I haven’t read the original Battle Royale manga, but I’ve watched the films and finished the original novel. The latter two media are great for those looking for more “death game” romps, and I wanted more from the world aside from the main narrative. (Well, maybe not the second film, but…) Battle Royale: Enforcers is a sequel that excellently delves into a dystopian Japanese setting where students need to fight to survive.

Rion Sakamoto is the Squad 8 Leader in Class F at Daitoa Academy. Spending time with his best friend Kunimitsu Watanabe, Rion is a bit of a rebel as he plays rock music in the band room unauthorized. Prospective love interest Aoi Hayasaka also gets to see a different side of him, while Kunimitsu’s childhood friend Hikaru Ninomiya sticks up deals with some catty bullies. Aside from the dystopian undertones, the story begins as a little nod to something like Assassination Classroom with segregated classes.

This introductory lull is broken as the malevolent AI known as Sister rounds up the class together for a sinister game: An inter-squad fight to the death. While cancelled in-universe for years, it seems that Program 68, the Battle Royale, has resurfaced. Each squad of students has to team up and fight the others in a match to the death, with the last 5-person squad standing getting to graduate. Rion, Ninomiya, Aoi, and the others try to make sense of the situation as they’re put in a deadly game with an oppressive time limit.

What I was surprised about with this manga is how sudden the casualties pile up. The original novel did have deaths before the game proper, but there was an interesting conflict that happened in the beginning. The sadistic choice to lop off a student even before the beginning just emphasizes how much deadlier this game will be compared to its predecessor. The story clips by at a blazingly fast pace, so much so that flashbacks and present-day events get muddled in the narrative. It’s fine after another read-through, but it may be confusing the first time around.

There’s a ton here to explore for the next volumes, and I’m curious as to what caused the reinstatement of the Battle Royale program as well. The fact that a malicious AI system is hosting this game brings a futuristic dystopian feel to the setting, and I’m itching to see more of it. Since Alice in Borderland wrapped up here in the west, I have a death game-shaped hole in my manga reading schedule. I’m keeping my eye out for this series after a great debut!

The project known as the Battle Experiment No. 68 Program, or Battle Royale, has officially been banned in Greater East Asia for many years. But the regime's control of the country is still strong, and there are other ways to punish those that break the rules or cause dissent. One such way is an isolated school for delinquents, where students are broken into classrooms based on how good, or how bad, the sinister AI running the school views their behavior.

After a strange Earthquake, the students are instructed to take cover in underground classrooms. There Class F learns that a new Battle Royale program has started, and they're the first class. Broken into squads they are given seven days to be the last group standing.

Once again Takami plays with themes of rebellion, trauma, control, empathy, and a desire for freedom. What will someone do when their life - or their teammates lives - is on the line? Another similarity is the initial main protagonist. Rion is a bit of a Shu clone, being a fatherless teen interested in the forbidden world of rock music. He is also playing the voice of empathy, wanting to find a way to work together rather than participate.

Despite working with similar themes and characters, there are some key differences between the original and this sequel. In addition to the class not being chose randomly and the students participating in teams, there are key changes to who is watching the students. There are also appears to be less overall gore and graphic content than before, though that could change in later volumes.

As this is only volumes one it can be hard to fully judge the series, but so far this seems to be a solid addition to the Battle Royale world. As a long time fan, I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

This digital ARC was obtainable via NetGalley for an honest review.

In my late teens I was a tiny bit obsessed with "Battle Royale" for whatever reason (it was a very short phase). When I saw "Battle Royale: Enforcers, Vol 1" I had to check it out. The dialogue was a bit shallow, and the characters were okay. I was not connected to any of the students, but I do wonder how they will survive. I will keep a look out for volume 2.

As someone who has read the original novel, I can say this series does a nice job of keeping what made the original story work, while changing a few things up. In this, the unfortunate class is divided into teams from the start, leading to interesting group dynamics. This is still a Battle Royale universe so gore and death are to be expected. If you like this sort of story, give it a chance!

I really liked this manga. I love the original Battle Royale book, so being able to read more content from the universe is something I am always looking forward to. I love how this book brings more to the table while also respecting the original canon