The Hunger Games or Battle Royale

For those of you who don't know what Battle Royale is let me break it down for you quickly. It's basically a film about a group of high school kids tricked into going to a school trip on a deserted island to fight for they're lives. Its essentially the same concept that The Hunger Games has with its throwing a bunch of people somewhere to kill each other while the whole world spectates. However, they are both completely different in style, theme, and setting.

Battle Royale is set in japan in an alternate terrible present day similar to our own where adolescents are behaving terribly. So the government devises a horrible yearly game where they take a group of students to fight to the death. Each contestant has a bomb strapped to their necks ready to detonate if they do not comply with the fights as well.

The Hunger Games is put on as a huge spectacle that the entire world sees while its challengers have the chance to train and tour the world to gain fans for themselves before they set of to fight to the death. In Battle Royale its not a huge spectacle. In Fact the students are completely unaware of what is going on until it happens and are forced to immediately fight fellow students who were either distant or close friends or even lovers.

You learn to care for many characters along the way as the movie goes on because most of them are given decent screen time and flashbacks. Giving you more to swallow before some inevitable deaths but it gives you some care for everyone as oppose to thinking of them as just another robotic victim. The Hunger Games is very much about Katniss Everdeen. She is the very main character of the story and those who follow her are equally important while her opposers are shown very little care for the right reasons.

She serves the purpose of saving the poor from the rich in an unbalanced world so it makes sense within the story. At the end of the day if thats the sort of story you want to see thats fine. If you're like me and like the idea of suspense/despair/violence then go see Battle Royale. By the way they are both on netflix so check it out.

(Game Of Thrones) Read the Novel then watch the TV series

The Game of Thrones TV show is one of the best representations of its written counterpart. I have very little complains about the novel or the show. If you're a huge fan of the TV series like me I think you're doing yourself a huge disservice by not reading the novels though.

The reason I say this is because the show conveys everything that is experienced and said by the characters in the book. However, the one major aspect that the TV viewer is not receiving is what exactly is going on through the characters minds. Also whether they are reminiscing an old memory as they are traveling along a trail on a horse or something.

An example being in the show you'll see them traveling on the horse but in the novel you get the inner thoughts of the character as they are traveling, which gives you a bigger insight on who that person is. Read the novels first then watch the show.

Its hard to keep track of so many characters. Most of the time people who watch the show tend to focus on 2 out of the 7+ major families within the game of thrones universe. The issue of deciding to pay more attention to one family would be nonexistent if you read the books.

I mean yea sure I do realize that by doing this you spoil a lot of plot twists by yourself but at least you'll have a deeper understanding of everything that is happening. It feels great to see everything you imagined while reading on the big screen with such high production value.

You'll also know each characters names instead of referring them as the midget or princess with dragons. I am over-exaggerating a little with the princess though most viewers will know her as Khalese and lack the knowledge of her proper name Daenerys Targaryen. The reason I stress this is because I have lost count of how many of my friends who watch the show lack these bits of information.

Or maybe they ignore the presence of who they define as minor characters in the show. I have to explain to them why they should care about these roles that they deem unworthy based on the TV Show. They would feel differently if they read the novels. As season 4 is slowly approaching I can already see myself explaining things over and over again.

It’s a weekly ritual in my apartment to watch the newest episode with a group of friends, beer, Chinese takeout, or pizza. I usually end up being the encyclopedia to everyone in the room who has any questions because of my knowledge of the books.

(The Walking Dead) Comic Vs. TV Show

A lot of people have been talking about the walking dead television series for years now. Claiming that it’s a great show, it’s so amazing, it’s the best thing to happen on TV, and blah blah blah. I’ve honestly just about had it with the obsessive fans. That being said I am a fan myself so I'm not going to rule myself out completely either. 

I really like the show but I'm not blinded by its flaws. I am an even bigger fan of what the show's materials are based off of, the walking dead comic book. Which is ongoing as we speak. Being that the television series is on a cable network, the AMC channel, it has many limitations that are nonexistent in the comic book. 

Limitations like the F word being thrown out here and there, or tits and penises not being censored in sexual acts, or survivors of the apocalypse being brutally murdered by another maniac. By the maniac part I mean another person torturing another survivor. 

I'd like to remind everyone that things would still not be any different if the show was on HBO known for its freedom to allow its shows rated mature. The network turned down the walking dead several years ago before AMC stole the opportunity.

The TV show does technically show these MA-rated events but it’s very toned down. It mainly gets away with showing a zombie kill and some blood. While the comic book isn't afraid to go full Quentin Tarantino on itself. My main annoyance with the show is due to its different tones.

Each season for one reason or another has its show-runner changed aka person in charge of every part of the production ranging from writing to directing. Due to this continuous shift we get seasons as viewers that either work or don't. The first season worked and so has this current 4th season, thank god.

With the comic book you just get Robert Kirkman its creator, who has some involvement with the TV series every now and then. So with every monthly issue of the comic you know what you're going to get. I mean the twists and turns are still very unpredictable but the tone isn't.

I’m still going to watch the TV show but above all I am going to continue enjoying the comic book even more. If you haven’t read the comic you should give it a try especially if you want to get the full walking dead experience. I'm not going to cross out the fact that some people dislike reading. Those that don't should give the TV show a chance unless you’ve already been doing so.