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 | Upcoming movies: Battle Royale Second Director: Kinji Fukasaku Written: Koshun Takami, Kenta Fukasaku Starring: Tatsuya Fujiwara Aki Maeda Susuma Terajima Rena Tanaka Ai Iwamura Maya Kurosu Makoto Sawada Tag: Same game, new class. Status: In production. |
| Information: The much awaited sequel to the most controversial film of 2000. Battle Royale Second stars young actors Aki Maeda and famous teen sitcom actor Tatsuya Fujiwara. Set one year after BR1, the two surviving students from the previous year's bloodbath, Shuya Nanahara (Fujiwara) and Noriko Nakagawa (Aki Maeda) return home, their lives permanently scarred by the terrifying experiences of BR1. Around them, the Battle Royale act continues and another class is kidnapped and placed in a Battle Royale. After the previous incidents, the public becomes aware of what the Japanese government is doing to their children and riots break out, some people violently attacking Japanese politicians in the street. Democracy no longer exists in this Japan where the country is dictated by the Japanese military who came away from World War II victorious alongside Germany. The rioters are violently dealt with and their children are thrown in to Battle Royale along with the randomly selected tenth grade class of boys and girls. The Battle Royale Second Movie is based on the Koshun Takami novel which follows on from the first novel, however unlike the novel features the two main characters returning to Battle Royale. Nanahara and Nakagawa attempt to gain the support of the opposing public however they are captured by the military and throw into an already running Battle Royale as transfer students. They find a new group of students unlike their old friends. They are far more violent and kill one another without any sign of regret. Nanahara and Nakagawa are forced to fight for their own lives but their judgement is constantly hindered by memories of their old friends. Mikes comments: Being an avid follower of the first movie, I initially imagined the second movie to be a complete revamp of the first movie with a bigger budget and new cast. Upon hearing that the second movie was not primarily based on the BR itself, but based around the main character's struggle to fight their own emotions and put and end to the Millennium Reform School Act, my overall perception of the sequel was changed significantly. BR1 was a great success in box office sales and although it was not greatly exported, its success was enough for its production company, TOEI, to fund Fukasaku's intention to create a sequel. Fukasaku commented on BR1 as being a wonderfully colorful and emotion movie, however it failed to address many issues from the novel. The Battle Royale in Battle Royale Second is staged in the same way as the first Battle Royale, however the Kitano character is portrayed as a violent but passionate man who shows subtle empathy for the students. His character is played by actor Susuma Terajima who is one of my favorite actors of all time. Many of the original cast are returning to the sequel including Takeshi Kitano. Instead of miraculously being resurrected from the dead, they will instead appear as apparitions to Nanahara and Nakagawa. With an opening scene which involves a schoolboy removing a sub-machine-gun from his school satchel and murdering his class, BR2 will almost certainly be banned in the USA. However this doesn't prevent the release of subbed VCDs! Trailers for BR2 are rumored to be on the new version dvd of BR1, however the early rental version did not feature any. According to Asian Cult Cinema Magazine, the surviving girl from the first Battle Royale is a transfer student in BR2. Nanahara is also rumored to die in BR2!!! - Mike. New:!!! | |