Promiscuous Women In Battle Royale

Who do you trust when you are suddenly told that you must battle your classmates to the death? According to the students in Battle Royale, not the wanton one. The depiction of Mitsuko Souma, the most promiscuous female character in Battle Royale by Takami Koushun, as being feared and othered by her classmates reflects Japanese society's view of promiscuous and sexually powerful women. During the kill-or-be-killed game that they are thrust into, several students in Mitsuko’s class explicitly state that they do not trust her. Although they do not state their basis of distrust, Takami implies that their abjection of Mitsuko stems from her reputation as a promiscuous girl. When Mitsuko uses her sexuality to lure and kill male classmates, readers …show more content…
Similar to this incident, Mitsuko uses her sexuality and feminine innocence against males to survive and violently kill others in the game. Her cruelty reflects Japanese society's negative views on the femme fatale. Dangerous femme fatale characters like Mitsuko are common in Japanese history, even featuring in old myths (Adams 33). One particular kind of Japanese femme fatale is the “poison woman” (dokufu): this term emerged in media and literature of the Meiji period. Like Mitsuko, “poison women” were sexually aggressive and free, murderous, and dangerous. Men felt threatened by the “poison woman” because of her ability to sexually seduce men to their deaths (Adams 38-39). The idea of the “poison woman” grew in the twentieth century, when “modern women” (atarashii onna) of Japan emerged as another threat to men. These women were both dangerous and arousing, like the “poison woman”. Also, Japanese society could not allow women to use their own bodies at their disposal; this was scandalous and dangerous to them (Ueno 319). Mitsuko, who uses her body to achieve her goals in the game, rejects this standard and is therefore labeled as