Summary
The government oppression in “Battle Royale: Enforcers” is run by a sinister AI that instills fear and cruelty. Expect heartbreak as the comic unravels friendship, love, and desire in a deadly game. A unique twist on controlling human expression through forbidden music adds depth to the dystopian world.
Royal War is a multimedia franchise perhaps best known internationally for the 2000 film adaptation of the 1999 novel, which depicts middle school students being forced to fight to the death at the behest of a brutal, government-sponsored game. The series has influenced many other popular franchises, including more recent examples such as The Hunger Games, Alice in the Borderlands, and Squid Game. However, the idea of an oppressive fascist government taking extreme measures to eradicate crime reappears in Battle Royale: The EnforcerKoushun Takami's latest manga.
Takami's Battle Royale manga adaptations began in 2000, the same year the controversial film debuted, with him returning in Battle Royale: Angels' Border before starting his current series, Enforcers. The series equips teams of students with the means to survive on the battlefields of Hogakure Island while facing off against each other at Daitoa Academy.
The modern twist is particularly creepy and timely as this death game is overseen by an AI known as Sister, casting a dark shadow over the students in the manga Battle Royale: Enforcers, Volume #1 was released on July 16, 2024, by VIZ Signature.
Battle Royale: Enforcers is a terrifying twist at just the right time
Take brutal management out of human hands
The concept of Battle Royale was inhumane and barbaric enough in its 2000 iteration, but when similar operations were used twenty years later by the fictional fascist Republic of Greater East Asia, they put the task in the hands of AI. This allowed for Chapter 68, run by Sister, to be framed as Daitoa Academy's semi-annual Island Cleanup Day, declaring a state of emergency for the students while isolating Class F for Battle Royale. While the students were understandably distressed by this, They quickly protested, only for Sister to ruthlessly use her resources to massacre the protesters.
The challenge begins thus, with eight teams of students assigned and given tablets as well as access to weapons and survival supplies, with the express purpose of killing the other team members on the island. Sister sees this as a way for the class delinquents, considered the lowest of the low, to rehabilitate themselves in Battle Royale: Enforcers. With such an inhumane concept, it makes sense that it is run by a machine as far away from humans as possibleespecially the way the series introduces a group of pathetic yet lovable students.
Don't get too attached to F class students.
Battle Royale: Enforcers Will Break Readers' Hearts
The characters of Battle Royale: Enforcers have their lifespans brutally shortened by order of Chapter 68. However, this does not stop Takami introduces a diverse group of students, many of whom are engaging and likable. While it's reasonable to expect early-introduced characters like Rion Sakamoto to have some plot armor, his friendship with Kunimitsu Watanabe, a member of the enemy team, has profound implications for later chapters. There are even more romances upended by Battle Royale: Enforcers, and unlike other popular manga like Boruto that are less committed to killing off characters, the deaths here seem to be permanent.
Battle Royale: Enforcers attempts to show a roster of 42 cadets divided into eight teams, while updating information about the remaining cadets after each fatal incident.
Students are given pistols, assault rifles, and tablets with various useful apps to aid their survival against opposing teams, and as expected, Chapter 68 is no slouch. As expected, Battle Royale: Enforcers turns into an all-out massacre, with aspirations and love lives tragically cut short.
An early example is in chapter 2, when teams were intentionally unbalanced; Sister forces members to choose teammates to execute. In the eyes of the Sisters and the government, any student who dies is unworthy of rehabilitation, even though they consider such things to be degenerative and an essential part of the human experience.
Battle Royale: Enforcers is a battle for survival, friendship and music
Human experience is tightly managed in this dystopian world.
Perhaps the saddest aspect of the Battle Royale world is what it considers illegal or decadent, with the Enforcers blacklisting American rock music. Chapter #1 introduces Sakamoto and Watanabe as fast friends who bond over their shared love of forbidden “decadent” music, with some interesting references to famous bands.
Even the sight and joy of these characters playing drums or improvised percussion of pots, pans, buckets and cans while the two play music. Carole King, Dr. Feelgood and Creedence Clearwater Revival.
These references are not only new to readers, but are also a unique way for this manga to be enjoyed by both Japanese and Western readers.
As mentioned in chapter #1 of Battle Royale: Enforcers, these are examples of a decadent ideology, part of the East Asian Republic's problems with major American cultural movements, namely rock and roll. Not only are the references refreshing for readers, but they are also a unique way for the manga to appeal to Japanese and North American readers. The sight of these characters committing crimes by playing banned music is a great way to humanize the cast of Battle Royale: Enforcers, while also reminding them of the fundamentals at stake.
Yukai Asada's art fits the series perfectly.
Experienced artist conveying delinquents and musicians
While Koushun Takami has been involved in most of the Battle Royale manga adaptations, Yukai Asada is handling the art this time around. Asada's reimagining of the world of Daitoa Academy and the surrounding island is fraught with danger, with shockingly sudden and violent deaths rendered effectively.
Asada's character design of Sister's face, as shown on screen, is creepy, with a supernatural smile and a murderous aura. But perhaps most intriguing is Asada's design of the criminals playing music in Battle Royale: Enforcerssomething that Asada has conveyed so well in other manga.
Asada's manga imprint includes the popular crime series Crows, the horror series Siren, and the rock manga Woodstock, making Battle Royale: Enforcers a natural move.
Asada’s work has appeared in series like Siren: ReBIRTH, Tokkou Zero, and even Crows Respect, among others, but what makes this artist perfect for the characters of Battle Royale: Enforcers is his work on the Woodstock manga. The series follows a socially awkward young musician, Naruse Gaku, who dreams of performing at the legendary Woodstock festival. However, his lack of social graces leads him to form a virtual band, “Charlie.”
Manga appeals to both newcomers and fans
A thrilling and complex battle for survival that is more relevant than ever
As mentioned earlier, with the launch of Battle Royale, many other television, film, and video game properties have followed its influence as part of the “Battle Royale” genre, leading to calls for remakes. This includes the recent and larger wave of battle royale multiplayer online games, most notably present in globally dominant shooters like Fortnite and Call of Duty.
Battle Royale: The Enforcer is a reminder of which series has inspired many others after it, with other contemporary hits like Gantz being directly inspired, making this the latest seinen manga released by VIZ Signature to pay attention.