Kaiji Kawaguchi's "Eagle" : Sell or Scare

[Redcoffin]

My local comic store has five thick volumes of Kaiji Kawaguchi's Eagle: The Making of an Asian American President. Anybody read it? Without spoiling, can you tell me any opinions?

[Jake_Forbes]

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Hiyo_2366 said:
My local comic store has five thick volumes of Kaiji Kawaguchi's Eagle: The Making of an Asian American President. Anybody read it? Without spoiling, can you tell me any opinions?

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It's super good! A real page turner. Kawaguchi's the master of political thriller manga. The book works on two levels-- on the one hand, it's an outsider's take on US politics, and at the same time it's a family melodrama that's one of the best in translated manga. The politics are a little out of touch with reality at times, but it's still fascinating.

The only section I didn't like was the volume dedicated to Labor Unions in the Northwest. That part dragged on too long, I think. But it's such a gripping read overall, I gladly put up with it.

If you've read and enjoyed Adolph, Sanctuary or First President of Japan, you're sure to enjoy it. If you've been craving some smart seinen manga that's about more than fighting or boobs, it might be just what you're wanting (although there are some boobs and bloodshed, too).

-Jake

[Kiril]

I highly recommend it.

[bctaris]

There is this review (http://www.sequentialtart.com/archive/nov02/ao_1102_6.shtml) from Sequential Tart a couple years ago by a Washington lawyer, interestingly enough, who looked at from the perspective of how accurate it is. (It will probably contain some spoilers.) I tend to fall in its camp, and it sets up many of the views I've heard on Eagle, that as a well-plotted character drama and intelligent thriller, it's quite good. But despite its insistence as being purposely from an outsider's perspective, it does have some logical failings that will vary with whatever level of knowledge the reader has from following elections or more intimate political concerns.

But, it is just entertainment. /images/graemlins/wink.gif I've never read the whole series myself, and the above link kind of put it on the back burner for me. Speaking of similar titles, and one which Jake above mentioned, I've started slowly reading through Sanctuary which is partly about the Japanese political system, the other half being the yakuza. I couldn't say if one series is better than the other.

[Texhnolyze]

Has the whole series been released by Viz? The GNC Chart says it's 11 volumes long, but I only see 5 volumes released by Viz.

[jennwenn]

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Texhnolyze said:
Has the whole series been released by Viz? The GNC Chart says it's 11 volumes long, but I only see 5 volumes released by Viz.

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I think they compressed it into five humongous volumes...? Can anyone confirm?

[The Pirate Queen]

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jennwenn said:
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Texhnolyze said:
Has the whole series been released by Viz? The GNC Chart says it's 11 volumes long, but I only see 5 volumes released by Viz.

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I think they compressed it into five humongous volumes...? Can anyone confirm?

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I can.

As for a recommendation, I'm finding it hard to come up with words other than "OMG YES BUY IT NOW!" but I would recommend it whole-heartedly. It's simply one of the best titles available in English.

[Roujin0308]

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Texhnolyze said:
Has the whole series been released by Viz? The GNC Chart says it's 11 volumes long, but I only see 5 volumes released by Viz.

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Viz released it in 'monthly' books, the last of which (vol 22) came out in Nov. 2001, as well as 5 large collections.

[witega]

I cannot recommend this series highly enough.

The personal/family drama is note-perfect. And as far as the political drama goes: well, I wouldn't base a political science paper on it--but then, I wouldn't base a history paper on Joan, Pilgrim Jager, or Red River either. As a *story* the political drama is well-written and believable--the characters act and react in believable ways to situations which are completely plausible even if not actually true. I would compare it something like Planetes: it is highly unlikely that human expansion into space will occur in exactly the manner described by Yukimura. But his version is still plausible, the characters and their behavior totally believable, and the suspension of disbelief required very minor. The same goes for Eagle--if you approach like a documentary of American politics, it doesn't work. But if you see it for what it is, a story using American politics as a setting and tweaked as necessary to tell a good story, it is powerful and compelling.

[jennwenn]

Is Kaiji Kawaguchi a liberal or conservative? I've been reading some of his unlicensed works and Eagle, and I really can't tell. I'd still read his books of course no matter his political leanings, but I'm curious to know...

He seems like a conservative when it comes to Japanese politics, yet Eagle is a from POV of Democrats...

[The Pirate Queen]

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jennwenn said:
He seems like a conservative when it comes to Japanese politics, yet Eagle is a from POV of Democrats...

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Hopefully this isn't getting too far into the realm of forbidden politics, but to the vast majority of the rest of the world, the US Democratic party is "conservative," and the US Republican party is "ultra-conservative."

[jennwenn]

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Dani said:
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jennwenn said:
He seems like a conservative when it comes to Japanese politics, yet Eagle is a from POV of Democrats...

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Hopefully this isn't getting too far into the realm of forbidden politics, but to the vast majority of the rest of the world, the US Democratic party is "conservative," and the US Republican party is "ultra-conservative."

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Oh ok lol.

Yes I don't want to steer this conversation into the realm of politics, I jut want to know what the mangaka's political leanings are in order to better understand where he is coming from in his manga, since almost every one of his titles is about politics in some form or another. That's it. (ie. Zipang - about modern day Japanese warship transported back in time to WW2, or Silent Service - a Japanese submarine essentially takes on the world, and A Spirit of the Sun - what if story of Japan hit by a series of natural disasters and the political/social fall out from it. )

I guess he's pretty conservative then...I'm pretty clueless about these things.

[Kiril]

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Dani said:
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jennwenn said:
He seems like a conservative when it comes to Japanese politics, yet Eagle is a from POV of Democrats...

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Hopefully this isn't getting too far into the realm of forbidden politics, but to the vast majority of the rest of the world, the US Democratic party is "conservative," and the US Republican party is "ultra-conservative."

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For clarification, my understanding is that politics can be discussed within the context of an anime or manga that uses it like Eagle does. I think as long as people don't bring in their personal political philosophies and limit references to real-world politics the discussion will be ok.

However, I think Dani is already close to that line in the above comment. I don't really think it matters whether the real world in general considers Democrats to be conservative or not, but saying that (the protagonist) Ken Yamaoka is a presidential candidate for the Democratic party is fine.

[Kiril]

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jennwenn said:
I guess he's pretty conservative then...I'm pretty clueless about these things.

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I think it's a mistake to associate a writer's political leanings with the subjects he writes about. An author can create a character with a personality far different from what the author believes. It's probably best to keep the conversation focused on Eagle.

[Helschadenfreude]

I was just talking to a librarian today who was considering buying "Eagle" but she was a bit concerned that it has a M rating on it. I told her that it was about politics and maybe a bit more mature in that sense. I hope I'm not wrong. /images/graemlins/sweat200.gif There isn't any hot and heavy sex in this I'm asssuming? (which I'm afraid of as the library is the type won't stock slash films or adult manga(I'm assuming this covers yaoi how sad)) Yes, I'm dragging it up from the dead!

[Jarred]

There is nudity and a sex scene, which isn't H-style or anything but something R-rated.

[Helschadenfreude]

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Jarred said:
There is nudity and a sex scene, which isn't H-style or anything but something R-rated.

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Oh, that's okay. I'm assuming it's along the lines of Buddha(actully there's just a lot of naked boobies), Adolf, Wild Act etc. Where you know obviously what's happening but....

[Jarred]

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GyBaNOJunior said:
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Jarred said:
There is nudity and a sex scene, which isn't H-style or anything but something R-rated.

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Oh, that's okay. I'm assuming it's along the lines of Buddha(actully there's just a lot of naked boobies), Adolf, Wild Act etc. Where you know obviously what's happening but....

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Yeah, along those lines.

[CarlHorn]

Fred Schodt, in his article on THE SILENT SERVICE for the book DREAMLAND JAPAN, viewed Kawaguchi as neither dogmatically left nor right, but someone combining views from both perspectives. I was struck in EAGLE by the novel argument Yamaoka makes in the Texan bar for gun control. Rather than taking the usual approach that guns contribute to crime and accidents, Yamaoka presents the view that guns, as a symbol of citizen sovereignty, are too serious a thing to be handed out willy-nilly. In other words, Kawaguchi argued a liberal policy objective by appealing to conservative values. The idea that guns are the symbol of individual freedom is today only seen as right-wing, even extreme right. But in fact, this same principle was asserted by the Black Panthers in the 1960s, who routinely quoted the Second Amendment in their communiqués. EAGLE, like THE SILENT SERVICE, is undoubtedly a fable, but one that shows original thinking, and, I believe, a genuine interest in the complexities of American history and the American people. I'm not saying this sort of thing is universal, but how many manga have you seen, by contrast, where Americans are portrayed either just as weird comic-relief foreigners, or screaming warmongers?

A criticism that has been made of EAGLE is that it overdramatizes aspects of campaigning and politics that would not necessarily seem so exciting to Americans. This is true to an extent, but another perspective can be found in something easy to forget; EAGLE, like nearly all manga, was directed at a Japanese audience. Kawaguchi has specifically said that even many ordinary maneuvers in American politics (like driving people to the polls, or TV debates) are relatively novel in Japan. Certainly Japanese campaign politics has nothing like the one- or two-year run-ups to elections we have in America; campaigns are limited to a matter of weeks. There are also, of course, the fundamental structural differences between the Japanese parliamentary system and our own. All these (and Kawaguchi's speedlines) contribute to a "gee-whiz" quality which may make some Washington insiders raise a Roger Moore-like eyebrow. It is worth noting, however, that EAGLE was also praised by mainstream media sources such as THE LOS ANGELES TIMES and U.S. NEWS AND WORLD REPORT, who on balance found its portrayal of U.S. politics interesting and worthwhile.

One of the things I do find amusing is the assertion that the relationship between Senator Yamaoka and his son could not have remained hidden long in real life. All you really need to do is point to the recent case of the late Senator Strom Thurmond, a notorious segregationist whose secret black daughter did not become known until after his death, despite the fact he met with her regularly and paid for her education. This story, which came out after EAGLE completed its run, resonates perfectly with Kawaguchi's observation at the end of the manga that American racism is a form of conspiracy hidden in plain sight; the question is not whether we as Americans are of mixed blood (because we already are), but which children get taken into their father's house and which have their paternity denied.