The Hunger Games VS. Battle Royale

When I first watched the Trailer for The Hunger Games, it aroused my curiosity. I soon began doing a bit of research on it and came to find out that it was somewhat similar to a book I have read before called Battle Royale. Being a die hard Battle Royale fan, I became pissed off that this Suzanne Collins woman stole the basic plot line of Battle Royale and was making tons of profit when Koushun Takami should be but after I read both books, I began to notice some significant differences.

The similarities with Battle Royale and The Hunger Games both revolve around an evil government during this end of the world, post-apocalypse era if you wish to call it. There is still life but the people live in terror. Every year, the evil government forces teenagers/children to kill each other as a way of proving a point. Sure there is some romance thrown in there and gore but that's about all that's similar except the endings but I won't spoil that.

The Hunger Games centers around a female character named Katniss who lives her life in district 12 with her mother and little sister, Prim. Unlike Katniss, her best friend and hunting buddy, Gale has a hatred for the Capitol (evil government of shallow assholes who care about fashion, gossip, plastic surgery, luxury and entertainment over the lives of the starving people in the districts) and has ideas of rebellion. Katniss doesn't think much of it, often pushing Gale's harsh words aside and going about her days until the day of the reaping. The Reaping is when the children of the districts are selected in some lottery and are sent to the Hunger Games to kill each other. Two children are selected, one male and one female.

Upon the reaping, Katniss's sister Prim is selected. Katniss, confused on why her sister whose name has only been placed in the raffle once whereas hers is in there several times, volunteers as tribute to save her sister. The male tribute for district 12 is Peeta, the blonde haired, blue eyed Baker's son. The tributes are then sent to the Capitol where they are polished and made up to fit the Capitol's liking. The tributes experience the luxury of foods and technology they could only dream of before they are sent into battle. There the tributes must kill each other and play the audience (The Hunger Games are televised and viewers can send gifts to keep the tribute of interest alive) to survive. Katniss, being a hunter knows how to live off the land and protect herself but her mentor, Haymitch, tells her she must act as if she is in love with Peeta so she and Peeta will receive more gifts.

The battle goes on with people dying left and right until Katniss and Peeta are left. The Capitol tricked them into thinking they could both stay alive but then states they must kill each other. Katniss has a different idea; The Romeo and Juliet ending. She makes the audience believe that she loved Peeta too much to kill him and suggest they both commit suicide. The Hunger Games stop and claim both winners but that's just the beginning of the chaos.

There are many differences in the novel, film and manga for Battle Royale so bare with me if I get some of these mixed up. I read all of them but they tend to intertwine within my head.

Battle Royale is a story about many different characters who are forced to kill each other. The children know of the BR but do not know that they are a part of it until they awake on a desert island. There, they are told they must kill each other to survive and if there is not one victor at the end of three days, everyone is killed by the explosive collar on their neck. Unlike in The Hunger Games, the students are given weapons, food, and a map to aid them. Some weapons are totally useless such as a boomerang and some can do critical damage. The students also know their classmate's strengths and weaknesses well so picking them off and finding out who to challenge is an option whereas in The Hunger Games, the tributes had to learn their enemies' skill in battle.

Though there is a vary of viewpoints and stories, Shuya, Noriko, and Shogo (the former winner of the BR) appear to be the main characters. Shuya grew up in an orphanage with his best friend Nobu. He is a dreamer and is very trusting of people. When the Battle Royale started, Nobu was killed for expressing hatred towards a government official and was shot. Shuya then goes about the BR protecting Noriko (I believe because Nobu had a crush on her) and joins up with Shogo, a winner of a BR in the past. He won by accidently killing his girlfriend who he believed was trying to kill him when she was really trying to protect him. With Shogo's help, they get a better grasp on the rules and how people will play. Not to mention the mics in their collars.

Fast forward, people die. Way too many details to go into with everyone's story (such as childhood abuse, rape, a need for love, betrayal. All that stuff) so I'll skip to the end. Shuya, Noriko and Shogo are left and convince the government officials they are dead by firing two shots into the air (the mic picks up the sound) and Shogo disables Shuya's and Noriko's collars making it appear as if they died. With the government caught off guard, Shogo and Noriko sneak onto a Government boat and kill all the guards. Unfortunately, Shogo dies in the end and Shuya and Noriko are living on the run.

I know I'm not explaining BR well but I read it four years ago, The manga a few months ago and the flim a few summers ago. If you need a more in depth explanation, wikipedia could help. It helped me clear up a few misunderstanding when I was reading the book but remember, Wiki is not always 100% correct.

Here are some differences between the two books:

• In HG, the tributes didn't know each other but in BR they did.
• In BR, the students are given weapons as soon as they began, Tributes in HG must receive weapons as a gift or fight for them at the cornucopia.
• In HG, the main character is a girl. In BR the MAIN character is a boy.
• In BR, there are several viewpoints. In HG, the only viewpoint is Katniss's.
• In HG, everyone can watch the battle. In BR, only the winner is aired on television.
• IN BR, there is no love triangle. In HG, Gale and Peeta compete for Katniss's love.

There are more differences but these are the major ones.