Battle Royale
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"I just... ...didn't want to be a loser anymore..."

–Mitsuko Souma's final thought


For the novel, please go to Mitsuko Souma (Novel). For the manga, please go to Mitsuko Souma (Manga).

Mitsuko Souma (相馬 光子, Sōma Mitsuko) is a main character/antagonist in Battle Royale.

Backstory[]

When Mitsuko was a young child, she was a kind, cheerful and happy girl. Mitsuko came home from school one day when she was younger after saying goodbye to her friends. She walked into her house and found her mother drunk and a strange man sitting in the kitchen, who took a picture of her. He had paid Mitsuko's mother for sex, and she ran upstairs in disbelief; her mother told her to always be strong, lest she end up like her. He followed and presented Mitsuko with a doll, saying her name's Mitsuko as well, and she's fun. He pulled the doll's head off and proceeded to remove all the doll's clothing, before saying it's human Mitsuko's turn to get undressed. Mitsuko angrily resisted his advances and pushed him down the stairs, breaking his neck and killing him. 

The events of that day shaped what kind of person Mitsuko would become. She was a cold, deadly, and promiscuous girl. Many girls feared her, while most of the boys wanted to be with her. Mitsuko knew how to deceive people easily and would often use this to get her out of situations. She was known for sleeping around with boys at school and had even stolen Hirono Shimizu's boyfriend, leading to animosity between the two girls. A passing reference is made to her pimping Yoshimi Yahagi, but it is never elaborated on. Although she was considered a bad girl, deep down, Mitsuko wanted to fit in with her classmates and she had seen herself as a loser.

Friends and Enemies[]

Mitsuko didn't have any real friends, the closest thing she had to a friend was Hirono, until Mitsuko stole her boyfriend. She was also friends with Yoshimi, but if she really had pimped her out, it may have strained their friendship. A majority of the girls feared Mitsuko while a majority of the boys lusted after her, but it seems like most of her peers didn't respect her, since they always referred to her by her first name[1]

Before the Program[]

LoserMitsuko2

Mitsuko leaving the gym.

Before Kitano resigned, Class B decided to take a day off and skip school, Mitsuko included; she attended the basketball game against Class A, but sat by herself and was noticeably bored; when Class B won she jumped to her feet in excitement, but stopped herself from joining her classmates; she gave the class a longing look before leaving the gym. Mitsuko decided to go on the class trip; while on the bus, she took a nap. Mitsuko fell asleep after breathing in a sleeping gas pumped into the bus; she was then transported to an island and fitted with an explosive collar.

Mitsuko, 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, Mitsuko rushed over to the window to watch a helicopter land in front of the school. Mitsuko was shocked to see that Kitano had returned. When Kitano asked the class if they knew the BR Act law, Mitsuko kept quiet, obviously knowing the law, but afraid to say it aloud. Mitsuko was horrified upon seeing Masao Hayashida's corpse. When Fumiyo Fujiyoshi was killed, Mitsuko did not panic and watched her classmates run 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, Mitsuko ran around the room trying to evade him.

When Mitsuko's name was called, she grabbed her school bag and ran towards the front of the room; she caught her supply bag and ran out of the school.

During the Program[]

Mitsuko decides early on to play the game. When she goes to a cabin near the school, she discovers Megumi Eto hiding out under a table. Mitsuko identifies herself by pointing her flashlight at her own face. When Megumi recognizes Mitsuko, Megumi tells her she can come in.

Mitsuko sits next to her and the two converse briefly. Mitsuko asks about Megumi's stun gun, and after a brief discussion about how you could use it to kill someone, lunges at Megumi and chases her out of the shack. Mitsuko drives a sickle into Megumi's neck and says the sickle's her weapon and when she got it, she considered it so-so, but now she sees it's not so bad; she tells Megumi she found Yoji Kuramoto and Yoshimi hanging next door. Mitsuko declares that she won't die like they did, and slashes Megumi's throat, killing her.

Hours later, Mitsuko is washing up from killing Megumi and changes her clothes as the morning announcements are made. After getting done she travels south and is drawn to Yumiko Kusaka and Yukiko Kitano's plea to stop the fighting. However, Kazuo Kiriyama gets there before Mitsuko, or anyone else, and kills both girls.

MitsukoWickedsmile

Mitsuko about to shoot Takako.

Mitsuko retreats to an abandoned shack where she finds Hirono Shimizu. Hirono knows Mitsuko killed Megumi after seeing her throat was slashed and finding a tampon in the toilet (Hirono knows Mitsuko had her period the day before) and accuses Mitsuko of hanging Yoji and Yoshimi. Hirono is also angry that Mitsuko stole her boyfriend in the past and wants Mitsuko to suffer for what she has done. Mitsuko begs Hirono to forgive her, but Hirono knows she's lying and starts kicking her, demanding for her to apologize to Yoshimi and Megumi. Eventually Mitsuko finds an opening and zaps Hirono with Megumi's taser. Hirono loses her gun and Mitsuko swiftly snatches it. She reveals to Hirono that the stun gun was Megumi's weapon but the pistol was what she was after. Hirono calls her a bitch and a murderer and Mitsuko demands to know what's wrong with killing, since everyone has their issues after all. Hirono attempts to stun Mitsuko by throwing her school bag at her and running, but Mitsuko recovers quickly and fatally shoots Hirono twice in the back. Mitsuko travels around the island until she finds Takako Chigusa and Kazushi Niida fighting. After Takako kills Kazushi she sees Mitsuko watching. Mitsuko smiles and points Hirono's gun at her. Takako runs away, but Mitsuko manages to critically wound her by shooting her four times in the back, which she succumbs to later.

Sometime between Morning and Noon on the second day, Mitsuko runs into Tadakatsu Hatagami and Yuichiro Takiguchi. It's not quite known what happened between the three, but it's implied Mitsuko seduced them both and killed them; When the two boys’ deaths are announced, they are seen naked and slashed across the torso, as Mitsuko is changing back into her clothes.

Mitsuko comes upon Noriko Nakagawa sometime later; she asks her what she's doing, to which Noriko responds that she's looking for Shuya Nanahara before hearing Shogo calling for Noriko. Mitsuko comments on how Noriko has two "princes" looking for her before pulling a gun at Noriko ready to kill her; before she pulls the trigger, she sees Kitano standing behind Noriko and runs away out of fear.

Mitsuko..

Mitsuko's dead body.

Mitsuko hears gunshots in an abandoned warehouse and witnesses Kayoko Kotohiki killing Hiroki Sugimura. While Kayoko is weeping, Mitsuko fatally shoots her in the heart. Mitsuko picks up Kayoko's gun but drops it after seeing it's empty. She tells the corpses that no one's coming for help and that's how life works, but she gets ambushed by Kazuo who shoots her with his Uzi. The gunshots are not fatal, but Mitsuko plays dead as Kazuo loots her, taking her gun. When Kazuo turns to leave, Mitsuko springs up and attacks him, jamming her stun gun into his ankle. Kazuo is thrown off balance, and Mitsuko overpowers him, knocking his Uzi out of his hands and pinning him against a catwalk. Mitsuko goes for what she thinks will be a killing blow, slashing Kazuo across the chest with her sickle; she sees Kazuo's bulletproof vest. He grabs both her hands, and as she tries to attack him with her sickle and stun gun, he kicks her away, draws the pistol and shoots her three times, one by one. Despite her wounds, Mitsuko keeps getting up; she lunges at Kazuo with her sickle, only to be shot one last time. She falls to the ground, with her final thought being "I just... …didn't want to be a loser anymore..." before succumbing to her wounds and dying.

Etymology[]

  • The name Mitsuko means "light" (光) (mitsu) and "child" (子) (ko).
  • Mitsuko's surname Souma means "phase, aspect, countenance, mutually, fellow" (相) (sou) and "horse" (馬) (ma).

Notes and Trivia[]

  • Mitsuko had the second highest kill count at 6, and the highest of the female students.
  • Since both Kazuo and Shogo were transfer students, this makes Mitsuko the deadliest person in her class.
  • Unlike her novel and manga counterparts, the film Mitsuko interacts with one of the trio, which was Noriko.
  • Besides Shogo, Mitsuko was the only person in the class who stood a fighting chance against Kazuo, and was almost able to kill him.
  • Mitsuko is one of three girls to kill a boy in the program. The other two were Takako and Kayoko.
  • This is the only version of Mitsuko who didn't encounter Hiroki alive.
  • In the Director's Cut when Yoshitoki dies and Shuya mourns him, Mitsuko is shown to be saddened.
  • When Kitano killed Fumiyo, Mitsuko (other than Kazuo Kiriyama and Shogo Kawada) did not freak out.
  • Mitsuko was the only one known that could scared Kazuo.
  • Mitsuko is one of three characters to have their final thoughts read. The other two were Takako Chigusa and Shogo Kawada.

References[]

  1. In Japan, it's considered disrespectful to call someone by their first name unless you're extremely close to that person. In Mitsuko's case, you would refer to her as "Souma".
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