Background and Publication
Koushun Takami completed Battle Royale when he stopped working as a journalist in 1996. The story was rejected in the final round of the 1997 Japan Grand Prix Horror Novel competition, due to its controversial content. It was first published in April 1999 by Ohta Shuppan. In August 2002, it was released in a revised, two-part pocket edition by Gentosha.
Takami describes the characters as possibly all being "kind of alike", being "all the same" despite differing appearances and hobbies, and being static characters. Takami used these descriptions in contrast to the manga adaptation he wrote, with Masayuki Taguchi illustrating, which he believes has a more diverse and well-developed cast.
In 2001, Kōji Ōnuma wrote Battle Royale: Kyokugenshinri Kaisekisho (バトル・ロワイヤル 極限心理解析書, Batoru Rowaiyaru Kyokugenshinri Kaisekisho?, roughly "Battle Royale: Analysis of Extreme Psychology"), a dissertation that explores the themes of the book.
Battle Royale was translated into English by Yuji Oniki and released in North America by Viz Media on February 26, 2003. An expanded edition with a revised English translation and an afterword by Takami was published on November 17, 2009 by Haika Soru, a division of Viz Media. This version also included an interview with the director of the book's film adaptation, Kinji Fukasaku.
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