Battle Royale II: Blitz Royale

I can say this right here and now to get it out of the way. I DO NOT care about the art of a manga I care for a story. But I despised this art with every fiber of my being. I really really liked the first Battle Royale, I would put it in my top 3. When I heard there was a second Battle Royale I bet you could see the joy on my face. I was so very disappointed. The Storyline was too different from the first and the art and characters were not developed whatsoever. This is the only manga I haveor ever will drop in my life. To keep this review short I'll just say this: Son... I am disappoint. Overall rating: 1/10

Let's get the basics out of the way first; Battle Royale II is as much of a sequel to Battle Royale as Predator 2 is to Predator. Meaning it takes place in the same world and have a similar theme, but that's about it. You won't be seeing any of the characters from the first part, and the story doesn't revolve around the program this time around. Instead, it's a different type of survival game, centered around teams. Battle Royale II: Blitz Royale is not as horrible as some will lead you to believe. In fact, it's a fairly good story, and every bit a spiritual successorof the original BR manga. They were both written by Koushun Takami, but with a different artist for BRII. Now the art of BRII is severely different from the one found in the first manga, and this apparently ruins the enjoyment for some people. Most of the people who dislike the art are the typical "Naruto generation" that want their manga to have a certain sterile look and can't read anything that deviates from that formula. Others dislike the art because it's too different from the original manga. That's why you shouldn't go in expecting to read a straight up sequel, because you might find yourself turned-off when you find the art to be hugely different from the original manga. For those of you who aren't bothered by alternative looking manga, this is worth checking out. Story: The story of BRII may seem shallow at first glance, since the manga is rather short, but it does not disappoint. It's quite similar to BR but at the same time it's nothing like it. The psychological aspects and themes are there, and fans of the original story will most likely notice the similarities and find them well played out. Art: Now the art is what will break or make this manga for many. It's rather cartoony, and this will turn some people off, especially the aforementioned ones. The art might seem terrible at first, but is in fact rather effective as a sharp contrast to the violence and adult themes featured in the story. If you've read any of Mohiro Kitoh's works, you won't have a problem though (other than the same problem found in Mohiro Kitoh's titles; character designs) Characters: Personally, I found the characters to be portrayed much better than the ones found in BR. It's centered around a select few rather then the whole class, for obvious reasons. You won't get to know them on a level as deep as the one in BR. However, the characters are realistic and believable, as compared to the sometimes hilariously unbelievable characters found in the original. As such, not exploring the backgrounds and mental disorders of the entire cast in BRII can be seen as a blessing in disguise, and makes the whole story feel more realistic. To voice some critizism towards the character designs, as previously mentioned, is that they are rather generic, and the only way to tell the characters apart is pretty much by looking at their hair. Enjoyment: As far as enjoyment goes, I found this manga to deliver. There are few chapters, so it benefits from reading in one sitting, and since it's being short it never really loses it's momentum, and you will find yourself wondering what will happen next as the story progresses. It's short but handled well. Overall: A good read, albeit a little bit too short. I for one wouldn't mind it to have been a little bit longer and the main characters could benefit from being explored a little deeper. Still, it's a good short read that isn't for everybody, but nevertheless worth checking out.

Battle Royale 1 is one of my favorite movies and one of my favorite manga. I heard that people didn't like Battle Royale 2: Blitz Royale because of the artwork, so I decided to give it a try knowing that I'd have to ignore the artwork and look past it to the story. It didn't help. There is no maturity to this story. In fact, there is almost no story what-so-ever. The characters are one dimensional, and the relationships between the characters are practically non-existent. The setting is below average at best, and has little-to-no description. And as mentioned before, the artwork is terrible. Everything good about BattleRoyale 1 is missing from Battle Royale 2: Blitz Royale. Seriously, don't waste your time.

It takes a lot to get a score under 6.5 on MAL, but man does Battle Royale II deserve it. Battle Royale is hard hitting and serious. Battle Royale II is... not. It's set in the same universe as the movies. To start, the art is awful. I do not say this lightly. The ears are massive, the noses are practically falling off the face they're so low, and the center of the face is a giant blank space. The art is so jarring and bad that it makes the extremely violent content downright bewildering, like turning on Barney and watching him murder people. The artisthas no idea how to convey motion or impact, and the characters look absurd. At points you even have the comical stars twirling around heads in otherwise totally serious scenes. The story is bad. The writing is bad. It's not even consistent with its own universe (people don't know about the program, something that's mandatory TV viewing?). The plot is complete nonsense that makes absolutely no sense. They're kidnapping kids, giving them explosive collars, and sending them to fight terrorists... why? What is a kid going to be able to do that a soldier can't? You're burning money for nothing. There's an entire meta plot about people betting on it, but why? It still doesn't make any sense. The manga somehow manages to get even worse in the second volume, when it introduces this entire plot about the kids turning on each other for completely stupid reasons. The entire series was a trainwreck from start to finish, without a single redeeming quality.