Sounds familiar? That's what I thought when I first heard about the book and soon-to-be movie "The Hunger Games." My first thought? That sounds a lot like "Battle Royale!"
For those who don't know, Battle Royale is a manga (Japanese comic book) and later turned movie (2000). It also has a sequel. In this story, the government picked a random class from a random school. Students from this unfortunate class will be thrown into an arena and fight for 3 days, all the while being filmed and broadcast on live TV. Only one may survive. The extreme "Survivor."
An American book/movie that resembles a previously-published Japanese book/movie, this it not the first. Disney's The Lion King and Japan's Kimba-the white lion, Japan's 1000 years of snow (and countless other manga) and Twilight are a few examples.
Now, I've read the manga and watched the first Battle Royale movie and just finished the Hunger Games triology. Let's break it down. Are these 2 books too similar to be a mere coincidence?
** SPOILERS AHEAD** Spoilers for both The Hunger Games and Battle Royale are ahead*
Plots:
Battle Royale: (manga/movie)
Japan. A group of students were on a class field trip. On their way, they were gassed and became unconscious. They woke up in a deserted room, each wearing a device on his/her neck. Their former teacher appeared to announce that their class have been randomly selected to participate in a reality show called "Battle Royale." This is an annual program, broadcast on TV, created by the corrupted government to keep people entertained. Here are the rules of the game:- They're in an arena, in this case, a deserted island
- Each person will be given a backpack, in the backpack is some type of weapon, ranging from harmless pot lid (!) to machine gun or a GPS
- Each student's name will be called separately to get the backpack and leave the room
- They have 3 days to fight
- Only 1 can survive
- The device attached to their neck contains a bomb, enough to blow their heads off
- If they try to take it off, it'll explode.
- If they try to escape the island, it'll explode.
- If by the end of 3 days, there are still no winner, all bombs will blow.
Untrained students, scared and confused, some committed suicide, some ran and hide, some tried to regain trust and humanity from fellow students. Our main male and female characters fell in love. With the help of friends, they faked their own deaths, escape from the island, and became wanted fugitives. In the book, the 2 left for the US to build new lives.
So, here are the similarities and differences:
Similarities:
- A group of teenagers in an arena fight for survival- Program is televised
- Participants are chosen by lottery
- Corrupted government making kids fight to their deaths
- Corrupted audience watching the program as a form of entertainment
- Winner of the game came back as a celebrity
- Arena is a jungle/forest
- Each day, the list of participants killed are announced. In Battle Royale, since everyone knows everyone else in class, a list of name is read. In The Hunger Games, pictures are projected into the sky.
- Love developed in the arena
- Participants rebelled, refused to be a part of the game and were punished for it
- Participants get backpacks
- If participants spread out in the arena, they will be forced into a certain area together. In Hunger Games, Gamemakers triggered traps to corner tributes together. In Battle Royale, there are restricted zones based on each passing hour. Zones will be announced based on how spread out the participants are. If you're in the restricted zone, the bomb on your neck will go off
- Even though only 1 may survive, 2 came out of the arena alive
Differences:
- In The Hunger Games, participants ("tributes") don't really know each other. Unless they come from the same district, they hardly have time to interact. In Battle Royale, these kids go to the same class for years, making killing one another much harder and painful, this we rarely see in The Hunger Game 1. Guilt was not much of the equation.- Hunger Games: tributes have time to train, be well fed, coached for parade and interview. A very glamor reality show before the fight. Some tributes were trained their whole lives for a chance to compete. Battle Royale: students were kidnapped and transported to a deserted island, no training, no coach or mentor, no sponsors to send gifts, they were thrown into the arena hours after their arrival (still wearing school uniforms!)
- Hunger Games: while the Gamemakers can get impatient if it drags out too long, there's no specified time limit. Battle Royale: you have 3 days, do or die.
So similar, yes. Do I love them both? Yes. But the feeling after reading each one is different.
Hunger Games: much less feelings (sadness, guilt) associated with each death. Not sure if it's because Katniss herself is a hunter and pretty emotionless unless it concerns her family but she doesn't show much about killing a human being. While Rue's death was emotional and she talked about Glimmer's and Cato's deaths sometimes, pointing an arrow at the enemy was basic instinct. The book focused more on actions on philosophic thoughts. So I didn't feel bad when Katniss killed someone. It was like a Musketeer movie, your sword is always clean no matter how many people you killed. No blood, no heavy feeling.
Battle Royale: guilt, sadness, regrets are heavily associated with each death, even when killing the bad guy, especially in the manga. You felt the weigh of friendship, the meaning of life, the cost of taking someone's life to save your own, very philosophic. Made me feel uneasy and cry for days.
Conclusion: Both have its own upsides and downsides. If you want food for thoughts, read the manga Battle Royale. For entertainment, read/watch The Hunger Games.
