Battle Royale II: Requiem
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| Battle Royale II: Requiem | |
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| Directed by | Kenta Fukasaku Kinji Fukasaku |
| Produced by | Shigeyuki Endo Kenta Fukasaku Kimio Kataoka Hikaru Kawase |
| Written by | Kenta Fukasaku Norio Kida Koushun Takami (characters) |
| Starring | Tatsuya Fujiwara Ai Maeda Shugo Oshinari |
| Music by | Masamichi Amano |
| Cinematography | Toshihiro Isomi |
| Distributed by |  Toei Bright Angel Distribution Kinowelt Home Entertainment Tartan Films |
| Release date(s) | Jul 5, 2003 |
| Running time | 133 min 155 min (Director's Cut) |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Budget | $9,000,000 (estimated) |
| Preceded by | Battle Royale |
| IMDb profile | |
Battle Royale II: Requiem (バトル・ロワイヤルＩＩ 【鎮魂歌】 Batoru rowaiaru tsū: "Rekuiemu"?), abbreviated as BRII (Bii āru tsū), is a 2003 Japanese, dystopian, action-thriller film. It is a sequel to the 2000 film, Battle Royale, which in turn was based upon a controversial 1999 novel of the same title by Koushun Takami. An extended version of the film is titled Battle Royale II: Revenge.
Director Kinji Fukasaku, who directed the first film, started work on the sequel but died of prostate cancer on January 12, 2003, after shooting only one scene with Takeshi Kitano. His son Kenta Fukasaku, who wrote the screenplay for both films, completed the film in his father's honor.
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[edit] Story
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In the sequel, survivors of previous Battle Royales, led by Shuya Nanahara (the hero of the first film), have formed a terrorist group called "Wild Seven".
As in the first film, a class of teenagers from Shikanotoride Junior High School (鹿之砦中学校 Shikanotoride Chūgakkō) is kidnapped by the Japanese government. Instead of stereotypically studious Japanese students, these ninth graders are “a ragtag collection of delinquents and losers from all over Japan,” including tough-guy rugby players, punks with dyed hair. More importantly, many are orphans whose parents or family died in bombings by Wild Seven. After their school bus is diverted to an army base, the students are herded into a cage, surrounded by armed guards, and confronted by their schoolteacher, Riki Takeuchi, who lays down the ground rules of the new Battle Royale game. Wild Seven is hiding out on a deserted island, and instead of being forced to kill each other, as in the old Battle Royale, the students are ordered to attack the terrorist group’s hideout en masse and kill the leader, Shuya Nanahara, within 72 hours. Most of the kids are not interested in being forced to avenge their families, but are coerced to fight through exploding metal collars, which their captors can detonate by remote control. The students are also put into 'pairs'; if one student dies, then his or her 'pair' will also die because of the metal collars set to a certain frequency.
Once again, Shuya — accompanied by survivors of previous "Programs" — must fight to survive.
The film does not use any elements of Takami's novel, save for a few characters.
[edit] Reaction
Unlike the original Battle Royale, this second installment focuses upon the philosophy and uses action as an augmentation, thus making it more narrative. Because of this, some people criticized it for being unfaithful to the original film.
[edit] Political dimension
Battle Royale II seems to express a reaction to the post-9/11 state of the world. The film's opening sequence re-enacts 9/11, Tokyo style. The twin towers of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Offices, Tokyo’s tallest buildings, are brought crashing down by Wild Seven's bombs, along with the rest of Shinjuku’s many skyscrapers.
When the kidnapped children are told the rules of the new Battle Royale game by their teacher, Riki, he points out a white line on the floor, and says, "There are only two sides in life, the winners and the losers... This is the line that divides good from evil. It’s black or white. There’s nothing in between." Riki scrawls the names of various countries on a chalkboard: Somalia, Bosnia, Japan, and so on. Riki asks his frightened and bewildered students what all the countries have in common. The answer, Riki spits out in anger, is "In the past sixty years, America has bombed every one of them. Some 8 million dead among 22 nations!" Riki states, "You are either with us or against us," a message which, according to some, echoes America's stance after 9/11. There has been no official indication that such an interpretation was intentional.
Once the Battle Royale begins, the classmates' experience mirror two important chapters in American history, D-Day (similar to Pointe Du Hoc landings) and the Vietnam War (when the kids regroup and head into the thick jungle of the Island’s interior to face tripwires and booby traps).
The film suggests (but never explicitly states) that the United States is behind the Battle Royales, despite the original book actually giving praise to the United States by saying it could be the country to end the Fascist government in Japan.
At the end of the film, the last remaining members of the Wild Seven seek refuge in Afghanistan, which was the first target of the War on Terrorism. Without coincidence, Shuya wears the same white robe as Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden (but wields an AK-47 instead of bin Laden's AKS-74U).
One way to interpret the many parallels to 9/11 and scenes from American history is that the filmmakers wanted Japanese audiences to consider American history, America’s current role in the world, and Japan's role as America's ally.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Wild Seven
- Shuya Nanahara (七原秋也 Nanahara Shūya) - The leader of Wild Seven.
- Saki Sakurai (桜井サキ Sakurai Saki) - The sniper.
- Mitsugu Sakai - The mediator and peacemaker.
- Maki Souda - A technical wizard.
- Soji Kazama - Another previous Battle Royale winner who is also a skilled sniper.
- Satoshi Imakire - The eldest member of Wild Seven.
- Kengo Yonai - Skilled with bayonets and knives.
- Mai - Another previous Battle Royale winner who appears in the beginning of the first Battle Royale film.
- Nishi
- Shiro
- Sanada
- Yukari
- Aya
- Chizuru
- Shoko
- Sayaka
- Iwamoto
- Shinobu
[edit] Students
[edit] Males
- Takuma Aoi (青井拓馬 Aoi Takuma)
- Shugo Urabe (卜部秀悟 Urabe Shūgo)
- Osamu Kasai (葛西治虫 Kasai Osamu)
- Ryo Kurosawa (黒澤凌 Kurosawa Ryō)
- Haruya Sakurai (桜井晴哉 Sakurai Haruya) - The brother of Saki Sakurai.
- Masami Shibaki (柴木雅実 Shibaki Masami)
- Tetsuya Shimura (志村鉄也 Shimura Tetsuya)
- Naoki Jo (城直輝 Jō Naoki)
- Masakatsu Taguchi (田口正勝 Taguchi Masakatsu)
- Jun Nanami (名波順 Nanami Jun)
- Tatsuhiko Hasegawa (長谷川達彦 Hasegawa Tatsuhiko)
- Shota Hikasa (日笠将太 Hikasa Shōta)
- Yasuaki Hosaka (保坂康昭 Hosaka Yasuaki)
- Kenji Maezono (前薗健二 Maezono Kenji)
- Shintaro Makimura (槙村慎太郎 Makimura Shintarō)
- Kiyoshi Minamoto (皆本清 Minamoto Kiyoshi)
- Yosuke Miyadai (宮台陽介 Miyadai Yōsuke)
- Wataru Mukai (向井渉 Mukai Wataru)
- Tatsuro Morishima (森島達郎 Morishima Tatsurō)
[edit] Females
- Naomi Asakura (浅倉なお Asakura Naomi)
- Miki Ikeda (池田美希 Ikeda Miki)
- Kyoko Kakei (筧今日子 Kakei Kyōko)
- Shiori Kitano (キタノシオリ Kitano Shiori) - Shiori is the daughter of Kitano, the teacher from the first Battle Royale. Shiori signs up to transfer to Shikanotoride Junior High School and to participate in the Battle Royale II.
- Haruka Kuze (久瀬遥 Kuze Haruka)
- Nozomi Sagisawa (鷺沢希 Sagisawa Nozomi)
- Sanae Shioda (汐田早苗 Shioda Sanae)
- Reesa Shindo (新藤理沙 Shindō Reesa)
- Honami Totsuka (戸塚保奈美 Totsuka Honami)
- Yuko Natsukawa (夏川結子 Natsukawa Yūko)
- Rena Niimi (新見麗奈 Niimi Rena)
- Maho Nosaka (野坂真帆 Nosaka Maho)
- Mayu Hasuda (蓮田麻由 Hasuda Mayu)
- Ryoko Hata (波多量子 Hata Ryōko)
- Kazumi Fukuda (福田和美 Fukuda Kazumi)
- Shiho Matsuki (松木志穂 Matsuki Shiho)
- Yuka Mifune (三船夕佳 Mifune Yūka)
- Asuka Motomura (本村明日香 Motomura Asuka)
- Ayane Yagi (八木綾音 Yagi Ayane)
- Ai Yazawa (矢沢愛 Yazawa Ai) (paired with Hibiki Yano)
- Hibiki Yano (谷野響 Yano Hibiki)
- Kana Yuki (夕城香菜 Yūki Kana) (paired with Eri Yoshiyama)
- Eri Yoshiyama (善山絵里 Yoshiyama Eri)
[edit] Adults and miscellaneous characters
- Riki Takeuchi - The "teacher" of Battle Royale II.
- Noriko Nakagawa (中川典子 Nakagawa Noriko) - The other survivor from the first Battle Royale.
- Hitoe (仁絵 Hitoe) - Riki Takeuchi's daughter
[edit] Cast
- Shuya Nanahara - Tatsuya Fujiwara
- Noriko Nakagawa - Aki Maeda
- Shugo Urabe - Takeru Shibaki
- Takuma Aoi - Shugo Oshinari
- Nao Asakura - Ayana Sakurai
- Riki Takeuchi - Riki Takeuchi
- Hitoe Takeuchi - Nanami Ohta
[edit] Music
The sequel's soundtrack has more original work by Masamichi Amano and fewer classical pieces. One of them, Farewell to the Piano (composed by Beethoven), is played by Shiori Kitano herself during the film.
[edit] Trivia
- Much of the cast was made up of former, current (and future) Super Sentai and Kamen Rider alumni.
- The assault rifles used by the Battle Royale students are FAMAS "Type 03" rifles; some have attached M303 grenade launchers. Shuya Nanahara uses an AK-47.
- Saki Sakurai clutches an AKS-74U when she dies.
- "Iacta Alea Est," Wild Seven's slogan, means "The Die Is Cast" in Latin.
- Quentin Tarantino was offered a role but could not do it because of scheduling. He said, "They wanted me to play the President of the United States."[citation needed]
- The film's tag line "This time it's war" was also the tag line used for the 1986 James Cameron movie Aliens.
- Throughout the original Novel, Shogo Kawada often smokes WILD SEVEN cigarettes. WILD SEVEN is the nickname of Shuya Nanahara. This is arguably the origin of Wild Seven's nickname, as both the manga and the novel precede both films. The name is similar to "Mild Seven." See article Wild Seven.
- In one scene, Shuya is seen with a photo of his entire class, an orange headband and a knife. They are all references to the previous film, with the headband once belonging to Shogo Kawada and the knife belonging to Noriko Nakagawa / Yoshitoki Kuninobu.
[edit] Book
There is a book called "The Road to BRII" that is related to the movie.
[edit] Related manga
A manga series called Battle Royale II: Blitz Royale is partially related to Battle Royale II: Requiem. The school in Blitz Royale is Shikanotoride Junior High School, and the "teacher" pops pills like Riki Takeuchi. There are numerous plot differences between the book and manga [2].
[edit] Images
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 Bottom: Lieutenant Anjo |
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 Bottom: the "Little Girl in Red" |
 Top right: Saki, the female sniper |
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[edit] External links
- Battle Royale II: Requiem at the Internet Movie Database
- Official website for Battle Royale II
- BattleRoyaleFilm.net Fan site
- Battle Royale forum
- Comparison of DVD releases
- (Japanese) Battle Royale II: Requiem at the Japanese Movie Database
Categories: Articles to be expanded since January 2007 | All articles to be expanded | Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 2003 films | Action films | Battle Royale | Cult films | Films directed by Kinji Fukasaku | Japanese films | Japanese-language films | Terrorism in Japan | Thriller films
