For the novel, please go to Ryuhei Sasagawa (Novel). For the manga, please go to Ryuhei Sasagawa (Manga).
Ryuhei Sasagawa (笹川 竜平, Sasagawa Ryūhei) is a minor character in Battle Royale.
Backstory
Not much is known about Ryuhei's past other than that he's a member of Mitsuru Numai's gang. If Ryuhei was anything like his novel and manga counterparts, then he would've been extremely arrogant and had a brother who got into legal trouble at some point.
Friends and Enemies[]
Ryuhei was friends with Mitsuru, Hiroshi Kuronaga, Sho Tsukioka, and Izumi Kanai.
Before the Program
Before Kitano resigned, Class B decided to take a day off and skip school, Ryuhei included; he attended the basketball game against Class A, and celebrated when Class B won. Ryuhei decided to go on the class trip; while on the bus, he fooled around with his friends. Ryuhei fell asleep after breathing in a sleeping gas pumped into the bus; he was then transported to an island and fitted with an explosive collar.
Ryuhei , along with the rest of the class, woke up in a classroom in the island’s school. Unnerved by the presence of Shogo Kawada and Kazuo Kiriyama, Ryuhei rushed over to the window to watch a helicopter land in front of the school. Ryuhei was shocked to see that Kitano had returned. When Kitano began writing the name of the BR Act on the chalkboard, Ryuhei asked what the place was, which Kitano ignored. When Kitano asked the class if they knew the BR Act law, Ryuhei kept quiet, obviously knowing the law, but afraid to say it aloud. Ryuhei was horrified upon seeing Masao Hayashida's corpse. When Fumiyo Fujiyoshi was killed, Ryuhei panicked and ran for the door trying to escape before running towards the back of the classroom when the soldiers began firing. When Yoshitoki Kuninobu's collar got activated, Ryuhei ran around the room trying to evade him.
When Ryuhei's name was called, he grabbed his school bag and ran towards the front of the room; he caught his supply bag and ran out of the school.
During the Program[]
Ryuhei (leftmost) along with Hiroshi, Sho, Mitsuru and Izumi confronting Kazuo.
Ryuhei along with Mitsuru, Hiroshi, Sho, and Izumi , took Kazuo to a tip of the island and accused him of being a spy for Kitano to get them to kill one another. When confronting Kazuo, he spat his gum at Ryuhei which caused him to flinch. Kazuo then grabbed Ryuhei's Uzi and fired at the gang, killing them all.
Etymology[]
- The name Ryuhei means "dragon" (竜) (Ryū) and "peace, flat" (平) (hei)
- Ryuhei's surname Sasagawa means "bamboo grass" (笹) (sasa) and "river, stream" (川) (gawa)