Hirono Shimizu is one of the few female students who, despite starting off with an actual firearm, didn’t actually kill anyone. Part of Mitsuko’s gang, many believed that her being tough would just immediately make her quick to kill in order to survive the program. However, Hirono’s philosophy was only to fight in self-defense. She would later run into Shuya’s group and despite a seemingly possible team up, she was unfortunately shot and wandered off to die during the confusion. Even during her last hours, Hirono didn’t try to kill anyone until she was almost strangled by Toshinori Oda but her shot would provide useless as Oda was wearing a bulletproof vest.

Let’s face it Hirono may have been a common school thug but she had a conscience. She really tried to avoid killing as much as she could during the program but that would lead to her inevitable fate. Her ideals of escaping could be called foolish at times but they showed that she had a human side and was willing to believe in a peaceful resolution rather than a violent one. Hirono is worthy of being on this list for her actions during the program. Also again despite her using her firearm a few times she did die without taking another life and that in itself was impressive in this deadly game she was thrown into.

An otaku by nature, Yuichiro Takiguchi should be considered a weaker target of the game. Yuichiro would prove the world wrong by somehow surviving till the second day of the program. His downfall would be because of Mitsuko Souma who ends up running into his team and causes infighting using her scheming mind. Even still Yuichiro always believed that Mitsuko was misunderstood by his fellow peers and tried to persuade his friends that she was trustworthy because he saw inside her a girl that just had a rough break. He would later die because of a chivalrous action of taking a bullet for Mitsuko and her actions as he dies from the wound.

Despite his lack of kills and the concept that he was manipulated in the end, Yuichiro is deserving of a spot on this list. He showed a cool side by protecting the girl and while that same girl wasn’t trustworthy, he stuck to his ideals. While some may see that as a foolish concept it really is more of a chivalrous one. Despite being someone who should have died in the first few moments of the program, he survived long enough to show the world that an Otaku can survive a dangerous situation and be cool about it.

The vice president of the doomed Class B, Yuki was a prime example of a leader. Yukie led her friends to finding refuge in a Lighthouse that was in a safe area of the map on the island. She can also be considered a reason Shuya lives as she allows him to be taken in to be treated for wounds he received during his first encounter with Kazuo Kiriyama. Yukie’s fate comes to fruition when she doesn’t perceive her friends turning on one another thanks to a misunderstanding in the form of one of their deaths.

Yukie Utsumi tried her best to lead her class to a chance of survival. Despite her being armed with a gun she never uses it until her last moments and even then uses it as a means of stopping her friend not to kill her. One could almost ask if given a better situation, could Yukie have actually kept her friends safe and to a possible survival in the program? Unfortunately we will never know, but we do know Yukie was a cool character. Her strength was in leadership, a trait that would allow Shuya Nanahara to see the conclusion of the program.

Let’s face it, Kayoko Kotohiki is easily one of the weakest students of Class B. Even being armed with an actual gun, she was a member of a tea ceremony group and had nothing outwardly cool about her. However, despite being so weak Kayoko actually survives till day 2 of the program. Planning on meeting up with Shuya’s group, Hiroki and Kayoko face their deaths at the hands of Kazuo Kiriyama despite trying to fight him. With a mixture of luck and not panicking, Kayoko had the means of survival but she was outclassed by Kazuo who was in it to win.

We know a lot of people could say Kayoko should be near the beginning of the list, or maybe not on it at all. However, we defend Kayoko because of the fact that she survived so long all while never killing a single person and not relying on anyone until meeting Hiroki. That shows a self-preservation that we can’t see in a lot of the other characters who did resort to killing their fellow students or grouping up. She may have relied on luck more than anything else, like someone else we will mention in this list later, but she still had that luck. Kayoko is a cool character in her eyes and like Hiroki believed, is worth fighting for.

Armed with the oddest starting weapon, a device that showed locations of participants in the program, Hiroki Sugimura would actually become one of the most vital characters of Battle Royale. Hiroki only had one goal in mind in the beginning of death game, to find his friend since childhood Takako Chigusa. This unfortunately would be a moot point as by the time he would find her she was already in the grips of death. However, by learning from her the true enemies he was able to avoid danger and help out Shuya while also looking for a girl he had feelings for named Kayoko Kotohiki. Hiroki would end up dying alongside the girl he loved after confessing to her.

Hiroki, despite never using a gun, uses his collar tracking device to avoid danger and saves Shuya’s life when he finds him. The prime example of using what he’s given, Hiroki was successful for most of the game in staying alive. Easily one of the cooler characters given his means of using wit, Hiroki by all definition had the highest amount of chances to survive the program but he ran into Kazuo and unlike Kazuo, Hiroki didn’t have the means or desire to kill others. We here at Honey’s Anime wish he would have survived but in the program he was just another innocent life lost to those who wished to kill.

Shuya Nanahara is essentially Battle Royale’s main character and one of the only two survivors of the program’s death game. While his luck only starts him with an army knife and having to protect Noriko Nakagawa, he ends up running into Shoko Kawada who would eventually lead him and Noriko to surviving the game. Shuya’s athletic skills do help him maneuver around and the fact that he’s popular with a lot of the girls in his class, because let’s face it almost half the girls of Class B have a crush on him, enables him to be trusted by most. Shuya does kill two fellow students but by pure accident which makes Shuya technically having only killed in self-defense.

Shuya relies heavily on luck during the program, but pure luck wouldn’t have gotten him all the way to the end either. Using a mixture of his skills and his never give up attitude, Shuya was able to fight until the end of the program and win alongside Noriko. Shuya Nanahara reminds us of what a lead video game character from a JRPG would be like. A mixture of having stats that are middle grade all around but still being the main character makes him a cool character by default. Shuya isn’t the best, but he isn’t the worst being in fifth spot is a fitting place for him admits the students of Class B.

Beautiful, cunning and wicked, that is Mitsuko Souma, a fitting player in the program’s death game. While she is far from the words kind and considerate, Mitsuko’s strength come from her abilities to survive using what she has at her disposal. From the moment she was ill fated to be a participant alongside her classmates, Mitsuko never once cried or necame angry at her situation and instead went off into the game making plans as she hit roadblocks. While taken down by the only other person who wanted to win, Kazuo, she nevertheless made a good ride in her time alive.

Mitsuko Souma stands as easily one of the strongest girls of Class B. Yes she is the literal example of a femme fatale in many of situations, prime example with Yuchiro, she still is easily the best girl of the Battle Royale story. Her backstory does make her someone susceptible to pity as it does have a lot of situations that caused her to become the way she was, Mitsuko never goes into her backstory expecting pity. Mitsuko is an evil girl but she’s the type of evil character that makes her so worthy of being on this best list. Hopefully she doesn’t come back to haunt us for not putting her up higher on the list…

Shinji Mimura is the prime example of brains before brawn. While not as physically adept as some of the other members of Class B, Shinji has skills with computers. At one point he decides to even attempt to hack the computers of the program, to no avail though, and even create a bomb. Shinji’s role in the game is basically a sacrificial one, but he goes out with a bang when he pulls an almost action movie death. A player in both girl’s hearts and the program, Shinji stood as a testament of surviving despite insurmountable odds.

Honestly Shinji’s hacking skills could have ended the game earlier if his plans weren’t ruined by the collars internal microphone overhearing his plans. Regardless Shinji is one of our favorite characters because of his cool demeanor and clever moves during the program. Shinji does have one kill under his belt, his once friend Keita Ijima, but he did that because it was a risk to him and his other friend. Shinji going out the way he did near the end was so cool too. Overall Shinji is worthy of being highly placed on this list and it’s understandable why.

Welcome to the scariest participant of the program, Kazuo Kiriyama. Single handily, Kazuo killed fifteen of his fellow classmates without a second thought using both his starting weapon and then stealing others. Kazuo Kiriyama is emotionless as Shinji proclaims as he dies by Kazuo’s hand but given his backstory it’s understandable why he may have shifted into that dark realm. From the start of the program, Kazuo wants to win, he sees every student alive as someone keeping him from that goal. We can honestly say, Kazuo Kiriyama is one of the scariest manga characters ever written.

Kazuo should have been the victor in the program but was stopped luckily by continuous attacks from other students. His downfall really is more because he had no friends to rely on like Shuya and the others. Kazuo is so worthy of being almost at the top spot because his way of fighting and almost robotic like sense of murder is both scary and interesting. Since Kazuo was on top of the list, who takes the top spot you make ask?

On the top of the list is Shogo Kawada, the most cursed student alive. The reason we say that is because Shogo isn’t a first time participant of the program’s deadly game. Having been through it before in another school, Shogo stood as the victor during that having killed so many including his girlfriend. Shogo is the reason hands down why Shuya and Noriko are alive at the end thanks to his clever way of fooling the game. While he may have died near the end, technically he was considered the victor of the game. Realistically if he hadn’t met Shuya, he would have probably won.

Shogo Kawada is amazing hands down. Armed with his iconic shotgun, he is the epiphany of survivors. While Shuya didn’t trust him, Shogo realized that if he would have acted any differently, the game’s runners would have saw his ruse. Shogo died a hero’s death and Shuya realized it. Rest in peace Shogo, to us at Honey’s Anime you were the true victor of Battle Royale.