A Real Villain in J-Horror? - Battle Royale

Could you kill your best friend?

A Real Villain in J-Horror? - Battle Royale

     In most western horror movies and novels, it should have villains fight against hero or survivors for making an intense scene or surprise scene. For example, in 'Child's play' by Tom Holland, Andy shows himself as a survivor while Chucky shows himself as a devil doll that kills many people with a tiny body. However, in Japanese horror movies and novels, some people show themselves as villains, but it is hard to say that they are truly bad. Even ghosts in Japan have reasons to appear and kill certain people. This interesting setting can be seen in 'Battle Royale.'

Spolier Alart, Shogo does not kill them. :D

     Before talking about the differences between Western Horror and J-Horror, it is good to know about the concept of the novel 'Battle Royale.' The word 'Battle Royale' in wrestling means one of the rules that starts with many wrestlers on the ring and they fight until only one player is left on the ring. However, in 'Battle Royale' by Koushun Takami, normal middle school students fight against themselves (classmates) until only one student is survived in the island. The book shows well about how people easily get suspicious and kill others for surviving.

     Is there a villain in 'Battle Royale' like Chucky? Yes, Kazuo and Sakamochi show themselves as villains in 'Battle Royale.' Kazuo is trying to kill everyone and take the victory and Sakamochi is the commander of this game. However, most students in 'Battle Royale' cannot be seen as a villain and a hero. For example, Shuya, a main character of this novel, shows himself as a humble and nice person, but he cannot save any people except one. Other survivors who trying to kill other students like Mitsuko and Kyoichi might be seen as villains, but it is hard to say because they just want to survive in this crazy tournament. On the other side, Kazuo tries to kill everyone to win the game, but he was a kind person until he gets brain damage from the car accidents. Also, he can be Shuya's friend if he gets another side of the coin on the coin toss game. I wonder what happen if Kazuo wins another side of the coin. At the end, the only real villain that breaks character setting of J-Horror is Sakamochi in 'Battle Royale.'

Creepy :d

     Why there are different concept of character setting between J-Horror and Western Horror? In my personal thought, it is related to the religion and legend story that cause some kind of stereotype. In Bible from Christians, devils can be seen as bad creatures that makes people to kill each other and break promise while angels can be seen as holy sprites that helps people to survive or shows miracle. This devil and angel concepts show the absolute evilness and good. What about the Japanese culture? In Shinto,one of the Japanese traditional religion, there is no absolute right or wrong because people easily get influence from their surrounding. It might be one of the reasons why there is no true villain in J-Horror film and novel.

     Like 'Battle Royale,' there is no real villain and no hero in J-horror while Western Horror has it. It happens because of the different religion idea that shows absolute good or bad. 

Hunger Game is fun too...

Hunger Game VS Battle Royale....and Review

     I knew a little bit about 'Battle Royale' before I read because my friends recommend me to watch the movie when I was in middle school (7,8 years ago.) But I decided not to watch the film because this film is one of the gore films that shows a lot of blood on, and I didn't want to watch that kind of movies. When I read the book, it was interesting because it shows how people make group together and break by small doubt feeling. Also, I like the specific part where Shogo makes the fake scene for the escape.

     I want to mention about 'Hunger Game,' because the concept of 'Hunger Game' is similar to 'Battle Royale,' but different. 'Hunger Game' has similar rules that every player should kill each other until only one player survive, and players decide to fight against government or run away from them, but the genre is close to the action while 'Battle Royale' is close to thriller and horror. I recommend to watch both movies :D. (I'm gonna watch Battle Royale soon!!!)