The new millennium Japan was in disarray and the country is collapsing. Unemployment rate was sky high at 15% and schools violence is out of hand, with rebellious teenagers staing mass boycotts. So, the beleaguered government relatiated with a programme codenamed – “Battle Royale”.

Battle Royale is a game where each year, a random class was chosen and they were dropped onto an isolated island and each and every one of the students must fight and kill their friends for their own survival.

Here are the rules of the game:-

1. The game lasts 3 days.
2. Each player starts out with an army bag that comes with food, water, and a “weapon”. Everyone gets a different type of weapon, some could get as good as a machine gun, some just a cover lid for protection.
3. After the 3rd day, if more than one player survives, all of them must die.
4. There is no escape, as everyone’s neck is permanently strapped with an explosive that will go off should they exceed their specified perimeter.

This is like the “Survivor” series, only wilder and more brutal.

First casualty of the game, Fujiyoshi was shot dead by an army knife from the teacher because she wasn’t paying attention during the briefing. 1 down, 41 to go. Now it started to sound like a game of Counter-strike.

This particular guy accidentally killed himself by an axe when he tried to attack Nanahara, the good guy who tried to escape the “game”, among a few others.

This group of girls formed a pact of trust that no one will kill each other and they had to walk together till the end of the game. But tensions grow between them when one of them was mistakenly poisoned by one of the girls. They all end up dead.

There’s a hacker who succeeded in hacking through the military’s control system that tracks their positions and activities. He’s in one of the trust pact consisting of 5 other students, including Nanahara. They planned to destruct the military base using self-made sulphur bombs. 3 of the guys ended up dead – killed by one of the new student on transfer, who’s also the cruelest killer.

Well, what’s a Japanese movie without pretty girls?

At the end of the story, the teacher revealed this picture. Drawn by one of the survivors well before she joined the game. It depicts her self-centered thoughts – every dies and only she survives – which is probably how the government got the idea of this game.

The game ended with three survivors, instead of one according to the rules. I’m not gonna tell you how that happened cause it’ll kill the thrill of watching the movie. Sit tight and enjoy you guys! I’m on my way to watching the Battle Royale II (2003) now.