“ | Did you know? That even in this country where war went on for 20 years a beautiful spring always comes back. Every season comes back. It's amazing. | „ |
~ Noriko comforting Shuya at the end of Battle Royale II: Requiem. |
Noriko Nakagawa is the deuteragonist of the novel, manga, and film Battle Royale. She is the love interest of Shuya Nanahara and a student in Class 9-B, who is called by many as the nicest person in the class.
In the film, she was played by Aki Maeda.
What Makes Her Pure Good?[]
All versions[]
- Despite getting bullied by other girls since all boys had some level of crush on her, Noriko never held any hostility towards any of them.
- Noriko lacks the corrupting factors all the other heroes (including the main character Shuya Nanahara) have, such as lethalness, arrogance, etc.
- She tries to help people and convince players to believe in hope, even giving the people who try to kill her chances of changing and believing in hope.
- Noriko tries to save Yumiko and Yukiko when they were trying to use a megaphone to tell everyone to stop fighting, knowing that they would get killed by other players that didn't care and wanted to kill them if she didn't intervene.
- She convinced Shogo Kawada into helping her and Shuya in stopping the game and save lives, and thus redeeming him from his past.
- When Shuya was about to risk his life to protect her and Shogo from Kazuo, Noriko begged him not to out of care for him.
- She loves and cares for Shuya, to the point of risking her life to save him during the program.
Manga and Novel versions[]
- In the manga, when Yoshitoki was going to kill Yonemi Kamon out of revenge for raping Ms. Ryoko, Noriko begged him not to.
- She risked her life to save Yoshitoki Kuninobu after he was shot by the program's administrator, even begging them to help her save his life, although they kill him anyway.
- She created a plan to save as many students as possible during the program and prevent as many deaths as possible.
- Noriko helps Hiroki in getting supplies and tells him to spread her beliefs of hope to others he encounters while looking for Hirono and Kayoko.
- She saved Shuya when he got heavily injured by the massacre in the lighthouse and treating his wounds from his battle with Kazuo.
- She feels pity for Shogo when she finds out he lost his girlfriend during the games and convinces him not to go on what was pretty much a suicide mission against Kazuo.
- She saved Shuya and Shogo from being killed by Kazuo, and while she did shoot the latter, it was only to protect her friends and she would immediately cry out of remorse for it.
- Unlike Shuya, who tried to attack Shogo when he "betrayed" them (in actuality, Shogo was faking it to save their lives, but neither Shuya nor Noriko were aware of this at the time) Noriko tried to convince him that he truly cared for them and that he was still able to redeem himself over his past.
- In the manga, she spares Yonemi Kamon's soldiers because she didn't feel like it was necessary, and even stopped Shogo from killing them after one of them shot Shuya.
- She was extremely sad after finding out that the government kidnapped her brother in order to find out where she and Shuya were, and felt guilt for it and that she couldn't do anything to help him, to the point that she, despite clearly being hurt to hear it, accepted her mother refusing to call Noriko her daughter.
Film Version[]
- She was the only student in Class 9-B to genuinely care about Kitano and would develop a friendly relationship with him. This would later cause Kitano to see Noriko as an angel in comparison to all the students of the class, whom he saw as murderous juveniles.
- She went out of her way to try to find Shuya even while injured, and risked her life to save him when she was about to get killed by Mitsuko.
- She felt sympathy for Kitano after he got fatally shot by Shuya because he believed that Kitano was going to kill Noriko while in reality it was a water gun.
- She also rejects Kitano's intention of allowing her being the only survivor and winner of the program, was deeply and emotionally hurt and angered by his murder of innocent boys and girls, and out of genuine sympathy: Refuses to kill her own teacher by her own hand.
- Unlike Shuya, who became a leader of a terrorist organization called the Wild Seven to stop corruption and involuntary, Noriko instead chooses to help the people in Afghanistan and later the survivors of the program so that they could live better and peaceful lives.
- Allows Shuya to join her in Afghanistan after the Wild Seven were mostly destroyed and comforted him when he was depressed over his memories in the Battle Royale program.
Trivia[]
- Noriko is the only character in Battle Royale to be Pure Good.
External Links[]
- Noriko Nakagawa on the Heroes Wiki