Eagle: The Making Of An Asian-American President, Vol. 1: The Candidate

Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President #1

by Kaiji Kawaguchi

Takashi Jo was just a local reporter in Japan. Why did Senator Yamaoka request he cover the senator's run for the U.S. presidency? And why has Yamaoka handed Jo a dangerous secret?

Genres: Manga, Comics

120 pages, Paperback

First published March 7, 2000

About the author

Kaiji KAWAGUCHI (Japanese: 川口開治 or かわぐちかいじ) is a Japanese manga author whose works include Eagle and Zipang. Generally, his stories involve Japan and examine the moral choices that people make in extreme situations. He received the Kodansha Manga Award three times, for Actor in 1987, for The Silent Service in 1990, and for Zipang in 2002. He has also received the Shogakukan Manga Award, for A Spirit of the Sun in 2006 and Kūbo Ibuki in 2014.

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's an interesting one from our manga archives. My impression from reading Carl Gustav Horn's end notes in this first volume is that it was packaged to introduce an American comics reader to manga in a format and/or form factor more likely to appeal to someone accustomed to reading pamphlet-style monthly comics. It's short (less than 120 pages long), is oriented for reading left to right, and was printed in monthly installments. The art style is more down-to-earth than exaggerated, without the slightest hint of the T&A and violence that so often comes hand-in-hand with manga stories for teen boys. The subject matter is one most of us here in the states are familiar with: the primaries and campaigning leading up to a presidential election.

There's still some manga-style melodrama, with our point-of-view character Jo suddenly learning he's the result of a pre-marital love affair... and our titular Asian-American presidential candidate Yamaoka is his father. But the majority of these first handful of chapters are devoted to setting up a situation where Jo is in Yamaoka's immediate orbit, as Yamaoka makes his bid to become the presidential candidate for the Democratic party.

This manga came out some time before (1) Bush v Gore (2) September 11, 2001. It'll be interesting to see if Kawaguchi ended up pivoting the story in a different direction after either or both of those events.

Yamaoka's platform--as much as it's discernible so far--emphasizes cross-ethnic cooperation within the US, and strengthened alliances with Asia. In its US-centered portion, I can see some parallels with Obama's hope-infused speeches back in 2008. That was even further in the future than the events mentioned in the previous paragraph! I don't know how well the international portion would fly with an actual US audience, though. Yamaoka would likely have to contend with accusations of being a Manchurian candidate acting in Japan's interests, especially if he's bringing out that talking point before the first state primary election.

Horn's afterword holds out hope that the US might find its own blockbuster comics medium:

As we enter the 21st [century], manga represent a message back to the America that invented comic books but doesn't yet know their tremendous potential.

What actually happened in the decades that followed 2000 was that we saw the potential of comics... from Japan. Translated manga and anime became a huge industry here, beloved by at least three generations of young people and ongoing. At the same time, our own comics struggle to find a solid footing in our culture, just as they have since shortly after WWII and the formation of the Comics Code.

September 2026 Alphabet Manga Challenge: E.

[J.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

After all, I haven't read any of the volumes after this, but in this beginning of an epic tale, I was impressed at how much more Kawaguchi knew about the US political system than most Americans even do. An interesting insight into my own country from a slightly outside perspective. A really good story if you like not just political intrigue but family drama and manga also, of course. These are characters you can really believe in, and the art, as always, is top-notch in it's own conventionally manga sort of way.

[Paul Thomé · Rating 4 out of 5]

You can feel it's going to be a very interesting plot about American politics (with a little twist), and the art is just on point!

[Mpho3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The American Political system through the eyes of a Japanese reporter.