriyama perfectly. He looked like he was always on the verge of going into a rage He had a quiet madness that was so creepy. I loved that scene where he overpowered about 8 students who had cornered him, and steals all their weapons


I will try to watch the sequel sometime. I admit, I was a little turned off when I read that Noriko's character basically only shows up in the final scene.

LindaL100

Even though Noriko played such an important part in the movie and was the main female character, but I didn't care for her either, I found her character rather bland, I was much more interested in some of the other female characters, so it didn't bother me that she only had a cameo in the sequel.

And fun fact in case anyone here doesn't know, the main female character in the sequel Shiori was played by Maeda Ai, who is the real-life older sister of Maeda Aki who played Noriko in the first movie the sequel focuses a lot on Shiori who's the daughter of Kitano from the first movie, but the storyline for the sequel is rather politically-driven, so it has a different feel compared to the original, a lot of the aspects of the sequel are different to the first movie, and that's where the sequel drew most of the criticisms.

Crystal Clear

I think it's a shame that Noriko's role is limited in the second movie, because I enjoyed her burgeoning relationship with Shuya. I loved that they escaped together and basically became Bonnie and Clyde


That's really cool!


That actually sounds intriguing because I remember Kitano's extremely awkward phone calls and how he was basically being treated like an irritation instead of a father/husband.


I think that's why he was so full of rage towards the school kids. He couldn't command their respect because everything negative that was happening at home was reflecting on his behavior as a teacher. He was too quiet and reserved, unable to establish himself without getting into trouble, so it all bubbled up beneath the surface until he finally snapped.

Mi||iê Måë

Is the sequel worth a watch?

LindaL100

yeah he had a complicated relationship with his daughter, I won't reveal too much spoilers from the sequel, but I can reveal that most of Shiori's tension towards her father was caused by Kitano's very creepy and unsettling feelings for Noriko, this was basically established at the very beginning of the movie, so I felt it was ok to reveal that spoiler.

like I had mentioned before in my previous post, the sequel received a lot of criticisms and negative reviews mainly because it was so different to the first movie, but I personally still enjoyed it. So I would still recommend anyone who likes the first movie to watch the sequel for themselves, yes it's different, but I would recommend people to watch it with an open mind and not compare it to the first movie too much, you'd probably enjoy it more.

Mi||iê Måë

Thanks for that Linda, I saw the first about 15 years ago and can't remember a lot, so when I do watch again I want to watch the sequel. Mostly because I like to make my own decision of whether or not it was good!

Critics can be too harsh and what some people love others hate and vice versa.

Crystal Clear

You've actually convinced me that the sequel is worth a watch


I like that they've linked it back to the unsettling tension between Kitano and Noriko.


In the Extended cut of the first movie, Noriko had a dream in which she and Kitano were revealing secrets to each other and eating ice lollies... It was so odd.





Plus, remember when he walked into the forest just to give her (and only her) an umbrella?

Mi||iê Måë

So I got my hands on a copy of this, will watch later this week!

Crystal Clear

Yay, Millie!





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