Hiroki Sugimura

Hiroki Sugimura (杉村 弘樹 "Sugimura Hiroki") is a character from the novel "Battle Royale" and in the manga and film based on it. In the English-language manga he is nicknamed Sugi. Hiroki is played by Sousuke Takaoka in the film.

Sugimura has O-type blood.

Koushun Takami, author of the novel and co-author of the manga version of "Battle Royale" (with Masayuki Taguchi), said that the manga version emphasizes Sugimura's fear of being "violent." ["Final Chapter Memorial Discussion: Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi." "Battle Royale". Volume 15. "Tokyopop"]

Pre-Program

Hiroki was Boy #11 in Third Year Class B at Shiroiwa Junior High School, a fictional school in the fictional town of Shiroiwa (the novel and manga set the town in Kagawa Prefecture, while the film sets the town in Kanagawa Prefecture). In the novel, he used to be left-handed like Shinji Mimura, but "fixed" that for reasons unknown.

Hiroki was best friends with Girl #13 Takako Chigusa (who was secretly in love with him but she never told him before the program). When he was a lot younger, Hiroki was bullied by other children. Hiroki used to stand and cry and not fight back, which Takako could never understand. Hiroki then took up kung fu in an attempt to prove he was not so weak; yet after mastering kung fu he did not like using it. It's stated he is also the school's martial arts tutor in the manga; yet his uncertainties causes him to falter, though he adheres to a strict principle of not hitting a person who cannot hit back. In the manga Hiroki has a habit of tapping his nose when he could not think of something to say; this annoyed Takako. Hiroki was also good friends with both Shuya Nanahara and Shinji Mimura and had a long time crush on Girl #8 Kayoko Kotohiki. Hiroki also played sports and in the manga and film is seen playing basketball and also in the manga Shinji Mimura says during a flashback in his dying moments that he also played baseball. He also liked reading Chinese poetry. It's mentioned in the book and manga he's one of the tallest boys in the class at about 182 cm (about 5'11).

He mainly hung around with Shuya and Mimura's group and was highly respected by most other students of the class; he also has a few enemies such as Boy #16 Kazushi Niida who has a crush on Takako and also Kazuo Kiriyama's street gang who thinks he is just "a wuss trying to be hard" when he refuses to back them up in a fight.

In the manga the story of how Hiroki developed his feelings for Kayoko is explained. Hiroki first noticed Kayoko Kotohiki when he saw her taking a flower arranging (ikebana) class in the same building where he practiced martial arts. Afterwards everyday, he would stop outside the room she worked in and watch her. Both Hiroki's martial arts teacher and Shinji Mimura noticed this (which Shinji teased him about relentlessly). In the manga, Kayoko helps Hiroki in a flashback with a kitten he found abandoned on the way to school one morning. Hiroki had no idea what was wrong with it. The scenario causes an embarrassing scene in the class which results in everybody except Kayoko laughing at him. During that lunch while he tried to figure out the problem, Kayoko walked in and reveals what caused the scene that morning. She revealed the fact that the kitten is a female and explained to Hiroki that the kitten is so young, it cannot yet urinate by herself. The kitten's mother would normally lick her to help her do this. She reveals to him she has three kittens at home and then tells him she was scared of him because of the fact his dojo was right above the place where she did flower arranging. All the banging and shouting scared her. She then tells him that she feels he is a "nice person."

In the film, Hiroki is portrayed as a basketball player for Class 3-B; Hiroki, Shinji, Shuya, Keita Iijima, and Kazuhiko Yamamoto competed against Class 3-A in one scene.

During the Program

When his class is selected to be a part of the Program, he receives a GPS tracking device as his weapon.

In the novel and manga, the fact that he does not receive a weapon does not hurt his chances, as he is able to convert a mop handle into a bo-staff. Also, in the novel and manga, he later acquires a Colt M1911 after an encounter with Mitsuko Souma.

Hiroki spends the duration of the game searching for Takako and Kayoko, and manages to find Takako Chigusa; by the time he finds her, she has fatal gunshot wounds in the back and dies in his arms. Before she passes, she tells Hiroki that she was in love with him, and she wants him to know that it is all right he does not feel the same way. Hiroki admits to her he is in love with someone else. Despite that, Hiroki holds Takako in his arms as she dies. He is furious with Takako's killer Mitsuko Souma.Later, Hiroki meets Shuya and his trio at the island clinic in the novel and manga. The two talk momentarily; Hiroki is told if he wants to meet back up with them he should light two fires and then run, lie low, and listen for Shogo Kawada's birdcall device and then home in on it. In the novel, before he leaves, he says to Shuya and Noriko "I always wondered why you two weren't going out". He plans to hook back up with Shuya's group after he finds Kayoko Kotohiki and escape with them. Hiroki also spreads Shuya's message that Shogo knows a way off the island and he tells this to several people including Mitsuko Souma and Toshinori Oda and most of them just tell him he's an idiot for believing it; he never gives up hope.

He also has many meetings with people on the Island including the main trio (Shuya Nanahara, Noriko Nakagawa and Shogo Kawada), Kiriyama, Mitsuko, Toshinori Oda, Shinji Mimura, the Lighthouse girls and several other post-mortem meetings. Whom he meets in the story varies between different versions (manga, film and novel). In the manga, he and Kiriyama encounter each other various times. The first being after Shuya leads Kiriyama away from Noriko and Shogo on the cliff. Hiroki distracts Kiriyama by throwing a rock nearby, using a blanket to keep Kazuo from getting a clear shot. Hiroki manages to disarm Kiriyama and fight close quarters. After being knocked into a bamboo grove, Kiriyama pulls another gun and Hiroki grabs Shuya and jumps from the cliff. Their next confrontation is when Toshinori's about to shoot Hiroki, but Kiriyama appears, who shoots at both of them. After realizing the .45 he acquired has jammed with a dispensing shell, Hiroki jumps the truck bed and flees. However, Kiriyama gives chase, jumping up on a broken well post, getting a clear shot at Hiroki's back. For some reason, he doesn't pull the trigger then touches his side where Hiroki injured him in their last fight. Their final fight begins with Hiroki once again disarming Kiriyama then a brutal hand to hand battle ensues. It's during this fight that Kiriyama says anything of importance for the first time since book two.

Fate

All outcomes end with Hiroki's death.

The Novel

Hiroki is injured heavily by Kazuo Kiriyama after fighting in the lighthouse, but is killed by Kayoko Kotohiki, whom he had been searching for through the duration of the entire game. She is sitting in a clearing where she is scared out of her mind. Hiroki walks up behind her and, she noticing him, runs off without giving him a chance. He follows and, out of paranoia, she turns and shoots him fatally before he gets a chance to tell that he loves her. In his dying moments tells her his feelings and instructs her to meet with Shuya Nanahara and his group (Unaware that both Mitsuko Souma and Kazuo Kiriyama overhear this). Hiroki dies and does not see Kayoko's death at the hands of Mitsuko Souma only moments later.

The Film

Hiroki's death in the film is almost the same as the novel. However, Kiriyama never fatally injures Hiroki (though Kiriyama or the jump off the cliff did wound him as Hiroki is seen limping), so Kayoko is completely responsible for his death. Hiroki locates her inside of an abandoned warehouse. She is hiding behind several barrels, clenching her handgun. Kayoko knocks something over, and Hiroki runs to the spot, yelling for her to reveal herself. Kayoko mistakes Hiroki for an attacker, and jumps out of hiding, only to shoot Hiroki with all of her ammunition. She looks down at him as he lays dying, and is confused when he tells her to "Run away" as "People will be drawn to the gunshots." She begins to cry and jumps down to Hiroki, questioning his actions. Realizing Hiroki had never intended to hurt her, Kayoko begins to cry. Hiroki admits to her that he had been in love with her for a long, long time, and dies. Kayoko is clearly upset and confused, as Hiroki was one of the popular kids who had "never even talked" to her. Hiroki does not live to see Kayoko cry over his dead body, or see her be shot by Mitsuko Souma.

The Manga

Early in the manga, Hiroki meets up with Shogo, Shuya and Noriko and is offered to team up with them, but he decides to go off on his own in what appears to be a quest of revenge against Mitsuko for having killed Takako, but also because he intends to track down Kayoko. He later fights Kazuo Kiriyama when Kiriyama is chasing Shuuya. Sugimura rivals Kiriyama in hand to hand combat, using his martial arts skills he manages to knock Kiriyama down and then jumps off the cliff with Shuya in tow, effectively saving his life. After washing up on the shore, he delivers Shuuya to the girls taking refuge in the lighthouse.

In the manga, he meets Kayoko and she goes along with him. They sit and talk for a while, which allows Kazuo Kiriyama to find them; a brutal fight ensues. Hiroki knocks the MAC-10 and Walther P99 out of Kiriyama's hands and kicks his bag off, forcing Kiriyama to fight with his hands. However, Hiroki gets several fingers chopped off and a spear head he made stabbed into his eye. After this Hiroki manages to observe Kiriyama's patterns and prepare for a counterattack, Kiriyama uses the exact same strategy and manages to knock him across the clearing. Hiroki then lands next to the dropped MAC-10 and shoots Kiriyama. Kiriyama feigns death (wearing a Kevlar bulletproof vest acquired from Toshinori Oda) and Hiroki returns to Kayoko to admit his feelings. Kiriyama then rises and kills Kayoko after she refuses to run away and kills Hiroki soon after.

Official Class Designation

Hiroki Sugimura, Shiroiwa Junior High School, 9th Grade, Class B, Boy #11.

References