Kazuhiko Yamamoto

Kazuhiko Yamamoto (山本和彦 "Yamamoto Kazuhiko") is a character in the novel "Battle Royale", and the film and manga of the same name. In the film he was played by Yasuomi Sano.

Yamamoto has A-type blood.

Development

Masayuki Taguchi, creator of the manga version, felt that he fully grasped how to portray the suicide of Kazuhiko and Sakura Ogawa."Final Chapter Memorial Discussion: Koushun Takami and Masayuki Taguchi." "Battle Royale". Volume 15. "Tokyopop"]

Pre-Program

Kazuhiko Yamamoto is one of the class of third-year students at the fictional Shiroiwa Junior High 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). He was a very attractive boy, who was also kind and unpretentious, though he had always found it difficult to put his feelings into words. Kazuhiko's least successful subject proved to be composition, underscoring his inarticulateness. He was the long-term boyfriend of Sakura Ogawa and had dated her for two years; he first slept with her one month before the program.

In the film, he is a basketball player for Class 3-B, along with Shuya Nanahara, Shinji Mimura, Hiroki Sugimura, and Keita Iijima.

During The Program

Kazuhiko's issued weapon was a Colt Python .357 Magnum. (In the film, his weapon was not shown; according to the related documentation, it was a headband.) As Sakura had left the school she left a message for Kazuhiko to meet her. Stopping only to pick a bunch of clover for Sakura, Kazuhiko made his way to the meeting place. When they met up, they talk about their past of when they went shopping, but Kazuhiko didn't seem bothered and it upset Sakura later on. When he found out this, he grabbed her hand and ran to the Store to buy a Purse which Sakura loved and she always worn it. They eventually decided they would commit suicide together, as they knew they could never kill each other, or bear to live without each other. He even throws his gun into the sea. They both jumped off of the cliffs to their deaths as a part of a (In the manga, after witnessing Yukie and thinking she was an enemy, he jumped off the cliff with Sakura in his hands, although she did plan to do it anyway) suicide pact. In the novel and manga this was witnessed by Yukie Utsumi and Haruka Tanizawa.

During the film, he seemed somewhat reluctant to jump off the cliff with Sakura.

References