[a fool in paradise]

That’s fine. The books were adapted as internationally distributed and translated movies and comics.

Both are set in alternate reality futures.

In Battle Royale, Japan won WWII.

And yet the victors of Battle Royale I still perpetrate a 9-11 type destruction of Western(? American?) skyscrapers at the opening of BRII and even escape to be with apparent Afghanis in the hills at the end of BRII.

So much for alternative futures.

By the time the second book came out SOMEONE must’ve brought it to her and the studio’s attention.

[RayChuang88]

A very interesting tidbit: the Toei Company, the entertainment studio that produced the movie, never really showed the original Battle Royale movie outside of Japan except in a few movie festival screenings because of the controversy of how the movie was rated in Japan--the Japanese equivalent of the MPAA wanted a more adult rating than what Toei suggested for the movie, and that controversy become front-page headlines in Japan.

It's only now that Americans can see Battle Royale and its sequel movie widely, thanks to the Blu-ray disc release that just came out less than a week ago.