

I urge you to go right now and read the manga or novel of Battle Royale online so that you can compare the two series. Evidence of these unconcealed similarities can be found on various Internet articles (whose writers I sincerely thank). Like the "Battle Royale" manga, "Hunger Games" includes love triangles, a group of teenagers randomly chosen (BR: by class HG: by district), plans to overthrow authority, teens given weapons and forced into a death match, a pair working together to undermine the game with the help of an older mentor who had previously won the game, both female and male main leads, a corrupted government, signal fires and bird calls, a reality TV show program (which IS in the English adaption of the manga (2006) for the series unlike many of you have known), and the list goes on and on.

I've read the entire series of "Hunger Games" (2008), and not only is the writing style bland, but the plot is exceedingly unoriginal and not 'unique' like many of you are claiming it to be. Seeing the "Hunger Games" series gain so much recognition is difficult to fathom especially when it's more or less a blatant copy of "Battle Royale", a Japanese novel (1996), movie (2000), and manga (2000-2005). However, the US PG-13 version was submitted to the BBFC for the UK Blu-ray release, which was classified '15' uncut.

This pre-cut version was released on DVD in the UK with a 12 rating. The BBFC then gave the film a 12A rating for cinema release. Blood splashes were digitally removed from both impacts to bodies and blood on blades of weapons, achieved through the darkening of certain shots and by digitally erasing blood from the image. When the finished film was submitted to the BBFC for a formal classification, the BBFC stated that more cuts would be needed in order to secure the 12A. These included the use of alternate footage and the digital removal of blood. Four scenes were changes, removing bloody violence, threat and a scene of injury. The BBFC explained a 12A rating would be likely if the violence was toned down. A rough cut of the film was submitted to the BBFC in the UK for an advisory screening, a process used by filmmakers to see how likely a film will obtain a certain rating.
