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It is truly an honor to partner with Original Cinematic, and we can't thank them enough for their contribution to our show. And now, back to our regularly scheduled program. Welcome to Podmortem. I'm Travis Hunter Syappin, joined as always by my co-hosts, my sister and my brother-in-law. Hi, I'm Renee Hunter Vasquez. Hi, I'm John Paul Vasquez. This week, we're broadcasting live from a deserted island, discussing the 2000 dystopian action thriller, Battle Royale.
This film was directed by Kenji Fukasaku from a screenplay by Kenta Fukasaku based on the novel of the same name by Kushin Takami. The final film fully directed by the elder Fukasaku, Battle Royale offers a compelling piece of cinema, complete with thrilling action, vibrant splashes of stylized violence, relatable characters, masterful music choices, scintillating scenic cinematography, and myriad memorable moments.
Though it generated a fair amount of controversy upon its release, this film would go on to attain sizable box office success, spawn a sequel, and leave a lasting legacy for many filmmakers and fans of the genre. This film was suggested to us by friends of the show. Amy Goodman, Mariah Jensen, Smelly Poo Poo Head, Jasmine, Rising Moonflower, Kristen Lofton, Sidem.
Eggie, Pontypool, Katieface, Mike H, and Cookie. We'd like to thank each and every one of them for their continued support of the show, as well as this suggestion. This was also my birthday pick for the year. So, Battle Royale. What were your first impressions on the film? I don't really remember. the the when it was seeing it but i think you showed it to us t or you had told us to watch it And I remember watching it and really enjoying it because I didn't even know anything about it.
and then watching it for the show, I do still really, really enjoy it. I don't know why I thought a lot of the, I'll say gore, I guess, or the kills. I thought it was a lot gorier for whatever reason, but watching it now, maybe because... we were younger when we watched it and it was just like oh my god something i had never seen and then watching it now is like huh this is tasteful or it's very you know what i mean like it's done in a way it's not too much i know we are dealing with
school-age children teenagers um but i don't know why i guess before i thought they were just like ripping each other apart but i was like oh that's not they're not zombies I wonder if maybe it is because of that, like you remember it worse than it was almost like people talk about Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Yeah. I could have sworn that this is way more gruesome than it is, but it's just the way that it's done that it sticks with you in a different way.
But I did enjoy this a lot. I will say taking notes does kind of stop progress of the movie or like the momentum of it. And it... watching it just from start to beginning i bet perfect you know what i mean like the pacing everything is great but that was something having to stop to take notes and look up stuff i was just like get getting back into it was like okay Now trying to, you know, jump back into it. So, but I would definitely recommend this to anybody. This movie was really, really good.
Yeah, I don't remember exactly the first time I watched it. I'm pretty sure it was with tea. And I remember watching it a few times. I remember watching it again with you, John Paul. And I don't think I've watched it since. And it is, I did remember it being more gratuitous than it was. Like it is. horrific like you said these are teenagers they're like the whole concept is very horrific and brutal but I did remember it being more gratuitous and I don't know if that's like
Like y'all, they're saying a lasting impression. I don't know if that's desensitization. I don't know because it has been some years, but. I just always remember thinking, God, Battle Royale is fucking brutal. And it is, but not exactly in the way that I was remembering it. I think that this film has a lot to say.
I do, though, feel like there are aspects of its commentary that don't fully come through in the film, like the governmental aspect I would like a little bit more of. Yeah. We meet so many people and I know that. There's no way when you have a cast this big or this many characters that you can do justice to where everyone comes from, to their story, to anything. But I think I would have liked a little bit more.
from more of them just to give more of an impact because I think that that's the point of this film at least to an extent but All that being said, if I had to complain about something, those would be my complaints. I think this movie is really, really great. I think that... it is a must see. I think that it's influenced a lot. I don't, I will admit I've never read or seen any hunger games film, but from my understanding, they're quite similar. Um,
And I don't know if that's on purpose. Sometimes people conceive things at the same time. I don't know nothing about that. I'm not accusing anyone. I did some reading on that. I will say she claims that it was completely an organic idea. i don't i wasn't there and things like that do happen this is just a very specific but i mean what the fuck do i know i don't know um
I will say though, I had a great idea for a book in the last couple of years and it was on one of the newer, something very similar was on one of the newer seasons of Black Mirror. That's why I'm like, I'm not going to fucking judge because I have felt robbed in that way before. But, you know, whatever. I think. whatever the truth is there. Why does it sound like you're trying to climb out of like a legal hole? Like you fell into a pit.
Oh my God. I'm walking a tightrope here. No, but I would still call this film very influential. I think, like I said, it has a lot to say and it gets that messaging across in a very jarring way. And sometimes I think that that's. what is needed yeah um but yeah i love this film i'm i'm glad that you picked it for your birthday i was really excited to revisit it and it did not disappoint i still think that it's great yeah you know i'm glad i picked it for my birthday too yeah
I'm proud of me. And oddly, this episode will actually release on my birthday, which is pretty cool. That's really cool. Thank you. I remember the first time watching it. I could have sworn it was with nay. And I thought that I watched it at maybe like 15 or 16 years old, which is around the same age of the kids in the film. And I was doing my research and I was looking online and everybody was like, you know.
This film wasn't even released in America until like 2010 or 2012. And I was like, that's... I was like, there's no way because I didn't leave the country to see it. And so I looked it up and I did way too much research. And I did find out that Netflix got access to British. DVDs of Battle Royale in the mid 2000s, which around that time feels like the right time that Ney and I watched it for the first time. Right, right. And it was honestly, we were recommended the film, not personally.
But by Quentin Tarantino. Okay, okay. Are you sure it was the first? I think the author of The Hunger Games was the one that told us about it. They'd jump out the window. But he had talked about it being such an influence on a lot of the stylized violence in Kill Bill. Okay, okay. And we'll talk later about one casting choice. But after that, and that was like 2003, 2004. We wanted to seek it out. And we finally did. We watched it.
I remember the first time seeing it, I was just absolutely blown away by it. The content of it, I think, was remarkable to me. But the concept of it really fascinated me. Yeah. And I think being... that age of the main characters it felt very much like a what would you do kind of a situation and you can't help but put yourself there when you watch a film like this right and it is like
I don't even know how I would react if this were a thing that was a normal part of your everyday society right and I think that there's also definitely a large amount of nostalgia there for it for me And kind of connecting to these like...
adolescent problems and ways of thinking as an adolescent when you're watching it yes that kind of stays with you yeah okay and so maybe there's stuff that might not work as well for you if you watched it for the first time as an adult yeah and you're like you know a lot of this is really
like crush based well yeah but i i think that even even watching it as an adult i think that if you have any if you're in touch at all with who you were as a teenager or if you remember who you were being that young it's like no yeah this is happening i need to make sure that my crush is okay yeah and also i get to beat so and so's ass because she's dating that guy that i liked in in fourth grade great you know what i mean like
your priorities and your thinking and everything it is so skewed and so different when you're 14 versus right our big ass ages now like i think you got to give some grace for that like you have to remember what it was like to be that age yeah I've tried. I'll be honest. I did the same. I thought when I was watching, I was like, what would I do at 14? I also feel like it's just kind of how you grew up, the environment around you.
I'm going to be honest. Me at 14, I probably would have cried for my mom for a little bit. And then I would have been like, you know what? Let me find a friend. We're going to make it out of here together. I get the crush stuff and all that, but I also, again, that's what I'm saying, if you come from...
a different kind of neighborhood or whatever you get put here. Oh, I'm sorry. You guys fuck all y'all. I'd be crying. I'd be like, I'm going to write a poem about this. Where's my straightener so I can put my hair over one eye? You're getting ready. I wouldn't make it out here. It's like, I hope no one takes care of me while I'm writing this. I got to get this down while it's still fresh. Crush rules everything around me.
But I think that returning to it as an adult, all these adolescent thoughts aside. I appreciate the craft of it so much more. And I think that weaving the stories of 42 characters is a massive undertaking. Yeah. We talked about it off mic and then you mentioned it a little bit a minute ago. That is one thing that I would love a deeper dive into.
And there is, of course, in the novel where you have the space and the time to flesh out a lot of these backstories. Right. A lot of the characters that we meet for five seconds and then die, we kind of get their inner thoughts and motivations and different chapters and everything. That. I like, like, I'm a backstory bitch. I love, I love it. Like, I'll take a detour anytime. Yeah, I think it's just that too, though, honestly.
we get a lot of them and then there's only so certain ones that we stick well because it's like we know who's we know who the main yeah very clearly but i think i mean the thing is is what they do with the material is very admirable for what they have with the runtime oh yeah for sure yeah and maybe you know a full adaptation of the novel would take like a several episode miniseries
Okay, yeah. I'd watch that. I would too. I don't think I'd watch it now because I feel like it would probably not be as good as it would have been if it was made at the time that this was made. The changes that they made to the novel and the people they choose to focus on, it does work very well for the film. Okay. And I will say I want to thank friend of the show, Kimberly Bass, for sending me the novel of Battle Royale as part of our Podmortem Secret Santa. Uh-huh.
A few years ago now. Yeah. I did get to read the majority of it. I was trying to read it in my spare time in preparation for this episode. And then during that, I realized I don't have a lot of spare time. Imagine. So I have some information to compare and contrast, but not as much as I hoped. But there are some changes that were made as far as the tone of the story and kind of the... main message really yeah and the framing of it so we'll kind of get into that a little bit later
But as far as the film itself is concerned, I think that there are just so many elements of it that just works so perfectly for me. I love how they use the score. I love this mix of original and classic compositions. It's incredible. I love the cinematography of this film. There are shots from this film that I didn't realize.
I absolutely remember beat for beat like from half my life ago because of the remarkable way that it was shot. Yeah, yeah. I love the scenic shots of this island that they filmed on. I just think that there's so much of it that is so artfully done with a lot of depth. And it does, from my research, come from a very personal place.
a lot of the way that this story is centered and the way that it unfolds. We'll talk a little bit about that in a bit, but I do appreciate how it attempts to tackle so many different... genres in a weird way yeah because there is this real thrilling element of real life horror there is this
drama that borders on like teen drama in some points yeah there is definite dark comedy yeah and moments that you're like i should not be laughing but that's really really funny And in the context of it, you're like, you know, just moment by moment and especially one character. the teacher yeah there there are moments and there are things that he says and does and the way that he does them at the timing that he does them you're like this is really really good yeah no he's a standout yeah
And the action. Yeah, really good. Like, it's incredible. And then the more that I learn about it and how a lot of it was accomplished, it's honestly wild how they did so much with... this cast and with this story. But long story short, I really, really love this film. And it really, really gives like...
Such a meaningful message in a very interesting way. Yeah. And this being the vehicle for that message, I feel like for a lot of people, you might get lost in what you see as like... exploitation or sensationalist violence but there is so much more to this film than just the brutal action and the gruesome deaths that you see for sure I just, I think this film is very special for a lot of reasons. Some of them being nostalgic reasons, as I've explained, but I just, I really, really love it.
I'm very excited to talk about it today. And before we do though, I would like to speak a little bit about the production of this film. Okay. I do want to acknowledge the sources that I found for this section as well as for the rest of the episode that I'll be referencing throughout. I got this information from three featurettes, the making of Battle Royale, prologue Battle Royale, coming of age Battle Royale at 20.
I also got information from a press conference at the film's premiere. Interviews in the Midnight Eye and Time Magazine with the director. Articles from Far Out Magazine, Time Magazine, Variety. and portions of the afterword from the novel written by Kushin Takami. A lot of sources for not that much information. Don't you love when that happens? So the story of this film actually begins in the mid-1990s.
when Kushin Takami quits his job as a journalist to pursue a career as a novelist. Okay. The only problem, which often plagues a lot of us who consider ourselves writers, and Nate can vouch for this as well, He didn't have any ideas, really. Preacher choir. Until Black Mirror steals it. No, I'm nothing.
One night, while watching television, half asleep and half awake, he imagines a teacher standing at the front of a classroom announcing, All right, listen up. Today's lesson is you're going to kill each other. This thought obviously stays with him, both amusing and absolutely terrifying him. Yeah, can we... unpack where that's because that calls inside the house i think most ideas are But as the idea began to evolve in his mind and into the premise that we're about to discuss in great detail.
He drew influence from various sources, according to critics and the author himself, including The Long Walk by Stephen King. The Lord of the Flies, The Most Dangerous Game, and many, many others that we'll talk about throughout. But he asked his friends what they thought of the idea, and some had considered it too fantastical. like something more akin to an anime. But Takami, who is a lifelong fan of professional wrestling,
saw it more as a battle royal type situation. A bunch of people thrown into a situation, forced to battle it out with only one of them coming out victorious. He even intended to call the novel Battle Royal. Until a friend of his who knew nothing of professional wrestling corrected him and said, don't you mean battle Royale? Uh-huh. And he's like, yeah. Yeah, he did. But. After facing publication problems when the novel was completed in 1996,
It would eventually be published in 1999. And it sold hundreds of thousands of copies. And one of those copies was purchased by Kenta Fukasaku, who intended to make it his first feature film.
But he took the novel to his father, famed director Kenji Fukasaku, who immediately pulled rank on his son and decided that he would make Battle Royale his... 60th feature film holy shit thanks dad i can't have there was an interview he goes i guess dads can do that As it turns out, the elder Fukasaku had been making films since the 1960s. exploring and experimenting with many different genres and subgenres over his very long tenured career.
but he had really made a name for himself in crime and Yakuza films in the 1970s. Okay. But in 1999, 2000, he's approaching the age of 70. And so there was a lot of pushback from producers to Fukasaku and the idea of him helming the film, especially since it centered around 15-year-olds. And a lot of the producers thought that the generational gap was too wide to bridge. Yeah. But Fukasaku was very taken by the material and the fact that the kids in the novel were 15.
It connected him back to the horrors that he himself had experienced at that age. In various interviews that I read and that I saw, he had told a harrowing story of working in a munitions factory in 1945 at the end of World War II when he was only 15 years old. He discussed constant bombings. And in a very graphic story, one of the bombs eventually hit and destroyed the munitions factory. And he was working with his friends in the factory at the time.
And many of them were killed, including his best friend. Damn. And so he had also discussed in very graphic detail of having to be a part of the cleanup. Oh, my God. After this tragedy. So dealing with this at such a young age, he's obviously traumatized and this affects him for the rest of his life. Yeah. In many different ways. And he was quoted as saying.
The emotions I experienced then, an irrational hatred for unseen forces that drove us into those circumstances, a poisonous hostility for adults, and a gentle sentimentality for my friends. This was a starting point for everything that came since. God damn. Okay. Well, and now I kind of understand how he's like, yoink. Yes. No, I can.
Tell the story from almost like a commiserative perspective. Yes. And that's exactly right. He saw the novel as more than just a shocking story. Yeah. But something that he could personally identify with. And this is why he thought, even at his age of 70, that he was uniquely fit to direct an adaptation of this novel, and he became determined to do so. Yeah.
But from the earliest stages of production, the film attracted media interest due to the subject matter, the scale of the film, Fukasaku's involvement, and the controversial aspects of the novel. And after the film was completed, the controversy surrounding it only grew. The first controversy was with Eren, which is the film ratings board in Japan, who, after viewing the film, gave it an R15 rating, which is rarely applied to a film for violence.
But it meant that no one under the age of 15 would be permitted to see it. Well, they made it very clear at the beginning of the one. Yeah. More than once. They were like, if you're fucking under 15, it was. repeated. Fukasaku though he saw the film as more of a fable and something that the youth of Japan should see and he felt that this rating alienated much of his target audience for the film.
So he lodged a complaint with the Film Ratings Board. But before it was adjudicated, the Diet, which is Japanese Parliament... stepped in and insisted that if the rating were changed, the film's release would be harmful to the entire youth of Japan and might even inspire copycat crimes. Okay. This is just my two cents. And this is kind of off the dome. I haven't like fully crafted whatever. But I think that stories like this are important.
For everyone to see. I know that the way that it's depicted, it is rough and it is brutal. But I feel like... Historically, just like he's saying from his own experiences. Stories like this that seem so outlandish and so far-fetched and so horrific. If you pay attention to history, they're not that fucking far off. So it's like, yeah, maybe this can even be a touchstone.
for the younger generation to watch and be like um this is kind of feeling a bit like this movie i saw i know that sounds crazy but but like Just to have that in the zeitgeist, in your mind, in the catalog, to be like, no, I know it's a movie, but shit like this could happen. Does that make sense? No, yeah. It's like, I think that... I don't know. I think it's important. And that bums me out. It almost like the conspiracy part of me is like, did y'all not want the next generation to see this?
do i think the same thing over here i think there's so many movies and books where it's like y'all don't want us to have access to this because then maybe we'll see things that you want us to be blind to Does that? No, it makes perfect sense. I'm like, I'm not trying to go all, you know, get my fucking tinfoil hat, but it's like, why not though? I understand that the content is rough, but like.
horrific shit happens like history is rough do we need to shield the next generation from that too the answer is no no it's not even though whatever no no no and the thing is is from their perspective Japan at the time I read was experiencing an economic downturn and there was a rise in youth crime. Those two things were directly connected. Right. And they saw it more as almost like a scapegoating that we can blame this on something the same way.
In America, video games cause violence. Yeah. Video games make you violent. Films make you violent. You know, all this stuff. It's just a scapegoat rather than confronting the actual cause of these problems. Well, because then you'd have to actually do something about it. Right. It's a lot easier. And it's just easier to be like, it's fucking Grand Theft Auto. Yeah. No, it's not. Leave him out of this.
And Fukasaku had said himself, he's like, you know, whether you see this film as a message or a warning, that's up to you. Yeah. And I think that that is what is so important about it is there is something here. There is depth. to all the things that we see and hear in this film. It's not just sensationalist violence just for the sake of being violent and that's all. But that's what Parliament saw it as.
It's just there's certain things where it feels like, no, this is going to start too much of a conversation. Like we need to suppress it. And that to me, it just like, I don't know that you saying that bothers me. Like, I don't know. But Parliament even seemed to put their thumb on the scale, beginning to attack the film ratings board for the fact that they were self-regulated. And so they started to question their validity as an organization at all.
So Fukasaku, who grew up in an era of film censorship, like we talked about on our Godzilla episode, had fears of parliament overstepping their authority. And so he decided to drop his complaint with the film ratings board to completely avoid an increase in film regulation from the Japanese government. Probably smart. Yeah. It's like, look, they're going to get their hands on it anyway. Let's be honest. And the real ridiculous thing about it is that
parliamentarians objected to the film without ever having even seen it. And so Fukasaku himself invited about 50 members of parliament and I think the education board to a private screening before the release of the film. But he said that before they even showed up, he said they had fixed prejudices about what the film even was. And so it was pointless and didn't change their mind at all. But when the film was released, this controversy only bolstered ticket sales. Of course. And they...
in their attempt to silence the film only ensured its box office success. Isn't it funny how that works out? Always. And there's a record number of teens sneaking into this thing. Dude, and that's so funny that you say that? Because Fukasaku himself put out a press release telling Japanese youth. If you have the courage to sneak in, I encourage you to do so. And you had TV spots calling it the most controversial film of the century and stuff like this.
Of course, this is going to reach a lot of people that are like, huh, I want to see that for myself. I have to. Yeah. But the film would go on to gross almost $30 million domestically in Japan on a budget of $4.5 million, which was unheard of. And it would even be nominated for nine Japanese Academy Awards, winning three of them. Damn. He should send the boards like some flowers. But I think that it's cultural impact is felt everywhere. Like we kind of hinted earlier.
The Hunger Games, despite what the authors might say. Yeah. Allegedly, allegedly. Allegedly, allegedly. But also Squid Game. Yeah. To a literal video game subgenre, where do you think battle royale type video games that title came from? Okay. And of course, all the way to Quentin Tarantino. who said that if there were any film made since he's been a filmmaker that he wishes he could have made, it's Battle Royale. Wow.
Now, before we survive this film we would like to issue a warning for spoilers. Podmortem is a very in-depth podcast and in thoroughly discussing horror films, we have no choice but to spoil a thing or two. If you don't wish to be spoiled please go watch the film then come back and enjoy the show. If you've already seen the film or don't care about spoilers let's start the game.
So the film begins with the swelling orchestral score and operatic vocals of Giuseppe Verdi's Dies Irae Requiem as we fade in from black. the leaves of a red three-dimensional laurel wreath graphic sweeping past us as white text appears at the center of the screen written vertically in Japanese. At the dawn of the new millennium, the nation collapsed. At 15% unemployment, 10 million were out of work, 800,000 students boycotted school, and juvenile crime rates soared.
We rise above the graphic as it cracks and turns, the text continuing that adults had lost all confidence. And now, fearing the youth, they eventually passed the Millennium Educational Reform Act, also known as the BR Act. Written within the rotated wreath, we see the slivered and slashed letters BR, the text above and below reading, Battle Royale Survival Program. So firstly, I just want to say this music is amazing. Oh, yeah. From the start, you're drawn in. Mm-hmm.
The composer of the film was a guy called Masamichi Omono. And he actually worked with Fukusaku previously on a film called The Geisha House. So this was their second collaboration together. But throughout the film, you see how much these classical compositions are referenced and utilized. And weaved into his own original compositions in a really brilliant way. Yeah. He actually conducted all of it himself, and it was performed by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.
I was just so impressed by how they use music throughout this film. Yeah. track in particular, you might have heard it if you've seen Django Unchained. because Tarantino used it for a scene in the film and it is this version of it. Right. And so just again, as far as the far reaching influence of this film. Yeah. But you see as well, this is one of the biggest changes from the novel to the film.
When we talk about the reasoning for instituting the Battle Royale survival program. Yeah. In the film, it's literally the adults being afraid of the youth and the rise in youth crime. In the novel, it's this totalitarian fascist. alternate reality Japan. Okay. Apparently in the novel, they won World War II. and sprung a fascist government out of their victory. Oh, wow. And so this Battle Royale program was instituted as a means of control.
and a means of showing just how strong the power of the government was. think that that goes a longer way of explaining how this is happening because like as the film is going on it's like how are we like why why is nobody coming you know what i mean yeah but if it's like this like government like sanctioned or declared it's like oh yeah no nobody is coming to help you like this is just what we do now yeah i feel like that's a tiny bit better explanation than you guys were picked
And in the film, it's more, that's how it really goes to that generational divide. Yeah. Speaking more about the, I guess. sign of the times in actual Japan with this fear and the way that parliament was reacting to the youth crimes and everything. So it does drift away from the novel in that regard, but the core is the same. But we cut abruptly to the underbelly of a bright white helicopter, its blades chopping incessantly as we spy it through the rustling leaves of a tall tree.
On the ground, a reporter, played by Michi Yamamura, is surrounded by uncredited colleagues, camera crews, and photojournalists as she shouts over the copter's commotion and the chatter of the crowd. This year, Zentsuji Middle School's Class E was chosen from among 43,000 ninth grade classes. She boasts that this year's game was even more blistering than the last.
The mob of media personnel round a corner, coming face to face with military personnel who forcibly keep them at bay. But through the throng of troops, the reporter spies two large jeeps, driven and guarded by military men. She points past the soldiers forming the blockade, directing her cameraman's attention to the vehicle as she announces in sheer surprise, Look! There she is! The winner is a girl!
And in the back seat of the first vehicle, we see a child, played by Ai Iwamura, covered in blood, clutching a stuffed doll and peering up from the curtain of her black hair. The reporter continues that the girl has survived a battle that raged for two days, seven hours, and 43 minutes. And she repeats, the winner is a girl.
The child, clad in her tattered and torn school uniform, lifts her head as a smile slowly stretches across her face, the flashbulbs of the surrounding cameras glinting off the metal of her braces. The reporter's eyes widen in disbelief as she shouts, Look, she's smiling. That's clearly a smile.
She was very happy. She was. But I mean, look at what you got. Yeah. I mean, what you went through. She's accomplished a lot. But I feel like what is her life going forward? Like, this is not the answer. Yeah. No, that smile. It's like, well, that's not. no this is this is concerning like what have we done yeah you would think that you would but they seem very pleased the reporters yeah But in quick cuts and rapid flashes, the girl's grin grows wider as she stares down lens at us.
before retreated not only to the rating of the film in red, but the towering letters of the film's title in English and in Japanese text as a triumphant tune rises in the score, Battle Royale. And so I will say the version of the film that we watched that was more readily available was the special edition of the film.
And so there are some scenes that we'll talk about a little bit later that were not in the theatrical version. One thing starting early already is this reappearance of the film's rating in red that we just saw. Yeah. You also see it get slashed through.
which it feels like fuck you yeah well because seeing it i'm like damn i know like i get it you started the film that way But I think that this is like the perfect opening for the film to just show what this world is and what awaits the characters that we're about to meet. Well, it's, it's kind of more questions too. It's like you're, you went through some shit. You are very happy. What kind of shit? Yeah. Covered in blood. Yeah. We get our little crash course.
And I think it's important for us to see the reception to this. Right. Not just this girl, but also she's smiling. Everybody, like everybody's clamoring to see, you know, like that's pretty horrific by itself. But the upbeat orchestral overture gives way to an unsettling rumble as the text dies away and we press in on a class photograph of 42 students in their matching beige uniforms. arranged in rows seated, standing, and elevated by risers.
But at the center of the picture in the front row sits Kitano, their teacher played by Takeshi Kitano. Interesting. Yeah. I did read that he was an actual game show host in Japan. And so his appearance here kind of lends itself to. Like the showman. I don't want to talk too much too soon. But that like him being a familiar face and being seen in that context. did lend something to this character and that perception of him.
Takeshi Kitano. He does have credits and I haven't seen this in a very long time, but it says he was in Johnny Mnemonic in 95. Oh, wow. He was also in the live action Ghost in the Shell from 2017. Oh. They talked a lot about him being an international star and him kind of being this draw.
for people to go see the film because they knew who he was. And this character in the film is much different from the character in the novel. We get a little bit more from him as far as Look, he does a lot of shit in this film, but there is more empathy to this character than the one we get in the novel. Oh. And his name is changed from the novel to be the name of the actor playing him. That's hilarious. He said basically...
And Fukasaku was like, you're kind of playing a version of yourself in a way. Yeah. Well, I will say, and I'm not going to say I agree with everything the man is doing. He is magnetic. Yes. Everything. No matter how you feel about what is happening, your eye is drawn to him. Oh, yeah. He seems very natural. He's magnetic. Yeah. There was talk of him also being more known for comedies. And so this was a departure.
Oh, all right. He does look very, very familiar. I was like, I know that guy. We hung out last week or something. Yeah. And I think as dark as this is, and even the character is, he does bring a little bit. You saying that he does. comedy yeah I feel like you feel a little bit of that levity in
some aspects of the performance. Okay. And they did, they were talking at this press conference and before they were introduced, they were like the dream team of Fukasaku and Kitano finally working together. And so it's like, this is like a really big deal. Right. But we press in tightly on his stern face before centering on a student just over his shoulder, Noriko Nakagawa, girl number 15, played by Aki Maeda.
As the low rumble is accompanied by eerie and sustained strings, we spy Yoshitoki Kononobu, boy number 7, played by Yukihiro Kotani, and Shoya Nanahara, boy number 15, played by Tatsuya Fujiwara. I did see and I, cause I watched the, the Netflix death note and I'm, you know, but I did see, and it says that I guess he was in. a death note movie they did in japan in 06 very cool and i really want to check that out because that looks a little more closer to the enemy
I never watched the American film, I will say. And I heard that it's not a bad idea to miss it. I know that Ari loves the anime. Yeah. Yeah. I watched that. That's really good, actually. But yeah. I will say I love his performance in this film. Yeah. And I think that he adds such a moral center. to what we're about to see and as a kid i absolutely identified most with his character okay throughout the whole thing because i feel like he is more along the lines of how i would
like to think that I would be. Right, right. But Shuya's voice breaks through the score as the camera focuses on his face in the photo. He shares that his mom left when he was in fourth grade, and on his first day of seventh grade, his father hung himself. We flash back to that fateful and tragic day as Shuya arrives home to a small apartment to discover the body of his father, played by Takashi Tanaguchi, in the living room.
Shuya finds an electrical cord cinched tightly around his father's pale throat, his slacks slid down to his knees, and a long roll of toilet paper wrapped around his shoulders. hanging off the edge of the blanket and reaching all the way to the bathroom near the front door. Shuya stands frozen in horror before dropping to his knees to read the thin, black writing scrawled across the white toilet tissue. It reads, Go Shuya, you can do it Shuya.
The music swells solemnly as Shuya glances up to his father from the ground, only to be overwhelmed by the sight before him, vomiting into a nearby toilet. Shouya's voice explains that after that, everything went totally crazy, and he laments that he didn't have a clue what to do, and no one else helped him. I will say this was a very tragic thing to witness at the very beginning of the film.
It is something that was changed from the novel and it's meant to be more of a commentary on societal pressure at the time for working people. I feel like it also set... Shoya up in the film as an incredibly sympathetic character immediately. Yeah. But we then cut to the classroom of Sensei Kitano, who sits despondent on his desk as we pan across rows of empty chairs. He stares intently at a message written on his chalkboard beneath a giant pink X. Taking the day off because we want to. Class B.
So class B does not give a fuck. No. I was like, you little shit. Yeah. And everyone. Yeah. Like, no, fuck this guy. That's infuriating. Mm hmm. One might say grudge worthy. One might say enough to push you over the edge. But suddenly, a jovial Noriko slides the classroom door open, apologizing to Kitano for her lateness. But as she surveys the empty chairs in front of her, she asks her teacher what's going on.
Kitano doesn't answer and instead just climbs off at the desk to erase the message left for him on the chalkboard by his delinquent students. He just looks defeated. Yeah. Like not even surprised at this point. Just like, ugh. He gathers his things somberly before walking past Noriko to exit into the hallway, but as he continues onward, the door to a nearby restroom bursts open, and Nobu springs from it, a butterfly knife in his hand.
Nobu wields it wildly, slashing at the backside of Kitano, who howls in pain as he clatters to the floor. Nobu takes off running, bumping into Noriko, dropping his knife and tumbling to the tiles. He quickly reaches his feet again and races for the end of the hall as Noriko snags the blood-stained blade, holding it behind her back as Kitano stands up, his hand reaching to the fresh wound staining the back of his slashed slack.
Oh, really? Now that's too much. Yes. And he took this very well. Yeah, he did. I just could not believe what I was. It's truly injury to insult, I guess. Yeah. Like this is beyond. Yeah. It does happen quick. So I had to rewind it because I was like, did he run out of there and accidentally cut him with something? I think that was what I thought at first. And then I looked at it again more closely and it seems intentional. Like he ran by and slashed him. Yeah. Okay. I.
I just can't wrap my mind around this. No, it's wild. And they had said, I read an article, I think it was in Dazed, and they had said that at this time in Japan, attacks on teachers rose by 20%.
damn and so that was also something that they wanted to echo in this film and that's why kitano as a character changes completely and we start from a kind of sympathetic place yeah well because it's like god damn dude like the short end of the stick way too often add this to it like the whole class boycotting the class was not enough no and he was accepting of it like you need to stab him like he was going home yeah or like I can't
But as students gather on either side of the hall, Kitano hobbles over to a sink to wash the blood from his hands. Defeated, he makes eye contact with Noriko, who looks away nervously. Shoya explains that after this incident, Kitano left the school, and I don't blame him. Yeah. No, you will never see this face again.
But we cut abruptly to a lively basketball game, Shoya's team in red getting the tip-off as students from his class fill the bleachers and cheerleaders rally their players from the sidelines. Shuya's voiceover explains that no matter how crazy the world became, they still managed to have fun. Well, as long as y'all are having fun. I guess. I mean, you got to pick your spots how you can. Yeah.
But we watch as Shouya receives a pass from a teammate in slow motion, making a layup, which I can only assume was the game-winning basket because the crowd goes fucking wild. All except Mitsuko Soma, girl number 11, played by Ko Shibasaki. I did see that she was in 47 Ronin in 2013. With Keanu Reeves? Yeah. And she's also in The Boy and the Heron from 2023. Wow. I still need to watch that. Yeah, I want to. This is another performance that I think is so remarkable in this film. Yeah. She...
is asked to do a lot. And I think that there is another level of sympathy to her character that is very tragic too. Yes. But I also like how... In this scene, we do see her kind of isolated from her classmates. Yeah. And she's kind of not. at all involved in this celebration we see her later whenever we cut to the whole class on a bus she's fast asleep and not even dealing with anyone yeah and i just think that it's really really really
That's three really sounds too much. I think it's very smart filmmaking. Right. To plant these little seeds of her mentality before we even get to what we get to. Yeah. And there's so many of these kids like it's such good attention to detail because most of us are probably just watching the ones in the foreground. Yeah. And so to go back and see these moments, it's like, oh, wow. That's a defined character already.
And I will say this basketball sequence of them playing the game and everything being so upbeat and happy, this is not in the theatrical version, this scene. We cut immediately from Kitano's incident at the school to the next scene. Okay. But I think that having it, seeing them all happy together and playing together and working together, it's very important to see what is lost. Yeah.
Pachuya's voiceover notes that before they knew it, their compulsory education was coming to an end. We then see a blue and white bus speeding down the road, carrying the class on a school trip. I will say that is one bit of confusion that does come from adding the basketball scene. Is I thought that they were being driven back from like a basketball game or something. Right. Yeah. But the reality is this class is being taken now on a school trip. So they think. Yeah.
And I will say it is a little fucked up with what happens that the school is like, hey, guys, let's go on a totally. deserved well that is that y'all know you don't deserve a fucking trip you should have been suspicious honestly but they're like yeah hell yeah we do this is cool as hell We can skip for weeks and then just... What did he say? We always found a way to have our fun.
but inside the bus the camera pulls back through the aisle chattering and rambunctious teenagers filling the seats on either side Unbeknownst to the majority of the teens, we spy military men through the windows, eyeing the bus as it passes, gathering into a parked Jeep on the adjacent shoulder. Shuya, seated next to Nobu in an aisle seat, takes notice of this, craning his neck to get a better look.
But in the rear seat, Hayashida, the Class B teacher played by Ken Nakaide, glances out of the window as well. Concern begins to cloud the eyes behind his round glasses when he notices the troops. But calmness returns to him when Yuki Utsumi, girl number two played by Eri Ishikawa, and Satomi Noda, girl number 17 played by Sayaka Kamiya, regain his attention. getting him to rejoin their game of hand slapping or patty cake or something. I just know they're having a blast. They're having a blast.
But in a seat a little further up the aisle, Megumi Eto, girl number three played by Sayaki Akeda, whispers into Noriko's ear, and with a sweet smile, she urges her friend, let's go. The two girls navigate past the other passengers through the aisle to approach Shuya and Nobu, with Megumi clutching a camera and Noriko carrying a small box wrapped in cellophane and tied with a ribbon.
As Megumi takes a seat across from the boys, Noriko gets Shuya's attention and with a smile, tells him that she baked some cookies and thought that they could share them. She offers the box to an excited Nobu, who reaches his hand in with gratitude, shoveling the sweet treat into his mouth.
Megumi then gets the group's attention, aiming her camera at them, which prompts Nobu to stand in his seat, leaning over with a smile and a peace sign as Noriko leans closer to him and Shuya for a proper photo.
first of all that's my pose so let's relax come off it are you sure you didn't watch battle royale and then write the hunger games and do peace signs in all your photos too continue The flash of Megumi's camera illuminates the trio, and she spills the beans that Noriko has been waiting ages to give the cookies to them. And when she's promptly scolded by Noriko, Nobu snags the box, offering a cookie to Shuya, who politely declines.
I will say Megumi says that she's been waiting to give them to you, which could be either of them. And it's very interesting to me. Yeah, because it's clear which one. Yeah, I was going to say, I think we know. But Nobu taps Noriko on the shoulder and he thanks her, stating sincerely that he's glad he came on this trip today.
Noriko smiles, telling him not to mention it, but Megumi passes the developed photograph over to Nobu from her instant camera, and he surprisingly shouts that he's barely even in it. And it's true. When we see the picture grasped in his fingers, we see that Nobu is cut off at the top of the frame, but centered sweetly are the smiling faces of Shuya and Noriko. Nobu, I don't know how to tell you this, but this is not about you. It's so funny to me because it's clear.
Just from this interaction that Noriko is a crush on Shuya and Nobu is so oblivious. And just like here for the vibes and the cookies. Yeah. It was very funny to me. Cause he's like, well, I'm not even in this. And Megumi just cackles. Well, yeah. She's like, dude, that's the point. Yeah. That wasn't for you. This isn't about you. But the bus travels into a long tunnel, golden lights lining the walls and lighting its way through complete darkness.
When we return inside the vehicle, we find all the students fast asleep in their seats, including Shuya, who leans his head against the palm of his hand on the armrest of his chair. But leaning forward, Shuya loses his balance, startling himself awake. His eyes adjusting from his slumber, he glances down the aisles, finding not only all of his classmates completely knocked out, but even Sensei Hayashida resting serenely on the floor of the moving bus.
Shouya stumbles out of his seat, dragging himself across the aisle and over to a sleeping Noriko, and collecting her box of cookies that's tumbled to the floor.
but as soon as he does this an uncredited attendant at the front of the bus turns to face the rows of seats revealing a gas mask covering her face beneath her hat The uncredited bus driver glances over at her through the screen of his gas mask as she marches her way down the aisle, an eerie hum in the score accompanying her every step as she approaches Shuya.
His eyes climb her amethyst-colored uniform, and they lock eyes for a mere moment before she raises her hand, bringing down a lead pipe and a stern strike across Shuya's skull, knocking him unconscious. that's one way it's so jarring you're like what the fuck and then when you see the gas mask yeah it's like Yeah, that would be terrifying. We're on a class trip. I don't remember going to sleep. I wake up, this lady in this nice dress.
with the gas mask. My bus driver has a gas mask. Something's wrong. And everyone's out. Yeah. And we're on this trip that we super totally deserved. Are we still going to Disneyland? Yeah! What the hell is going on? it's like they made us take a nap before we went yeah they want us to be rested actually really thoughtful hey go to sleep it's like oh my god But the score shrieks as Shuya clatters to the floor, Noriko's cookies slipping out of his grasp as we cut to black.
But through a blur, we cut to the rippling waters of the ocean, our vision refocusing as waves crash against the rocks, the shadow of a plateau looming large in the background under the dim light of dust. But Shuya awakens in darkness, his blood-stained fingers reaching for the pounding pain at his scalp where he was struck by the attendant.
As the camera pulls back, we see that he is seated at a desk inside of a classroom in an undisclosed location, the rustling of the movement of his classmates surrounding him as they regain consciousness as well. Shouya raises his head, his fingers finding a metal collar cinched tightly at his throat.
and his fear finds him swiftly. He claws at the collar in a futile attempt to remove it, but through the students scattered across the room, some seated in chairs but most strewn across the floor, Shuya finds Noriko. He rushes to her side to shake her awake but notices that she is also wearing a collar similar to his. Shouya then crawls across the floor over other classmates to find Nobu waking him up.
The trio rises together as the camera pans across the room, and through the sea of beige uniforms, we find Shogo Kawada, boy number five, played by Taro Yamamoto. his blue suit a blur as he climbs into a seat at the corner of the room. I saw a panel with some of the like main cast on it. And he said that when he went in to read, he got some valuable insight to his character from the director. And he auditioned and they were like, we'll let you know tomorrow.
And so the next day they didn't call him and like two or three weeks go by and he finally gets the call and they're like, oh, you got it. And he said he was really excited, but he was surprised. He goes, I was very shocked that they were going to let a 25-year-old play a high school student.
I will say he does look noticeably older than his classmates. But I think that it also, in a weird way, fits his character perfectly. I think that once you learn a little bit more about him, it's like, oh, okay, that's why you kind of have this. vibe yeah that you're kind of on a different level right and everybody else like than the kids I saw him talking at the Tokyo International Film Festival and he had said that it took the producers three weeks
to warm up to the idea of him playing this character. Wow. Maybe that's what took so long for them to call him back. Honestly, yeah. And I feel like, I don't know, his performance is so... nuanced and so crucial to not only his own backstory, but the development of the characters around him. So I think that he is just perfect for the role. I did read that he retired from acting in, I think, 2013 and became a career politician. Oh, wow. Very interesting.
But Kawada gazes casually out of the window, his eyes seemingly serene beneath his yellow headband. But in the other corner of the room, sitting crisscross on a desktop and clad in black, is Katsuo Kiriyama, boy number six, played by Masanobu Ando, his sinister eyes lit by a slice of light just under the mess of his fiery hair. Got a real bad feeling about this. Bit villainous, I'd say. He also said on that panel that he was.
surprised that he was picked because he is older but he said that he took it as an opportunity to wear a school uniform for one last time and to really savor like the nostalgia of it that was pretty cool I will say that as of like right now to this, I am enjoying this. I do watch anime in any of my spare time. And this, it feels like a live action manga. Like it feels good. I feel like his character in particular feels so...
outside of reality. Yeah. Stylistically, yeah. Yeah, but it works so well. Yeah. And it provides for some really, really cool moments visually. Oh, yeah. That, I don't think I'm the only one here, reminds me perhaps of Final Fantasy VII. Yes! I was trying to wait. We'll talk, we'll talk. But I want to highlight the cinematography of Katsumi Yanagajimi because even just this scene is so well shot.
scenes in darkness where we have these little slices of light highlighting the eyes of Kiriyama and this blue darkness coming in through the windows. Like it is so well done. And there are certain shots later that, again, I just remember them from my childhood. Staying with me because it is really such brilliant work.
But the students of class B gather at the opposite end of the room, their eyes oscillating between these two seeming strangers, before a collective thought finds them and they all rush for the windows at the west wall. But just as they pull the thin drapes open, they're promptly blinded by the beaming lights of a helicopter, which circles around and descends to land in the center of a playground.
The perimeter is lined with military personnel and their vehicles, with their headlights piercing the night. But as soon as the chopper properly lands, several military men march over to it. We see that the tail of the aircraft bears the BR insignia. Branding is everything, I guess. But when the door to the cockpit swings open, out steps. Sensei Kitano clutching a clipboard and clad in a comfortable sweatsuit.
He does look very comfortable. I feel like if anybody has grounds to be mad at these kids. I was going to say, oh, yeah. We're so sorry. But I feel like. even like they do look uneasy and like they're trying to find a way out these kids are taking this so much better than i would honestly yeah like they're just like okay let's i waking up in this room. I thought we were going to fucking Disney or whatever. Well, maybe this is just a different part of the park. Yeah. It's just a little airborne.
But Kitano is ushered inside and led through the halls by Lieutenant Anjo, played by Gu Ryagawa, and his armed men who not only march in formation behind him, but also line their path on either side of the corridor. Anjo orders his men to halt, and they stand at ease as he slides the door to the classroom open and allows Kitano to enter the room first.
The lights are switched on, and the students of Class B stand confused by the windows as Kitano takes his place at the lectern, flanked by armed soldiers and Lieutenant Anjo. Shock finds Nobu, who immediately recognizes Kitano, and the echoes of this recognition trickle throughout the classroom to other students. including Hirono Shimitsu, girl number 10, played by Ana Nagata, who states simply, it can't be. He said surprise, bitches. I thought you'd seen the last of me.
Kawada, at the back of the classroom, lifts his gaze to Kitano, as does Kiriyama, who nonchalantly turns his head to face the teacher at the front. it's just funny he's like yeah but do it cooler And I will say, Kenta Fukasaku, the son and screenwriter, he had said that while they were doing final preparations for the film, his father really wanted to change Kiriyama into the leading character. What? And he was like, maybe we shouldn't be following a decent guy around.
And I think because he just thought that he was so cool. Yeah. And later on in the documentary that I watched, he was talking and he's like, you know, I'm just really finding a hard time making Shuya the main character. You have. We have to, though. That's our way in. That would be a completely different movie. But Kitano very calmly asks the kids to take their seats. And when they remain standing in their stupor, Lieutenant Anjo takes a step forward, shouting the stern order, sit down.
The students rushed to turn chairs upright to have a seat, while others just sinked down to the floor where they were standing. I feel like this is so indicative of what they think of Kitano, which is pretty sad and fucked up. even flanked by the military, clearly kidnapped, you're like, I don't have to listen to you. Well, that's what they're saying the problem is. They don't respect adults. But Kitano notes that it's been a while, and he reminds them all for those who might not remember.
It's me, Kitano, your teacher from back in seventh grade. Uh-huh. He reveals that he's taking class B over again, and he offers, let's all be friends. Kitano then introduces Kawada and Kiriyama, who he explains are transfer students who will be joining them today, and the camera follows his movements over his shoulder as he points to each of them at opposite corners of the room.
Lights hum and flicker as he suggests that they try to get along. But he then retreats to the chalkboard, snagging a piece of chalk to write roughly in capital letters. B.R. ACT. As he continues, an annoyed Ryuhei Sasagawa, boy number 10, played by Shiro Go, rises from his seat, shouting for Kitano to stop messing about and tell them what's going on.
It's like he's trying. Yeah. Yeah. But also this is really bold. Yeah. Maybe don't piss him off. Yeah. Everybody's pointing guns at us, dude. Sit down. Yeah. Just be quiet. Yuki and Megumi join the chorus, asking Kitano where the hell they even are, and demanding to know who these military men are. But Kitano instead redirects their attention to the writing on the chalkboard, asking calmly if they've heard of this act.
When his only answer is silence, Kitano crosses to the front of the lectern, admonishing their lack of knowledge as no good, no good at all. He comments that the country is now good for nothing, and he wonders if they know why. But his speech is interrupted when he notices Yoshimi Yahagi, girl number 21, played by Takago Baba, whispering something to her boyfriend, Yoji Kuramoto, boy number 8, played by Osamu Onishi.
Kitanu hurls his chalk at Yoshimi, striking her with a thwack on the back of her head. She bravely charges for Kitano, shouting directly into his face that that hurt. But Kitano just offers a warning that when someone is talking, she needs to shut up and listen. Guys, please. I will say that the actress was hit with real chalk. I saw them filming this scene and they did like 10 takes of it.
And Kitana was like, I don't feel good about doing this. And the director was like, she was hired to play this part. She knew what she was going to do. They did interview her after and she's like, yeah, it was fine. But I was like, it's still pretty wild. It's chalk. It's not an anvil. She'll be okay. But he pushes her away by her forehead, and as she staggers back to her seat, a voice breaks from the center of the crowd. Sensei, can I go to the bathroom?
Kitano turns to face Takako Chigusa, girl number 13, played by Chiaki Kiriyama, asking if she can wait just a little while longer, noting that he's really missed all of them. Chiaki Kiriyama. I think we know she was in Kill Bill 1 and 2 and 03 and 04. She was also in a movie called Into the Sun in 05. I think Steven Seagal is in it. Oh, wow. Yeah. That's a choice. But Kill Bill. Let's go back to that. We love that. Yes, yes, yes. and she's great oh yeah yeah she has maybe one of the most
impactful little vignettes. I agree. Because I feel like at a point in this film, a lot of these little sections almost feel like little anthologies in the midst of this big story. But I really appreciate her story and that. Obviously impressed Tarantino because he cast her outright from it. Yeah. But Kitano turns his head, his eyes finally settling on a nervous Nobu who sits at the front of the classroom in a chair.
You really hurt my ass, Nobu. And he reminds the boy how he told him not to even bother with school, that it was a waste of time. He circles Nobu's chair, the boys seated around him slinking away in fear, as Kitano remembers that after this, Nobu really did just stop going to school altogether. He says that this is no good. And he admonishes Nobu for only returning today. to go on the class trip. I know we get some clarity on this later, but.
That made me laugh out loud. It doesn't look good. No. And it's wild. The last time I was there, I attacked my teacher. I was like, yeah, let's go ahead. I don't want to miss the trip. At the beginning, that happened so fast that I didn't clock that it was Nobu that did that to him. And so reading the subtitles, I'm like, is that like a...
translation thing or a different turn of phrase? Is it like... you were a pain in my ass and then i'm like oh no he literally means like you hurt my ass you stabbed me in the ass yeah it's both it's both i could not believe that it was Nobu the fucking cookie eating goof on the bus that did that to him and I'm thinking as well if you go to that scene where he did attack Kitano
He's fucking at school in his uniform. Just go to class. No, we all decided. We all decided we were going to go. Well, see, that's why I thought it was an accident at first. Because we see him and it's like, you're a goofball. Yes. so i'm like oh that was you what what happened it also was funny to me that he's like i told you that it was a waste of time to drop out of school and you actually did yeah he's like i didn't mean it you told me
Isn't that obeying? Isn't that following your order? This is really funny because he's like, that's no good. It's like, what are we doing? But when Nobu's only response is to lean forward with a sarcastic sneer, Kitano strikes him hard across the face, Nobu's classmates jolting sharply at the sound as Nobu holds his head in disbelief.
And once again, on the behind the scenes, I just saw several takes of Kitano just slapping the shit out of this kid. That's a little different than the talk. It's unbelievable. But Kitano returns to the front of the class, ordering the teens to listen up. He explains that because of folks like Nobu here, the country is now a total wreck.
As he inches his way through the aisles and the kids cower at his encroachment, Kitano continues that the big wigs got together and passed this law. And accompanied by a sting in the score, he announces Battle Royale. He declares that today's lesson is that they kill each other off until there's only one of them left, and he proclaims that nothing is against the rules.
He says that now, but then he declares several rules. Except for these 15 rules real quick. But I guess you said that he had that thought. Yeah. And here it is. A number of classmates rise from their seats, shock settling in as their eyes search around the room. But Kazushi Nida, boy number 16 played by Hirohito Honda, just bursts out laughing. His cackling ceases when Kitano turns to face him, asking him what's so funny.
But Yuki stands up from her chair, asking Kitano if he truly means what he says. In response to this question, Kitano crosses over to the front of the classroom, noting that their teacher, Mr. Hayashida, was very opposed to the selection of Class B. Two uncredited soldiers wheel in a gurney, the contents of which are covered by a pale blue sheet.
Kitano reaches for it, pulling it off to reveal the bullet-riddled corpse of Hayashida, his mouth agape, frozen forever in terror, dried blood caking his face. and his one remaining eye peering at his students through the round lens of his glasses. This really shocked me. I almost thought it would be like... He didn't want this to happen. So he's in the game with y'all or something. Okay. To murder him because he's like, no, don't like kill my class.
that's that's a lot robin that's a lot and i feel like honestly this would fit a little bit more with the government is just doing this period yeah you know what i mean because now it's like oh you murdered another adult i know the kids are subject to this but
he's not a kid yeah and you would think i mean that he would just be like thrown into a prison or something something but to outright murder him and i understand i mean for the kids it does drive the point home that quitano's not fucking around right but it's also like I saw Hayashida on the bus. Yeah. They loved him. That's what I was going to say too. You'd think maybe he was a little pissed off because hell yeah. Oh yeah. They never slashed Hayashida's ass. Yeah.
The students shriek as the score stings sharply over the scene, and they stumble out of their seats to cower away from Kitano and the body of their teacher. Kitano orders them all to calm down as he gestures back to Hayashida, calling him a failure of an adult and suggesting for the kids to be careful that they don't grow up to be like him. He seemed to be doing very well. Yeah. So it is kind of backwards and baffling to say the kind of adult that you need to be like is me.
Yeah. I also feel like they must have lied to him as well. Because I don't think he'd be super chill and doing fucking patty cake on the bus if he knew that this is where we were going. You did see him turn around like Shuya did on the bus when he saw the military men and maybe get a little suspicious. Right, right. But yeah, I don't think that he knew either. But Hayashiya's body is wheeled out of the classroom. Not into the kindergarten!
But Kitano hops onto the edge of the lectern, directing everyone's attention over to a television cart in the corner of the class. He instructs them to watch the video that's about to play and warns them not to fall asleep. Lieutenant Arjo pushes play, and the jovial voice of the training video girl, played by Yuko Miyamura, announces over the title card, the correct way to fight in a battle royale by the BR Law Promotion Committee.
In a sleeveless bright orange shirt bearing the embroidered letters BR and her wrist cluttered with accessories. She stands in a gray room in front of the web address for br.com, which was wild. For more information, she is adorable. Yes. And she... explains this fucking horrific, like it's high energy, the vibes are there. Hey, I want to watch. I don't know what just happened, but let's go ahead and watch. You almost forget. What it is.
And I think that's something I love jarring stuff like that. Yeah. Where you have something so upbeat.
telling something so terrible yeah and I thought that this was just like a basic thing but then she starts like this is made for class B yeah that made my job drop a little bit well you only have to make one a year yeah that's true But she salutes the camera, and speaking into her headset microphone, she greets everyone in Shira Iwa Junior High School, 9th grade, Class B. I will say I did read in the afterword to the novel, Takama said that Shiroiwa...
translates directly to Castle Rock. Okay. And it was a reference to Stephen King. Oh, yeah. I love that. But Kitano claps his hands happily mirroring the training video girl's joy as he instructs the class to say hello. Through her bright smile, the woman on the video announces that they are the lucky class chosen for this year's Battle Royale. She congratulates the group and Kitano answers her with a boisterous, thank you.
But on the tape, she continues explaining the rules. And as the camera pans across the focused faces of the students, she advises them all to listen carefully, then fight correctly and with energy. She is then relegated to the right side of the screen as a glowing mass of green land occupies a large grid at the center of the video.
She explains that they all have been brought to this uninhabited island, and as we study the island topographically, she very excitedly adds that it's about 10 kilometers in diameter, and it's been completely evacuated. This is when Fumio Fujiyoshi, girl number 18 played by Aki Ononi, leans over to whisper to Yuki. But when she's overheard by Kitano, he leaps from the edge of his desk, screaming. Fujiyoshi, I said no whispering.
He clicks open a switchblade, hurling it in her direction, and we follow its path in the blur of a whip pan as its blade finds a home in Fumio's forehead. I didn't hear him say that. I think earlier he was like, be quiet and pay attention. Oh, but that's not whispering. You got to be specific. I am not moving a muscle. I'm not saying a word. I feel like when we saw the murdered teacher that should have removed any doubt that this dude is fucking around and he was like, you're all going to kill.
In his mind, we're all dead anyway. And what even is Fumio saying? She's like, this is crazy. This is fucking wild. Why is she so upbeat? This is terrible what she's telling us. I still gotta pee. So we're not going to Disneyland now. I think they lied to us. But she staggers for a moment, her steps plodding as she gazes cross-eyed at the offending object lodged in her brain. Fumio collapses in a heap, dead, the surrounding students screaming and shrinking away from her body.
Kitano stalks his way over to her, leaning over as he apologizes, noting that it's against the rules for him to kill. What? And I thought there were no rules. But he turns her body over with his foot, and Fumio stares lifelessly to the ceiling as we get on-screen text reading, Girl number 18. Fujiyoshi. Dead. 41 to go. Kitano reaches down to retrieve his knife, its blade scraping sharply against bone as he wrenches it out of the girl's skull.
He stands at the center of the class, unbothered, but a frenzy erupts among the classmates, and they all charge for the front door. Well, it's like you simply cannot expect us to stand here and watch the rest of this video. No. The children are kept at bay by military men, some of the soldiers firing their assault rifles into the ceiling and floor, prompting the classmates to cower back to the other end of the room.
But in the turmoil, Noriko catches a bullet in her arm and collapses to the floor. Shuya and Nobu rush to check on her and full of fury, Nobu charges for Kitano only to receive the proper payback. when his former teacher slashes him across the ass with his switchblade, and Lieutenant Arjo seizes him and punches him in the face.
Nobu tumbles across the floor where he struggles against Shuya, Shinji Memora, boy number 19 played by Takashi Tsukamoko, and Hiroki Sigamora, boy number 11 played by Sasuke Takaoka, who hold him down to the floor. The camera swirls around a smiling Kitano who orders all the soldiers back into proper position and directs the teenagers to continue watching the training video.
Lieutenant Arjo presses play, and the cheerful voice of the host on the video picks up where she left off. As a grid is drawn over a diagram of the expansive island, she explains that the island has been divided into several little areas. We see the x-axis of the grid marked with numbers while the y-axis is labeled with letters.
As Kitano returns to his seat at the edge of the desk, all the children concentrated at the left corner of the room, with Fumio's corpse occupying the classroom's center. The host shares that their teacher will make announcements at 12 and 6. AM and PM, four times per day. She says that these announcements will reveal which areas are going to be dangerous and from what time. She instructs the students that if they're in one of these areas, move.
We watch as area D6 on the grid begins to glow red with danger, and the host amiably asks if they want to know why. She reveals that this is where the necklaces that they're all wearing come into play. We pan across the students as they all reach at their throats to touch their alarming accessory, and the host explains that they are all completely water and shockproof, and there's no way to get them off.
She points to the side of the necklace decorating her own throat, noting that this sensor monitors your pulse. And it tells Kitano and the government exactly where they are and what they're doing. And if they're still in a danger area when the time runs out. Or if they're doing something naughty, the government will send their own signal to the offending player. The necklace will sound an alarm and then boom, it will explode.
I feel like that's not fair. Yeah. Isn't there enough going on? Yeah. Like, I feel like the danger is like overkill. Yeah. It's like trying to flush people out, obviously, but. It's not fair. And then something else with these necklaces that you're about to say in a minute, I don't like either. The students recoil in fright as the host adds that trying to force it off will also make it explode. And with mocking sadness, she playfully pouts for them not to even try.
We were talking off mic and I definitely already would have been fucking with mine. Oh, yeah. Before we even got to the video, there would be at least one 40 to go. I would not even be able to see who put us through this. I'm gone already. I have a nickel allergy, too. So I bet that thing would be lighting my ass up. Like I'd be ready to be just done. I'm sure they thought about that.
These are hypoallergenic. Everybody wears them. Sterling silver. I will say later on in the film, you do see Shinji putting tissues in his and applying a cream. And I'm like, I bet he's allergic. I bet he is. And I would be as well. But the score rises tensely as Nobu reaches his feet again, snagging an errant book bag and hurling it across the room at Kitano, cursing him as an asshole.
But when Kyoichi Motobuchi, boy number 20 played by Ryu Nita, shouts for Nobu to shut up, Nobu breaks from Shuya's clutches to charge Kyoichi. The two tussle until they tumble across the floor and have to be pulled apart by Arjo and an uncredited soldier. As Arjo holds Nobu by the face, baring his neck towards Kitano, the former sensei reaches into his pocket for a remote control. Kitano laments that there is just no helping Nobu, is there?
He points the remote toward the teen, pressing a button, and we watch as a red light begins beeping brightly at the center of Nobu's collar. Arjo unhands him, and Nobu wanders fearfully around the room as Kitano chuckles to his classmates. Better run, guys! Nobu paused at the beeping necklace, his classmates scattering and pushing him away as he comes closer to them. But Shouya watches in horror as the beeping continues, in a pace that grows louder and faster.
But when Nobu is pushed to the floor once more, he rises to his feet one last time, finding Shuya in the crowd. The two best friends reach for each other, calling each other's names in desperation. But just as the video host promised, Nobu's collar explodes. blood bursting from his throat like a fountain as he collapses dead onto the floor just above Fumio. I thought you said that was against the rules, but I was not expecting Nobu to die this fast. Yeah. It was pretty unexpected.
And I think especially for how important he is to Shuya, it makes perfect narrative sense. Yeah. But it is such a shocking thing. And I guess, I mean, if Kitano has this personal vendetta. Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. He's got... kind of a score to settle yeah and if the teacher didn't show them that he was serious this is like yeah it's got to be like Look, this is you. Not only are you guys dying, but also that thing around your neck really does do what we said it does.
But Shuya, covered in Nobu's blood, staggers over to the body of his best friend, singing to his knees and burying his tearful face in the fabric of his jacket. He cries his name, but when he raises his head, he notices something on the ground next to Nobu, something that must have been blasted from his jacket pocket when his collar detonated.
It's the printed photograph that Megumi took of him and Noriko on the bus. Shoya picks it up, swiping away the crimson liquid that coats their smiling faces. We cut abruptly to black, and as the strings sing solemnly in the score, we get on-screen text in white, which reads, Hey Shuya, do you have a crush on anyone right now?
Now, this is very jarring. Yeah. It makes a lot of sense later. But I was like, this is an odd thing to be thinking about. Yeah. Love it. This moment. Yeah. But again, teenagers, it makes perfect sense. Yeah. Taking it back to a very important conversation that we will get to later. Yeah. And I will say I watched this little reel of kind of the effects work that they did and the way that they did this. And a lot of, you know, moments of impact as in like gunshots and things like that was.
They have the exploding collar and they have Nobu reacting to it and they put it together. That's unbelievable. And it's really seamless. Like even some of the shots of outside, there's a really, really striking one. With a lighthouse later on? Yes. And the water, the lighthouse, the sky, they're all pulled from different things and put together. Yeah. And I would never in none of these. Like, obviously, I know that no booze.
head did not explode but the way that they accomplished it it looks really really good especially what is this 2000 yeah that's wild and it is that was something that i i wanted to learn as well because They are young. The actors are young. And we are... I'm guessing we can't put these... What are they? The dye packs? The squibs, yeah. All over them to...
You'll be surprised at some things later. Because it does look good. So that's kind of what I was, you know what I mean? Because I know with children, some things you can do and you can't. Yeah. I will say the stylized violence, the way that the blood squirts like a fountain, absolutely inspired the violence in Kill Bill. A thousand percent. You can tell. And back to what you were saying about these being kids.
They were talking about on that panel that Tatsuya Fujiwara Shuya. Yeah. He did most of his own stunts himself. There's some stuff later that they had some behind the scenes footage and you see, I don't know how many stunt people there were, if there were any at all. Right. And they're retaking all these shots and you see there's stuff later where Fujiwara dives out of a window and you see him do it and landing on a mattress and you're like, this is the dude that's like, it's unbelievable.
But Shuya cries as he clutches the photograph, kneeling over the body of his friend as we return to the calamitous classroom, and this death, as well, is made official. Boy number seven, Kuninobu, dead. I will say that is a very... neat callback to the novel yeah because at the end of every chapter they update you and they're like 40 students remaining okay so it's a
kind of a cool tie in to have that as a graphic on the film. I like that too, because it's like this impending, like we are dwindling down. Like we're. Counting away. Yeah. These kids that are gone. Yeah. And as you get toward the end of the film and you see that number tick away, you realize you're like, we've gone through. Well, I know I, as it got further in, I'm counting the, I'm like, oh my God, it's only. This group and this group and then this guy. You know what I mean?
But several onlookers survey Shuya as he sobs. Noriko, Shinji, Takako, Mitsuki, and even Kawada and Kiriyama. But Kitano and Arjo approach Shuya as the former sensei declares, What a shame. Admitting that he liked Nobu in his own way. Shuya shivers in fury as he rises to his feet, locking eyes with Kitano, who asks him with seeming sincerity, What's that look for, Nanahara?
Shuya attempts to charge Kitano, but he's tackled to the ground by Shinji and Hiroki before he has the opportunity to do so. But the host on the tape returns with one more thing to tell the participants. This game has a time limit. And if a single survivor isn't determined in that time, then all of the necklaces will automatically explode and no one will win. That. Yeah. That's not fair. Like, I think that almost they could frame it as some kind of sick lesson.
Or if we all learn to work together or whatever, because that would be my, like, look, okay. Everybody catch your breath. Let's have a meditation. you know, session and then let's all just be cool. We can just wait this out. It's like, no, you can't. Because then you're all going to die. Yeah. I think what's sad is that that should work. But the idea of trusting anyone in this moment is like. You would want to think that nobody would do anything and was like, hey, let's.
figure out a way off this fucking island yeah it's that that's what i would hope for or at least me and a couple of my friends we can just hide until it's all over But we can't. Yeah. Because even if it gets down to just me and my friends, we have to turn on each other or we all die. It's just not fair. It is. It is a bit of a what am I supposed to do? Yeah.
It's not fair. No. And it is this thing, at least in the novel, where it's like the government intentionally putting you against your friends. Yeah. And so it's like, no, you can't trust anyone. But. Us. The government. I hate it. It's bad. Yeah. Potassium benzoate. That's bad.
But she suggests that they might as well fight as hard as they can in that case to make sure that that doesn't happen. Kitano then addresses the students, asking if there are any questions so far. Teacher mode forever. Yeah. Kyoichi nervously raises his hand, choking out a question that interests all of the other teenagers in the room. If I survive, can I go home? Kitano assures him that he can.
Only if everyone else is dead. Kiyoichi collapses into his chair defeated. His reaction did make me laugh. I'm not outlasting. I loved the first half of that. God damn it. But Hiroki then rises with a couple of questions of his own. How are they chosen? And why are they doing this? Kitano answers concretely, by random selection, and it's your own damn fault.
Kitano approaches the cowering crowd again, allowing that it's fine that they don't respect adults, but he suggests that they keep one thing in mind. Life is a game, so fight for survival and find out if you're worth it. I think this line kind of speaks to Kitano as a character and maybe the difficulty that he's experienced in his own life. Because he is basically telling them. Don't work together. Don't form alliances. Don't trust anyone. Fight and see if you're even worth being alive.
And that is such a wild thing for an adult to tell a child. But I think it speaks to that generational divide and maybe what he experienced as a kid is completely disconnected from what they're experiencing now. Right. Or so he thinks. Yeah. Because everybody is fighting their own struggle in their own way. And you got to be patient and you got to let them do it. Yeah. And I think that that's like we're saying, oh, this whole generation, blah, blah, blah.
why yeah like i think that it's important to examine because I feel like every generation has faced something and then we go on to have children and we take those experiences and that informs how we parent and then that informs how the next generation parent. And so if it's an entire generation of you say they're delinquents and whatever.
what are what are we doing yeah like what has made them that way yeah no kidding i don't know i feel like that's why i'm like let's meditate for a moment like i feel like the call is coming from inside the house i feel like we need to start with us And then maybe we set up a fight to the death for our children. Let's start with us.
I will say Kenji Fukusaku, he had said basically with this rise in youth crime at the time. Right. He said even reading all these reports, it's not me immediately knee jerk being judgmental. He's like, I want to understand and I want to see what it is. in this society, in this environment that is driving these kids to do this. Yeah, it's that. Yeah. And his son, the screenwriter, even said that the film itself is supposed to be for the youth.
Right. He said that it's never the children who precipitate tragedy, but always the adults. Yeah. I mean, that's I don't want to like. tip any hand too early or anything but I'm like what we learn of these characters these kids it all trickles down from adults failing them, abandoning them, hurting them. Like, it's like, again, it all... Like it's like, what do you call them? Like tributaries flowing into a river or something. Like it's like it all comes from something. Let's maybe not, but...
All of this on these kids that are fucking teenagers. And it is. You see a lot. And it's weird being a former kid, I will say. Being a former kid sucks. as as an adult you do see a lot of other adults being like what is wrong with these kids yeah and it's like what chance do they have yeah yeah it's you know yeah and that's why i feel like this the movie really hit different differently for me this time around I think being older and having kids that are like almost this age it's like
I don't know man it's it's a bummer I feel like we all have generational trauma just inherently yeah and it's a byproduct of being alive yeah exactly and so it's just like I know that it's a movie I know it's fake but it's like damn it bums me out to but people do think that way yeah and i fucking kids today i never it's like yeah but like why didn't you do that did you not do that because your parents would have knocked your teeth out you know what i mean like let's unpack that
I don't know. Yeah, that's more fear than it is respect or, hey, you know what? I think I'm going to listen to your warning. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it just hits a little bit differently. And I agree. The premise is absolutely fake, but the concepts driving the narrative are absolutely real. Yeah. It's just like I look. most kids don't want to go to school I know that these kids are getting class but they really they want to be eating cookies and having crushes and it's just like
I was going to say normal kidship, but Nobu did stab. That was too hard. Maybe that's a Nobu specific issue. Maybe we pull Nobu to the side. And deal with that issue instead of, you know, pitting the whole class to the death. True. I will say at least they were kind enough to leave a note as I learned on Arrested Development. Always leave a note.
But just then, the doors at the back of the classroom slide open sharply. The startled students turn to look as two massive carts containing large bags are wheeled to the front by military personnel. The host on the video explains that now they're going to leave the classroom one by one, but before that, they'll be given one of these badges.
The camera pulls back to reveal a desk in front of her, one of the bags emptied of its contents and resting on top of it. She reveals that they'll each receive food and water, a map, a compass, a flashlight, and a random weapon. She warns that not everyone will get a gun or a knife. Some will be good. Some won't be good at all. But the girls will be allowed to take their personal items with them. So that's not all bad.
But I could get a shitty bag, too. Yeah, I think it's that, too. Why, if we're all supposed to be equal fucking... Let us all have guns or knives. This luck of the draw bullshit. My luck is not great. I'm here. I thought I was going to fucking Disney. We don't know where they were going. We just assumed. But you know what I mean? My chances don't feel very great right now. No. Well, but I mean, after that bad luck this morning, it's like, I think I'm going to get it out of the way. Hell yeah.
But the host raises an axe from behind the bag in front of her, feigning shock as she jokes that someone got lucky with this one. Kitano comments coldly that all of their parents have been notified, and he encourages them to just go for it. What do you mean parents have been notified? I will say in the novel, this is much different.
And the parents are notified, but anyone who puts up any kind of anything is immediately killed. Oh, shit. And the teacher counterpart in the novel tells them all about it. And it's fucking deplorable the way that he does it and the other things that he says happen. Oh, no. It's incredibly unsavory. And I'm glad that that element is more or less left out of this story. But it's like.
So let's break and traumatize them further before sending them out here. Like what? Yeah. And again, but it's a matter, at least in the novel of this fascistic totalitarian state. total control anybody who is against this idea even at all take care of them that's wild because this almost feels like oh no your parents know like yeah like your parents now like It feels like, oh, so every adult is just cool with this. That's almost what it feels like.
Yeah. And I mean, you have to be or else. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. It's either, oh shit, my parents are going to try to do something to rescue me or... Something bad's gonna happen. Yeah. And that is a little odd because it seems that every single time that Battle Royale takes place every year, they're taken to the same island. So notifying the parents is kind of wild because you would think that...
Yeah, sure. We're definitely okay with that. And the second the military leave, hey, what the fuck are we going to do? Yeah, that someone would do something. But the host explains that they'll all be leaving by class number. So when she calls out their name, she wants to hear a nice big here. She then calls for Yoshio Akamatsu, boy number one played by Shin Kusaka. He steps forward from the crowd with a fearful, HERE!
He rushes to grab his backpack and has tossed a green satchel from the rack. He pauses frightful in the hall, but runs away when Arjo shouts at him to continue onward. We then get text in white, which reads, The game begins day one, 1.40 a.m.
The video hearing her call their names, like specifically this class, I was like, okay, maybe the beginning was just a like... a script and then it was going to be like okay student one student but take names like oh no we're fucked yeah no this was made specifically for us Plus, I think this is a really clever way to learn everybody's name. Yes.
the audience member because there are so many characters i don't think i've ever had more more characters in a script to name and credit yeah yeah and i was very grateful yeah bless that's that's makes it very easy one thing i will say i don't remember this video element being in the novel at all and so i think that it is an invention of the film and it is a great idea yeah yeah i agree the vibe of it but um
You don't need to be throwing that bag at me like that. No. It's like, dude, aren't we going through enough? I didn't like that at all. No, they're dicks about it. They are. That's very. Yoshio's departure is followed by Mizuho Inada, girl number one played by Suyaka Kinoshita. She grabs her things tearfully, but she's pulled back by Kayori Minami, girl number 20 played by Mai Sekiguchi.
Kayori trembles that they'll always be friends, and Mitsuho accepts this before catching her green satchel and racing for the exit. Kaita Ijima, boy number two played by Rin Matsuzawa, is next to receive his satchel, lifting it above his head to his classmates before rushing down the hallway. I don't know if that was solidarity or he's like, I'm going to kill you with this. It felt like solidarity. I certainly hope so. And he seems like a very nice boy when we meet him later. Yeah.
So I didn't know him yet when I wrote this. But Yuki is then called forward, waving to her group of friends as she receives her items and vacates the classroom. A fearful Tatsumichi Oki, boy number three played by Guki Nishimura, gathers his things, initially failing to catch his satchel as he trips on his way to the front.
But when Megumi is called forward, she shares a moment with Noriko, who clutches the wound at her arm, reaching a bloody hand to bring Megumi closer into an embrace before she collects her things and exits the classroom.
I'm so tense like them stopping to hug. I'm like, please get the hell out of here. Like, don't make them tell you twice. Because I feel like we're learning rules as we go along. And he's like, no hugging either. Now everybody knows no hugging because I've killed both of them. Yes. Toshimori Oda, boy number four played by Shigehiro Yamaguchi exits with his pack without incident.
But when Sakura Ogawa, girl number four, played by Tomomi Shimaki, is called forward, she stands frozen for a moment with her boyfriend, Kazuhiko Yamamoto, boy number 21, played by Yasuomi Sano. Sakura holds Kazuhiko's hand, offering a silent goodbye before she approaches the front of the class. But when she's forcefully thrown her bag, she refuses it and instead hurls it at Kitano, who catches it without a word.
Girl, don't do that. I'd be like, if she doesn't want it in her bag, can I have it too? Yeah, I'll take that extra. I was going to say, because it's not even just a weapon. There's water and food. It's like, sure, don't use the weapon, but you need the shit that's in that bag. But Sakura seethes silently as she exits the classroom without her bag.
Bakuata is called next, and after he ties his shoes casually, he rises from the corner desk, racing for the front of the class and into the hall, only to casually stroll toward the exit. A little performative, I thought. A little bit. But he's styled like an 80s action hero. He is. We watch as Izumi Kanai, girl number five, played by Takami Mihata, receives her bag, but Kiriyama is called next, and he's scolded as he saunters slowly toward the front of the class.
parting the fearful students as he passes them by. But before he can exit with his satchel, Kawada returns, forcing his pack back onto the rack and shouting to Arjo that another pack is actually his, not this one. Kitano just laughs, supposing that the students have probably assumed that these new transfers are a little dangerous. I feel like that's cheating. Yeah. Seeing them in the back and then watching this in my mind, I was like, oh, they're both plants. Yes. Yeah. But the thing is, though.
They keep saying there's no rules, but then they gave us rules. But if there's no rules, I mean. What is. Yeah. Yeah. I just feel like it's like, yeah, it's whatever. There's no rules. But I feel like if I do the wrong thing, I'm going to get shot. So I don't know. It's like no listening. You hear me? No? It's like I don't know. But Kawada grabs a different bag and he stares down a fearless Kiriyama before making his exit again.
But time passes and the class has dwindled as Mayumi Tendo, girl number 14, played by Haruka Nomiyama, is given her pass. Bakitano turns away as Shuya is called forward. He collects himself at the side of Nobu's body, reaching for the photograph and placing it sweetly on Noriko's lap with a whisper. I'll wait for you.
Noriko smiles with a bit of hope as she gazes at the picture, and Shuya accepts his satchel and rushes out of the building, past military personnel, and finds a secluded area of shrubbery to search through the bag he was given. But just as he removes the flashlight and switches it on, he hears someone calling his name from the clearing between the bushes. He then turns his head to see that it's Mayumi, the student that left the building just before he did.
She staggers toward him, her bag still gripped in her hand, and when Shuya aims his flashlight at her face, He illuminates the bright yellow fletchings of a crossbow bolt jutting sharply through her throat. Dude, you got a fucking dart in your neck. Yeah. I was just like, already? Yeah. She's been outside for like 10 seconds. No time was wasted. None.
A shocked Shuya asks her what happened, but Mayumi can only weep, reaching her hand for the bloody broadhead of the bolt, wondering what she's going to do. She stumbles to Shuya, collapsing in front of him, and when he lifts her up again, he sees that she's already dead. Shouya shrinks backward as another bolt whizzes through the air and finds a home in Mayumi's upper thigh.
A shuddering breath escapes Shuya as he glances up at the top of an adjacent hill. This is where he finds Yoshio clumsily loading another bolt into his crossbow. Without a second thought, Shuya hurls his flashlight at him, clocking him across the skull, and as Yoshio loses his balance, Noriko emerges from the bushes, having received her bag from the military men. Shuya warns her backward, rushing her off in the other direction as Yoshio takes a steep fall down the hill.
I will say back to what you were mentioning about the stunt work. I watched on a behind-the-scenes featurette this actor taking this tumble down the hill no less than eight times. Jesus. And he's falling onto this mattress at the bottom and he's just doing it again and again and again. And then later they talked to him while they were riding the bus away from the set.
And he's like, well, I'm glad I got that out of the way now so my stunt double can come in. And I'm like, that's hilarious because you're, that's you. But as Yoshio reaches the ground, he cries fearfully. Shit, what am I even doing? as he searches frantically for his crossbow. But the weapon is found by a curious Kazushi, who lifts it casually to Yoshio, earnestly asking if this weapon is his.
Yoshio reaches his feet, answering only with a shriek as he charges for Kazushi, who stumbles back fearfully, falling down as he aims the crossbow at his attacker. As Yoshio draws in closely, Kazushi pulls the trigger firing the bolt directly into Yoshio's heart. The boy goes stiff, clattering to the asphalt lifelessly as Kazushi collects himself, in disbelief at what he's done, as he runs away with his newfound weapon.
We cut to black, and with a dramatic musical flourish, we get on-screen text reading, Boy number one, Akamatsu. Girl number 14, Tendo. Dead. 38 to go. And that's the thing I think frightened me so much when I saw this the first time is that there really was no waiting at all. Yeah. It was immediate. There was never a let's talk about this. figure it out situation right immediately the moment you head outside you catch a crossbow bolt to the neck yeah that's that's terrifying yeah
And even Kazushi, he didn't seem threatening or violent at all. That was all 100% defensive. Yeah. But again, we are... 14, 15, we're scared. We've just seen our teachers dead. We've seen our other classmates' neck explode. We're like... he threw a knife in that girl's head yeah and you were told only one person is going to survive only one can survive so yeah people are going to be on the defensive
But when we return, we find Shuya and Noriko splashing through the water as they race across the shoreline of a barren beach, finding their way inside of a sprawling cave, the camera pulling back as they take a seat together. So I just want to say I did learn that this film was filmed on Hajicho Kojima Island. Okay. And all of these sprawling shots.
The scenic wides, the color, the cliff sides, the caves, the beaches. It's all real. Wow. That's crazy. It's like absolutely gorgeous. Yeah. They had said that. It's actually a deserted island. And on a featurette, they said it's only inhabited by wild goats. And so it made the perfect location for the film. Oddly, the island is not named in the film.
As far as where they even are. And so it's just this undisclosed. Yeah. Yeah. So that honestly adds an air of mystery and kind of horror to it too. classroom sets and the different buildings that we see those were all sets that were built on sound stages okay and so a lot of the interiors that you see it is literally filming in one real area and returning to a studio
and cut together in such a way that you can't even tell. Not at all. And I think editing was one of the Academy Awards, one of the Japanese Academy Awards that the film won. Absolutely should have. Yeah. But Shuya remembers Noriko's injury that she sustained in the classroom, and after he helps her to remove her jacket, he inspects the bullet wound at her left arm with the light of her borrowed flashlight.
Thankfully, Shuya discovers that it's only a scratch, and he offers to wash off the blood for her. But as he searches through his green satchel for medical supplies, he finds the random weapon that was given to him by the military. A thin metal pot lid. Oh, y'all got jokes. Like, I just imagine them packing these and they're like, which motherfuckers? What is wrong with y'all? Do you think they know? Fuck this dude in particular.
Something else, if I'm not mistaken, Shoya's weapon in the novel is like a Swiss army knife. Okay. Which is better, but still not. Fantastic. Yeah. It's better than a fucking pot lid. I think the choice they made for the film is to make him an even more sympathetic character. It's like, damn. But he holds it in his hands, and with ire and incredulity, notes that he can't fight with a pot lid.
Noriko's weapon proves a bit more useful, though, as a means of practicality rather than brutality, and she hands it over to Shuya, a pair of binoculars. Not great, but better. Yeah. You can beat someone to death with a pair. Or see them coming to murder you. Oh, they're getting closer. You'll know it's coming at least. You'll have time. They can see the sun reflecting off of the potlets. You've got to put that away. I don't know why you're holding that. How do they know where we're at?
Shuya curses Kitano and the military men, wondering if they could escape with Shinji and Hiroki instead of taking part in the game at all. as he twists off the cap of one of his bottles of water to clean noriko's wound noriko expresses her doubts nervously admitting that she doesn't trust any of them And honestly, I'd say that that's fair. I understand that Shinji and Hiroki are friends of Shuya's, but I just watched our classmates... Already. Yeah. Immediately. I don't know these guys.
But we suddenly flash back to the high school restroom, where a group of girls, including Yoshimi, have barricaded Noriko into a bathroom stall, chanting, Noriko, shorty, ugly, die. They cackle as they run away, but Noriko pounds and kicks the stall to no avail before she sits solemnly on the closed lid of the toilet, her eyes finding graffiti scrawled on the wall of the stall, which reads, Noriko. Shorty. Ugly. Die.
They're very committed. I was going to say at least they're consistent. But yeah, I'm not trusting anybody here either. That's how you were treated during good times. But I was like, what about... Is it Megumi? Her friend? Yeah. Yeah. she's like no fuck everybody else it's like well you had a friend you hugged her yeah and she took
you know, pictures of you and Chuyah. She framed it just right. Yeah. And I found that interesting. It reminded me of another film where people were going into caves that shouldn't have been in caves. But that picture, Nobu is missing his head. Oh, okay. Foreshadowing. Yeah. But back in the present day, a sweaty and bloodstained Shuya asks what about him? Does she trust him? As he tends to her wound, Noriko reveals that Shuya is the only one that she does trust.
She then apologizes for calling him by his first name, realizing that he called him this just like Nobu does. The mere utterance of his name causes Shuya to crumble into tears, barely able to choke out Nobu. We then flash back to the cluttered and cramped bedroom once shared by Shuya and Nobu, the bright sunlight shining through their opened window, their school uniforms hanging on a dresser, with Nobu occupying the top bunk of a bed, surrounded by a stack of books.
and Shuya sat on a small stool in front of the bottom bunk, strumming an electric guitar. This is very true to Shuya as a character in the novel. He did a lot of things, really, because he played basketball, he played baseball, he was a musician and a singer. But one thing that was very important to Shui as a character was American rock music.
which the government had banned. And so the only way to get your hands on it was through nefarious means and bootlegs and all these things. But he was a very big fan, especially of Bruce Springsteen. And there's a conversation about it later in the novel when they meet up with another character who becomes a part of the crew. But they talk about Born to Run. And it is quoted at the beginning of the novel like Stephen King does. Oh. And you think about that. Yeah, that's really good.
I was surprised to see this because I didn't realize that this was their situation. Yeah. I thought they were like friends. Like they go to school together. They're friends. Yeah, I think. And that's another thing that maybe is a little more established in the novel. They talk a little bit more about, I guess, Shuiya's parents died when he was much younger.
And so he's been in foster care with Nobu since very early childhood. Oh. And so they're like the best of friends because kind of all they've had is each other. Right. And- This film, it kind of makes it a little bit shorter, their time of knowing each other. It's only been about two years, I guess, if he's... in foster care with Nobu after his father dies. But I mean, in this society, in this way, I think you would form strong bonds very quickly.
But I think a lot of things, unfortunately, just have to get lost from the novel in order to expedite the narrative. Of course. And I think that there's enough here to give, especially with this conversation and the scene that we're about to have. But Nobu leans over the railing to peer down at Shuya, asking him, Do you have a crush on anyone at the moment?
So there you go. We're back. We're back. Shoya avoids the question, asking instead if Nobu does. And Nobu admits that he kind of likes someone. He reclines back to his pillow with a smile and reveals when asked that he fancies Noriko Nakagawa. Shuya stops playing his guitar as strings swell sweetly in the score, and he comments that Noriko is very nice.
Nobu grins at Shuya's agreement, and he shares that Noriko actually wrote to him. He recounts her words with the purest joy. Come back to school. Let's all go on the school trip together. Nobu adds that even if Noriko didn't really mean it, it's nice to have someone waiting for you.
this made him coming back for the trip a lot less funny yeah a lot more sad and if i think that if i and it's not her fault but i think if i were noriko i would hold some guilt yeah and i think she does in a little bit but it's not your fucking fault it's not and i know that he can't see shuya but if i was like
I have a crush on so-and-so and then my friend stops drumming their guitar and be like, oh my God, you like them too, don't you? Why'd you stop playing? Yeah, why did it get so quiet in here? But back in the present day, Ashoya wraps Noriko's arm with a white bandana. He shares that he and Nobu were roommates in the foster home after his father died. And when he was depressed after he quit baseball, Nobu taught him the guitar.
Noriko laments the fact that she invited him here for this trip. But Shuya sets her mind at ease, telling her that Nobu was happy that he came back. Really happy. But Shoya shares his regret that he couldn't help Nobu either, that Nobu needed him and he couldn't do anything at all. But this fact is what fuels Shuya, and he vows that he will never give up, and he'll take revenge for Nobu, and he'll protect Noriko right to the end, just like Nobu would have.
Noriko thanks Shuya sincerely, but she remembers. Shouya never even got to taste the cookies she made. We cut immediately to Kitano. Reclining on a pale green couch in the middle of the military control center, his fist stuffed into the cellophane of Noriko's box of cookies.
as he shovels them into his mouth one by one. Are you fucking for real? That was hilarious. It was. They had to get them from the bus. Yeah, it was that. The other thing is that he wasn't even there. He was helicoptered in, and so he had to find them. Yeah. That's nuts, dude. These cookies must be fire as fuck, though. The way that Nobu was eating them, and then they continue to be a favorite here. She doubles the butter.
But as he twists the wrapping closed, we see a group of military men in a wide shot beneath large monitors of the island grid, each manning their own personal computers at their death. Arjo approaches the casual Kitano, sharing news that Numai's gang has grabbed Kiriyama. He takes the chair next to the couch, reaching for the box of cookies.
But Kitano promptly snatches them away and moves them to the other side of the table. And you won't even share them. No. And again, it's something that you're like, well, he's just being ridiculous, but it serves a purpose. Yes. Arjo remarks that the kids aren't wasting any time. But when he lifts a couple of drawings that he finds on the table in front of Kitano to get a look at them, Kitano tears them away from Arjo's grasp too, setting them face down on the surface of the table.
Arjo stands, returning to his men at the other side of the room, glancing upward at the beeping of one of the large monitors. And there, in various sectors across the island, the numbers which signify the students beep in white and red as ominous music hums in the score. But we return to the island, waves crashing against the rocks as Ryuhei leads Kiriyama over to the other members of his gang by the barrel of his submachine gun.
Mitsuru Numai, boy number 17 played by Yusuke Shibata, aims a pistol at Kiriyama as Hiroshi Kuranaga, boy number 9 played by Yuki Masuda, snatches Kiriyama's satchel away from him. He reaches inside, finding Kiriyama's random weapon to be a large white folding fan. Shou Tsukioka, boy number 14 played by Shigeki Hirakawa, cackles as Hiroshi smacks Kiriyama across the face with it, snarking that Kiriyama definitely got a good one.
Izumi stands idly by and she watches as Numai grabs hold of Kiriyama, doubting this whole transfer student story and wondering if he's working for Kitano. I'm really concerned for these kids who have taken to this so quickly. Yeah. Y'all were ready to pop off and split off and take people hostage. Like it's like, yeah. I'm worried. I feel the same way, but I think that if we find the one person that's the outsider, again, these two transfer students, you guys look like...
you want to kill us already. True. And I would honestly think that they had more information about what was going on. Yeah. I would be a little concerned to see it's like a folding fan. Yeah. Like maybe you're not. Yeah. But Tsukioka swings his nunchucks, decrying the whole competition, stating that they're not going to kill anyone. Izumi suggests that Kiriyama come clean now, but he just stands there in the middle of the group without a word.
Ryohei points his gun at Kiriyama's forehead, but Kiriyama shows no fear, spitting his chewing gum into the face of his long-haired adversary. Ryuhei reacts swiftly, charging for Kiriyama, only to be overtaken and wrestled to the rocks immediately. Kiriyama then takes control of the firearm in the other boy's grasp, firing upon the entirety of Numai's gang, before turning the gun on Ryuhei himself and making short work of him too.
Izumi, surrounded by her dead friends, climbs wounded to her knees, begging Kiriyama for mercy, only to be fired upon again until she crashes lifelessly to the ground. They really dropped the ball with that one, though. That. Kiriyama combs through the collected corpses, slinging Ryuhei's submachine gun over his shoulder before collecting Numai's revolver, Izumi's grenades, and tossing Tsukioka's nunchucks aside. as waves continue crashing against the rock.
We focus on the bullet-riddled bodies of Numai's gang, Kiriyama walking off alone into the distance as tense music pulses, and we get on-screen text reading, Boys, number 9, Kuranaga. Number 10, Sasagawa. Number 14, Tsukioka. Number 17, Numai. Girl, number 5, Kanai. Dead. 33 to go. I was really shocked at how quickly these numbers are going down. Yeah. Like that was a huge chunk of people. And it's the first night. Like we just started. Yeah.
And it absolutely, we already knew from Jump whenever we entered that classroom, do not fuck with Kiriyama. Yeah. That is something that is a big change from the novel. Okay. In the novel, he's not a transfer student. Oh, he's one of their peers. Yeah. Oh, okay. And they talk about some accident that happened when his mother was pregnant with him. And whenever they went to the hospital, I guess it was a car accident, but he had glass that was... embedded into his mother's womb.
And they had to remove it from his brain. And they assumed that it was a perfect operation. There was no issue whatsoever. But this accident rendered him without emotion. And so it kind of lends to his behavior during the competition. Okay. But in this film, he just is... And also...
These are his friends in the novel. This is his gang. Oh, wow. Yeah. He's like, I don't give a fuck. Yeah. This chapter is from the perspective of one of the members of his gang and they find him and they're rejoicing at the fact that he's been found. And then he kills all of them. I think that having to take out that backstory for the sake of the film, the new one that they give him that we learn later does kind of stand in for this guy is not.
like us yeah like he he does not have compassion or like he doesn't care and that's that's the other thing as well is he was surrounded by five people who told him that they're not going to kill him yeah and so he's this is the easiest thing ever yeah I think this guy might be bad news. I think so. This guy's a real jerk. And the director's like, he should be our main character. This is the guy. I love him.
But before the dawn of morning, the blue darkness of dusk barely dying away, we find Katsuhiko and his girlfriend Sakura walking together near the edge of a steep cliff. The camera pulls back to reveal its great height as gunfire echoes all around them and they stop to assess the safety of their surroundings. Katsuhiko apologizes to Sakura, realizing that he really isn't much help to her. But Sakura expresses her gratitude that Katsuhiko came with her at all.
When her boyfriend wonders what will happen to them, Sakura clutches her school bag, having hurled her military satchel at Kitano, and sticking to her guns, she tells Katsuhiko that she only knows one thing, that she'll never play this game. She tosses her bag over the edge of the cliff and we watch as it descends into the rushing water below.
I will say that shot is all legitimate. Like they are up there. Damn. Okay. And you, the height of this cliff is sold in that moment. And you're like, this is precarious. Yeah. But Katsuhiko shrinks to the ground, begging tearfully that someone might save them. But Sakura leans down to his level, caressing him sweetly as she tells him, No. And she whispers into his ear, Let's go.
Sakura lifts her boyfriend to his feet as fretful strings rise in the score, the pair glancing over the cliff's edge as Sakura steals herself and Katsuhiko screams, shielding his face from the fate before him. Sakura clings to Katsuhiko's arm as she mutters, Here goes. And the pair leaps together. Katsuhiko's screams echoing as the sound of the waves crashing beneath them seem to overtake the score and we cut to black.
Onscreen text confirms, boy number 21, Yamamoto, girl number 4, Ogawa, dead 31 to go. This is so fucking sad. Yeah. I was already stressed out when she threw because I was like, at least again, like in the thing, at least take the food and the water. Yeah. But I was like, oh, this is much worse. Yeah. Just devastating.
And it's a heartbreaking choice that I hadn't even considered when this... game started yeah i was surprised too because i don't know why i'll be honest too i was like fuck somebody's gonna kill me if i'm in that situation uh-huh but yeah i mean this this is terrible yeah but i mean i guess what These people, everybody's trying to kill each other. What am I supposed to do? I mean, that's an option. Yeah.
and a non-violent one you know what i mean like it is it's just damn it's devastating it's so sad and i think that's the thing this film often is kind of maligned for the level of violence it has. But there is a lot of emotional depth and tragedy in this film. Yeah. And I think it deserves some credit for that. Yeah. But in an incredibly cluttered cabin, we find Megumi parked beneath a large table, cycling through her printed photographs by the light of her flashlight.
In each of the pictures she surveys, Shinji Momura occupies the very center of each frame. She speaks his name wistfully into the air, but her romance is interrupted when Mitsuko pulls the cabin door open. She shines her flashlight into the dark, decrepit building, and Megumi makes her presence known immediately, brandishing her weapon toward the door. A stun gun. The electricity zaps a bright blue as she calls out, Who's there?
Mitsuko blinds her with the beam of her flashlight, her voice calm and relieved when she sees that it's only Megumi. Megumi pleads to know who it is and Mitsuko places her flashlight beneath her chin, as if telling a campfire tale, offering Megumi a smile.
yeah like i'm gonna kill you smile yeah yeah um i was terrified first of all i was wondering where she had gotten off to yeah um and seeing her i was a little relieved and then immediately worried because i don't trust this girl no Something wild about the novel is that when Megumi finds this place,
She has a phone and she tries to call her dad. But when she calls her dad, it's the teacher that answers. Oh my God. And he's like, are you supposed to be using your phone? Like he's like a real dick about it. And then she hangs up. And then her phone rings. And that's what alerts Mitsuko to her. Oh, okay. Because the fucking teacher called her back. What a day. And that's such a teacher. Like, should you be on your phone right now? Come on. Shut up.
Megumi recognizes Mitsuko, but Mitsuko points her flashlight back toward her, asking, Were you really gonna kill me with that stun gun? Megumi looks down at the weapon in her hand, switching it over to her left to hold in a less threatening manner, as she admits to Mitsuko that though she was never friendly with her group, she thinks that she's okay. Her eyes never leaving Megumi, Mitsuko asks if she can come inside and is granted permission.
She closes the door behind her and carries her bags over to Megumi underneath the table. She sits down next to her and reaches for the photos that lie in front of her, recognizing Shinji is in each of them, and Megumi just shyly laughs as she collects them and places them behind her. But with her back turned, Mitsuko reaches for Megumi's taser, and holding it in her hand, she asks if this is her weapon.
Megumi smiles that it is, noting that it's not very useful. But as she tries to take it back from her, Mitsuko pulls her hand away, its electricity zapping as she disagrees with Megumi. Not necessarily. Mitsuko continues pressing the trigger as she adds that one zap of this thing to someone with a heart problem, and they're a goner. Megumi asks if she's ever used one before, but when Mitsuko only answers with a laugh, Megumi fills in the blank for her. Of course not.
I would assume the opposite if that was my answer is you just laugh and like, well, yeah, you definitely have clearly tased several people. Yeah. But it's like, okay. I think it's wishful thinking. Like, no, but none of us have ever done anything. Yeah. And quit playing. Give me my thing back. Come on. You're starting to scare me.
Mitsuko offers her weapon back to her, but when Megumi reaches for it, Mitsuko seizes her wrist. Fear finds Megumi fast as she pulls herself away, rushing under the table, and then over it as she cries for Mitsuko not to do this. But Mitsuko catches up to her with ease, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her to the ground. The blade of a sickle sinks sickly into Megumi's throat, Mitsuko holding the handle of it as she reveals this.
is my weapon it is a better weapon it is um i was really rooting for the underdog here and they made it clear very quickly that this is not that kind of movie no yeah Mitsuko admits that she thought that it was so-so at first, but that she realizes that it isn't so bad. That's crazy that they both said that. Oh, this is my weapon. It's not great. You got a taser? Yeah. And you got a fucking sickle for real? Did you know that Shuya has a pot lid? Yeah. No shit. Be grateful. Goddamn.
Mitsuko reveals that she found Yoshimi and her boyfriend Yoji dead next door, and we find them too, their silhouettes carved out of the night as they hang lifelessly together by their necks from the branch of a tall tree. Mitsuko recounts that they were all cozy there together, but she shares that that isn't her scene. I'll never die like that. As she tears the blade through Megumi's throat, her blood spraying like a fountain as the score reaches a crescendo.
We cut to black once more for the official tally. Girls number three, Megumi. Number one, Yoshimi. Boy number eight, Kuramoto. Dead. 28 to go. This is a little different than what happens in the novel with Yoshimi and Yoji because Mitsuko just flat out kills both of them.
So I don't know how she might have done that here, but I almost suspected her of doing that in the movie. The way that she tells the story, it sounds a little suspicious. Yeah, but I'm like, I don't think she'd be able to pull that out. No, it was too level. It was too easy. It was too planned. But this is just, again... This is Noriko's best friend. Yeah. And I did also think that it was a little strange that there was not even one inkling of like, I know her and Shuya went to that cave.
but noriko was never like we need to find that's what i was saying earlier because she's like i don't trust anybody but you i'm like but you're a home girl on the bus like i was and they were like we'll be friends or whatever yeah yeah well fuck her i guess i don't know But I really liked how this section was paced. I love how the suspense unfolds. We know that we can't trust me scope. Yeah.
But the way that it happens, it just gets more and more tense with her holding the taser and her not giving it back. And then this chase is just like a foregone conclusion. Yeah. Well, because it almost feels like anything can happen. Like it looks like things are bad for Megumi, but. You don't like I truly thought my naive ass thought she was going to make it out of this. And she did not. Now I was worried. Yeah. Straight worried.
But the next morning, fanfare plays loudly over large speakers all over the island, awakening Shuya and Noriko, who exit their cave dwelling to return to the rushing water at the shoreline. Kitano's jovial voice is heard over the airwaves as he announces First report, 6 a.m. It's like you can't even sleep in. No. God damn. Well, they warned you. They're like 6 and 12. Yeah, he did say he did.
As he stalks across the floor of the control center, he sarcastically states that it's time for the sleepyheads to wake up. As Mitsuko wraps a towel around herself outside of the cabin, washing her hair, and having changed into a white t-shirt and a comfortable pair of jean shorts, Kitano recounts the list of all their dead friends in the order that they were killed last night. Mitsuko listens, unfazed, as she wraps her wet hair in her towel and begins curling her eyelashes.
But as Kitano reads through the list, Shuya and Noriko listen intently, the horror of it all registering on their faces. But they continue onward, traversing the terrain and reaching the clifftops as Kitano's list nears its end. Girl number three, Megumi. Noriko stops dead in her tracks, mournfully whispering her late friend's name into the morning air.
But with no time to waste, Kitano announces the danger zones for the day, prompting his former pupils to consult the maps that they were given at the time of their departure. Shoya and Noriko wear them like necklaces and they remove them from their plastic coverings to mark them with red pins. Kitano declares that starting at 7 a.m., B5 will become a danger zone, then at 9, E8, and finally at 11 a.m., F2.
I know we already said this, but these danger zones are just mean. These kids are going through enough. What the hell is that? It's too much is what it is. Way too much. And the thing of them like. Yeah. It's like, so it's not just B2 today. Like, yeah, no. And times we have to worry about that. They don't want you to hunker down. They want you to be on the move and running into each other.
Can we like, and I know we're supposed to be killing each other, but instead of these danger zones, we have like restroom zones. Like in a shower, maybe brush my teeth, then go back out. Time out in V3 or whatever. I'm in the shower zone. No guns. You know, honestly, it might be better to have safe zones. You're right. Yeah. No, not here. All right. I feel like the danger zones might work better for me if this was televised.
Okay. Because they're like, we got to entertain the audience watching. So fucking keep moving. Right. Right. And no, without that element of it, it is just mean. Yeah. But at the control center, Kitano opens a window, peering out into the island as he acknowledges that he knows it must be tough to lose your friends. But he encourages the kids to hang in there, and he assures them all that they'll talk again soon. Well thanks for the condolences.
Shoya collects his items into his bag, but Noriko remains despondent, peering down at her map and lamenting the loss of her friend. But Shouya shares that where they are right now will become a danger zone very soon, and that they have to head south fast. He helps her to her feet, carrying her military satchel for her as they venture onward into the nearby woods.
Noriko follows close behind Shouya, applying pressure to the wound at her arm. But out of nowhere, Tatsumichi dives out of the undergrowth, his jacket tied around his waist and a blue cloth wrapped around his forehead. He shrieks madly as he swings his axe at Shuya and Noriko, threatening that he'll get them. Shouya pushes Noriko to safety as Tatsumichi charges for them, and the two tussle to the dirt.
Shuya barely able to keep the strikes of Tatsumichi's axe at bay with his metal pot lid. So. It came in handy. We were shitting on it a second ago, but. Came in clutch. It worked. The pair clatter clumsily down a hill, tumbling over each other again and again until they reach the bottom. But in the frenzy of the fall, Tatsumichi's axe sinks certainly into his own skull.
Noriko watches in horror from the hilltop as the two boys reach their feet, Tatsumichi squealing in pain as he reaches at the blood that pours down his forehead. He insists that he's fine when Shuya asks him, but as he inches his way towards Shuya, Tatsumichi collapses lifelessly to the forest floor. Shuya backs away, catching his breath as he stares down at the body of his classmate.
But unbeknownst to Shuya, Yuko Sakaki, girl number nine, played by Hitomi Hayuga, watches fearfully from the bushes, the tail end of their tussle, painting Shuya in a rather unflattering light. But as she rushes away, Shuya turns his attention to Noriko, who calls out to him when she reaches the bottom of the hill too.
Puzzled by what has just transpired, Shuya demands to know if he killed Tatsumichi or not, pleading frantically with Noriko for her to tell him the truth, shaking her by the shoulders. She finally answers, screaming that it was indeed an accident. And this to me, again, it just speaks to who Shoya is. He is not trying to play this game at all. And the fact that this happened in front of him, he's like, I don't even want to have any part of that. Yeah. But it's like, look.
We got to get over this real quick. Like you didn't, he didn't do anything. No. So it's like, we need to keep it moving. We can cry about it later. It sucks that Yuko didn't hear that. Yeah. Maybe we should have said it a little louder. Anyone surrounding? It's that I think I would have been like, oh my God, what happened? You know what I mean? Yeah.
Yeah, I'm saying she's actually way better at this than I am because that keeping silent, there's no fucking way. Yeah, hell no. And just slinking away. Like, show you what the fuck did you just do? I was like, dude. But the pair are interrupted by the loud discharge of a firearm. And there, half hidden behind the trunk of a tree, is Kyoichi, who stares at them sternly through his glasses, a revolver still raised in his hands.
I've been waiting for glasses to show back up because he was very ambitious. Yeah. And I'm like, he would get a fucking gun. Of course. From memory, he clumsily recites the quadratic formula. And when he finally gets it right, he smiles, certain that he will survive and get into a good school. It's giving Stan Uris. right that's crazy yeah I will say that we've already seen a lot of horrific shit, but there was something about him just reciting a math equation. Yeah. It was so unsettling to me.
Well, cause it's like, that's what they're focused on. That's what they should be focused on. Yeah. And he's clutching to any, you know, piece of. routine for comfort. Yeah. It's chilling. It's terrible. It almost made me think, too, that he's like, if I can just think about this, I can do this. Yeah. Yeah. I just block it out again. I'm reciting math things in my head. I'm this is what I'm good at. This is what I'm thinking.
You're just a math problem. I just solved it. It's like, oh, dude, that's crazy. That's a lot. But Shuya, with Noriko hiding behind him, shouts for Kyoichi to stop. But Kyoichi fires his revolver again, chasing after the both of them when he misses. But as he descends upon them, a shot rings out from the hilltop, nailing Kyoichi in his side. He twists and tumbles to the ground, peering up at the top of the hill to see Kawada, who racks his shotgun, ejecting the spent shell.
Now I know the gun, whatever. I feel like this is very unfair. What? A shotgun? Yeah. Very unfair. That's crazy. And it's fucking funny as well because he came back. He's like, oh, this isn't for me. Yeah. And then he got a shotgun. But Kiyoichi expels a pained shout as he reaches his feet and charges for Kawada. But Kawada fires on him again, blasting him through the stomach before he can get too close.
As Kiyoichi rolls over on the ground, gasping his final breaths, Kawada rushes down the hill, collecting the revolver from his grasp. He points it at Shuya and Noriko, demanding that they show him their weapon. When they hold them up, he smirks that all they have to brandish is a pot lid and a pair of binoculars, but he slinks over to Tatsumichi's corpse just to the right of him, reaching through the tall grass to retrieve the axe embedded in his skull.
But off in the distance, a girl's cry echoes. Everybody, stop fighting. It's Yumiko Kusaka, girl number 7, played by Misai Okato, who says that she's with Yukiko Kitano, girl number 6, played by Yukari Kanasawa. and that they're on the cliffs of the Northern Mountain. She says that everyone can join them there, and that they can figure this out together.
I will say the teacher's name was not Kitano in the novel, but I'm pretty sure Yukiko Kitano was her name in the novel. And so this is no relation. There's not like his daughter or niece or anything. He's like, get her first. God damn. Did it clean your room? Yeah, it's a wrap. But Kawada races through the trees to seek a higher vantage point, with Shuya and Noriko following close behind him.
Shrouded in shrubbery, the three of them hunker down, and Noriko peers through her binoculars to find both girls at the North Mountain, just where they said they would be, Yukiko swinging her jacket around, and Yumiko shouting through a bullhorn. They then switch roles, Yumiko swinging her jacket as Yukiko pleads with whoever can hear her to join them there on the North Mountain so they can think through this together.
Shuya is pleased with the idea of pacifism, but when he stands up with the intention to join the girls on the mountain, Kawada stops him, reminding him that he doesn't even have a weapon. He brandishes Tatsumichi's bloodied axe, insisting that not everyone wants to play nice out there. But just around the corner, Mitsuko races down an adjacent path, but stops, shrinking behind the shrubs with her scythe in hand when she sees Shuya, Noriko, and Kawada.
Shuya counters that if Yukiko and Yumiko are in danger, then that's all the more reason to go and rescue them. He tries to push past Kawada, but Kawada forces him back toward Noriko, before racking his shotgun and firing a warning shot into the air. This startles Yukiko and Yumiko, who both lose their footing and sink to the ground together behind the tall grass. They call through the bullhorn to stop shooting, and Kawada just curses them as idiots.
But when Shuya shouts through the distance for the girls to run, they recognize his voice, which only emboldens their cries for help. Yumiko shouts through the bullhorn for Shuya to join them, insisting that Yukiko has always had a crush on him. So... more evidence and we will come to learn even later i think that shuya was just hot shit it seems like everybody has a crush on him yeah but also
You're telling everybody her business. Yes. What kind of friend are you? Yukiko does pull the bullhorn away. Damn, dude. And is that your weapon, a bullhorn? oh my god I didn't even think about that where'd you get that I brought that with me for the trip yeah I feel bad because Kawato really did try. That was to scatter them and to scare them away. Yeah. But they're like, hey, there's people there. They're like, dude, that's not what that was for.
And like earlier when I was trying to lead the group in meditative breathing, this is how I'm going to meet my family. I'm not making it off this island. But as Yukiko attempts to pull the bullhorn away from her best friend, the rapid fire of a submachine gun rings out just behind them, and we watch from the perspective of their killer as their bullet-riddled bodies clatter to the ground.
Mitsuko uses the commotion as a distraction to make her silent exit, as the trio gazes in horror across the valley and over to the North Mountain. The killer is revealed to be Kiriyama, and he continues firing as the girl's bodies twist in agony in the grass. He grins ghoulishly as he seizes the discarded bullhorn and towers over Yumiko. He presses the button, lowering the microphone to her mouth as her pained squeals escape her.
He then fires again into her stomach, blood spraying upward at the entry of every round, her dying screams echoing over to Kawada, Shuya, and Noriko, who cowers behind Shuya, covering her ears. Julia is overcome with emotion at the death of his friends, and he calls out to Yukiko, demanding to know that what just happened isn't true. but Kawada attempts to snap him back to reality, urging Shuya and Noriko to come with him, as Kiriyama will be after them next.
So dude is evil. Yeah. This was very sadistic. And this is. fully realizing now these two are not working together no because that's what i thought when we meet them in the classroom that their transplants or their you know If the kids don't want to do it, then we'll get it started or whatever. That's what I thought. It does. Or it did feel that way. Yeah. Kawada could have killed everyone. Yeah. Like.
He didn't need to help anyone. He didn't need to try to give advice. So seeing like this stark contrast between the two of them, it's like, okay, we have a good and evil. situation going on yeah because i i did wonder that too when we see him helping them i was like why the fuck are you helping them yeah we're not supposed to be doing that no it was very surprising
And not at all, especially with every person they've encountered so far, how it's gone. And the way that he went back and was like, that's not my bag or whatever. I was like this. I'm afraid of this guy. Yeah. And so, yeah, it was just very surprising. And I think a lot is. kind of laid out for us after this sequence. And I think the lowering of the bullhorn was an addition to the film and it does make him appear way more sadistic. Oh yeah.
But as Kawada attempts to lead them away, Shuya seethes that Kawada can go wherever he likes as he's a murderer himself. Noriko scolds Shuya as Kawada stops dead in his tracks, turning around to face him. Shuya cries that Yukiko and Yumiko were his friends, and he bewails to no one in particular. How can you all kill each other so easily?
Kawada marches towards Shuya, clinically stating that there is a way out of this game. Suicide. He states that if Shuya and Noriko can't do that, then don't trust anyone and just run. He racks his shotgun bailing through the trees and we cut to black as the killings are properly counted. Boys number three, Oki. Number 20, Motobuchi. Girls number six, Yukiko. Number seven, Kusaka. Dead. 24 to go.
And I do understand, of course, what Shuya is saying. But Kawada, he did that to save your life. Yeah. That part of it is very important, too. Yeah. But guards line the perimeter of the decrepit school, now the military control center for this year's game. As Johann Strauss's The Blue Danube Waltz sounds over the speakers, we comb over the military vehicles, pass their helicopter, and face the facade of the building as Kitano's voice sounds over the classical composition.
I will say this song is very familiar if you've seen 2001 A Space Odyssey. It is part of a really, really amazing sequence and incredible use and work. of special effects at the time. Okay. I am talking it up a lot because I'm trying to get... A buzz going? Yes. Because I want to... It's scary in its own way. It's horrific. I want to cover this film. It might be my birthday film. I don't know. Do it. Give me a year.
It was also on The Simpsons when Homer was in space. I don't think I can make an argument for that. I don't know why you opened those chips. I don't know either. No, they were clogging the instruments. They were rubbled. But we pan past a tray of canned food, bottled water, and the box of Noriko's cookies on the table to find Kitano, who sits on the couch, announcing that it's noon, time for their second report.
Kitano wonders if everyone is getting hungry, and he suggests that they take a small break from all the killing. Hopefully coming from a place of care, but it is a wild request right now. It feels mocking. It does. Because he's like, the danger zones are still active. It's true. He wants to take a break.
And how can we eat at a time like this? Because he's about to read from the list. Oh, yeah. Let me know which one of your friends. I'll let you know which one of your friends have died. It's like, okay, yeah, I have no appetite. As he recounts the names of the dead, Shuya and Noriko sit together on the rocks of a cliff's edge. And after Kitano reads Yumiko and Yukiko from his list, he offers a critique. Calling for peace was a good idea.
He once again shares the upcoming danger zones in their corresponding hours. An hour from now at 1300, I-4. Then from 1500, E-9. And from 1700, F-1. A shaken Shuya jots these down on his map as Noriko eyes him sympathetically. So obviously, you know, you have the necklaces and everything who died. And in what order. But you know a lot of details. Yeah. Calling for peace. Like.
How? I mean, we'll learn. Yeah. But I'd be like, how the fuck does he know that? Yeah. But too, if we're distracted, we're still trying to stay alive. You just told us about our friends and then you're telling us to eat and all that. you're not really focused on what true that's true and you're trying to look cute in front of your crush there's a lot going on priorities yes But elsewhere, Mitsuko seeks refuge inside of a clapboard shack.
She enters through the front without caution or worry, but as she crosses through the threshold, she breezes past a very casual Hirono, who rests in the corner of the dwelling. Hirono raises her pistol to Mitsuko's back, calmly calling her name. Mitsuko turns around with a start, recognizing Hirono and reaching for the scythe tucked into the back of her belt. Hirono rejoices at having found her, forcing her around and swiping the scythe for herself, confirming that this is Mitsuko's weapon.
Mitsuko shudders at the sight of Hirono's pistol, the girl keeping her distance as she asks Mitsuko about the deaths of Yoshimi and Yoji, having found them hanged outside. She also recounts the death of Megumi, who Hirono says that she saw herself, her throat slit with a sickle or something. She hurls Mitsuko's sharp weapon at her, the blade twisting through the air, its pointed end lodged in a pillar just next to Mitsuko's face.
Hirono inches her way back over to Mitsuko, aiming her gun as she wonders if Mitsuko took Megumi's weapon too. But when Mitsuko denies that she did, Hirono continues that it looks like someone was in that cabin all night, noting that she even found a tampon in the toilet. She claims to have checked Megumi, adding that she wasn't having her period. But she asks Mitsuko, You started yesterday, right?
horrifically thorough true and don't i know that there we have a lot more going on than this but don't throw them in the toilet don't do that psa psa no tampons in the toilet Mitsuko defends herself, doubtful that this proves anything, but Hirono demands for her to cut the crap and calls her a murderer. It's at this moment that Hirono's fury grows personal as she screams, Fucking all the boys, but you still had to steal mine. There it is. I was like, this feels very personal. Yes.
Mitsuko crumbles to tears as Hirono demands to know if she made Yoshimi date all those old pervs for cash too, insisting that Mitsuko probably killed Yoshimi and Yoji. Mitsuko just sobs, sinking to the ground as Hirono admits that she's always hated her. Mitsuko begs for forgiveness from the floor, pleading to know why everyone always gangs up on her like this. But Hirono just kicks her, ordering her to think about what she's done, wondering if she thinks that she'll get away with it.
She plants her foot on Mitsuko's hip, screaming for her to cry, to beg for forgiveness from Megumi and Yashimi. But from her bag, Mitsuko finds Megumi's stun gun, rolling over to zap Hirono at her wrist, causing her to drop her pistol. Mitsuko dives for it, as does Hirono, but Mitsuko is just a little faster. She said, call an ambulance, but not for me. She took way too long to do that whole speech. She was savoring it. I get it.
Fire first, then you can cry about it later or give your speech after and whatever. this lady's gonna kill you what are you doing yeah and you already are convinced that she's killed at least four people yeah they're like listen to this monologue you slept with my love when i got some shit to say You're going to hear it. Mitsuko seizes the firearm, pointing it directly at Hirono's face as she reveals that the stun gun was Megumi's.
but she admits that it was Hirono's gun that she was really after. Hirono curses her, once again branding her as a murderer, but Mitsuko shrugs it off. Why not kill? Everyone has their issues. I mean, everyone does have their issues. I feel like that's like a fucking MySpace quote. But I mean, it's good for her. It's great for her.
Hirono screams and attempts to bat the gun out of Mitsuko's hand with her bag before running away, but Mitsuko cuts her escape short, firing three rounds into her back. The score reaches a dramatic crescendo as her death is added to the tally. Girl number 10, Hirono, dead, 23 to go. But as the waves crash against the rocks beneath the cliff's edge, Shuya and Noriko venture onward together across the plateau up above.
Suddenly, an exhausted Noriko collapses to the ground and Shuya takes notice, rushing back to check on her. She insists that she's okay and that she's just a little tired, but Shouya discovers that she's dripping with sweat and he posits that she has a terrible fever. Resting weakly in Shuya's arms, Noriko chuckles, remembering that Yukiko had a crush on him.
Shuya hardly thinks that this is the proper time to discuss it. He consults the map around his neck, seeming to miss Noriko admitting to Shuya that she was a bit jealous to hear it. This is when I'm like, they are kids. They're still kids. We are running for our lives. You're sweating out a fever. She was shot. Yeah, in the arm. And she's like, I just find it funny that. I'm like, I respect it. I'm not mad at her.
But Shuya finds that there's a clinic just outside of the village, and he asks Noriko if she can stand so he can take her there. As he tries to lift her, she collapses, and when he can't rouse her back to consciousness, Shuya carries her on his back all the way to the clinic.
he kicks the door of the rusted fence down surveying the large white building before him shrouded in shrubs a rooster stalking and crowing across the path of the front entrance But as he continues carrying Noriko through the front yard, he accidentally trips a wire stretching across the path. This stirs the glass bottles of a makeshift alarm system. The front door of the clinic swings open, and Shuya once again comes face to face with Kawada, who racks and aims his shotgun at him, smirking.
Pot lid and binoculars. What do you two want? That's cute. Do you remember them? Yeah. Inside, we glide over a table filled with medicine, syringes, and surgical supplies to find Noriko resting comfortably in a chair, Kawada redressing her wound after injecting her with antibiotics. He ties a bandana around it tightly and the Foley work is working overtime here. I don't know. It was like, it was like, wow.
Paquata holds a hand to her forehead to gauge her temperature, relieved that though the drugs were expired, they're still getting to work to fight her infection. As the boys clean up, Shoya wonders why Kawada is helping them. And Kawada simply replies, believe it or not, my dad is a doctor. Doesn't really answer our question. Very cool. In the pantry, Kawada not only finds a portable cooktop, but at the center of the kitchen sits a box filled with rice.
Kawada grabs a handful and sniffs it, determining it to be edible before filling a large container with it, clearly intending to cook for three. This dude's all right. Yeah. But elsewhere on the island, Hiroki ventures onward, past the skeleton of a car toward a large, dilapidated building. He consults a navigation tool in his hand, and when he hears the voices of a few classmates working in unison nearby, Hiroki smiles and enters the building.
Inside, he finds Shinji, Kaita, and Yutaka Saito, boy number 12, played by Yutaka Shimada, attempting to drag a large generator up a set of stairs. They turn to face Hiroki, almost dropping the machine as they do so, and Hiroki rushes to help them. We cut to a little while later when the boys have brought the generator all the way up the stairs and we see it chugging along with the aid of a battery and a pair of jumper cables. I want to be on these guys' team. Oh, yeah. They know it's up.
Shinji is able to power up a laptop and log into it, even getting his home screen, which labels him the third man. This is a very cool nod to the novel because this was his nickname in the novel. Okay. It had to do with him saving the day at a basketball game with Shuya. He was the third string shooting guard. And he was also number three. And his, I guess there's an association with the first kanji of his surname to mean three. Oh, all right. And so they all called him the third man. Nice.
But Shinji wonders how Hiroki even found them, and Hiroki shows off his weapon, a tracking device. properly labeled BR GPS. Branding is everything. Of course. I think that is a badass weapon to have. Yeah. You see these little red circles of everybody in the area. Yeah. It's like, come on. Shinji marvels at it, but Hiroki wonders if any of the boys have seen Takako or Kayako.
When he learns that no one has, Hiroki has resigned to go search for them, but Shinji stops him, revealing that there might be a way out of the game altogether, and he asks Hiroki for his help. When he declines the offer, Shinji just asks Hiroki if he finds Shuya out there to tell him where they are. Hiroki agrees to these terms before snagging his belongings and racing back toward the stairs.
Kaita shakes his head, noting that Hiroki always was a loner. But Yutaka wonders why Hiroki wanted to know where Takako and Kayako were. Shinji just shrugs it off, assuming that Hiroki has a thing for Takako or something, but he retreats back over to his laptop, removing a few tissues that he stashed between his collar and the flesh of his neck.
Seemingly allergic to the metal, like we talked about earlier. Shinji looks at his irritated skin in the mirror, applying a cream to it, but something suddenly clicks in his mind and he remarks, so that's their trick. When Kaita and Yutaka respond in confusion, Shinji flips them the bird and calls them over to his laptop, where he opens a notepad application and types. They're listening. A mic in the necklace. as if this is the most shocking thing to happen in the past day or two.
I was like, of course. Yeah. Why didn't I think of that? I never would have. I believed them. Yeah. Just to monitor our heart rate. I trusted you. But Shinji insists that now it's time for business, and he enlists the boys in finding the following items for him. Fertilizer, pesticide, charcoal, sulfur, kerosene. Kaita demands to know what all of this is for, but Shinji just shouts for them to go.
There is this moment in Zodiac where they're reading through his letter, the Zodiac's letter. Right. And Armstrong says to Toski because they're reading all these ingredients and he just goes, it's a bomb. That was the moment I had here. I was like, they're building a bomb. With the other boys gone, Shinji channels his inner Mr. Robot and starts hacking into the mainframe as the score rises tensely around him.
But we cut abruptly to Takako, who jogs briskly down a paved street in a bright yellow suit to the tune of a peaceful piano. Framed by sprawling greenery, Hiroki follows behind her on his bicycle, wearing a very casual pair of jeans and a white t-shirt. He offers Takako a towel, which she declines, before he checks the timer around his neck, calling out to her, Hey, Chikusa, how long do you plan on running?
Takako keeps her pace, smiling in answer. Ahead of you. Forever. Hiroki returns this with a sweet reply of his own. I'll watch your back forever. As an operatic voice joins the piano, Takako just laughs, asking Hiroki if he promises this. But she makes a turn down a path through the trees, the camera following her as she runs in place, peering out into the road.
But with no sign of Hiroki there, Takako reaches frightfully for her throat, seizing the cold metal of her collar. And as her memory evaporates, she realizes exactly where she is. This was absolutely devastating. Yeah. Just heartbreaking. I thought it was so masterfully executed. Yeah. I was going to say that was really cool to go from that memory to like, fuck, I'm still here. Yeah. Because you think you're in a flashback. Yeah.
As ominous strings rise in the score, Takako races up a set of stone steps onto the porch of a house that she finds at the top of a hill. Her bag rests open there, and she reaches inside to find a towel to wipe the sweat from her face as she catches her breath. The towel bears the same design of the one that Hiroki offered to her in her memory, and as she breathes in the fabric, she whispers his name into it.
So it's clear who her crush is, I will say. Right. And I thought that the moment that they shared, it was so tender and so sweet. Yes. And for her to call upon it at this time, it just, you can tell how much it means. Yeah. We'll continue. Takako's reminiscing is promptly interrupted by Kazushi, who staggers onto the porch, clutching Yoshio's crossbow.
He notes that this is an odd time for her to be training. But a furious Takako tosses the towel back into her bag, seizing her belongings and marching down the stairs away from Kazushi, who follows her. He comments that they all gossiped about them, and when Takako insists that Kazushi made it all up, he counters that she liked it.
Reaching the bottom of the first flight of stairs, Kazushi reaches for her, pleading with her to stop, but Takako pulls away, ordering him not to touch her and calling him disgusting. Offended, Kazushi raises the crossbow, warning that if she doesn't stop, he'll shoot her. Takako chides him as pathetic, chuckling as she continues down the steps, and Kazushi follows closely, confessing his love for her earnestly, but Takako just snarks.
Wow. Great. Wash your face and try again if you survive. Kazushi races after her, pleading with her to wait and asking, You're a virgin, right? This is the line for Takako, who drops all of her belongings, demanding to know, did I just hear this idiot right? Kazushi rejoices that Hiroki wasn't man enough to sleep with her, and Takako scolds him, urging him to keep Hiroki out of this.
He laments that if they're going to die anyway, don't you want to do it once before you die? Fuck off. Yeah, I was like, what the fuck is happening? It's terrible. Takako just rolls her eyes, proposing instead that Kazushi should be worried about his life instead of that flaccid thing in his pants. I was like, God damn. Eat him alive. Yeah, keep going.
Enraged, Kazushi rushes in front of her, aiming his crossbow once again as he assures her that he's been taking this game very seriously, insisting that he's playing for real. Takako states that she is too and commands him to put the crossbow down and let her go. And she says otherwise, she'll assume that he wants to kill her and she'll fight back with everything she had.
She inches toward him, causing him to back up slightly, and when she tells him that he's been warned, he screams for her to stop. The humanity gone from his eyes. Kazushi reasons that he's already killed and that he could just force himself on her. I can't wait for him to die. No. Takako growls for him to try it, and when she charges forward, he accidentally pulls the trigger of the crossbow, a bolt sailing sharply past Takako, slicing her cheek just below her eye.
Her fingertip gracing the wound at her face, her eyes widen and she stares sternly at Kazushi, stating firmly that he's injured her face. Kazushi cowers behind his raised crossbow, insisting that it was her fault. She made him mad. Takako rages, always blaming someone else. This is why I hate your gut. She reaches into her bag, revealing her weapon, a switchblade, which she whips sharply until the blade juts outward in Kazushi's direction. He shudders as she orders with her eyes unblinking.
Come at me. Every inch of me will resist you. Kazushi can only scream as he turns to run away, but Takako follows in hot pursuit, the score pulsing suspensefully as she slashes at his spine, tumbling across the dirt with him before jumping onto his back and pulling him to the ground. She mounts him, raising her switchblade and bringing it down sharply into his crotch, again and again, before sinking the blade into his stomach as he howls in unspeakable pain.
Good for her. It's what he deserves. Yes. But with her villain vanquished, Takako reaches her feet, catching her breath But behind her, Mitsuko stands within the greenery, watching her every move. Her presence startles Takako, but Mitsuko just smiles sickly at her classmate as she raises Hirono's pistol and aims it at her. Takako takes off running, but Mitsuko chases her, gunfire echoing with every shot until Mitsuko gives up, letting Takako run free.
As Kazushi lies lifelessly in the dirt in the foreground, we get onscreen text, boy number 16, Nita, dead, 22 to go. No great loss. No. But a wounded Takako continues onward, having seemingly caught at least one of Mitsuko's bullets in her abdomen. She tumbles down the large stone wall of a dam, crashing to the ground just beneath the rungs of a ladder. She breathes Hiroki's name, and almost as if she willed him into existence, he appears at her side.
He begs her not to die, for her to hang on. Takako worries that this is some kind of a joke and that it isn't really happening, but Hiroki promises that he's really here. Takako reveals that Mitsuko got her and warns him to watch out for her, but through his emotions, Hiroki apologizes to her. When asked why, he explains. Last night, he waited for her outside the school and he recalls that she ran out of there at top speed.
That's a very funny visual. He's a fucking blurb. Books. And he doesn't say anything. I don't blame her. He's like, hey. But Takako offers a small smile, but it's soon overtaken by her pain. Hiroki adds that he called her, but he couldn't catch up to her. So I guess I was wrong already. But that's honestly... She's already gone. Yeah, she's like, I'm not even...
Takako admits that she didn't know, and she asks him to help her sit up. He raises her up against the stone wall, taking a solemn seat next to her as she gasps for air. Leaning her head on his shoulder, she asks, Hiroki, are you in love with anyone? Hiroki lowers his head, confirming that he is, and Takako eyes him lovingly as she breathes. And Hiroki shakes his head, no. No! Look.
She's dying. Yeah. It is very honest. Give her this. I'm all for honesty. Yes. She's not making it out of this conversation. we don't know that yet we're pretty sure we do just give her some comfort Yeah. He's like, yeah, you're right. And I'm actually going to leave. Well, that's why she liked it. It is an admirable quality.
I consider myself a very honest person. In this moment, I would have lied. Yeah, he shut up. I'm like, damn, dude. But also everything leading up to this, that, you know, memory and. Him being like, I'll follow you forever or whatever. I was like, no. It felt far more romantic than friendly. Yes. But even so, Takako simply asks Hiroki to stay with her, assuring him that it won't be long. Her eyes gaze upward to the heavens as her words appear on screen in white text.
God, can I say one more thing? Her words escape in a whisper. You look really cool, Hiroki. Hiroki cries that Takako does too, that she's the coolest girl in the whole world. In her last breath, Takako thanks him before slipping away. That was nice. That was nice. It was. He's like, but there's one girl that's cool. But he didn't say that. He's thinking it. I do love another girl. She's not cool. But I do love her. This was.
absolutely heartbreaking yeah um i can see why tarantino wanted her for gogo she is very compelling and intriguing i was very sad to see her go yeah even though at this point any character that's like introduced or reintroduced i'm like oh they're not long for right this film but this one really hurt And I honestly thought that she got away from Mitsuko. I did too. And so to see her right in the next scene wounded. Yeah. I was like, fuck. Cause she booked it. She did.
And I really liked her tenacity. Yeah. And I was like, I want to see what happens next, where she goes, what she does. And that's it. That's why I couldn't believe like we have the duality of.
Kawada and Kiriyama. And I thought that maybe she could be like this other side of Mitsuko. Yes. Okay. But no. But the delicate piano and operatic vocal of Schubert's Auf dem Wasser zu Zingen plays the song that accompanied the pair on Takako's jog in the past, as Hiroki buries his tearful face in her hair, muttering her name as the camera pulls back from the solemn scene and her passing is confirmed. Girl number 13. Chikusa. Dead. 21 to go. We fade to black.
I did want to say, if I'm not mistaken, this scene was filmed at Shukugawada Dam in Japan. Okay. And they make such brilliant use of this location with the way that they're framed and the sun setting. the color of this shot. I feel like everything about this little section is literally perfect. Yeah. But when we return, the gorgeous melody continues as we pan across the grounds of the school, the military men gathered outside and standing on guard in formation.
Inside, the camera rises up from a drawing in front of Kitano, who announces during his 6 p.m. report the short list of goners. Only three students. As he climbs from the couch and marches over to the window, he shouts into the microphone, You're slacking. I'm disappointed in you. He warns that because of this, he will be adding more danger zones that will change every hour, and he urges the kids to pay attention as he reads them off.
But at the clinic, Shuya sits at a dining table next to a recovered Noriko, both of them eating soup by the orange glow of a candle, as Kawada reclines comfortably in a chair across from them, drinking from a flask. Once again, I just love how this scene is lit. I love the blue of the night and the glow of the candle. Yeah. Some of these shots are just really, really beautiful to me. Yeah.
And I feel like there are some scenes, I don't know if it's just the way that they're filmed, but it feels so... out of the time that it was actually filmed that almost feels timeless in a way okay that if you said this film was made in the 70s i'd be like sure yeah it is kind of shocking to think 2000 yeah Okay. Like I said, and I'll be honest, to me, this is... I'm loving this because everything does look so pretty and so good.
that it does just feel like an anime. I'm like, this is fucking, it's too, it looks too good. You know what I mean? It's like, there's no way you did that. You know what I mean? It's like, that's not real. But you saying that they were filming on this location and all that.
It's like, damn, that's really cool. I forgot to mention whenever Kiriyama emerges from the bushes and he kills Yumiko and Yukiko, when he's standing at the cliff's edge and you just see the water crashing behind him, nowadays that would be green screen. Yeah. But that was that island. That's really cool. But Noriko comments on how delicious the food is, and Kawada agrees, adding that it's no wonder because his dad is a chef.
He's a very accomplished man. Yeah. But Noriko sets her bowl down, turning to Kawada to offer him a respectful bow as she thanks him for everything that he's done for them. Kawada just smirks, offering them both a drink from his flask, which Shouya declines. But after Kawada lights a cigarette in his mouth and takes the first puff, the cherry burning brightly in the dimly lit room, he remarks that he wasn't going to say anything, but he guesses that he wants them both to know.
He reaches into his wallet, pulling out a photograph that he looks at wistfully before passing it to Noriko. She smiles sweetly at what we now see is a picture of Kawada and Keiko, his girlfriend played by Minami. Noriko comments how pretty she is and learns that they were in the same class together. Ninth grade, class C, Kobe Jr. High. Kawada reveals that three years ago, they were in this game.
Shuya responds in startled surprise. You mean, you're... And Kawada finishes his thought as he removes his bandana, revealing a scar cutting across the flesh of his forehead. A survivor of this fucking game. I was like, wait, what? Imagine making it out of this and then doing it again. His eyes lost in a memory, Kawada shares that he was desperate to protect Keiko, and that he even turned his gun on his best friend so that the two of them would survive.
The score swells with sentimentality as we're taken back to that day, three years ago, the camera gliding over the bloody and lifeless bodies of Kawada's classmates. past the beaming exterior lights of a construction site as he helps Keiko to a small patch of dirt away from the corpses. As they take an exhausted seat together, Kawada's voiceover explains that when the time limit was almost reached, something changed.
The couple's callers begin to beep incessantly, increasing in tempo just as Nobu's did before it exploded, and the pair lock eyes, embracing each other tightly in the dark of the evening, until... A shot rings out. Keiko firing her gun right into Kawada's gut. In shock, Kawada tumbles down an adjacent hill, and when he reaches the bottom, he raises his weapon to Keiko, firing several rounds.
causing her to lose her footing, falling down to meet him at the bottom of the hill in a heap. He rushes over to her, cradling her, shaking her, and screaming her name as her life slips away in his arms. And after a moment, his caller stops beeping. But back in the present day, Kawada ties the bandana back over his forehead, lamenting that really trusting someone is a hard thing to do. But he admits that he never understood the meaning in the smile that she left behind.
We return to the past, Keiko's eyes opening one last time to meet Kawada's, a serene smile stretching across her face as she offers within a breath. Thank you before she slips into death. I feel that the smile is quite self-explanatory. But... In service of this film, we'll just move past that. Well, we can say he's grieving. True. You know, I think maybe he's working through that.
Maybe. Because from the outside, yes, it is clear. After listening to this, I will say that I was like, damn, these kids, a lot of their stories are deep and like really. Yeah. I was like, man, they're just kids. And I feel like him in particular, you see why he looks and acts older than everyone. Yeah. Because what he has been through. And he is. He said what, three years ago? Yeah, but yeah, so goddamn, how did you get in here?
Because this is, well, no, but then I guess he would just be, what, a senior? He would be a senior, but still. Yeah. That's wild. Maybe let a fucking 18-year-old. Yeah, no shit. There are no rules. Once again, I don't think it's fair. No. This whole time I was thinking more just along the lines of him aging physically through like mental and emotional. Yeah. Calendar years. And I will say I was very struck.
By his story. Yeah. Like you're saying, the amount of tragedy that he has experienced. Yeah. It's very clear why he sees Noriko and Shuya. and seeks to help them. But Kawada just smokes his cigarette inside the clinic, a chorus of voices harmonizing in the score as he takes another swig from his flat. After one last look at the photograph of Kawada and Kiko, Shuya hands the picture back to its rightful owner, realizing that he actually will have that drink after all. I would too.
Kawada trades the flask for the photo, and after Shuya takes a pained sip, he inquires why Kawada is playing this game all over again. Kawada shares that they kept him back in school and then dragged him here to shake things up during the game. But he says that when he woke up here, he vowed that he wasn't going to die on this island. Sometimes on this show, I realize that if we just wait a second, we'll have full explanations of everything that's happening. Yeah.
But we never know. We never wait. We never learn. Well, but we're watching it as we go. And I wrote this fucking script. There's a lot more that happened. There is. But instead, Kawada states that he's determined to figure out what Kiko's last smile meant. Noriko interjects, admitting that she doesn't know exactly how Kiko felt, but she must have. And after being reminded of his name, Noriko states certainly, I think she really loved you, Kawada.
Noriko says that she must have, otherwise she couldn't have smiled the way that she did in their photo. Kawada returns his eyes to the picture, captured once again by Kiko's beaming smile. Noriko adds that if she were Keiko, she'd want to trust and thank Kawada for giving her a reason to smile like that. and she thinks that she would have said thank you too. Noriko then glances over at Shuya momentarily before darting her eyes away. Aww.
But Kawada lurches up out of his chair, revealing that he might know a way to get off of this island. And when Shuya begs to know what it is, Kawada claims that he can only tell him when the time comes. Or you could tell me right now. That's not cool. But reaching into his bag, Kawada finds Kyoichi's revolver and tosses it over to Shuya, as well as a box of bullets, urging Shuya to take this as his word. He suggests that he use it to protect himself and...
He points at Noriko, who introduces herself to him properly, prompting Shuya to do the same. It's wild how much they've been through and they didn't even know each other's names. Yeah. I was like, wow. Kawada smiles at the pair, but their serenity is soon shattered by the sharp and rapid fire of a submachine gun.
Kawada orders Shuya to snuff out the candles, and the trio cower together beneath the windows, Kawada clutching his shotgun. Shuya recognizes this sound, but wonders what it could be. Kawada, however, knows. It's probably the one guy who willingly signed up for this shit. Well, that explains a lot. Yeah. And again, I would like to know, like, the class is selected. Kawada is held back to be a part of the game.
But Kiriyama can just say, hey, I want to do this. Yeah. Yeah. I think we should lock this guy up somewhere. Yeah. But Kawada remembers three years ago, they had someone like him in their game too. But outside, Kiriyama pursues Toshimori, who screams madly beneath his white helmet as he pedals promptly on a bicycle, Kiriyama firing wildly at him through the dark.
It was, and I know that maybe he was using it for protection from things other than the ride, but it made me so sad to think of this kid still putting his helmet on to get on his bike. Yeah, that's true. It devastated me. Toshimori crash lands on the asphalt just outside of the clinic, and he races through the overgrown yard out front in a zigzag as Kiriyama follows close behind.
Inside the building, Kawada thinks quickly, formulating a plan with the help of Shuya's map, instructing them that if they get separated, to meet at the Takano shrine. He orders them not to forget and implores them to stay down as he returns to the window. But outside, through the metal beams of construction scaffolding, Kiriyama catches up with Toshimori, who holds his hands up fearfully, begging to know what he ever did to Kiriyama.
But with no remorse, Kiriyama fires, peppering the boy's torso with a barrage of bullets. Toshimori collapses, lying motionless on the ground, which is enough for Kiriyama, who continues onward. But after he disappears, Toshimori removes his map from his face allowing it to dangle freely from his neck as he sits up, cackling. He wipes sweat from his brow, tearing his shirt open to reveal his weapon, a bulletproof vest. He joyously remarks, what a sweep.
bulletproof vest. I agree. Shut the fuck up. fuck up. Yeah, absolutely. Who's that for? That's for us. Dude, and you waited like two seconds and then got up. He's like, I'm still here. There's no way he's out of earshot. Butoshimori's celebration comes to an end when the sound of rustling is heard just above him. He peers up at the nearby rooftop, where Kiriyama stands sinisterly, unsheathing a katana.
The moonlight glinting off of the shimmering blade, Kiriyama leaps down toward Toshimori, silencing his scream with a certain slap. Noriko covers her ears, clinging fearfully to Shuya as Kiriyama crouches over the body of yet another victim, on-screen text appearing. Boy number four, Oda, dead, 20 to go. I will say something wild that I saw on that making of featurette. These scenes of Toshimori's murder were filmed during the daytime.
Really? Yeah, they shot day for night and then just fixed it in post. Okay. I would never guess. No, never. But when a sound echoes nearby through the silence, Kiriyama rises to his feet, Toshimori's blood staining his stern face as his eyes search for the source of the sound. The trio follows Kiriyama's silhouette through the windows as he crosses over to the heavily barricaded back door. Kawada aims his shotgun, and Shouya joins Kawada's defenses with his revolver.
After a failed attempt to breach the door, Kiriyama reaches his hand to the glass to smear Toshimori's blood across it. But he doubles back to the other side of the building, Kawada following him with his shotgun, only for something round and white to crash through the window, toppling over the pot of soup Kawada prepared for dinner. But as the projectile spins to a stop on the floor, we discover that it is a bicycle helmet.
and within it rests the decapitated head of Toshimori, a grenade forced into his mouth, which is frozen forever in a scream. That kid's an asshole, man. Yeah. Yeah, too far. Yeah. I was also very shocked to learn that this was accomplished with zero use of CGI. This is a flat out prosthetic head that they made. I don't know if it's the lighting and the shadows or what, but it looks legitimately like this.
dude's head it looks incredible and i will say this is where the ratings board said yeah we got to give you r15 because it's like all right i get it But Noriko shrieks as Kawada pulls her to safety, and Shuya races to join them at the other side of the room as the grenade explodes, launching the trio off of their feet, all three of them lucky to land back onto the clinic floor unscathed. I was wondering when we were going to see that grenade again. Yeah. Right. Chekhov's grenade. Yeah.
They seek cover as Kiriyama blindly fires at them through the hole that he's created in the structure, but Shoya finds himself separated from Kawada and Noriko. They shout to each other over the sound of gunfire, and upon learning that everyone is okay, Shuya takes it upon himself against the protests of Kawada and Noriko to act as the decoy.
He urges Kawada to take care of Noriko as he races for the opened window, diving through it as another grenade explodes behind him. This is the stunt that I saw the actor do. Damn. I was like, that's unbelievable. Yeah. But he runs for the shoreline with Kiriyama in pursuit, both boys exchanging fire with each other through the dark. But nearby, the incessant gunfire awakens Hiroki, who lies fast asleep in a long cargo bed beneath a large stone wall.
He consults his Battle Royale-branded GPS to find two red dots encircling each other at the coastline of the island. The score rises dramatically as Kiriyama, the worst shot on the fucking planet apparently, finally catches up with Shuya, who stumbles into a mess of rope amongst a pile of fishing equipment at the ocean's edge. He aims his submachine gun at Shuya, but realizing that he's out of bullets, he discards his spent magazine.
That was crazy because he was shooting for a very long time without reloading that thing. Honestly. It runs on hatred and evil. Before he can reload, however, Kiriyama catches a bullet in the chest. He recoils for a moment but takes it in stride with a sick smile. Well, that's concerning. Yeah. Shuya then fires a shot of his own into Kiriyama's chest, which once again yields no reaction.
Kiriyama racks his firearm with the full magazine loaded, but before he can fire, Shuya seizes a fishing net, taking his chances on the open water as he dives desperately into the ocean. Kiriyama fires at him, seemingly missing every shot, but before he can aim properly into the water, Hiroki makes his presence known, crying. Run, Nanahara, as he tackles Kiriyama. I will say it's an odd thing to say to someone who's swimming. But the pressure is high.
He got his point across. But the two tussle momentarily before Hiroki himself dives into the water, Kiriyama firing wildly into the ocean after him. But back at the hacking headquarters, an exhausted Kaita and Yutaka return with the items that Shinji requested they find, Kaita sharing that he even found a truck to carry it all back.
Shinji just clacks away at the keys on his computer, but when Yutaka asks what he plans to do with all this stuff, Shinji tosses a poorly assembled text over to him, which is titled, The Ticking Clock. As he flips through the pages, several postcards tumble out of the book and onto the floor, which Shinji shares are from his uncle, an old-time fighter who Shinji says taught him things that you'd never learn in school.
In photographs, we see Shinji's uncle staring sternly down lens and clutching a rifle as Shinji shares that he's still off fighting in some corner of the world. Kaita just cackles. You're kidding. So this is why. But Shinji slaps a hand over his mouth, reminding him and Yutaka to keep quiet.
Covering the front of his collar, Shinji unscrews a piece of jewelry at the end of a chain around his neck, revealing to his classmates that inside is the trigger of a bomb. A bomb that his uncle planned to use to blow up Parliament. That's a lot. That's what he was into. But Shinji insists that now it's time that they start their own struggle, but he warns that there isn't much time. As they all clutch the microphones inside of their collars, Shinji looks left to right, asking both boys,
Are you in? Or would you rather we just kill each other? Yutaka shakes his head in solidarity, and Kaito wonders if they can really all go home together. Shinji is certain they can. First, they destroy this stupid system. Then, they'll all escape together. I'm here for this. Yeah, I hope so. And it's sad to me that it's literally only seemingly two groups of people who are working together. Yeah. Out of 42 students. Hey, those girls tried. They tried. They tried. A for effort. Yeah.
But the next day, half past noon, an ominous piano plays in the score as waves crash against the rocks at the shore, and we spy the pristine exterior of a lighthouse, a stark white against the blue sky of the morning. Shuya awakens inside, bruised and bandaged, but alive, and the camera pulls back to reveal Yuki sleeping next to him at the edge of the bed. She stirs awake as well, rejoicing to see that Shuya is conscious again.
Confused, he asks where he even is, and Yuki reveals that he's at the lighthouse. sharing that when she was on lookout this morning, Hiroki carried him inside, soaking wet. And we watch this play out, a wounded and unconscious Shuya slung over the shoulder of Hiroki, who carries him toward the towering structure as Yuki watches from the railing of a higher level.
Shuya struggles to sit up in bed, wondering where Hiroki is, but Yuki says that he isn't here, and that he said that he had to go see someone. Shuya understands, but he asks Yuki what time it is. When he learns that it's past noon and that he missed Kitano's noon report, he shudders worriedly as he asks about Kawada and Noriko. But he rests relieved against his pillow when he hears that their names weren't on the list of the dead.
But realizing that he's missed the last three reports, Shuya pleads to know who was among the dead. He was out. Yeah. Yuki shares the news of Toshimori's death, which Shuya already knew, and we get a flashback to the explosion of the grenade that Kiriyama lodged in his mouth. Yuki then recounts the deaths of Kaori and Mitsuho, and we watch in a slow-motion flashback as the two girls promise each other that they'll always be friends as they collect their satchels from the military men.
only to find them both bloodied and dead, impaled and stabbed with sharp objects as their bodies lie lifeless. on the rocky coastline. Jesus Christ. There is a knife that's sticking out of Mitsuho's back and I don't know if that's poetic or if this has nothing to do with them against each other. Right. But Yuki reveals two more deaths from the noon report, boys that we haven't met yet.
Yuichiro Takaguchi, boy number 13, played by Junichi Naito, and Tadakatsu Hadagami, boy number 18, played by Satoshi Yokomichi. We find their naked and mutilated bodies lying at the mouth of an empty tiered swimming pool, and above them stands their murderer. Mitsuko, who tosses her white button up back over her white t-shirt as she collects her things, and the on-screen text confirms the demise of both boys.
She flicks the blood off of her scythe as she vacates the area, and we're reminded, 16 to go. What the hell was happening? Yeah. I do not know. I was very flabbergasted at the site before us. And I was like, I can't even believe they're doing this. Yeah. I don't know what the hell is happening. She is on a rampage. I don't. I. I don't know what happened here. But returning from this sinister scene, Yuki reveals on the positive side that she bears a message from Hiroki.
That Shinji and the guys are in the West and that they're waiting to see Shuya. Yuki returns Shuya's map to him, where she marked the whereabouts of his friends, and she leans her head closer to his on the bed, as she reminds him that he's safe here, and that everyone here is her friend. She tells him that there's Haruka, Satomi, Yuka, Chisato, and Yuko.
But her demeanor shifts to one of worry when she reveals that Yuko saw what happened with Tatsumichi at the bottom of the hill. We then see the axe once again embedded in his skull as Yuko watches from the bushes. Weekly, Shuya explains that they fell down the hill together, and he promises that it was an accident when Yuki suggests this possibility.
Yuki apologizes for thinking otherwise, even for a moment, but Shuya suggests that they all leave the lighthouse to join up with Kawada, sharing that he knows a way off the island. Yuki isn't sure that they can trust Kawada, but Shuya vouches for him, revealing that he's survived one of these games before.
But Yuki acknowledges the fact that Shuya can't even walk right now, and placing a tender hand on his stomach, she insists that he rest for a while. She says that Haruka and Chisato are even cooking lunch downstairs. A sincere gratitude finds Shuya as he asks, You did all of this for me? Yuki confirms this, bursting into laughter as she realizes that wrapping him in bandages was the first time that she ever touched a man's body. But she meets Shuya's eyes once again as she asks him,
Do you like Noriko? Good lord! Shuyo wonders why she's asking. It's like, where did that come from? But Yuki continues that she knows all about him, asking if he knows what that means. When Shuya doesn't, she suggests that he forget it. And she changes the subject.
explaining that she's going to have to lock him in up here as some of the girls didn't want to let a guy inside of the lighthouse at all. But she promises that lunch will be ready in just a minute before exiting the room and locking the door behind her. But downstairs, Yuko cradles something in her hand, her weapon, a little glass vial containing potassium cyanide. A little glass vial? A little glass vial.
She lifts her head, a deep breath obscuring the sounds of her memory of what happened to Tatsumichi Oki, the axe planted in his skull, blood pouring down his face as he collapses dead in front of Shuya. But her memory dissipates when an excited Yuki returns to the room, announcing that Shuya is awake. Yuko clutches the vial to her chest as Yuki passes by her to greet an excited Chisato Matsui, girl number 19, played by Asami Kanai, and Haruka Tanezawa, girl number 12, played by Satomi Ishii.
They wonder if Shuya can talk, and Yuki shares that he can, and that he seems hungry too. Satomi sits near them at the table, peering down at a map without comment, but Yuki takes notice when Yuko rises from the table, pacing nervously at the other side of the kitchen. Yuki approaches her, assuring her not to worry, and that she even locked the door upstairs like they discussed. She settles Yuko down into a chair, the girl very unconvincingly replying that she isn't worried anymore.
Yuki adds that what happened to Tatsumichi was an accident, and Haruka backs her up, insisting that Shuya would never kill anyone. But when Chisato announces that the spaghetti is almost ready, Yuki asks Haruka to bring Yuka in from her watch as they all need to discuss something. I was really proud of the setup that these kids had going here. Yeah. I thought it was so smart of them to kind of. Buckle down in this lighthouse.
And they've got shit going. They're making fucking spaghetti. Yeah. And we learn we're like, OK, so there are three groups of people. Yeah. Who are not wanting to take part in this at all and are returning and relying on their friendship. Yes. I will say, though, I think that the way to go is to team up and try to, especially the hackers, what they have going on. They're not just waiting it out. They're forming a team and trying to stand, you know, stand against it, fight it, whatever.
I do think that the first rule of partnering up with the group is for everybody to disclose their weapon. Yeah. And I think that could, it could have saved us a lot of grief. After Haruka leaves, Satomi finally looks up from her map, lamenting, We're all gonna die tomorrow, aren't we?
Yuki implores her friend not to start with that and insists that they shouldn't give up hope. But before she can continue her pep talk, Yuko rises from her seat, suggesting that they should definitely feed Shuya first, right? Yuki agrees, thanking Yuko, who rushes over to make a plate of spaghetti for Shuya. my note was we just have to keep yuko away from shuya spaghetti no immediately and you would think that yuko would be like no i can do that yeah she's in love with him yeah true
But maybe she's just happy because Yuko was so afraid of him. That she's like, oh, she feels better or whatever. There's definitely nothing nefarious going on. No, definitely not. Well, because of all my friends like him now, I can put my arm around his arm. Yeah. They all approve. But after gathering the noodles and spooning on a couple cups of broth, Yuko discreetly unscrews the cap from her poison vial, dosing Shuya's meal.
But Yuko jumps when Yuki suddenly speaks behind her, realizing that she should probably grab some painkillers for Shuya too. Yuko volunteers to do this as well, stepping away from the poisoned plate. But just then, Haruka returns with a jovial Yuko Nakagawa, girl number 16, played by Satomi Hanamura. Cute. Yeah. When Yuki plays Koi, Yuka insists that she doesn't pretend, as she knows that she must be so happy.
But as Yuko prepares her poisoned platter for Shuya, an eager Yuka snatches it away from her, setting it down on the table and taking her seat in front of it. With great ceremony and to Yuko's shock and horror, Yuka takes a sip of the broth, shouting, Super! Marry me, Chisato! Chisato just smiles, accepting Yuka's embrace, as Yuko stands silently in the background.
Bobby was trying to make candy for the science fair and he accidentally made crystal meth on King of Hill. And that cop was like, oh, I'll try it or whatever. And he was like, no, I added too much sugar ice and he's done it. Please. You go. Yeah, say something. Yeah, I was wondering, why did you do that? And you're not saying anything. She's just like, let her cook. Let's see how this shakes out. She should have been like Peggy Hill and like, that one's for Randy Travis.
That is shoeiest plate. Yes. Yeah, no, she really just let that and everything after happen. But the returning Haruka suggests that Yuki tell them all about what she wanted to discuss. As Yuka continues eating, Yuki shares with the group that Shouya claims that Kawada knows a way off of the island.
Chisato remembers him as the kid who transferred, and Satomi wonders if they can even trust him. Yuki hopes so, and she proposes that as soon as Shuya can walk, they should all join Kawada and Noriko like he suggested. But suddenly, Yuka clasps her hands over her gagging mouth, her bright red blood pouring through the cracks of her fingers as her friends recoil in terror. As she collapses face first into her spaghetti, Haruka realizes that the food must have been poisoned.
Paranoia seizes each of them firmly but especially Satomi who arms herself with a submachine gun and backs away from the group aiming it at them. As they plead with her, begging her not to do anything rash and insisting that it's all just a mistake, Satomi reminds them that they're the only ones here. She points the barrel at Chisato, as she was the one who cooked for everyone.
But Chisato immediately points her finger at her sous chef, Haruka, who promises that she didn't do it either. Just anyone except the one who made the plate. Yeah. That's true. An overwhelmed Yuki cries that nobody did it and begs for Satomi to just put the gun down. But Haruka has another theory. It was Satomi who is acting the most suspicious of them all. She recalls that Satomi didn't sleep last night or the night before, realizing that Satomi never trusted any of them.
Satomi counters that she simply forgot her sleeping pills. which for some reason Haruka deems to be even more suspicious. It's like, where's that? I don't see how that's in the game. I don't take him to school because I don't sleep at school. Right. She's like, a likely story. It's like, what? But Yuki shields Haruka from the line of fire, demanding once more for Satomi to put the gun down.
But this is the line for Chisato, who grabs the pot of broth from the stove and slams it down on the table, spilling its contents all over the floor as she screams, Yuki, quit playing leader! She posits that Yuki is simply covering her own tracks, theorizing that she's been planning this all along with Shuya to plot their escape together. She rushes for her pistol, which lies on the table, but just as she grasps it, Satomi blows her away with the submachine gun.
Yuki then dives for Chisato's gun as Haruka reaches for one of her own, a firefight ensuing with Satomi catching a bullet in the shoulder as she dives for cover. Shouya awakens in fear upstairs as Satomi holds out her blood-covered arm for her former friends to see, waving it like a white flag of surrender from her cover. But Yuki merely returns fire, crying. It's a different story now, isn't it?
Haruka curses Satomi as a murderer, but Satomi blames Chisato for going for her gun in the first place, insisting that that makes her guilty. As Yuko cowers beneath the table, not saying a word, Satomi charges for Yuki and Haruka, the three girls firing upon each other until they're all riddled with bullets, the white of their uniforms stained a betrayed red. A dying Satomi points her empty firearm at a fearful Yuko, demanding to know if she's one of the killers as well.
But Yuko just violently shakes her head as Satomi laments that she thought that she'd at least live to see tomorrow. But in her last gasp, Yuki raises her gun, firing once more upon Satomi before collapsing to the floor, cursing the girls as idiots. realizing that if not for this misunderstanding, they might have all survived. She tried to. She cries that they're all so stupid.
before her life slips away and we hover over the table, surveying the massacre, the needless bloodshed, the camera pressing in on Yuko, who repeats to herself that it's not her fault. This is all your fault. Yeah, I got to disagree. I know you went through a lot just now. Yeah. But come on. It was crazy to watch this unfold.
Because as they keep talking for me anyway, it's like, oh, so you never trusted her. Oh, you didn't trust her either. Oh, none of you guys. Y'all were all pretending to whatever. waiting for somebody else to make a move. One little poisoning and the whole operation falls apart. It often has that effect. I think that it is. It's just all this stuff bubbling beneath the surface. Yeah. And you're already paranoid as hell, but all it takes is that one thing. Yeah.
Takami had said that the section of the novel and as it plays out on the screen, I guess, from Fukasaku, it was inspired by John Carpenter's The Thing. Okay. I can see it. Just this paranoia injected into a group and then it ruins everything. Yeah. But upstairs, a shaken Shuya cries out to Yuki, desperate to know what happened downstairs. He struggles against the knob of the locked door until suddenly it opens from the other side and Shuya finds Yuko standing there.
She puts her back against the wall in the hall, a tearful apology breaking free as she admits that she forgot how much she liked all of them. Shuya stumbles confused out of the room as Yuko races upstairs to the top of the lighthouse. But when Shuya reaches the kitchen, his eyes widen at the dreadful sight before him, and he can only fall to his knees, begging to know why.
He fails in his attempt to rouse the deceased Yuki, her words appearing in white in Shuya's memory. Do you know what that means? As strings swell solemnly in the score. But Shuya remembers Yuko, and he rapidly retraces her steps to the top of the tower, and once he reaches the railing, he peers down below at the rocky coastline. And there, sprawled against the stones and lying in a pool of her own blood, is a pale Yuko.
White text reminds Shuya of his response to Yuki. How should I know? But now, he pounds his fist against the metal railing as he sobs that he doesn't know what any of it means. He sinks to the ground as the score reaches its crescendo, and we cut to black, recounting the death toll of this torrid tragedy. Girls number 2, Yuki. Number 9, Yuko. Number 12, Haruka. Number 16, Yuka. Number 17, Satomi. And number 19, Chisato. Dead. Ten to go.
This literally couldn't have gone worse. No. How fucking tragic. Yeah. And this is a bit we did not have a lot left to begin with. And this was a huge chunk. 10 left yeah I honestly I think this might be my favorite section of the whole film okay just because of the way that it unfolds and you just watch this group that was so
Minus Yuko, jovial. And so ready to seek out this possible solution through Kawada and Shuya. Yeah. And it just deteriorates. And it's such a tragedy. It is crazy to think. I wake up. I'm bandaged. I'm being taken care of, whatever. I'm told, hey, hold on. I'm going to go get us all food. I'll be right back. Yeah. You hear this commotion. You go downstairs looking for mom's spaghetti. Right.
And you see this. And now your knees are weak. Yes. Oh, yeah. A little bit of throw up on your sweater. I mean, can you blame? No. Yeah, no. I'd be like, am I cursed? Yeah. Everything was working great here before I got here. Mm-hmm. But when we return, we see the morning mist rising gorgeously through the mountains, and within the trees we find Kawada, his shotgun slung over his shoulder and clutching a small basket of gathered mushrooms and plants.
As he reaches an abandoned home, he discovers that Noriko is fast asleep inside using her bag as a pillow. He smiles as he takes a seat across from her, sorting through his mushrooms as he lets her sleep. But through the haze of her slumber, Noriko dreams of the city. finding herself sitting at the edge of a small river with Kitano, the both of them enjoying an orange ice cream together. They stand up, walking with each other across the rock.
They're spoken words silent as the camera pans to them in a disorienting fashion, both of them seeming to have something rather important to say to each other. But a phone rings in the control room next to a sleeping Kitano, Lieutenant Arjo marching over to wake him up so he can answer it. So the way that this was cut made me wonder. Who was dreaming this? Yeah. I think that it.
is a little like recontextualized for me later. Yes. But as of right now, it made me almost like, oh, they're tricking us because we just saw Noriko asleep. But it was really Kitano dreaming. And I will say it's only recontextualized in the special edition of the film. Right. Yeah, you did say that. In the theatrical, what we'll talk about later isn't even there.
Which would, yeah. That's weird. But I guess, I mean, if you're thinking about it this way, if they're both thinking of it or both dreaming of it, you're like, well, maybe it's a memory. But then, and it is a memory, but.
yeah but she does straight up call it a dream in a minute maybe she's dreaming of a memory you can do that she's got a picture of a photograph Kitano sits upright slowly and reaches for the phone, recognizing the voice on the other end as Shiori, Kitano's daughter played by Ai Meida. I will say that the actress who plays Kitano's daughter is the sister of the actress who plays Noriko. Oh! Okay.
When Shiori tells her father that mom is feeling ill again and asks where he is, Kitano lies that he's on a business trip but that he'll be back tomorrow. Shiori tells him not to hurry home on her account, and after an awkward silence, she tells her father coldly. I'm hanging up. Kitano sighs when he hears this and is promptly scolded by his daughter, who tells him not to breathe into the phone, adding that she can smell his stinking breath.
Kitano lowers the phone from his ear without a word as he glances over to the other side of the room. So he's got a lot going on. He does. Honestly, for Arja's benefit, I'd be like, and I love you too. I love you too, sweet baby. Oh, I know you respect me. You don't even keep saying it. But it's that. It feels like he does not get respect. anywhere yeah no and you start to In your own way, sympathize. Yeah. While acknowledging, yes, this is too far. Yes.
But back in the mountains, Noriko awakens in fright, revealing to Kawada that she dreamt that she was alone with Kitano on an empty riverbank. As smoke rises from his cooking pot and he shaves the mushrooms, Kawada smirks that it must have been scary. But Noriko realizes that it wasn't scary and that Kitano just seemed lonely.
But she joins Kawada at the small table, noting that before all of this, she always just thought of herself as normal. That she'd get married and grow old, just like her mom. But by taking part in this game, she's come to realize that she doesn't have a clue. Kawada insists that there are some things that she's better off not knowing, but as he looks up to the sky, he realizes that it's going to rain.
Noriko gazes up at the sky as well, as she expresses her hope that Shuya will find them here. But we find Shuya in the forest, blood seeping through his bandages as he ventures onward with the aid of a large walking stick. A shrill voice shrieks behind him. I told you to wait! And Shuya turns around fearfully. But this triggers a cutscene, and we are lost in one of Shuya's memories.
He sits across a table from his father in a crowded restaurant, and as his father looks through his menu, he recounts that today was another day wasted, noting that the phone never rings. He scoops up his cell phone off the table, showing it to Shuya, commenting that it's useless and that even now, it's out of range. An uncredited server arrives at the table, asking to take their order, but Shuya's father asks for another moment to decide. When the server walks away, Shuya's father remarks,
All those resumes written for nothing. I'm just wiped out. I'm sick of them hanging up on me, too. Shuya glances up at him as he changes the subject, insisting that Shuya orders whatever he wants, as tomorrow he'll be starting the seventh grade. As his father reaches for another cigarette from the pack, he laments. I'd say go for it, but I never taught you anything. But when the server returns, Shouya's father shouts at him, I said just a minute!
This gains the attention of the entire restaurant, and he suggests to Shuya that maybe they should try somewhere else, and the Nanaharas leave the restaurant altogether. It's sad enough just to see his father struggling. Yeah. But when he adds the context of your starting seventh grade tomorrow. And we remember what happens when Shuya returns from his first day at school in seventh grade. Yeah. It's tragic. And also him saying, go for it. Yeah.
But in the present day, Shuya stumbles over his walking stick, falling to the forest floor as he's haunted by the memory of finding his father's body in their apartment. He thinks of the roll of toilet paper wrapped around his pale neck, hanging off the edge of the bed with his father's scrawled words of encouragement on them.
Shouya then imagines himself all alone on the basketball court, seated solemnly in a chair, as a weathered basketball bounces backwards and up into the balcony, where it's caught by Nobu. Shuya turns to face his dearly departed friend, who looks down on him from up above, asking sincerely, Shuya, look after Nakagawa, okay? Promise you'll protect her.
Nobu waves a final goodbye to Shuya, and as the music swells, Shuya summons the strength to pull himself up from the bed of leaves that he's collapsed into, dragging himself onward. That little grief montage. Yeah. Jesus Christ. I'm just like, how much can one kid take? Yeah. I think also knowing that these are memories of his father. But this one of Nobu is something imagined. And he's imagining Nobu dead as well. It's like, God damn.
But at the house within the forest, as Kawada enjoys a steaming bowl of soup, Noriko senses something close by. Or someone. She bounds out of the house, telling Kawada that she's going to meet Shuya, but Kawada races for her fearfully, reminding her that they're near one of the danger zones. He follows her into the trees, but through twisting paths and the misting rain, he loses sight of her.
Noriko continues on, however, eventually reaching a clearing in the forest, and there, seated on a small stone step, is none other than Mitsuko. Rain-soaked, she lifts her eyes to Noriko, staring at her unblinkingly as we press in on her emotionless fate. Noriko whispers her name into the rain, and Mitsuko rises from her seat, her bag slung over her shoulder.
Noriko explains that she's looking for Shuya, and Mitsuko creeps closer, asking if they got separated. Noriko confirms this, but through the trees, Kawara's concerned cries for Noriko echo, interrupting the girl. Mitsuko asks who that is, and when she learns that it's Kawada, she snarks. Ah, two princes protecting you. A real princess. Mitsuko reaches back to the waistband of her skirt, drawing Herono's pistol on Noriko. Mitsuko seethes. Die, ugly.
Noriko trembles Mitsuko's name, but before she can pull the trigger, fear washes over the face of Mitsuko as something behind Noriko startles her and she takes off running in the other direction. Noriko turns to face what frightened Mitsuko and she herself gasps when she finds Kitano standing there under a clear umbrella offering her a kind Are we all imagining him right now? Because he's out here looking like an angel. Yeah. I'm still dreaming, I think. Yeah. I...
I honestly thought the same shit. I was like, is this real? I thought that Kawato was going to be like, hey, the mushroom soup's ready. Yeah. Shake her shoulder or something, but it's wild. Yeah. But if there is a danger zone close by, maybe they were already there. True. Kitano takes a step closer to Noriko, noting that she doesn't look so good, but then he looks off in the distance, assessing, oh, and you've got Nanahara with you.
Noriko turns, relief finding her warmly in the cold rain, when she turns to see Shuya standing there, steadying himself on his walking stick as he takes agonizing steps toward her. He marches forward, exhaustion gripping him as he loses his footing and collapses into the mud. Noriko rushes to his side and Kitano casually walks over to them, slipping on his way down a steep incline, but leaning over Noriko to offer her his umbrella.
She glances up at him, puzzled, but Kitano just offers a simple word of warning. Don't catch cold before disappearing through the trees. And once again, I'm like, is he a ghost? Is he dead? Yeah. Did he die in the control room? That's how we find out. Noriko holds onto the umbrella, glancing back at her former teacher. But from the ground, Shuya croaks. You came back for me.
Noriko nods with certainty as she leans the umbrella forward to cover both of them, but Shoya informs her that he brought weapons, explaining that though he's weak and useless, he'll stay by her side. He'll protect her. In gratitude, Noriko can only mutter Shoya's name, his given name, as she leans forward and rests her weary head on him. Kawada finally catches up with them, standing alone in the rain to witness this touching end of their reunion.
I will say through all of the chaos and killings and all this stuff, I absolutely forgot that Kawada gave them a rendezvous point. Yeah. That's right. Yeah. And so that's how we knew exactly where to go. Right. But elsewhere on the island, a bloodied Hiroki rides his bike through the rain toward the exterior of an expansive warehouse. He peeks inside, creeping his way into the building and dragging himself forward with the use of a scaffolding frame.
He takes a seat on the floor to consult his BR branded GPS, where he finds one red circle occupying the building with him. Through plastic sheets and construction materials, we press in on Kayako Kodahiki, girl number eight, played by Takayo Mimora. Hiroki pulls himself to his feet, investigating the area as Kayako cowers behind cover. He discovers a discarded water bottle and glances around, turning his back to the rafters, which Kayako climbs cautiously to gain higher ground.
When she attempts to get situated up there, she backs into a set of shelves, a mess of empty cans clattering to the floor and getting Hiroki's attention. He calls out, hopeful that it is Kayako, but when she doesn't answer, his call becomes more aggressive as fear fills him. This frightens Kayako, who rises out of cover, aiming her pistol and firing away at Hiroki until her firearm is empty.
Hiroki collapses into a pool of standing water on the warehouse floor. As he clutches his GPS, which Kayako might have confused for a real weapon, he urges her to run, fearful that someone will come to get her after hearing the gunshot. It is sad that he's still trying to save her even as he's dying. Yeah. Because she shot him. Like, it's just sad. Kayako climbs down from the rafters, confused, wondering what this is and why Hiroki has found himself here.
He can only mutter. You're so cute. I wanted to see you. To save you. A tearful Kayako holds her gun to her chest as she trembles. Don't tell me. But Hiroki does just that, confessing his love for her. He says that he's been in love with her for a long, long time. And these are Hiroki's last words, as his eyes close sharply and he lies still within the water.
String sings solemnly in the score as Kayako recalls a memory from a basketball game. Watching from the sidelines as Hiroki scores a layup in slow motion, the purest smile finding her as she watches him play. But in the warehouse, Kayako creeps her way forward, falling to her knees at the side of Hiroki's body as she cries. But you never even talked to me.
She wonders how she could have known when he never said a thing. She asks what she's supposed to do now, but another voice answers this query from the darkness. From behind a curtain steps Mitsuko, who aims Hirono's pistol at Kayako, firing a shot directly into her heart. She is skulking around every corner. Yeah, she is. And it's pretty fucked up that she was listening and saying that. Yeah. That's crazy, dude.
But Kayako falls back onto the body of Hiroki, the pair finding eternal rest with each other in the still water. The tally continues. Boy number 11, Tsugimora. Girl number 8, Kotohiki. Dead. Eight to go. But as the camera presses in on Mitsuko, we return to a memory from her childhood. Young Mitsuko, played by Suzuka Tanagawa, returns home, waving goodbye to her friends, played by Nanami Ota and Ayana Noguchi.
Young Mitsuko heads inside, calling out for her mother, but she's greeted instead by a middle-aged man, played by Taro Suwa, who grins widely as he rushes to greet her at the door. We see Mitsuko's mother, played by Raiko Karaoka, sitting at the kitchen table, face down, and resting in a stupor with a bottle of liquor and a pile of cash resting in front of her.
The middle-aged man snaps a photo of young Mitsuko with his camera, startling her, and he reaches for her hands, but she pulls them away. She asks what happened to her mother, and the man tells her that her tummy hurts and that they should play together instead. Young Mitsuko refuses, racing up the stairs to her bedroom, but her drunken mother reaches for the cash on the kitchen table, murmuring, Be strong, Mitsuko. If you're not strong, you'll end up just like me.
The score grows ominous as the middle-aged man follows young Mitsuko to her room, kneeling before her to give her a doll. He claims that the doll's name is also Mitsuko, and he says that she's cute and really fun. He demonstrates this by pulling the doll's head off and then all of her clothes. He suggests that now it's the real Mitsuko's turn.
But as he reaches for her, young Mitsuko shouts no and pushes the middle-aged man away. He loses his footing and goes tumbling down the stairs, crashing to the floor, dead. The commotion rouses Mitsuko's mother from her chair, and she rushes to check on the man, but she peers up at her daughter at the top of the steps, a stoic look resting on her face.
A look that Mitsuko still wears in the present day as she collects Kayako's spent pistol from the water, tossing it away when she realizes it's empty. As she sloshes her way through the standing water, she advises her victims. No one is going to save you. That's just life. I was hoping that she'd call her mother up and push her down too. This was so tragic and disgusting and horrific. And it does give us some insight.
As to her mentality. Yeah. As I was going to say an adult, but as a, an older teen, um, because God damn. And it just lends back to what we were saying earlier. These kids have been failed and hurt by adults. And Mitsuko in particular, never having one adult. It turned my stomach. It was just so sad. Yeah, that was pretty hard to watch. Yeah, this scene is not in the theatrical version. Okay. It does lend insight to Mitsuko's life.
and you gain even more sympathy for her through it obviously in the novel it's way worse okay and she actually does kill her mother as part of her life story good But before Mitsuko can even walk away from them, the rapid fire of a submachine gun tears through her from above. As she crumbles to the ground, Kiriyama descends from the rafters over to her body. He pokes at her cheek with the barrel of his gun as he collects her pistol, but as he turns to make his exit, Mitsuko's eyes spring open.
She zaps him with Megumi's stun gun, and he falls to the floor, his submachine gun sliding from his grasp. Mitsuko charges for him with her scythe, and as he tumbles against a ramp, she sinks its blade. into his bulletproof vest. He smirks at her, holding both of her wrists in his hands as the blood drains from her face and he forces her back. He draws his pistol, firing once, twice, three times into Mitsuko's midsection, forcing her back toward the pool of standing water.
One last shot sends Mitsuko crashing into the water with a splash, the serene strings of Johann Sebastian Bach's air accompanying her demise. Her voice laments in voiceover, I just don't want to be a loser anymore. But Kiriyama just collects his submachine gun, exiting the warehouse as we get confirmation of her death. Girl number 11, Mitsuko, dead. Seven to go. These numbers are dwindling. Yeah. I was not expecting this. I think it is kind of.
Maybe a little cruel to give us insight and sympathy for her just to watch her die two seconds later. Yeah, that's rough. I feel like these were the two kind of big bads on the field. Fucking like wiped her out. Yeah. I like how much fight she gave. Yeah. I just would have preferred that it went the other way. Yeah. It is funny because seeing him, I don't know why my brain the first thing was like, oh, not the 22 year old coming to kill the kid. Yeah. I mean, yeah. Seriously.
The music, though. Yes. Absolutely perfectly utilized. Oh, yeah. But the sun pours through the clouds, the lighthouse silhouetted against its golden glow and its brightness cast into the ocean. I think this was the composite shot you were talking about. Yeah. But from the control room, Kitano reads from the list of deaths for his report, and when it reaches its end, we find Shuya, Noriko, and Kawada resting together in a field to listen to the broadcast.
Seeing them is when I realized there's three of them. There's the three hacker dudes. And then there's Kiriyama. Yeah. That's all. That's all that's left. Oh, shit. That's right. That's seven. Yeah. But Shuya reaches his feet with the help of Noriko and his walking stick, suggesting that they head west together to avoid the new danger zones. He insists that he's got to see Shinji Mamura.
The group agrees, gathering their things, and we find Shinji still parked at his computer, sweat pouring down his face as he types feverishly, memories of his last basketball game finding him in slow motion as he continues his hacking effort. Shinji's the key to all of this. Clearly. Kaita and Yutaka work alongside him, consulting his uncle's manual to build a bomb from the materials they gathered.
In his mind, the crowd goes wild for Shinji as he makes the final basket. But in the present day, Shinji cheers for himself, having finally cracked it. His cohorts have completed their tasks too, having built two bombs, 100 Molotovs, and gathered three propane tanks. The group reconvenes, and Shinji directs their attention to his Third Man Hacker program, which he says is ready to go.
And suddenly, all of the screens in the control center begin flashing red warnings, the uncredited military men overwhelmed, shouting that their system has been hacked and with too many connections to trace. They scream that their files are being replaced and that the GPS monitoring is frozen. But in the frenzy, Kitano rises from the couch to glance over at his comrade.
As Shinji continues his feverish hacking, the screens at the compound are overtaken by a cartoon version of Shinji, sinking a basket as the danger zones are cleared, and one word flashes next to his cartoon counterpart. I feel like that was insulting. I love that little cartoon. It's great. I know. It was really the icing on the cake.
As the military men continue to lose their minds at the controls, Kitano calmly walks over to the breaker on the wall, opening it and switching off all the power to the building. He returns to the couch on the other side of the room, ordering the men to restart the system. But back at the hacking headquarters, the boys load the back of their truck with their bombs, Molotov cocktails, and propane.
Speaking of King of the Hill, I couldn't let propane go by. No, he's like, they're going to taste the heat. As Shinji arms a tripwire at the front of the truck, he notes that they've got 15 minutes before they recover at the school to ram the truck into the building. But the boys are disturbed when Kaita thinks that he hears something coming from the bushes. Yutaka thinks that it might be Shuya and that maybe Hiroki told him where to find them.
He rushes out to the end of the path leading up to the building, waving his flashlight jovially and alerting who he hopes is Shuya. But instead, Kiriyama lurches out of the darkness, spraying Yutaka with his submachine gun until the bullet-riddled boy collapses to the ground. He was too happy. Yeah. I knew. I knew. No. And it's so, it's such a shame because we watched Shuya. He's like, hey, let's go meet them. Yeah. And then they're like, misdirection. Psych. Terrible.
Shinji and Kaita race for the safety of the building as Kiriyama continues firing, watching his every move from behind cover. Shinji returns fire until his pistol clicks empty, and he rushes Kaita deeper into the building with him. But when Kaita trails behind momentarily, Kiriyama unloads. his bullets tearing through Kaita, whose body provides a barrier of protection for Shinji.
As he falls to the floor, Kaita is caught by Shinji, who holds his dying friend in his arms, calling his name and shaking him. Kaita exhales a laugh, muttering that when they escape, it'll all be together. But sadly, these are Kaita's last words. Enraged Shinji charges for the truck climbing over the top of it to land right in front.
As Kiriyama fires away at him and Shinji catches a cascade of bullets in his back, The boy bashes the front of the truck with all of his might, igniting the bombs in the bed, which explode in a ball of fire, engulfing the vehicle, the building, in Shinji 2, as Kiriyama seeks cover. As the fire burns, Shuya, Noriko, and Kawada arrive on the scene, on-screen text confirming, Boys, number 2, Ijima, number 12, Yutaka, number 19, Mimora. Dead. Four to go. That was our way out. What are you doing?
I was like, no. This was such a surprise and so unfortunate that you don't get to see Shuya reunite with Shinji. Yeah. Also in the novel, this happens way earlier and. I know it might sound funny, but the last portion where it comes to this encounter that we're about to have, it's... two cars racing against each other and like firing at each other and stuff oh okay this works better yeah yeah much better and especially on a visual standpoint right right for what we're about to see
Because it's some fantastic work. Yeah. I will say the infinite ammo guy, it's like you got to give them... He's too, he's just shooting everywhere. Yeah. It's like, come on. It does take a little bit out of the scene. I do still all enjoy this, but him just firing and firing and firing. It's like. okay, you've got to stop. This dude's out of ammo. He has to reload, but you don't. Well, because it's like nobody has a chance. Yeah.
But the trio stands frozen in horror, watching as the flames overtake the building and the trees outside. But suddenly, through the blaze, stalks a calm and collected Kiriyama. Okay, Sephiroth. Yes. It was a beautiful shot. It is. And of course, that's all I thought too. But he ventures onward, completely bypassing our group, with Kawada instructing Shuya and Noriko to stay behind him so we can finish off Kiriyama. Kawada joins him in the burning field, racking his shotgun to get his attention.
Kiriyama responds in kind, but when he whips around, we see that blood is pouring from his now white and sightless eyes as he blindly pulls the trigger of his submachine gun. It looks amazing. Yeah. Again, when you think of shots that just stay with you. Yeah. This has been like ingrained in my memory since the moment I saw it. This is really cool because even though he did take out that group.
He didn't go untouched. No. Like he's fucked. And he really was. We were talking off mic, but he was moving like a Terminator for most of this. Yeah. So it's good to see that he can actually, you know. But the two exchange fire, Kawada catching a shot to the shoulder as he crashes to the ground, narrowly avoiding Kiriyama's frantic gunfire. Kawada is able to gain the upper hand, blasting Kiriyama to the dirt.
And as the ghoulish gunman grins a sinister smile at Kawada, Kawada fires one final blast into Kiriyama's collar, exploding it in a spray of blood as we cut to black. with the final confirmation accompanied by a triumphant orchestra. Boy number six, Kiriyama, dead. Three to go. Well, it's about damn time. Yes. He can't keep getting away with it.
But waves crash distantly as Kawada leads Shuya and Noriko to a clearing at the island's edge. Shuya notes that Kawada is injured, which he acknowledges, but he replies that all that matters is that it's just the three of them left now. He wonders what Shuya will do after this, but Shuya isn't sure, admitting that he's never really trusted adult.
He says that his parents ran off or died just because they felt like it, but he's sure that he'll keep fighting even though he doesn't know how until he becomes a real adult himself. Kitano and the military listen into the conversation from the control room. Their system returned back to normal, as Kawada offers a stern assessment to Shuya. You won't survive. When asked why, Kawada reminds them, I told you not to trust anyone. He explains that they both trusted him too much.
He draws his pistol, lurching up towards them. But Shoya is sure that it's just a sick joke. Kawada, however, reveals that this... was his way off of the island. He used them to save himself. Noriko can't believe what she's hearing, and as she cowers closer to Shuya, she asks. Kawada shares that Kiko was just a story to suck them in. There is no Kiko. Kawada reveals the reason for his betrayal. Shuya and Noriko were perfect. Just gullible enough.
Shouya reaches backward for his firearm, but Kawada is suspicious that he has the courage to even use it. Kawada's bet is correct, and with a smirk, he pulls the hammer back, announcing, Game over. For real this time. Shoya covers Noriko as Kawada aims downward, firing two certain shots. I was flabbergasted. I was like, ain't no way. Yeah, I think I was like, I don't know. Yeah, I couldn't believe.
There's just no way. Yeah. I was like, but then you would have had to fabricate a picture. Where'd you steal that from? We saw a picture. But I'm like, he didn't need us. No, he didn't. You know what I mean? He did not need them. But back in the control room, Arjo seeks to confirm the deaths of Shuya and Noriko, but Kitano stops them, simply declaring the game to be over.
In one oddly grainy shot, he walks over to the couch. The resolution then returns to normal. It was the... What was that? How was it? Are we dreaming? But he reaches for one of Noriko's cookies and tosses it into his mouth. As strings bloom brightly in the score, we get on-screen text reading, game over, day three, 4.30 a.m. The winner, boy number five, Kawada.
Kitano watches from outside as the military men vacate the premises. First, the Battle Royale-branded helicopter, followed by the fleet of trucks and jeeps. But now alone on the school grounds, Kitano stands on a platform in the empty field, taking part in an aerobic exercise. to the guidance of a jovial voice on the radio. That's crazy to think he's out there stretching before the final person gets there. It's like, what the hell? I did think of Mr. Burns leading the interview.
But I'm like, what the hell are we doing? A peaceful piano accompanies the broadcast as his exercises continue, but through the trees staggers a wounded but victorious Kawada. I'll be honest. I thought that the helicopters and shit were going to collect. He'll find his way. It's crazy. Kawada raises his shirt to Kitano, proving that he isn't carrying any weapons, and with the aid of Shuya's walking stick, he makes his way over to the former sensei, who takes him inside.
Kawada sits on the floor in front of the table next to the couch, Kitano bringing over a cold beer for both of them and offering Kawada his congratulations as he takes a seat. He expresses his delight at bringing Kawada and Kiriyama into this year's game, but before it's all over, Kitano wants to check something first. He whips out a small remote, activating the red sensor at the center of Kawada's collar. He understands. Kawada knows how to stop the necklaces.
Kawada claims that he doesn't know what Kitano means, but Kitano prods that someone hacked into the system and stole that data, assuming it to be Kawada and not Shinji. He wonders why to avenge Kiko. Is that why he played this game? So she is real. Yeah. This is where I was like, oh, wait a minute. Maybe not a heel turn. Exactly. But Kitano draws a gun from the couch cushions, scolding that cheating is no good.
But before he can fire, the door to the classroom slides open, and in walk Shuya and Noriko, both armed and aiming their guns at Kitano. Kitano smiles to greet them, asking the two lovebirds, how was it? Fun? But as he crosses over to them, he admits that he's had it. The kids make fun of him at school and his own kid hates him. He says that there's nowhere to go back to, and so they're all going to go down together.
Kitano approaches an easel at the front of the room, covered in a black cloth. He tears it off to reveal the drawing that he was working on much earlier, but now it's finished and full of color and vibrant. Traveling up the greenery of a mountain, we find children drawn in a morbid cartoon. Classmates killed, schoolmates slaughtered, teens tortured. Shuya, Noriko, and Kawada shudder at the sight of Kitano's artwork, but the former sensei fixes his eyes on Noriko, revealing...
The only one worth dying with would be you, Nakagawa. And there, at the center of the artwork, drawn larger than all the other students and smiling brightly within a halo of protective light, stands Noriko, the center of her collar, a pink heart instead of a monitor screen. So you like drawing fucked up pictures of people? Yeah, really.
no none of this this was a shock yeah but i guess i mean seeds of it were planted throughout the entire story yeah and so there is especially after seeing the phone call with his daughter yeah i i think that that is what it is she is a surrogate or a stand-in for his daughter for all the students that disrespect him or stab him or skip his class or whatever yeah i am surprised that he didn't try to help her more than giving her an umbrella yeah yeah i thought that this the game would be fit
like for her to win. Okay. Or maybe she's not invited on this trip or he's like, no, fair and square. I don't want, to catch a cold she's got to get out there yeah he didn't even give her a good weapon no like binoculars yeah it's just that was interesting to me Something just as a sidebar behind the scenes, I learned this drawing was actually made by Takeshi Kitano. Oh, wow. He actually did that. It's disturbing. It is. That's true.
But Kitano continues that if he had to choose one, it would have to be her. Noriko trembles frightfully as she raises her gun to it approaching Kitano. He then implores her to shoot him, stating that if she doesn't shoot him, he'll shoot her. Shuya recalls his father's last words scrawled on toilet paper. Go, Shuya. You can do it, Shuya. And just as Kitano raises his gun to Noriko, Shuya pulls the trigger, the rapid fire of his submachine gun tearing through Kitano, who collapses to the floor.
Kitano cries. Ouch! That hurt, damn it! But he raises his gun again and pulls the trigger, only for a steady stream of water to come out of it, soaking Shuya and Noriko. But Shuya fires on him again, finishing their former sensei who crashes to the classroom floor. I'm like, so this is what he wanted. Yeah. He's threatening them with a water gun. Yeah. I did find this interesting. This little part. This reminded me.
almost exactly of the ending of falling down really i wonder if this is a nod to that because i don't want to spoil a movie from 92 but i mean this is almost What happens at the end? That's wild. Yeah. Yeah. But Shiga reminds Kawada that he made a promise to protect Noriko, and Kawada is well aware of this. The trio remove their collars, tossing them at Kitano's feet.
But suddenly, Kitano's cell phone rings across the room, and the teenagers turn to face the sound, but are startled nearly out of their skin when Kitano climbs to his feet to answer the call. I was like, is this like Jigsaw or something? Yeah.
What the hell? I was like, you know, maybe all of it wasn't real. That's all I was thinking in this moment. Maybe it was all just like this big, like orchestrated bullshit thing. Yeah. And I was like, well, they did cut off that kid's. Yeah. Except for that kid. That did happen.
But Kitano staggers over to the couch, picking up the phone, and discovers that it's his daughter on the other end. He tells her certainly that he won't be coming home, noting that if you hate someone, then you have to live with the consequences of it. Irresponsible? Who the hell asked you? He hurls his phone across the room, drawing another gun to fire upon it. A real gun. Blasting the phone to pieces. So again, he could have done that. Yeah. He chose not to.
He then reaches into Noriko's box of cookies, seizing the last one. He looks it over, eating it, and with his very last words, he offers a compliment to Noriko. Damn good cookies. before keeling over dead. This was a lot. Yeah. Might have been a step too far. I hate to say it was funny, but it's kind of funny. It's like, we'll let him cook, I guess. But that was a wild choice.
As our trio stares at him in disbelief, the camera presses in on his morbid artwork at the front of the classroom, before cutting abruptly to Shuya and Noriko riding with Kawada on a stolen boat away from the island. The motor ripples through the ocean as the island grows further and further away, Noriko acknowledging that it's beautiful, even though it's where everyone died.
Shuya is surprised to see Kawada can steer this ship, but Kawada counters that of course he can. His father was a fisherman. A true renaissance man. Koata cackles, but places a hand to a sharp pain at his ribs, seating the controls to Shuya before stepping outside on the small deck. Kawada realizes that they'll part soon and won't see each other again, and lighting a cigarette in his mouth, he notes that it's for the best.
He says that he knows it was only three days, but there's a lot of memories that he'd rather not remember. As he reclines on his back on the deck, Noriko approaches him, kneeling down to his level to thank him sincerely. Kawada just smiles his signature smirk, calling out the Shuya and warning him that it's going to be tough going. Shouya joins his side as well as Kawada stares off into the ocean, realizing that he's suddenly feeling sleepy. He wonders if maybe it's time for a nap.
But he tells Shuya and Noriko that meeting them both, he feels that he's finally solved the riddle of Keiko's smile. And when Noriko asks what the answer is, Kawada remembers her parting words. Thank you. At the end. But he seems to grow weaker as Shoya questions. At the end? Noriko reaches for the cigarette in his hand as a sincere smile finds Kawada, just as his eyes roll back in his head and he slips into death.
As the strings swell sweetly in the score, Kawada's voiceover finishes Keiko's sentence. At the end, I'm glad I found a true friend. I was like, is it like onion slicing season or something? Literally. Because good Lord, that got me. Yeah. But the camera circles around the vessel in the water as Kawada's words appear vertically in Japanese before we fade to black. But when we return, a news report flashes.
bearing the battle royale insignia and the photographs of Shuya Nanahara and Noriko Nakagawa, both wanted on suspicion of murder and aiding and abetting a murderer. I'm sorry. This heart wrenching death. And then we cut to that. It startled a laugh out of me because I couldn't believe I thought it was a notice saying like, oh, they're actually two winners of Battle Royale.
No. No. They're like, no, we need to lock these kids. That's crazy. I couldn't believe it. We played the game. Yeah. And won in a way. Yeah. Government doesn't see it that way. Clearly. But we return to the lights of the city, dipping down from a speeding subway train to find Shuyo waiting underneath a bridge by a vending machine.
Noriko meets him there, both clad in discreet clothing with hats covering their faces, as Noriko hands Nobu's butterfly knife to Shuya. He opens it up, finding the phrase, dragon clam etched into the blade before closing it up and handing it back to Noriko. Lights beaming around them from neon signs as Shuya's voiceover explains that Noriko returned to her house in the night to bid her parents a sleeping farewell.
and while there, she found the knife that Nobu used to stab Kitano. He notes that each of them have a weapon now, and even if the time comes to use them, it'll never be an easy choice. But as they venture on through the streets, Shuya realizes that they have no choice but to keep moving forward. And as they reach a street corner, he clutches Noriko's hand, insisting, Let's run, Noriko. And again, this is the first time he's referred to her by her given name.
Oh, true. She nods her agreement as they run across the street to a train station. The surrounding pedestrians numb the wiser as Shoya's voiceover advises the viewer. No matter how far, run for all you're worth. His words are echoed in red against a black background. Run. So this is where the theatrical version of the film ends. Okay. And it is the perfect ending. But as the strings and a choir of voices swell, in the special edition, we are offered three requiems.
The first, entitled 9th Grade Class B. where we're taken back to the basketball game. Excitement, joy, school spirit, and celebration. An entire gym filled with the lively and the alive. Mitsuko watching from a distance as the entire class celebrates together after Shouya's game-winning basket. But the second Requiem, entitled Shuya's Dream, takes us back to the bouncing basketball finding Nobu in the empty gym.
Shouya rises from his chair, muttering the name of his dearly departed friend as Nobu asks him once more, Look after Nakagawa, okay? Promise you'll protect her before waving his final goodbye. But in the third Requiem, entitled Noriko's and Kitano's Dream, Noriko once again meets Kitano at the river to share an orange ice cream. But this time, we finally get to hear their conversation.
As they walk together along the river's edge, Kitano asks if Noriko is okay with this, reminding her that if anyone sees them together, she'll probably get locked in the toilet again. Noriko insists that she's already had her turn, and Kitano asks if his classes are really that boring, and Noriko confirms that they are. He jokes. How dare you? Noriko laughs as he complains that coming to class every day, all the kids look the same, like lumpy, ugly potatoes.
Thanks. He admits that slapping them around helped him tell them apart and even grow to like them, but not anymore. What? There's a lot in that sentence I have a lot of problems with. But he laments that if you lay your hands on a student, you're fired. Now, you can't even get angry if a student stabs you. Wow. Yeah. Noriko confides something in Kitano. The knife that stabbed him, she keeps it in her desk at home.
She says that when she picked it up, she wasn't sure what to do with it. But now she's grown to really treasure it. She asks if he'll keep it a secret just between them. But Kitano approaches Noriko, asking her, in this moment, what should an adult say to a kid? His words are echoed in white text against the black background before we cut to black and the credits roll. So, what did you guys think of Battle Royale? I really enjoyed this. This still...
I will say that watching it in its entirety without having to take notes and research for it is better. But it still did. Having all that time in between when I watched it with you and then watching it for the show. Uh-huh. still really held up for me i really did still enjoy this a lot of this looks really really good like i know again they're
The story is the child, their teenage kids doing this. And yeah, that's horrible. But again, this is a movie and they're, you know what I mean? They're fighting each other and whatever. It is good, though, their stories that they give them. And I know you said it, babe, at one point in the story.
They are kids. The stuff that they're talking about or that they're worried about, it's like, oh, you are a kid. You're not thinking about the bigger picture or whatever. You're thinking about your crush or you're thinking about, oh, so-and-so is going to be so mad at me. And it's like, dude, that's not, you know what I mean? But it does lend to the story. And damn, what a ride. Like, what a ride from beginning to end.
Yeah, I agree. I loved this before even taking such a long break between watching it again. I think I have a different. appreciation for it as an adult and really like understanding the messaging of it and just The flawed thinking of this.
entire concept you know what i mean i think like you said there is a this realistic quality of them being thrusted into the situation but them still being children the different ways that different kids are handling it um i loved seeing like kind of clusters of them come together even though that lighthouse one ended up kind of being a disaster um but
I think that there are a lot of themes of tenacity, of survival. And just again, I can't help but harp on the fact that we're punishing these kids who have all been failed by their adult. Yeah. I think that that is really powerful and something that when I watched it when I was younger, I didn't fully grasp and understand. But yeah, I agree when he was like, no, if you are brave enough to sneak into this movie, because I think that it does have that staying power of...
Meaning one thing to you and having one impact when you're younger and having a completely different impact and takeaway when you're older. So. Yeah, sneak into this movie that's been out for 25 years. But no, I really like it. I don't. know that it's perfect going into it i was like oh like literally that's a perfect film and i don't know that it is perfect it has its flaws, but I think that the messaging is so strong. The performances are so good. Um,
And a lot of those shots are so beautiful. Yeah. It's just a great fucking movie. I couldn't agree more. I love this film very, very much. It's why I picked it for my birthday film. That track? Yeah. I love the story. I love the characters. I love the vibe. I love the atmosphere. I love not just what's on screen, but the ideas within it and the message behind the novel and the film. Right. I think that it's so potent.
For youth and adults alike. Yeah. And I do think that it is a fable as Fukasaku intended to kind of chase your own freedom to bridge this. generational divide with compassion and understanding i think that it's also a critique of authoritarianism yeah of control there's so much so many things beyond belittling it as sensationalist or exploitative violence. There's emotion. There is a real humanity to it. And I think that it is just as relevant.
literally 25 years after its release as it was when it was released. Yeah. And I know that Fukasaku intended this film to be specifically speaking to the youth of his country. But I think that it's a universal in all of its messaging. Yeah. Yeah. But I think we can slide into ratings. I obviously haven't edited this episode yet, but I think it's going to be a long one. I agree. I love everything about this movie. Really, I mean...
The performances are fantastic. I think the casting is wonderful. The production design and the use of real life locations. Yeah. These scenic shots of this island. are some of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. Yeah. Which is a hat tip to the cinematography and I guess the location scouting. Right. But I think that the editing is really, really good as well. The score.
Incredible. The use of classic music and original music and the way they meld together and they suit these moments so perfectly. I think that there are a lot of really good moments for characters. Takako her entire little section. Yes. That Lighthouse segment. is one of my favorite things I've ever seen. It's just an incredible view of paranoia and just how something can absolutely destroy everything. Immediately. The importance of trust and communication. Yeah.
But I just, I, and I will say I've never seen the sequel, so I don't know where this goes or how anything happens or anything. Okay. I am intrigued, but I'm also terrified to watch it because I don't know. Yeah. No, I get it. But I just I can't say enough about this film. I love it very, very much. I think that without the nostalgia...
I would probably give this film like a nine. Okay. But with everything added in with the messaging, with everything that I get from this film and remember from the first time that I watched it. how important it was to me as an adolescent to see this story. Yeah. I... I will tell you. Out of 10 cutthroat classmates, I am going to give Battle Royale 10 cutthroat classmates out of 10. I literally couldn't do anything else. But I will now open the floor to you.
No, for sure, man. I feel like this too. I kind of wish that this... Not that this was older, but that this was older so I could have watched it when I was young. Because this does seem like one of those movies that if you catch it at a certain age... It is something that's gonna be like, oh my God, that was, my mind is blown forever watching that. Not that it's not, you know, watching it even now. It's a really good movie.
But yeah, I really, I would have loved to have watched that as a kid or a teen or any, you know what I mean? But watching it now, it is from when we watched it the first time till now.
It is, I am older, of course, and, you know, time, you know, it does that. But... it is it is really still good and it does have that message and it does have all these things that we're watching these kids having to deal with and it's like god damn and you still got to deal with this on top of that yeah um but yeah i agree with you t there's a lot of a lot of this that's just really really good But I don't have that nostalgia for it.
But even that, I would recommend anyone watch this movie, anyone. Again, I really, really enjoyed this as a film. As someone who enjoys international movies, different kinds of shows, anything, I'm always game to try anything. This is one of those movies that everyone anywhere around the world should watch. Like this was really cool. But with all that to say, for me, on a scale from 1 to 10 cutthroat classmates,
I'm going to give Battle Royale an 8.5. This movie, I would still watch it. I would watch it tomorrow. The movie is really fucking good. Yeah, I agree with both of you all. I don't think that I could add anything new to the conversation. I just really appreciate how poignant it remains. I mean, it still packs such a punch 25 years later. That is, I think, remarkable. But yeah, like you said, I would recommend this to anyone. I think that it is such an experience.
I can't wait to read the book. I really want to read it and experience it in that way as well. I'm, like you said to you, a little trepidatious about going into a sequel, but I think that this film, it is phenomenal. It is... an accomplishment it is a journey yes there are so many things happening at once that dark comedy tragedy violence and just this really astute and important messaging. Um, but for me on a scale from one to 10 cutthroat classmates,
I am giving Battle Royale 9 out of 10 cutthroat classmates. I think that it's a fantastic film. But we don't know this about the second movie yet. No. Well, that's all from us at Podmortem. What would you rate Battle Royale and what should we watch next? Let us know on Instagram at thepodmortem. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter and like our Stairhole Productions page on Facebook. Be sure to follow each of us on Instagram and bluesky at travismwh. at Blood and Smoke and at JuggaloDaddy84.
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