Battle Royale Deluxe Edition, Vol. 1

by Masayuki Taguchi, Koushun Takami, Kevin Gifford (Translator)

The hyper-violent classic is back in a new edition! Forty-two middle school students are forced to fight to the death until only one survivor!

Genres: Manga

Kindle Edition

Published January 27, 2026

About the author

Masayuki Taguchi (田口雅之; Taguchi Masayuki) is a Japanese mangaka.

Reviews

[Mark Pidgeon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still as relentless and bleak as I remembered. The deluxe edition is a beautifully crated book worth it for the colour pages as well.

[GONZA · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've known the story for a long time, and in my opinion, this manga captures it perfectly. I can't wait for the other volumes to come out because I've also grown fond of some of the characters.

Conosco da tempo la storia e secondo me, questo manga la rende alla perfezione. Non vedo l'ora che escano le altre raccolte perché mi sono anche affezionata ad alcuni personaggi.

I received from the publisher an advanced digital review copy in exchange for a honest review.

[FrontalNerdaty · Rating 3 out of 5]

The tome collects the first 24 chapters of the book adaptation of the Battle Royale book by Koushun Takami. It’s a, mostly loyal, take on the book but does offer some expansion as the medium allows for it. The style is similar to titles such as JoJos Bizarre Adventures and this works for the most part. The gore is where the art shines. The soft and pretty looks of all the characters is offset by the level of gore whenever someone is killed or maimed. It works really well. Most chapters function the same - introduce a character then give them some back story and then, for the most part, kill them off. There are about 6 ‘main’ characters whom all have on-going arcs throughout and inevitably going to clash.
This tome is a beaut for sure and I’m glad I waited for it to be released to read it.

All of the positives said, the way in which women, well girls, are presented throughout is either - innocent and extremely feminine or sexual delinquents. There is some nuance to be had, the book pulls it off, but the art here is mostly edging on pornographic. Given the age of the characters it does feel wrong. Though if the gore is presented to the max then an argument could be made for the sexual elements to be given the same level of attention.

3/5

[Daniel Freer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing, wish they were all translated to English so I could keep reading!!!

WOW is all I can say. This has to be one of the best stories I've ever read!!! The ART???!? AMAZING!!! Everything about it is so crazy and surreal but also so raw and based in some of the worst parts of human nature and some of the best but again just WOW. Insane amounts of violence and GORE as well as some of the craziest stuff ive seen drawn in manga sex wise. Its super HARDCORE IN ABSOLUTELY EVERY WAY!!! And its not done just for the sake of it or just to do it!! It has its purpose and isnt done as a cheap gimmick!!!! Highly recommend this to anyone that loves manga, or comics. Hell even just amazing story telling and characters. Thats another thing the characters are some of the best AND WORST like evil but still makes you want to keep reading and reading to see what happens next!!! Immediately after only VOLUME 1 is one of my favorite mangas/stories ive ever read. Its that good, IN MY OPINION!!! Just great!!!

[Nick Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was dope. I remember watching the film as a teenager and not really liking it. This new translation feels great and flows naturally (did not read any previous translation). Art is excellent. I wish that little bitch Ken Kaneki was on the BR island lmfao. Sucks I have to wait till August for Deluxe 2 (unless I read the old translation).

[Tim McLelland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wish I Never Got Rid of The Originals

Tough read, but still amazing. So happy this expanded edition was available digitally. Even better than the movie, and that's saying a lot!