is a Japanese manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 written and illustrated by Shin'ichi Kuruma. It was serialized in the Tokuma Shoten

Tokuma Shoten

is a publisher in Japan, that was established in 1954.The company was also the parent company for the film studio Daiei Motion Pictures, bought in 1974, and the record label Tokuma Japan Communications, bought in 1972, until both were sold off when Yasuyoshi Tokuma, who established this company,...

 magazine Monthly Shōnen Captain infrequently between the May 1986 and August 1989 issues. Originally released in four tankōbon

Tankobon

, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...

(bound volumes), Battle Royal High School was later re-released in two larger volumes on December 20, 2008.

The manga was adapted into an original video animation

Original video animation

, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...

 (OVA) anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 feature on December 10, 1987. It was directed by Ichirō Itano, and features character designs by Nobuteru Yūki

Nobuteru Yuki

is a Japanese manga artist, illustrator, and animator. He began as a doujinshi artist under the nom de plume The Man in the High Castle and Yubic , both references to the works of American science fiction author Philip K. Dick...

 and a musical score by Shirō Sagisu

Shiro Sagisu

is a well-known Japanese music producer and composer. With a career spanning over 25 years , he is best known for his work as a record producer for acts including Misia, Satoshi Tomiie, and Ken Hirai...

. The anime is considerably condensed when compared to its manga source material, making many characters seem out of place. The OVA was localized in English and released in North America by AnimEigo

AnimEigo

AnimEigo is an American entertainment company that licenses and distributes anime, samurai films and Japanese cinema. The company was founded in 1988 in Ithaca, New York by Robert Woodhead and Roe R. Adams, III. It is now based in Wilmington, North Carolina, and run by Natsumi Ueki, Robert's wife...

 on VHS July 31, 1996 and on DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

September 23, 2003. The anime is currently out-of-print in the region.