Battle Royale is partly a commentary on the Japanese political situation of the later 1990s:
increasing juvenile delinquency
resulting fear and hatred of young people
the faltering Japanese economy,
the famously strict education system designed to reduce youth to corporate livestock
the history of nationalism and imperialism
etc.

Hunger Games is partly a commentary on the AMERICAN political situation of the later 2000s:
increasing economic inequality and the casual psycopathy of American culture (cf. Bret Easton Ellis for a more adult and explicit examination)
the media, reality TV, the cult of celebrity and martyrdom
technology, surveillance
etc.

This is why Marilyn Manson has a tiny cameo in the film: a major theme of his music is the ruthless competitiveness and violent tone of American society and culture. Like in his music, the US of Hunger Games is a near-feudal, corporatist one, where a decadent minority of 'Beautiful People' callously use and abuse the masses for their own ends.

So it is a bit of a ripoff, but it's cleverly adapted to the American situation and well made. It's just DIFFERENT to BR, not really better or worse.

If Papa says so... it must be true! ;A;

/admits defeat.

Love,
Pika.

________________

You are wrong here. I have read both of them and came to conclution that maybe first book HG had some story in it but rest of trilogy was a shit worth. I hope that movie somehow will make it look better but I am expecting the worst

________________

ive read the manga and i found it very disappointing, havent tried the novel though

Have not checked out Battle Royale, but Hunger Games is just plain bad.

________________
"People don't change, they just give in."<BR><!--url_type_2--><a href='http://webtoons.com/en/fantasy/kubera/list?title_no=83' target='_blank'><u>Kubera is the best.</u></a><!--url_type_2_end--><BR>同人音楽 (doujin music)<BR><!--img--><img src='http://i.imgur.com/CkHPJMM.gif' border='0' alt='Laila Hemawati'><!--img_end-->

Last edited by Jatodude at 2:32 am, Jun 4 2016

The manga is all right, but the Tokyo Pop translator butchered it by cramming every term he could find on the Urban Dictionary in the story.



Actually, the OP's gut was right. He/she is not the first or last person to draw the comparison. Even if one is darker than the other, they essentially have the same plot: school kids are gathered to fight each other to the death under the government's eyes. The similarities are glaring.

The author of the Hunger Games herself was questioned about Battle Royale, to which she said she had never heard of it before. It was supposedly just a coincidence that she was under pressure to publish a popular novel.

It is frustrating to see a rip-off enjoying greater success than the original, more solid work. What a shame.

Battle Royale will always be the better of the two.

________________

I dont know anything about the hunger games but i have seen the official trailer for it. it looked like something i wasnt going to enjoy so im probably not going to waste my time seeing that movie. i havent seen the movie battle royale as well but i have seen the trailer. if i had to chose between these 2 movies based on watching the trailer and reading about them both, id have to go with battle royale. they are both similar titles and hardly have any differences. in my opinion i think battle royale has a better story because of how the players in the "death match" are students with guns (wich is a pretty unique concept). it reminds me of the movie "City of God" witch is one of my favorites. in conclusion i think battle royale is better..

you should def get the novel. i think the novel is better then the manga or movie. the novel really put you in the middle of the action and it provides more back story/character development for all of the students witch is pretty dope. its on amazon right now for 11.08 and free shipping, thats were i got my copy

Last edited by lambchopsil at 12:34 am, Apr 16 2012

________________