Eagle (manga)

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Manga
title eagle
Original title イ ー グ ル
country JapanJapan Japan
author Kaiji Kawaguchi
publishing company Shogakukan
magazine Big comic
First publication 1997-2001
expenditure 11

Eagle ( Japanese イ ー グ ル īguru ) is an eleven-volume manga series by the Japanese artist Kaiji Kawaguchi , which deals with the election campaign in the USA .

action

The Democratic Senator Kenneth Yamaoka wants to become the 43rd President of the USA. Not an easy task, because he is of Asian descent in the third generation, but also a hero of the Vietnam War. There are also competitors in their own party, because Albert Noah , the current Vice President , is also interested in the highest office and is supported by President Bill Clydon.

The Japanese reporter Takashi Jo is called in as an election observer so that he can subsequently write a book about Yamaoka. The inexperienced reporter at first wonders about this chance, but soon learns that he is Kenneth's illegitimate son and was probably only brought to America to avoid a possible scandal . While Jo researches, he learns more and more about Yamaoka's personality and past, brings contradictions and unsettling things to light.

Publications

Eagle appeared in Japan from 1997 to 2001 in individual chapters in the manga magazine Big Comic of the Shogakukan publishing house and was summarized in 11 anthologies. In German, Eagle was published in full by Egmont Manga and Anime (EMA) from June 2002 to January 2006 .

An English version was published by Viz Media between 2000 and 2002 . The series has also been translated into French and Indonesian.

Reception and analysis

Jason Thompson calls the manga a family story, a reflection on America's role in the world and a detailed look at the American primaries. The story reaches the depth of content of a novel, at the center of which is Takashi Jos' inner conflict about his relationship to his father and his political goals and methods. Politically savvy readers may be disappointed, however, that Eagle succeeded on a character, not a political level. But Yamaoka's opponents are also underdeveloped, apart from his main opponent, and his unbeatable powers of persuasion are not credible. The political image of the series is shaped by the 1990s, Bill Clinton and Al Gore were models for the political opponents, and by a specifically Japanese liberalism.

With the close connection to current political events and people at the time, Kawaguchi created an "astonishingly realistic atmosphere," says Bart Beaty. He mixes thriller aspects such as intrigues, coups and failures with the personal development of the characters. The narrative perspective of the outsider Jo is particularly cleverly chosen. The story, according to Mio Bryce and Jason Davis, works its way through the historical legacy of the United States and its relationship to Japanese identity. The series combines " idealism, healthy skepticism and some of the most coherent explanations of the pre-election process," according to Newtype USA . The outsider's perspective, from which the story is told, is both the greatest surprise and strength of the work. The reporter's gaze and his inner monologues gave the reader insights and explanations of the political process. With his clear positioning of the candidate as a Democrat, Kawaguchi opened a discussion about the differences between the two parties. Republicans wanted a "strong America" ​​while Democrats wanted a "nicer America". With the ethnic background of Yamaoka, the author achieves more identification with the Japanese reader - for the American audience the protagonist has an outsider status. After all, the secret family relationship between candidate and reporter complements the typical element of a scandal in political stories, opens up the possibility of deeper insights into the personalities and builds up more tension. The choice of a Democrat as a protagonist is also in the tradition of other works about American presidents, since the Democrats are more young climbers in the public perception and Republicans are part of an old guard. A democrat is therefore the closer choice than an aspiring, young and likeable protagonist. When describing political debates during the campaign, Kawaguchi often goes into great detail, explaining the different points of view and approaches. Among other things, he deals with debates on education, immigration and gun law.

The German magazine MangaZone calls Eagle an "unusual, very human view of the American election campaign" . The perspective of the foreign journalist is interesting and the idea of ​​the Asian-American president is innovative. The story is also worth reading because of the “clear, very film-oriented storytelling” , even if the story sometimes slips into American stereotypes.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jason Thompson: Manga. The Complete Guide . Del Rey, New York 2007, ISBN 978-0-345-48590-8 , pp. 91 f .
  2. ↑ Bart Beaty in 1001 Comics You Should Read Before Life Is Over . Zurich 2012, Edition Olms. P. 667.
  3. ↑ Mio Bryce and Jason Davis: An Overview of Manga Genres . In: Toni Johnson-Woods (Ed.): Manga - An Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives . Continuum Publishing, New York 2010, ISBN 978-0-8264-2938-4 , pp. 42 .
  4. ↑ Newtype USA June 2003, Volume 2 Number 6, pp. 104-107.
  5. ↑ MangaZone No. 1, p. 26.