Who Is The Most Promiscuous Woman In Battle Royale

Who do you trust when you are suddenly told that you must battle your classmates to the death? According to the students in Battle Royale, not the wanton one. The depiction of Mitsuko Souma, the most promiscuous female character in Battle Royale by Takami Koushun, as being feared and othered by her classmates reflects Japanese society's view of promiscuous and sexually powerful women. During the kill-or-be-killed game that they are thrust into, several students in Mitsuko’s class explicitly state that they do not trust her. Although they do not state their basis of distrust, Takami implies that their abjection of Mitsuko stems from her reputation as a promiscuous girl. When Mitsuko uses her sexuality to lure and kill male classmates, readers

are reminded of the historical Japanese femme fatale- the “poison woman” (dokufu). Her ruthlessness in seducing and murdering her classmates demonstrates Japan’s negative views on the femme fatale. Finally, the othering of Mitsuko becomes clear when she is compared to Takako Chigusa, a female classmate who resembles Mitsuko. Despite their similarities, because Takako is a “good girl” and a virgin Takami gives her a relatively pleasant life and death, while Mitsuko receives a painful life and a violent death.
Battle Royale is set in an alternate, totalitarian version of Japan (called the Greater East Asia Republic) in the 1990s. To quell rebellion in the population, the government randomly chooses 50 middle school classes every year and televises them fighting their classmates to the death; this is called “the Program”. Readers follow the Program of Shiroiwa Junior High School, Class B. One of the main “villains” of the novel is Mitsuko Souma, a student in Class B. She is one of the last students to die in Battle Royale, placing sixth after being killed by Kazuo Kiriyama (another “villain” student). She also has the second highest body count after Kazuo, killing three male classmates and four female classmates. However, it is not her body count that scares her classmates, as most of them fear her even before she begins killing. Several characters mention that Mitsuko has a “bad reputation”, as she is sexually active and prostitutes herself and her friends to middle-aged men (Takami 94, 190, 317). It is this reputation as a promiscuous girl that creates fear and causes her classmates to abject her, as promiscuous girls in Japan are seen as the “other” and therefore cannot be trusted or respected.
Most of Mitsuko’s classmates, male and female, claim they do not trust her once the Program begins but do not state why.

For example, classmate Shinji Mimura does not reach out to Hirono Shimizu, one of Mitsuko’s friends, when he sees her. When someone asks him why, he replies, “I don’t know. I guess I’m prejudiced against her. I just don’t trust Mitsuko’s friends,” acknowledging that he has no actual reason not to trust her (Takami 185). Another male student, Tadakatsu Hatagami, exclaims about Mitsuko “There’s no way I can be with this bitch. Don’t you know who we’re dealing with?” (Takami 405). Furthermore, female student Megumi Eto remarks that “Mitsuko Souma was more frightening to [her] than … any of the bad boys.” (Takami 94). Interestingly, readers also learn that “Mitsuko herself didn’t pick on Megumi”, yet Megumi thinks that “Mitsuko Souma would relish killing someone like her” (Takami 94). She accuses Mitsuko of murderous intent, despite never actually having been harassed by her, based only on Mitsuko’s reputation. Other female classmates have similar feelings about Mitsuko: Yukiko Kitano expresses that she “just can’t trust … Mitsuko Souma’s gang”, and Yukie Utsumi explains that, while trying to recruit girls to form a group and survive together, “I said we should call [Yoshimi]. But some of the girls protested. You know Yoshimi was friends with Mitsuko. They couldn’t trust her” (Takami 137,

440).
As seen in the examples above, Mitsuko is avoided, shunned, and feared by many of her classmates for no clear reason. However, readers can infer that the abjection has to do with her “bad” reputation as a promiscuous girl. This abjection reflects Japanese society's views on sexually powerful and promiscuous women, particularly teenaged girls. The modern Japanese family is patriarchal with clear sexual norms, and so sex and any discussion of it is generally tabooed in the average Japanese family (Ueno 320). As a sexually active girl, Mitsuko deviates from these sexual norms, causing both male and female classmates to avoid her: the narrator tells readers that “none of the other girls, nor boys for that matter, would even attempt to talk to her” (Takami 23). Deviating from these norms suggests that Mitsuko disregards the sanctity of feminine virtues (Czarnecki 50), making her someone that her classmates reject.
In fact, Mitsuko’s friend Hirono is the only classmate to state her reason for fearing Mitsuko; she has seen Mitsuko use her sexuality to seduce men to do anything for her, including running a girl over with a car (Takami 316). Similar to this incident, Mitsuko uses her sexuality and feminine innocence against males to survive and violently kill others in the game. Her cruelty reflects Japanese society's negative views on the femme fatale. Dangerous femme fatale characters like Mitsuko are common in Japanese history, even featuring in old myths (Adams 33). One particular kind of Japanese femme fatale is the “poison woman” (dokufu): this term emerged in the media and literature of the Meiji period. Like Mitsuko, “poison women” were sexually aggressive and free, murderous, and dangerous. Men felt threatened by the “poison woman” because of her ability to seduce men to their deaths (Adams 38-39). The idea of the “poison woman” grew in the twentieth century, when “modern women” (atarashii onna) of Japan emerged as another threat to men. These women were both dangerous and arousing, like the “poison woman”. Also, Japanese society could not allow women to use their own bodies at their disposal; this was scandalous and dangerous to them (Ueno 319). Mitsuko, who uses her body to achieve her goals in the game, rejects this standard and is therefore labeled as dangerous.
Mitsuko is a dangerous “poison woman” who uses her body to her advantage, seen in her attempts to seduce male classmates using her sexual, feminine charms. In the scene where she tries to kill Tadakatsu Hatagami after seducing him, Takami provides readers with Mitsuko’s contrasting thoughts and actions. After her first attempt to kill Tadakatsu, he searches her for concealed weapons. She plays innocent despite her recent murderous actions, answering in a meek voice “O-okay” when Tadakatsu orders her to lift her skirt to search. While bashfully lifting her skirt to where her underwear is nearly visible, Mitsuko apathetically thinks, “Geez, this was turning into one of those adult videos titled Fetish Special! Starring Real Junior High School Girls!” revealing her innocence as an act and showing her true intent to seduce Tadakatsu (Takami 407). As seen in this scene, Battle Royale uses third-person limited narration, in which readers know what select characters are thinking in certain scenes. Using third-person limited narration and exposing Mitsuko’s thoughts emphasizes her malicious intent behind her seemingly innocent seduction, showing her “poison woman”-like nature. When Mitsuko’s first attempt to seduce Tadakatsu fails, she tries again later: once again she innocently shows her thighs to him and acts clueless and frightened. However, as she pretends not to notice her skirt riding up she thinks, “Ha. Maybe you can see my panties? They’re hot pink silk,” revealing that she is fully aware of the situation and is manipulating the boy (Takami 416). Fitting into Japan’s idea of the femme fatale, Mitsuko then tries to slit Tadakatsu’s throat while instigating sexual intercourse with him (Takami 419). Like the femme fatale, Mitsuko is depicted as a cruel and dangerous sexual woman.
Another way that Takami emphasizes Mitsuko’s abjection because of her promiscuity is by comparing her with Takako Chigusa. Takako, who is similar to Mitsuko in many aspects, serves as a foil to Mitsuko's promiscuous nature. Takako and Mitsuko are the only female students who are sexualized by the male students in the novel (Mitsuko by many, and Takako by Kazushi Niida) and are the two most beautiful girls in their school (Takami 253). Takako is also the only female to claim that she does not fear Mitsuko (Takami 253). They are also the only females to intentionally kill male students without regret; Mitsuko kills three, and Takako kills one. However, their motives behind killing are different. Mitsuko kills to “take instead of being taken,” enacting elaborate and seductive revenge against the opposite sex (Takami 503). Takako, on the other hand, kills Kazushi because he tried to rape her. Her situation differs from Mitsuko’s, as Takako did not seduce Kazushi and is therefore painted as a victim bravely protecting herself (Takami 249-251).
Like their motives for killing, the two girls differ in ways that affirm Japanese society’s aversion to promiscuous women.

Takako’s relatively pleasant life and death compared to Mitsuko’s shows the Japanese standards of women that deserve better. Takako has dyed hair and wears gaudy jewelry, which some readers might take as signs of delinquency. However, Takako is actually a top student and athlete, and that is why she is able to dress like a delinquent (Takami 238). She is also a virgin, as commented by Kazushi when he tries to convince her to have sex with him, and therefore more “pure” than Mitsuko (Takami 245). Mitsuko herself recognizes the differences between herself and Takako, as before killing Takako she remarks, “I was always a little envious… You were a better girl than me” (Takami 253). These aspects of Takako put her in the category of “good girl”, as she does not deviate enough from Japanese society’s definition of a proper woman (Miller 7). Despite having traits similar to Mitsuko, because Takako is a “good girl” she gets both a decent life (as an attractive top student and athlete) and a relatively pleasant death in the arms of the boy she loves (Takami 262). On the other hand, Mitsuko gets a painful life and a violent death because of her promiscuity and use of sex to kill discussed previously. Starting when she was a child Mitsuko was often raped by men she thought she could trust, including her foster father and elementary school teacher. She also killed

her mother, who had prostituted her for money. Correspondingly, Mitsuko’s death is far more gruesome than Takako’s, as Kazuo Kiriyama tears her apart with a machine gun. In her final moments, “Mitsuko’s face, once so beautiful, was torn up as if a strawberry pie had been flung into it” (Takami 505). As a consequence of Japanese society’s othering of promiscuous women, Takami shows that chastity brings happiness while promiscuity brings abjection and despair.
The fear and rejection of Mitsuko Souma, a promiscuous girl, by her classmates in Battle Royale reflects Japanese society’s abjection of promiscuous and sexually powerful women. Among her classmates Mitsuko is reputed to be a sexually active girl, and this leads to none of them trusting her when they begin the Program. Their distrust mirrors Japanese society’s disdain for promiscuous teenaged girls. During the Program, Mitsuko’s sexual seduction and murder of male characters makes her comparable to the “poison woman”, Japan’s unique femme fatale. Like the “poison woman”, Mitsuko is seen as dangerous and threatening because of her use of her sexuality. As a result of her promiscuity, Mitsuko is given a terrible life and death in comparison with her parallel character Takako Chigusa. Comparing the two girls makes it clear that Mitsuko is abjected because of her promiscuity, as the virginal Takako lives a good life and dies relatively pleasantly. Takako was a better girl than her, so Mitsuko was rejected by her classmates and by Japanese society.