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Forums » General Battle Royale Discussion » Kazuo Kiriyama: Why you do or don't love him And what do you think he contributes to the story?

Author Post Viburnum Topic: Kazuo Kiriyama: Why you do or don't love him And what do you think he contributes to the story? Personally, I have always been a fan of Kazuo Kiriyama. I loved his character even before I saw the movie, read the novel or manga (I actually only read the manga and have not seen or read the other mediums) - that's because I learned of Battle Royale from various sites (Wikipedia mostly). I knew beforehand that Kazuo was a sociopath but the fact he killed because he has no ambivalent emotions to contradict his actions made me sympathize with his character. He is so like a naive, prodigious child who can only understand the dynamics of something but never its full meaning. He can only understand superficially a substance but never its pure origin and circumstances. Though he is brilliant he is the most flawed teenager participating in the program as Shuya had said in the manga that he would consider Kazuo being the true mercy kill and not Mitsuko. I always loved the sheer innocence of his character - he never killed because he yearned to kill due to emotional impulses but rather a need to kill, an instinct - though that doesn't justify his actions it makes us know how emotionally immature he is despite his intelligence. I think Kiriyama is one of the most central characters of Battle Royale and a very necessary catalyst. Without him, I believe, the story of Battle Royale would be quite unamusing. As the characters are all teenagers most of them are not killing due to the debauchery of the whole program or killing due to flawed beliefs instigated by emotions. As they are teenagers you see them having uneasy trusts, uneasy beliefs, uneasy hormones and uneasy actions earlier on before the program which explodes and multiplies tenfolds due to the circumstances (an adult would have the same feelings given the situation). So they kill for grudges, fear, stress and/or emerging insanity - to see everyone killed via the same reasons would conclude with a repetition. Kazuo eliminates this tedious center in the story - he kills because he is programmed by a decision of technicality and not for the normal sensations that encompasses human beings futhermore he has the most body count so he eliminates the number of students which may have been difficult for other characters to do. He is not like the other teenagers - in all the versions he is a sociopath (a less milder one in the movie) and so it creates a whole new perceptive in the story. He cannot empathize (as the first thing about his profile in Wikipedia suggests) so it really makes the whole blood-bath of Battle Royale become more dire and suffocating - in one word more REAL. Also Shuya said everyone clings to a certain purpose that motivates them - to Kazuo it always was logic - for everything else to him is blank and thus he has no other choice, that's why he is never content about anything. So Yes I love Kazuo like crazy and I think he's very important to the story but I know some people who hate him horribly. So why do guys love, hate, love-hate Kazuo Kiriyama and why do you think he's needed or not needed in the story? #1 Feb 25th 2007, 11:41pm Necroplis fall's over and bleed's from eye's and ear's. "that's alot of info" #2 Feb 26th 2007, 10:50am Viburnum ^_^! (sweat drop) Sorry, couldn't resist. #3 Feb 28th 2007, 10:49am Dark Raven Of Death Kiryama is my fav. I hope he is in the remake. They will probably make him Emo. Does anyone know where I can buy the Novel and Manga. #4 Mar 06th 2007, 2:36am . Edited Mar 17th 2007, 11:36am C.Gholy I ike Kazou too. He's my fav male character. He was great in the movie and the manga. #5 Jun 11th 2007, 9:59am dictionarykid I think he rocks. So much so I (attemptd to do it well) brought him back from the dead to terrorise kids in one of my 'fics. the film/book/manga wouldn't be half as good without him, he instills fear in the character's hearts #6 Jun 11th 2007, 12:37pm C.Gholy I agree Battle royale would have been boring without him. #7 Jun 11th 2007, 1:24pm Necroplis Raven the answer is Amazon.co.uk or com thats where i got mine. #8 Sep 24th 2007, 9:41am Dark Raven Of Death Thanks #9 Sep 27th 2007, 1:14am mishkidda Kiriyama is a plot device. A very good one, and pretty necessary for the story, but he never seemed like a real believable personality to me. Then again, real-life sociopaths are generally whiny parasitic brats rather than cool emotionless killers. Then again, everyone is a bit larger-than-life in BR, especially in the manga. #10 Oct 01st 2007, 5:57am

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