30 Jul 2007
Battle Royale (novel)
Right from the first time I saw the controversial feature film, I was utterly gripped by the concept and story of Battle Royale, the portrayal of a cruel government programme that pits an entire class of high-school students against each other in a fight to the death. Koushun Takami’s original novel is probably less well-known than its movie or manga incarnation, but for me at least exhibits the most affecting mixture of visceral violence and meticulous characterisation I’ve ever seen set to print.
Be Human, the GitS SAC soundtrack album that revolves around the idea of, well, ‘being human’. The tachikomas of the SAC were prone to discussing what it means to be human in a world of computers and AI - a recurring theme of the series that forms the concept of this record. Basically, it’s a concept album that’s dedicated to the endearing little ‘think tanks’ - if it hadn’t been penned by Ms Kanno I probably would have given it a go on that reason alone.The cover art, that of a tachikoma taking to the microphone, is reflected in the rest of the inlay booklet that places them in a variety of real life situations (i.e. not art taken from the series) in an photographic style reminiscent of the sleeve art for Pink floyd and The Verve’s early stuff. It means you don’t know what to expect from the album from a musical point of view, beyond the fact that it’s a bit strange.