Shūya Nanahara

Shūya Nanahara (2022)	Shūya Nanahara (2010)

Shūya Nanahara (art by Yonagoda)

Shūya Nanahara, as depicted in Angel's Border (art by Mioko Ohnishi)

Evaluations

Shuya Nanahara (sprite edit by Almostinhuman)

Handled by: Dogs231

Kills: N/A.

Killed by: Mitsuru Numai

Assigned Weapon: Icepick (Abandoned)

Allies: Bruce Springsteen, Yoshitoki Kuninobu, Mitsuru Numai, Hiroshi Kuronaga, Ryuhei Sasagawa

Enemies: Ryuhei Sasagawa, Mitsuru Numai, Hiroshi Kuronaga, Chisato Matsui

Memorable Quotes: "Well, now, I'm no hero, that's understood..."

Threads

Below is a list of threads containing Shūya, in chronological order.

Shiroiwa (Memories):

• Soundtrack to Teenage Rebellion

Island:

• START GAME
• I Waited for the Sky to Change
• Peace Village
• Peace Village: Brother's Blood
• Peace Village: Dancing in the Dark
• Peace Village: Brother's Blood
• The Worst Game in History

Your Thoughts

Whether you were a fellow handler in SOTF Mini or just an avid reader of the site, we'd like to know what you thought about Shūya. What did you like, or dislike, about the character? Let us know here!

• Shūya is really, really good, in a way that I think goes beyond just his quality as a character in isolation. One of the biggest unique opportunities and challenges of something like the BRAU is grappling with an established canon. Some characters have almost nothing behind them, offering a chance to invent a lot and put your own spin on things but providing little guidance. Others have a mountain of continuity to sift through and adapt, which can feel like an impossible task. In that latter category lies Shūya Nanahara, the primary protagonist of the canon Battle Royale novel, and while for the most part I feel like the handlers who pulled main characters did very well with them in the New BRAU, Shūya's handler deserves a special shout out for both facing one of the most difficult challenges and finding some of the greatest success with it.
  
  Shūya is a rebellious would-be rock star who believes in his friends and hates the government. Something of a troublemaker even outside the game, he nevertheless captured the interest and affection of many of his classmates. In the New BRAU, this is captured well, with Shūya's portrayal focusing on his love of music and his hatred of malicious authority. The Shūya we see here weaves lyrics from Bruce Springsteen songs throughout his story, a callback both to Springsteen's heavy presence in the original novel and to the songposts from days of old that were often featured heavily in notable protagonists. While those old posts sometimes don't land quite as they should (it's really difficult to set the mood with music a reader may have never heard, and lyrics slapped into the middle of a scene can feel intrusive), Shūya's narrative gets around this in a canny way by making the music diagetic, framed through his listening to an old walkman tape player with a custom mix he's recorded, and also by very carefully selecting fitting songs for specific moments and paying very close attention to the pacing and line breaks. This creates a narrative in close conversation with the music, one where I think the importance can be gleaned even without heavy familiarity with Springsteen.
  
  Shūya's plot is also carefully crafted, and takes the huge risk of sending him in a direction that, much like his canon counterpart, initially places him as a protagonist. We're able to see ripples from the small changes early, however, as the survival of Shūya's best friend gives him a more lasting hope, and he links up with Yoshitoki rather than his canon companions. While in both iterations, Shūya at times plays a slow game centered around a small area, in this iteration he does so in a more proactive fashion, attempting to lure others to stage a grand act of resistance and defiance against the government. He tries to step up, be a leader , and turn the game on its head.
  
  It doesn't work, of course. While Shūya is joined by the remnants of The Kiriyama Family, their own suspicion and tension boil over, and Shūya is caught in the crossfire, losing Yoshitoki and his idealism in one fell swoop. This leads to the final act of Shūya's arc, in which he turns darker, comes unhinged, and tries to enact his plan through coercion rather than gentler persuasion. It's a great progression because it flows logically from what's come before, and also because it's very true to the themes of Battle Royale. Idealism is thwarted by the harsh reality of self-interest, and the cynicism that sets in afterwards is destructive. The reader is left feeling like maybe, just maybe, if Shūya's plan hadn't fallen apart, he might have pulled it off... but because the people who came to him couldn't trust each other, everything went to bits, and as soon as Shūya lost his own trust, it was over.
  
  There are lots of other great things about Shūya as a character. His handler has shown a remarkable ability to make almost complete pivots in character voice, and her work with Shūya is one of the strongest showings yet, giving him a distinct pacing and style that pays homage to the early days of the site while still being fun and readable. There are a bunch of hidden references and in-jokes (including sending Shūya out on the exact same line as my vastly inferior take from over a decade before), but crucially you don't need to get any of that to have a good time reading Shūya. He stands alone.
  
  I would say probably the only thing Shūya could've done with more of is interactions. What he has is really tight, with his meeting with Takako Chigusa well-realized, and his setup at Peace Village really intriguing, but I feel like even a couple brief beats seeing others pass through, decline to join, etc. would have been cool. Still, that's nitpicking; Shūya's story is a nice solid piece of work and every scene he's in is high quality and interesting, with his final act especially worthy of mention. He's a great character who represented a massive challenge, and seeing him come out as one of the highlights of the version is super cool. – MurderWeasel