Many people who have read the novel or manga or watched the movie adaption of Battle Royal and read the Hunger Games books have been bashing on Hunger Games for a while now for having the same plot. From what I can understand is they are forced to kill each other and its all a game like a reality show (if Im reading the Hunger Games plot right). Another thing that I've remembered about Battle Royal is there is no "I'll go in her place", your screwed once your in it there is no way out of it or unless you join out of your own free will. What is Battle Royal? Battle Royal is a story of a class that participates in a yearly game, go to a island and forced to kill each other to survive then go home but that also means you are forced to kill your best friend. They have a time limit of 3 days to have the survivor as the winner, if there is no survivor and still some people alive when times up everyone dies. I am a fan of Battle Royal but I dont know much about Hunger Games so I dont really have much to say about it. The author had stated she had never heard of Battle Royal at the time till she turned it in. From what I've heard from people who know about the two have stated "They have the same set up but they have a different plot. There is a American Remake of Battle Royal still in development but it is not Hunger games." What do you guys think?
It's true that foundation-wise Battle Royale and The Hunger Games have very similar plots, but having read both I feel that The Hunger Games is a lot more character-driven (or more accurately, relationship driven). Additionally, by the second novel of the Hunger Games series there is very little resemblance to Battle Royale at all, even in plot. Battle Royale felt really isolated and didn't cover much outside the 'battle royale' in question; The Hunger Games goes a lot further than that (not that either of those is a bad thing mind you, just different approaches to the concept). I guess I felt Battle Royale looked at the relationships between characters in a more or less impersonal manner and focused more on what was going on in terms of the action, The Hunger Games focused very little on the games themselves compared to the surrounding events and the emotions and relationships between the characters. Similar concept yes, but I feel they're both different enough to merit giving a shot.
Well, I read both books (and saw the Battle Royale movie) and they do have similar plots. But I know they have differences, like the "I'll volunteer" and the "3-day limit". I loved both books, but I think that Battle Royale is pretty much a bit better top me than THG (My avatar pic is Noriko :))
I have never read Battle Royal but I know that the plot idea isn't somethnig so completely abstract that only one author would think of it. People have critised the 2009 film Avatar for basically being the story of Pocahontas but with blue aliens which I can understand but the idea and the build up of this new world that the director created. My point is, both these stories have a similar plot- outsiders coming into a land and, with their greed, bleeding the place dry while the natives stop them and teach them their ways. yes, same concept but done in completely different ways. But anyway, back to the Hunger games and Battle Royal, it is very hard to think of a completely new idea now without being critised for plagarism- there isn't much that hasn't been covered. Also, in truth there are about 7 actual stories that are told over and over again- like a stroy of getting wealth or a story about getting love so its impossible to not retell certain stories in different ways.
This comes down to the eternal debate of writing and creative work in general: "Is there such a thing as an original idea". My answer to that would be, no. There are many books, games and films which share a similar plot with one-another, so the idea itself may not be original per-say - intentionally or not. What makes these things different is in their excecution, the way in thich that first idea develops and expands in the mind of the author, film-maker etc, the way in thich they twist and add, embellish, and subtly nuance their creation to make it somehting totally and completely unique. So, yeah, what does it matter if at their core they may have similar themes, ideas and plots in them? It's the differences between the two stories which make them enjoyable and unique and it is that which truely matters.
Quoted for truth. Also, I've heard so much about battle royal that I feel like I've read it, but I actually haven't. I did, however, take the time to read the hunger games, and I honestly thought it was ok. Not a top 100 book or anything, but I didn't feel like I had wasted my time by reading it (I did read it during 4 of the 17 hours it took to drive from Illinois to Florida, however). In my opinion, the hunger games is kinda like if the twilight series' romance and relationship stuff had a baby with battle royal's plotline. But I can only say that for the first hunger games book.
It's a happy coincidence at most! I've read Battle royalle, and saw Hunger Games at the movies, yes both plots are kill or be killed Spoiler: and.. in the end there are 2 left.. even though in br they "won the systeam" so 2 people could come out . Even Though I did not became a fan of Hunger Games, I saw the true inspiration for it... The greek myth of Minotaur: The plot is almost the same! They would choose 7 maindens and 7 young man every 9 years as tribute for Crete (Won the war, and do this do control the other places from rebeling). Theseus also Offered himself just like the chick in the movie.. and his love for Ariadine was also "fake" just like the love relationship made between the chick and the blonde dude.. It was fake because Theseus left Ariadine to root in some island after he used her for surviving. The theme of Sacrifice of few for the benifit of many is an ancient clichê , alas in BR the Killing was without a reason only for one survivor (even though in some deap analysis we can say that the govern did this tv show for the sake of controling the population in the same way that Hunger games does).
^ thank you for posting that. I knew I remembered something from history class that sounded similar to both of those stories, haha.
The main inspiration of The Hunger Games was indeed the story of Theseus, but it also draws from the Roman gladiator games and modern war. Collins had actually not heard of Battle Royale until people began comparing the two. But these aren't the only two things in media/literature that has a similar idea; for example, the short story "The Lottery" has similar elements to it. One of my film professors brought up an interesting point with the movies however - whereas The Hunger Games focuses on the raw brutality, Battle Royale seems to make the killing more...artistic. I haven't seen the Battle Royale movie, but given that it's a film professor (and I've heard that from others too) I think that's a fairly valid point Honestly I'm kind of tired of people saying The Hunger Games is a ripoff of Battle Royale, because in this day and age it is very very rare for 100% original content, as well as having no coincidental overlap with anything else in existence.
