Back to Shuya. It’s raining. This is the first time it’s rained, I believe. It’s nice that it’s been kept in reserve so long so it doesn’t come off as overused.

Shuya is the reason Hiroki didn’t find any guns. He had the presence of mind to collect those and then immediately left.

and as he’d expected fifteen minutes later, right when he began collecting wood to build a fire on a cliff near the northern tip of the island, he heard gunfire coming from the lighthouse.

The sound identifies one of the people there are Kazou, and between the dwindling cast list and the semiomniscient powers of characters, he correctly guesses the other is Hiroki and so starts back, even though he knows it could also be Mitsuko (or either of the other two girls). But the shots stop almost immediately, so he changes his mind again, assuming the fight’s over and he doesn’t want to see more corpses.

It began raining when Shuya had finished preparing two fires on the cliff rock. He found a lighter in the lighthouse, but it was difficult to get the fire going because of the rain.

This could’ve been set up a bit better. He not only collected the guns and bullets but also a lighter and managed to get out of there, all while badly injured? It’d have made more sense to have Shogo pass these out – collecting a handful of lighters seems the sort of thing he’d have thought to do.

He then sets out for where he thinks the rest of his group is. They were in the now forbidden C3, but the areas next to it are still fine, so he figures they’ll be near there.

He hears bird chirping and thinks it’s about fifteen seconds, just like Shogo had said. He goes toward it, and as promised, fifteen minutes later he hears it again. Shogo really is good at this. I like best that he knew to make it easy to remember, so it’s the same number in both parts. Too often plans are overly complicated because the author can always remember their own invention. This one is as close to idiotproof as you can get.

He made his way through the grove and his fatigue became overwhelming. Of course…he could be attacked at any point from the bushes. But he couldn’t afford to worry about that. If that happened…he would just have to pull the trigger of the Uzi.

I don’t think I got this far in the manga, but can I just say I really prefer book-Shuya, as manga-Shuya was too goody-goody and prone to talking things out shonen-hero style. Here, he’s admitting that if anything comes up, he’ll kill the other person, because he can’t do anything else and hope to survive himself. His life isn’t worth more than anyone else’s, but it’s worth more than a person who attacks him.

He stops, seeing something weird. He realizes it’s corpses.

A flash of red color flew up from the stiff gray clump and cried, “KAW!” It was a large heron-sized bird, its head drenched in red.

I’m not sure what bird this is since it’s apparently not a crow. A quick google doesn’t turn up much about particular corpse-associated birds in Japan, so I’m not sure if this is meant to be obvious or just a matter of their being on an island so the author is assuming water birds would be eating them.

Shuya aims the gun and is about to fire before thinking better of it. He is really concerned about corpses to almost get himself killed over that. I guess this is also running up against my own lack of caring about them, since eaten by carrion birds is pretty looked down on in America too, while I just think it’s nice they’re getting something to eat.

He goes over, scaring the birds, and looks at their half-eaten faces. He can still identify them as Tadakatsu and Yuichiro, and even sees the bat Mitsuko used to smash Tadakatsu’s face in.

One of the birds landed on top of Tadakatsu’s face. Then several more birds came by. Given how Shuya remained frozen, they probably assumed they were safe.
Safe? You got to be kidding!
Shuya once again put his finger on the trigger of the Uzi…but restrained himself. The important thing was for him to get back to Shogo and Noriko.

They’re just innocent birds. Even if you’re horrified by the desecration, murdering them seems excessive.

He wonders if they’re eating all the bodies or just these ones by the beach. If they’re not, the cat probably is. Poor kitty, I hope no one shoots it.

As he moved, he felt the urge to vomit once again. By now he was getting used to people dying, but the thought of these birds, these sky rats, feeding on them…I’ll never sit on the beach and gaze peacefully at seagulls again. Even if I write my own songs, I’ll never ever sing about birds. I might not even be able to eat chicken for a while.

Presented without comment.

Then he does finally throw up, although it’s nothing but bile.

Shuya threw up more. A pinkish substance was mixed into the yellow liquid like a drop of paint. For all he knew, his stomach might be screwed up by now.

The book doesn’t skimp on unpleasant details. Luckily, Shogo finds him then and Shuya realizes he must have hit Shogo’s tripwire.

Pushing Shogo aside, Noriko dragged her leg as she ran to him.

Ah, persistent injuries.

They reunite, Noriko crying, Shuya almost crying, and Shogo giving him a manly handshake of victory.

Next chapter we remain with the gang. Shuya fills them in on what happened.

Shogo blew out some smoke and removed the cigarette from his mouth. “Yukie forming such a large group ended up backfiring.”

Not really? I don’t think things would really have gone any better with fewer people. I guess statistically the fewer you have the greater your odds of avoiding someone like Satomi but things would hardly have gone better if they had a smaller group that still included her and either way, let’s face it, whoever was there would probably panic in response to seeing someone murdered. Even if Yuko had time to confess, there’s a decent chance someone would have immediately shot her, reignighting the conflict as other people questioned why they killed her so quickly.

The moral seems closer to not letting new people in, since it was the traumatized Yuko that really screwed things up, and for that matter, Shuya who set her off. Also, don’t let everyone hang out with guns. A lack of guns would really have helped there. And ask everyone to declare all weapons, even the useless ones.

Noriko makes Shuya broth and then gives him some bread to eat. He really should have thought to take the food from the place in addition to the guns.

“Shuya, are you really all right?”
Shuya nodded. “I’m fine.”
In fact, he wasn’t, but what else could he say? He could see over his cuffs how his left hand had grown pale compared to his right hand. He wasn’t sure whether it was due to his shoulder wound or elbow wound. Or it might simply be because the bandage was too tight around his elbow. He felt his left arm get stiffer and stiffer.

I have no idea why he’s lying about this. Maybe it’s a boy thing.

Instead of telling Shogo the doctor that he’s horribly injured, had his injuries dressed by a bunch of untrained kids, then tore half of them open trying to pull someone up, he asks about what’s with Kazou.

Shogo somehow knows.

“I’ve seen people like him before.”
“In the previous game?”
“No.”

See! That’s the problem with Kazou. Even if we accept him as possible, he is definitely not probable. It stops being about how ordinary kids would deal with the problem and starts being about how ordinary kids would deal with the problem if one of them was also turned into a giant crocodile.

“Not there. Totally outside of this game. You see a lot of things when you’re the son of a doctor working in the slums.” Shogo took out another cigarette and lit it. He exhaled and said, “A hollow man.”
“Hollow?” Noriko asked.
“That’s right,” Shogo nodded. “There’s no place in his heart for logic or love, no. For any kind of values. That kind of person. On top of that…there’s no reason for the way he is.”
No reason, Shuya thought, or did he mean he was just born that way? That’s—
Shogo took a puff and exhaled. “Hiroki warned us about Mitsuko Souma, right?”
Shuya and Noriko nodded.
“We still haven’t seen for ourselves whether Mitsuko’s really up for this game. But from what little I’ve seen at school, I think Mitsuko and Kazuo are similar. The only difference is that Mitsuko’s abandoned all reason and love. There was probably something behind that. I have no idea what it was. But Kazuo doesn’t have any cause. The difference is crucial. There’s no explanation behind Kazuo.”

Shogo is amazingly insightful for a guy who couldn’t even be sure Shinji was halfway decent. He continues to explain basically what the book told us earlier.

Shogo then continued, “What I mean is that, even a dumb ass like me can think everything’s pointless. Why do I get up and eat? It all ends up shit anyway. Why am I going to school and studying? Even if I happen to succeed I’m going to die anyway. You wear nice clothes, you seek respect, you make a lot of money, but what’s the point? It’s all pointless. Of course, this kind of meaninglessness might suit this crappy nation. But…but, you see, we still have emotions like joy and happiness, right? They may not amount to much. But they fill up our emptiness. That’s the only explanation I have. So…these emotions are probably missing from Kazuo. He’s got no foundation for values. So he merely chooses.

Seriously, how does he know this stuff? He even adds: Like for this game he might just as well have chosen not to participate. But he decided to. That’s my little theory.” He should not be able to explain exactly what happened. And it’s not even useful, because he’s telling us what we already know. All that’s added here is that he’s expounding his/the author’s view of the subject, and that really doesn’t seem worth it.

They wonder if Hiroki’s okay, and Noriko thinks he is. Guess you don’t have a sixth sense like Shogo! Then she wonders why he’s so interested in Kayoko when they’re not close.

But then Noriko said, “Oh…” as if she’d realized something.
Shuya looked up. “What?”
“I don’t know for sure.” Noriko shook her head. “But maybe…” She emphasized her last vowel. Shuya knit his brows.
“Maybe what?”
“That would be…”
Shogo interrupted them. Shuya looked over at him. Shogo was tearing the seal off a new pack of cigarettes and continued, his eyes glued to the pack, “…too corny…in this fucking game.”
“But…” Noriko continued, “…it’s Hiroki, so…”
Shuya looked back and forth at them, utterly perplexed.

Shuya is terrible at this and it’s funny. I’m surprised it’s only just occured to Noriko now, though.

8 students remaining Or put another way:

1 Yoshio Akamatsu: “the biggest kid in the class, the timid type, the kind of kid who’d always end up the target of pranks and insults.” Bowgun weapon, kills Mayumi, killed by Kazushi.
2 Keita Iijima: Shinji’s former friend who he’s been avoiding since he proved to be cowardly. Wasn’t playing. Shinji shoots and accidentally kills him.
3 Tatsumichi Oki: jock, handball. Hatchet. Runs into Shuya and Noriko, attacks when Shuya reaches for a weapon and accidentally killed in the resulting fight.
4 Toshinori Oda: Bulletproof vest. Strangles Hirono, gets her gun. Attacks but fails to killed Hiroki. Killed by Kazou.
5 Shogo Kawada: Looks older than the rest, has facial hair already, transferred in, scarred. Shotgun. Saves Shuya and kills Kyoichi. Doctor skills.
6 Kazuo Kiriyama: Awesome. A sociopath who decides to play the game by flipping a coin. Possesses several guns. Attacked but failed to kill Shuya, Noriko and Shogo. Kill count: 11.
7 Yoshitoki Kuninobu: Shuya’s friend since childhood, they grew up in the orphanage together. Killed for threatening Sakamochi.
8 Yoji Kuramoto: Seen briefly by Mitsuru. Yoshimi’s boyfriend, attacks her. Killed by Mitsuko.
9 Hiroshi Kuronaga: Part of Kazou’s gang. Killed by Kazuo.
10 Ryuhei Sasagawa: Delinquent. Part of Kazou’s gang. Bullied Yoshio. Had a younger brother. Killed by Kazuo.
11 Hiroki Sugimura: Tall and knows martial arts. Seems tough but is actually shy, likes Chinese poetry. Shuya’s friend. Close to Takako. Has a device that shows him when someone with a collar nearby, also armed with a staff. Searching for two girls, one of which was Takako and the other is Kayoko.
12 Yutaka Seto: Class clown. Best friends with Shinji, joined up with him. Fork weapon. Had a crush on Izumi. Decides to take on the government. Killed by Kazou.
13 Yuichiro Takiguchi: Teamed up with Tadakatsu and ran into Mitsuko, who he felt sympathy for. Shot attempting to defend Mitsuko.
14 Sho Tsukioka: Part of Kazou’s gang. Escaped Kazuo’s massacre. Gay. Had a gun. Stalked Kazuo, tricked into a forbidden zone and killed.
15 Shuya Nanahara: Main character? Minor but utterly harmless teenage rebelliousness. Popular with the girls. Killed Tatsumichi. Attempted to stop Hirono and Kaori’s shootout, failed. Escaped Kazou but fell off a cliff, then was patched up by the girls who found him.
16 Kazushi Niida: jock, soccer. Killed Yoshio by accident. Had a crush on Takako, tries to get her to stay with him and assaults her. Asserts he’s chosen to play. Killed by Takako.
17 Mitsuru Numai: Delinquent. Part of Kazou’s gang, pistol weapon, tried to keep Ryuhei from bullying Yoshio, believed himself Kazuo’s adviser. Killed by Kazuo.
18 Tadakatsu Hatagami: jock, Shuya’s friend when they were younger. ‘Shuya had started playing electric guitar, which was considered an “unpatriotic” activity. Tadakatsu’s mother was uptight about that sort of thing.” Teamed up with Yuichiro, accidentally shoots him when trying to shoot Mitsuko. Killed by Mitsuko.
19 Shinji Mimura: Shuya’s current friend. ‘short hair and wore an intricately designed ring on his left ear’, highly athletic, knows a lot of information, particularly about the outside world. Extremely cool under pressure. Best friends with Yutaka, joined up with him. Pistol weapon. Uncle probably part of the rebellion. Decides to take on the government. Shot and accidentally killed Keita. Killed by Kazou.
20 Kyoichi Motobuchi: Class representative, dad’s a government official. Sees Shuya’s fight with Tatsumichi. Pistol. Killed by Shogo.
21 Kazuhiko Yamamoto: Sakura’s boyfriend. Gun. Commits suicide.
Females
1 Mizuho Inada: A friend of Megumi’s.
2 Yukie Utsumi: class representative, braided hair, Haruka’s volleyball teammate. The first one to speak after their abduction. Noriko’s friend. Not playing. Sees Kazuhiko and Sakura’s suicide. Managed to collect a group of girls – Haruka, Yuko, Yuka, Satomi, and Chisato – who hide out at a lighthouse. Saves Shuya when they find him injured, has a crush on Shuya. Shot by a panicking Satomi.
3 Megumi Eto: Friends with Mizuho and Kaori. Had a crush on Shuya. Diving knife. Killed by Mitsuko.
4 Sakura Ogawa: Kazuhiko’s girlfriend. When she was young, she saw her father killed by the government. Commits suicide.
5 Izumi Kanai: ‘the preppy whose father was a town representative’. Killed by Kazuo.
6 Yukiko Kitano: Yumiko’s friend. Dart and dartboard. Crush on Shuya. Killed by Kazuo.
7 Yumiko Kusaka: Yukiko’s friend. Hand grenades. Crush on Shuya she’s hiding. Uses a megaphone to try to talk to the rest of their class and convince them to stop killing and join up with each other. Killed by Kazuo.
8 Kayoko Kotohiki: The other girl Hiroki is looking for. “The one who, in spite of being into tea ceremony, seemed more playful than elegant”.
9 Yuko Sakaki: Sees Shuya kill Tatsumichi and runs away unnoticed. Found by Yukie’s group. Terrified of Shuya, attempts to poison him but accidentally kills Yuka and causes Satomi to kill the rest in a panic. Falls off the top of the lighthouse.
10 Hirono Shimizu: Part of Mitsuko’s group. Tormented Megumi. Killed Kaori in a shootout, left Shuya alone. Shot Toshinori but failed to injure him and was killed.
11 Mitsuko Souma: Delinquent group leader. “Even though Mitsuko had the gorgeous looks of a pop idol, she always wore a strange, listless expression on her face.” Has two knives and a gun. Seems to have resented Takako. Hiroko knows she murdered Takako and passed the message on to Shuya’s group. Liked Yuichiro for being kind. Kill count: 5.
12 Haruka Tanizawa: Yukie’s volleyball teammate, exceptionally tall. Not playing, joined up with Yukie. Killed by Satomi, who she also kills.
13 Takako Chigusa: Close to Hiroki. Track star. Ice pick weapon. Rebuffs Kazushi and is attacked by him. Kills Kazushi. Shot by Mitsuko. Found by Hiroko shortly before she dies, tells him Mitsuko killed her.
14 Mayumi Tendo: The first death in the game, killed outside the school by Yoshio.
15 Noriko Nakagawa: She has a crush on Shuya he’s unaware of and Yoshitoki has a crush on her she may be unaware of. She’s nice and likes literature. Suffering a leg injury. Was sick but appears to have recovered.
16 Yuka Nakagawa: Yoshitoki says she’s fat. Class clown. Accidentally poisoned by Yuko.
17 Satomi Noda: “model student who wore wire-rimmed glasses which suited her calm, intelligent face” Joined up with Yukie. Panics after Yuka’s death and shoots the others.
18 Fumiyo Fujiyoshi: Killed for whispering to Yukie. “She was the nurse’s aide. She was quiet but very caring.”
19 Chisato Matsui: always quiet and withdrawn. Had a crush on Shinji. Shot by Satomi.
20 Kaori Minami: A friend of Megumi’s. Yukie asks her to join her group, but she was too afraid to do so. Pistol. Sees Hiroki briefly. Cracking under the stress of the games. Killed by Hirono.
21 Yoshimi Yahagi: Part of Mitsuko’s group. Colt weapon. In love with Yoji. Killed by Mitsuko.

Shuya, Noriko, Shogo, Kazou, Hiroki, Mitsuko, Mizuho, Kayoko remain alive. Of those, we haven’t seen Mizuho and Kayoko once.

What’s Kayoko been doing all this time? Find out next chapter!