Also, I noticed that the island, or castle, was like an arena. It sort of reminded me of the Hunger Games in a way that they were all brought there to fight. It also reminded me of Battle Royale because of how they were all “students” still learning the way. Though they were not all there to fight each other one on one, they were there under an experiment to see if any of them would join Han.

Can you guess what novel I’m talking about? A little confused? A little torn

Well, in class we talked about a topic, “Parrying Katy.” She talks about how Geisha’s just love with all their heart and how she loves the culture. Then I started to think that she may not be racist, maybe she’s just ignorant and doesn’t really know much about the history of Japan and how they’ve come to be in America. I then began to ponder on how she even got the idea to dress like a Geisha and how common it is that celebrities often “copy” or have similar outfits and costumes that relate back to Asia. All of a sudden, I remember being told about Battle Royale and how The Hunger Games is very similar to it and how it seemed to be the “copied” American version (what a friend had told me).

Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games

Both novels have a futuristic time frame with both states are led by authoritarianism. In Hunger Games 1 boy and 1 girl is reaped from each of the 12 districts, they are called “tributes.” All tributes get training, get put into an arena and are expected to fight each other until there is only one victor. In Battle Royale these students are gassed on a bus and taken to “The Program” which is a military experiment and is an island where they all must fight to the death and again, until only victor remains. In both novels the reason for doing this is to terrorize the people of the states and to prevent an uprising against the government. Also, before entering the area all 24 tributes get a tracket inserted into their forearms, where as the students in Battle Royale have trackers in their collars. In both novels the main characters have witnessed death and lost friends over the course of the battle. Lastly, instead of there only being victor, both novels end up having 2 survivors that are close to each other. For instance, Katiss and Peeta end up winning the games and Noriko and Shuya end up escaping the program. If not identical, very similar right?

Chiaki Kuriyama plays Takako Chigusa in Battle Royale

Though there are a few things that separate these two. Though the storyline may be different, the way the movies were produced at least, separate the two as far as popularity goes. I know that books and movies are different, but both of these novels have been turned into movies. So, in Battle Royale it is way more gruesome than the Hunger Games. In Battle Royale the grouping of the students is a public secret, everybody knows it’s happening, but nobody wants to admit that it really is. In Collins novels, the Hunger Games is advertised and televised throughout Panem. Many also argue that Battle Royale is more about violence, gore, and chaos whereas the Hunger Games is about survival and movement towards a rebellion.

I did further research to see when both authors Susan Collins (Hunger Games) and Koushun Takami (Battle Royale) had published their books. Battle Royale was first published in 1999 and was later on translated into English in 2003. There was then an expanded version with a word from Takami as well that was published in 2009. The Hunger Games was first published as a hardcover in 2008. It has since then been a hit and has been sold in 38 territories world wide.

So I guess what I am wondering is if the Hunger Games really is a “knock-off” or at least inspired by Battle Royale? Or is it just a very bizarre coincidence? I have yet to find anything that has proof that Collins had completely ripped of Takami or that there was any political conflict over it. I could agree that both movies/novels are very similar, but I also think that they are both very different in certain ways. Nonetheless, both movies/novels are very interesting and entertaining to watch.

I did my research from here and here (I just searched for each book there and compared.)