Battle Royale
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For the novel, please go to Shogo Kawada (Novel). For the manga, please go to Shogo Kawada (Manga).

At the end... I'm glad I found a true friend.

–Shogo Kawadas final thought


Shogo Kawada (川田 章吾, Kawada Shōgo) is a major character in Battle Royale.

Background[]

Shogo remarks that his father is a doctor, chef, and fisherman. Three years earlier, Shogo's class was selected for the program. He and his girlfriend Keiko Onuki were the final two participants, with him even killing a friend to protect her. As the time limit of the game approached, Keiko shot Shogo in the stomach, causing him to instinctively shoot her fatally. As she died, she thanked him and smiled. He was determined to find the meaning of Keiko's final smile.

Friends and Enemies[]

Before he entered the Shiroiwa game, Shogo was dating Keiko. He had a friend he killed during the Kobe game, but its unknown if he had any other relationships in his old class.

As Shogo is a transfer student, no one in Class 3-B knows him, nor do they trust him. Later on, however, he allies with Shuya Nanahara and Noriko Nakagawa. Shogo knows not to trust Kazuo Kiriyama as he knew that Kazuo signed up for fun.

Before the Program[]

After he won the Kobe game, Shogo became determined to get revenge for Keiko, so he signed up for the next game; he was transported to an island and fitted with an explosive collar.

When the class regained consciousness in a classroom in the island's school, they saw Shogo sitting on a desk opposite Kazuo Kiriyama. He did not react when Fumiyo Fujiyoshi was killed or when Yoshitoki Kuninobu's collar was activated.

When Shogo's name is called, he initially ignores it in favor of fixing his pant leg, but when a soldier yelled his name, Shogo jumped off the desk, ran towards the front of the room, caught his supply bag and ran into the hallway before stopping; he then turned around and walked back into the room, bypassing Izumi Kanai, and shoulder check Kazuo before throwing his bag back on the rack and saying that a different bag was his. Kitano chuckled and told the class that the two were quite dangerous. Shogo then took the bag he wanted and walked out of the school.

During the Program[]

Shogo found Kyoichi Motobuchi trying to kill Shuya Nanahara and Noriko Nakagawa. He shot Kyoichi in the upper arm. Kyoichi charges at Shogo, prompting him to shoot Kyoichi in the stomach, killing him. Shogo asks Shuya and Noriko what weapons they have, and they reveal their assigned weapons: a pot lid and binoculars. He smirks at them, keeping his gun pointed at them as he takes Kyoichi's revolver and rips the hatchet from Tatsumichi Oki's head. Shogo, Shuya and Noriko then hear the voices of Yukiko Kitano and Yumiko Kusaka. The two girls call for peace, and Shogo shoots his gun into the air, hoping to scare them away. Shuya yells at them to run, but Kazuo fatally shoots them before they can consider it. Shuya is distressed, and questions how they can kill each other so easily. Shogo tells both him and Noriko that if they want a way off the island, they should either kill themselves or run. He then leaves the pair.

Shogo sets a tripwire by his base, a medical clinic. When the tripwire is triggered, he finds Shuya, carrying a sick Noriko. He helps them instead by giving Noriko some medicine and making food for both of them. He then tells Shuya and Noriko that he was a survivor of the program from three years ago. He tells them about his final moments with Keiko Onuki, and how he vowed that when he woke up in the current program, he wouldn't die, and would find out the meaning of Keiko's last smile.

After this, he gives a gun to Shuya as a sign of trust. They are quickly interrupted by the sound of gunfire, and Shogo puts out all the candles. They see a Kazuo Kiriyama chasing Toshinori Oda. After Kazuo shoots Toshinori, it is revealed that Toshinori has a bulletproof vest, but as he celebrates his survival, he sees Kazuo from above, who beheads him with Yumiko's katana. Kazuo's attention is caught by a noise from the clinic. He stuffs one of Izumi Kanai's grenades into Toshinori's mouth and throws the head into the clinic. Shuya leaps out of the clinic in order to distract Kazuo, leaving Shogo and Noriko. Shogo tells Shuya that he will protect Noriko.

Later on, Shogo is seen taking further care of Noriko in a house, listening to her talk about a dream she had about Kitano. Noriko is then distracted by the sound of someone approaching, and runs to find Shuya. Shogo runs after her, claiming that they are near a danger zone but loses track of her. He then finds Noriko kneeling over Shuya, holding an umbrella. He quietly watches from afar before helping the two back to the house.

Following the death of Shinji Mimura and his allies, Shuya, Noriko and Shogo find the flaming remains of a base made by Shinji's bomb. Shogo sees Kazuo from afar, blinded from the explosion. Shogo cocks his gun to get Kazuo's attention; Kazuo begins shooting wildly, hitting Shogo multiple times, but he fires back and hits Kazuo's leg. He eventually hits Kazuo's collar, causing it to explode, killing him instantly.

Shogo then takes Shuya and Noriko to the sea, and tells them that they both lose. He points Kyoichi's revolver at them and tells them that he was only using them to save himself, claiming he made up the story about Keiko. Following two gunshots, Shogo is declared the winner of the program. However, when he meets Kitano inside the school, Kitano figures out that Shogo faked Shuya and Noriko's deaths. Shuya and Noriko then storm into the room, seeing a painting of Noriko. When Kitano tells Noriko to shoot him, or he'll shoot her, Shuya shoots Kitano, killing him. The three students then remove their collars, now defused.

They use a boat to escape the island, and going to lie down, Shogo asks Shuya to drive the boat. Shogo claims he feels tired, and Shuya and Noriko go to his side, realizing that he is fatally wounded from his earlier battle with Kazuo. He tells Shuya and Noriko that he solved the mystery of Keiko's last words. He dies before he tells them what her last words meant, but his thoughts are displayed on screen: In the end, I'm glad I found a true friend.

Etymology[]

  • The name Shogo means "chapter, section" (章) (shō), and "me, I" (吾) (go)
  • Shogo's surname Kawada means "river, stream" (川) (kawa), and "field, rice paddy" (田) (da)

Trivia[]

  • Shogo was one of the three people to have their final thoughts read. The other two were Takako Chigusa and Mitsuko Souma.
    • Out of the three, Shogo was the only boy.
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