I'm not a fan of blood and gore. Action - I like. Violence - not my cup of tea. So, it's a given that I don't appreciate most part of this manga. What I hated about this was the way women/girls are portrayed. There is unnecessary vulgarity, the art is tasteless, the 'Teacher' is a pervert, a girl is dragged in for some guy's amusement. I can't take it anymore. I'm not inclined to read the next volumes.

On the plus side, I did like the back stories, though they dragged on a little. The couple who didn't want to kill anyone jumped into the sea together. Their scenes were sweet and sad.

On to the confusing parts. Shuuya assumes his best friend likes a girl. Later he gets to know that he doesn't like that girl. So, after his friend dies, he wants to protect her, just because he once incorrectly thought that she was his best friend's crush. That makes no sense at all. I liked Yumi and Yuki, but what kind of idiots announce their location when they are being hunted?

I'd recommend it to people who like violence and don't mind some plot holes and bad characters. As for me, I'm off to start The Hunger Games. ( )

Delivers a punch just as great as the first and even more shocking. The story begins to develop further in volume 2 and we are given a closer look at our lead characters. The true triumph of the Battle Royale series is that nearly every person is explored intimately until no death (even those of sociopaths) can be taken lightly, it is unique in its startling ability to attach the reader to every character. The girl who one day is killing people mercilessly, is then shown to be nothing but a scared child the next day by showing her life, her parents, her loves and anxieties. For a book all about mass killing and the cold way the announcer declares the names of the dead, it is actually very personal and no death is merely a statistic. I think that's the true beauty of this series amid all the horror. ( )

I'll start by saying this really isn't my type of manga. I'm not big on needless gore, so it was never like this would become my favorite series.

But I don't like it. I almost set it down during the first chapter because I just did -not- care. But when that plot finally ended, I decided to go ahead and finish it. The only reason I'm going to try to continue the series is because I'm slightly curious as to how the whole thing ends.

But there's only two (living) chars I even like, and it's not like I'm in love with them. I never get into it enough to feel any suspense or tension, and my only strong emotion is revulsion at all the graphic violence in a style of art that I don't particularly like.

So no, I'm not a Battle Royale fan. ( )

I'm so glad after however many years it's been that I've been able to find a resource to continue reading this! A great continuance from the first book, every page is action packed and draws you further and further into the story - the backgrounds of the characters and what may happen to them. Despite having read the book and having seen the film, the manga still left me in fresh anticipation for what lies just around the corner. Bloody epic! ( )