There are dozens of anime and manga available for fans all over the world to enjoy and find a series that scratches the itch, whether it be action, drama, or mystery. However, anime and manga can be a multifaceted medium and possess all of the enticing qualities viewers and readers are looking for in one magnificent series. The battle royal genre is just one style of story that packs a multitude of content in a single story where the stakes are as high as they come.
A battle royal story usually gathers a group of individuals pulled into a fight to the death, often unknowingly, that must fight for their lives and become the last one standing or be a footnote in another's journey. There is a large number of battle royal anime and manga available that tell unique stories where each character's life could be over in the blink of an eye. However, environmental hazards, shaky alliances, and bloodthirsty maniacs are only the tip of the iceberg. Here are some of the best battle royal anime and manga, ranked.
7 Danganronpa
A group of high school students is trapped inside their school by a mysterious being in the shape of a bear. The students are charged with only one task to be allowed to leave their newfound prison, murder one of their classmates, and get away with it.
Based on a popular visual novel game, Danganronpa is filled with eccentric characters that make the story a winding road of chaos and betrayal. Some rally against their gruesome orders while others take them to heart which causes a split fueled by paranoia and desperation.
6 Mirai Nikki
A truly unique take on the battle royal genre, Yukiteru Amano becomes engaged in a deadly game among a special group of people gifted with powerful precognitive tools in the form of cell phones that give them select information about the future.
Yuki, who has spent all his time being an onlooker of his own life until now, must now go up against terrorists, insane gunmen, and psychotic mobs and maybe live another day with his cell phone that tells him everything that happens that day. In addition, Yuki, well in over his head, must partner with his unhinged yandere classmate, Yuno Gasai, whose cell phone gives her detailed future information about him.
5 Record of Ragnarok (Manga)
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Perhaps on one of the grandest stages of all, Record of Ragnarok follows an epic clash between mortals and the gods that made them. Push to the edge with the petty squabbles of gods, Brunhilde suggests that humanity gets a chance to fight for its life before the gods wipe them off the face of the earth.
Becoming interested, Zeus and the most powerful gods agree to a battle of champions that will place god vs. some of the mightiest mortals in history. Brunhilde gathers the strongest fighters she can muster, and a war breaks out of catastrophic proportions.
4 Zodiac War
While most battle royal anime and manga revolve around innocent bystanders being dragged into some twisted game or trapped in a makeshift arena, Zodiac War turns this concept on its head. The top assassins in this anime world come to compete against one another in a tournament where the victor receives one wish for surviving the other opponents.
Each assassin specializes in particularly violent forms of combat, from explosives to hand-to-hand combat, and must use all of their abilities to outmatch and outwit their peers. Taking place in an abandoned town, each assassin takes a title from the Chinese zodiac and a poison pill to race against the clock and be the last one standing.
3 Alice In Borderland (Manga)
Originally living a simple life, Ryohei finds himself and his friends dragged to another world where they are forced to lay games to survive. Hopeful in finding a way out, Ryohei is crushed when the games claim his friend's life. Ryohei struggles to keep fighting for their sake and begins to investigate the games and their source with other players who've come this far.
Alice in Borderland is a highly popular series that has been picked up for a multi-season television show that debuted on Netflix and recently released a second season.
2 Darwin's Game
Kaname was an average teenage boy attending school until one of his close friends was slain while playing the latest new gacha game. Fueled by curiosity and wanting to find out what happened to his friend, Kaname downloads the game and is instantly targeted by players who seek to take him out of the competition.
Kaname must quickly adapt to the game's rules and learn to use the new powers he's been gifted. With a keen tactical mind and one of the strongest players at his side, Kaname quickly upsets the state of play and plans to topple the house of cards of those pulling the strings.
1 Battle Royale (Manga)
The Battle Royale manga is one of the most famous and most successful manga series that revolves around a gruesome solution to overpopulation. Every year a random class is chosen a sent to a deserted island. The children are fitted with bombs around their necks and forced to kill each other until only one remains.
Battle Royale is a fiercely gore-filled series that explores psychological pressure and the ability to stick to one's moral standing. Battle Royale is a highly successful series, having had multiple live-action television films, and is highly considered the founder of the battle royal genre.