Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President Volume 3 by Kaiji Kawaguchi Publisher: Viz Comics Genre: Drama/Politics Age Rating: Teen+ (16+) Price: $19.95/used Rating: Volume 3 picks up where Volume 2 left off, at the New York debate, with every waiting with baited breath for Yamaoka’s answer to Noah’s accusation of waffling on an environmental issue. It is here that we see how much of a work of fiction this title can be. Yamaoka gives a straightforward and honest answer. He is human and made a mistake. There is no way any politician that was looking to get votes would ever give an answer like this. But, with Yamaoka being our protagonist, he not only gets away with it, but turns the tables on Noah, and wins not just the debate, but the primary. Now the next big hurdle he must overcome is Texas. In order to win in Texas, he must win over Don Taylor, a democrat in charge of a large food corporation who holds sway over most of the farmers and ranchers not just in Texas, but in most of the South. But it won’t be easy, as Taylor doesn’t believe either Yamaoka or Noah has a…
Eagle : The Making of an Asian-American President Volume 2 By Kaiji Kawaguchi Publisher: Viz Media Genre: Drama/Politics Rating: Teen+ (16+) Price: $19.99/used only Rating: In this second volume of Kenneth Yamaoka’s campaign to be come president, more time is spent on his past, and what could have make him the person he is now. The politics takes a backseat for the first third of the volume as Takashi meets with Yamaoka’s sister, getting a touching, sentimental image of the Senator. Yamaoka quickly squashes that image with stories from Viet Nam. Takashi’s doubts about Yamaoka killing his mother return. The importance of family starts to become a major theme with this volume, as Takashi struggles to figure out how he fits in. He has strong feelings for Rachel, and finds common ground with Alex, but Yamaoka’s intentions are still a mystery.
Eagle: The Making Of An Asian-America President Volume 1 By Kaiji Kawaguchi Publisher: Viz Comics Genre: Political Drama Age Rating: Teen+ (16+) Price: $19.95 Rating: With the 2008 Election coming up, I thought it would be interesting to read Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President and see how the Japanese view of our election system stacks up to the real thing while it’s going on. It’s turned out to be an interesting comparison with the way the Democratic side has shaken out. Eagle follows the Senator Kenneth Yamaoka, a democrat from New York, as he decides to throw his hat into the ring before the New Hampshire Primary. Takashi Jo, our protagonist, has been asked by the Yamaoka campaign to be the Japanese correspondant, and follow the campaign. This volume follows Yamaoka from his declaration to Primary night. There is some drama involved in this as well, and I’ll get to that in a moment. What I want to do first is to look at Yamaoka as compared to the current Democratic candidates, particularly Barack Obama. Kenneth Yamaoka and Barack Obama are both young senators of mixed heritage. Yamaoka is a Japanese-American, and Barack is an African-American. Both are…