Mi||iê Måë

I agree, I just think they do because they literally cannot do so at home because of retaliation from their own bullies.

Plus I think she was just clinically insane!

Crystal Clear

The thing is, I can respect that she was mentally reeling from childhood sexual abuse. I can also respect that she was ignored in high school.


What I can't respect is her cold, selfish, crazy attitude towards everyone else on the island

For example, there's a scene where she finds a girl hiding in a cabin, who welcomes her in, and Mitsuko just goes berserk, steals her weapon and brutally tortures her to death. This was somebody who was wiling to hide with Mitsuko, someone who wasn't prepared to kill anyone.

Mi||iê Måë

I can agree with that. A lot of people have childhood traumas and don't go bat**** towards others like she did. She preyed on kindness then used it to her advantage.

Crystal Clear

It's awful I mean, I can understand her taking out her anger on actual bullies and students who are willing to kill others, but you could see the pleasure on her face when she killed innocents.

Mi||iê Måë

Almost like it was a way to show how her own innocence was stolen, so she stole from others.

Crystal Clear

Definitely seemed like it. She's the only one who sounded like she was on a mission to kill, not because she HAD to but because she'd be waiting for any opportunity.

Mi||iê Måë

Yeah, that's creepy!

Crystal Clear

If anyone needed more proof of how insane and bad Kiriyama really was --



He blew dozens of bullets into these two terrified girls, then held a loudspeaker up to their mouths so that everyone else on the island could hear their dying cries for help.

Logan

One of my favorite foreign films as far as horror violence and plot .They did a 2nd Battle royale !

Crystal Clear

Mine, too They weren't afraid to show bloody violence to the extreme, which really heightened the realism and the terror for the teens.

The whole question of "who will turn on who?" was really gripping throughout the movie.


They did! 'Requiem'. I've yet to see it, but it's been recommended to me Shuya is the star, again (and rightfully so)

LindaL100

I think there's this sense of double standards that people have when it comes to the characters of Kiriyama and Mitsuko...many fans love Kiriyama, yet a lot of the people who like his character are also the same people who dislike Mitsuko and vise versa, even though both characters are basically the same, they were both selfish and heartless murderous psychos who went berserk and murdered so many other students in such barbaric ways, both were ice cold and crazy. But at least with Mitsuko, we know she has a traumatic childhood having been sexually abused, whereas we knew nothing about Kiriyama's character, he was just a crazy murderous psycho who went around killing people, not just for survival, but he actually seemed like he enjoyed killing others for his own amusement as well. So I have slightly more sympathy for Mitsuko than Kiriyama because of her childhood trauma, but I still dislike both characters, they were both selfish and despicable monsters to me. But I do like both Masanobu Ando and Shibasaki Kou who played Mitsuko, I really like them both as actors, but really dislike their characters in the movie.

Crystal Clear

Don't get me wrong, Linda -- both characters are psychos and do irredeemable things. I just don't think Mitsuko is any more sympathetic than him, because I don't consider her childhood trauma to be a good enough reason to justify her killing innocent people with such glee. I think people actually prefer HER to Kiriyama, which I find baffling. He doesn't speak throughout the entire movie, so he doesn't brag about taking lives - whereas she does. She takes pleasure in enforcing bad behavior onto others and all because she had the same done to her, but by completely different people.

LindaL100

don't get me wrong I never tried to justify Mitsuko's actions or imply that her childhood trauma was a "good" reason to justify her murderous nature, there's no doubt she's a cold and selfish murderous psycho who has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, BUT I do still have a little bit of sympathy for her because of the trauma and abuse she endured as a child. No child should go through the abuse that Mitsuko went though as a child, and obviously her traumatic childhood had affected her greatly as she grew older, childhood abuse can have very serious repercussions for the victims, it can be very traumatic for the victims mentally, in reality many children who were victims of childhood abuse eventually grow up to become murderers and other sort of criminals, largely because of their toxic and traumatic upbringing, some of them tend to harbour so much anger and resentment towards the world as they grew up, which causes them to commit crimes. There's a saying "when the abused becomes the abuser", meaning when a victim of abuse eventually grows up to become the abuser or aggressor himself/herself, which is certainly the case with Mitsuko. Of course it's no excuse to murder someone, or in Mitsuko's case massacre so many people and nothing justifies that, however nothing justifies child abuse either. I think if Mitsuko had never been abused as a child and she had a good upbringing with loving parents, then I doubt she would've become the heartless and murderous psycho that she became. So yes, I do feel a little sympathetic towards Mitsuko because of all the abuse she suffered as a child, her parents had certainly let her down and broke her when she was a child, I largely blame her parents for abusing Mitsuko and mentally traumatising her as a child, which affected how she turned out as she grew older.

Whereas with Kiriyama since we knew virtually nothing about him or his background, it's hard to feel any sympathy for him, and even though he barely talked in the movie and was very quiet, but by the way he brutally murdered all those people and seemed to relish the bloodshed, it's obvious he took enjoyment in killing people and had absolutely no regard for human life, he played the deadly "game" and systematically murdered so many people for his own amusement. He didn't have to say how much he enjoyed killing people, his own crazy murderous and amused antics and actions speaks for itself. He and Mitsuko are both basically the same, both equally as crazy, selfish and heartless and murderous, the only differences between them are their genders and Mitsuko's difficult upbringing which at least gave her reason for becoming the kind of person she became.
I think the reason why some people like Mitsuko more than Kiriyama is because we know more about Mitsuko's character and her childhood abuse, so people are more sympathetic towards her character. But since we know virtually nothing about Kiriyama, it's probably more difficult for some people to feel any sympathy for him or connect with his character, he was just a very one-dimensional character, all we know about him is that he's just this crazy murderous psycho, we know nothing about his past or his childhood or how he became this heartless monster. While Mitsuko was a more complex character, yes she was just as much a murderous monster as Kiriyama, but at least we know she had a traumatic childhood, which undoubtfully affected her mentally as she grew older, the childhood abuse added another layer to her character which Kiriyama lacked. But there are also some people who like Kiriyama and prefer him over Mitsuko, the double standards applies both ways.

But like I said before, I dislike both Mitsuko and Kiriyama, probably equally the same amount, even though I am slightly more sympathetic towards Mitsuko.

Crystal Clear

Good points, but I think the ultimate reason that people may prefer Mitsuko to Kiriyama is because we're living in a time where people really enjoy Femme Fatale roles. You know, the woman seeking revenge and unleashing hell upon anyone to fill an emotional void in her life. I don't think it has a lot to do with her sexual abuse history; as much as that is emphasized, I think people just enjoy watching women empowered on screen, even if it means they are doing cruel things to innocent people.


You're right, though - they're as bad as each other I just find Kiriyama the more fascinating person to watch, because he acts as if he's mute, and he goes about killing in a very business-like manner. Like Shogo said, he's the only one who entered BR on his own terms, and that level of confidence proves how far removed he is from reality, because he actually thinks it's all a game!


...Whereas I find Mitsuko slightly more despicable, for the simple reason that she appears to be using her abusive history as a justification to kill innocents. There are no rules in her mind, just a simple need for revenge... In a place where nobody even knows the real her.


I enjoy these debates about these two characters there is so much to think about.

LindaL100

I understand what you mean about people enjoying Femme Fatale roles and strong women characters who promote female empowerment nowadays, but I doubt that's the reason why people like Mitsuko. There's nothing "empowering" about killing innocent people, and if we wanted a story about revenge, then Mitsuko killing her parents (who were the actual perpetrators of her abuse) made more sense, and it would've made her quest for revenge more understandable. I still think the main reason why people like her is because they're sympathetic about her past, because that seems to be the most common reason most Mitsuko fans I've seen give for liking her, they sympathize with her because of the abuse she suffered as child.

As for killing innocent people, well I think we shouldn't completely blame Mitsuko for her murderous rampage, because let's not forget that killing innocent people was basically the whole point of the BR program, these poor students were forced into playing this cruel "game" of killing each other, and there could only be one survivor or one "winner" in the end. So these students were bound to eventually turn on each other and kill each other for their own survival, it's only understandable and expected because that was basically the nature of the "game". And since Mitsuko was such a loner and did not have any real friends, she didn't really have anyone else to care about, and combining her lack of friends with all her anger and resentment due to the traumatic abuse she suffered, of course she would be the one person in the class who would have the most desire to survive till the end. Mitsuko understood the nature of the game, she had so much anger and resentment in her, and she knew that if she didn't kill her classmates then they will kill her, the BR "game" was a case of 'to kill or be killed' scenario, Mitsuko was determined to survive and be the last one standing, she was determined to be the hunter instead of the hunted. And every other student in her class were in the same position as her, they were all pressured and forced into murdering their classmates. But what sets Mitsuko apart from her classmates was that she seemed to enjoy killing people, while the other students resented being forced to kill their friends and classmates against their will.

We all have our own preferences, we barely know anything about Kiriyama which made his character very mysterious and enigmatic, and I suppose some people may find these types of characters fascinating to watch. But for me personally, Kiriyama was just too one-dimensional and flat for me, at least Mitsuko was a more complex character. Actually on second thought, I think Kiriyama is even more despicable than Mitsuko, because like you said, Kiriyama was the only one who entered the BR program by his OWN choice solely for the purpose of killing innocent people for his own enjoyment and amusement, he actually relished the experience of murdering as many innocent people as he could to win, unlike the others he actually treated the BR program as a thrill game. He was completely detached from reality and was completely devoid of all human compassion and empathy, he simply just loved to kill people for fun, he was cold as ice.
While Mitsuko might have also relished the experience of killing people, but just like her classmates, she was also forced into it against her will, like the others she was forced to play the "game", and when push came to shove, her survival instincts kicked in, she didn't want to be killed, she was determined to win for the sake of her own survival.
Kiriyama entered the BR program on his OWN free will solely because he wanted to murder people for fun, he simply loved the thrill of "playing the game". While Mitsuko was forced to play the "game" against her will and killed as many people as she could in order to survive. There's no doubt both were despicable and heartless murderous psychos, but considering their circumstances, I think Kiriyama was even worse. But that's just my opinion.