First volumes of Eagle, Haruka 17 and xxxHOLiC out 23 October 2007 (Level Comics)

Eagle just might become a favorite...

After the Idul Fitri holidays, on 23 October 2007 to be exact, expect Gramedia's Level Comics imprint to release three new manga series:

Eagle volume 1 by Kawaguchi Kaiji
Haruka 17 volume 1 by Yamazaki Sayaka
xxxHOLiC volume 1 by CLAMP

The latest Indonesian installment of the already 81 volumes Kodansha Manga Award winner Hajime no Ippo (Fight! Ippo volume 36) by Morikawa Jōji-sensei will also be released the same day.

Of the three debuts, only the Eagle tankoubon is priced at IDR 13,500 (xxxHOLiC and Haruka 17 are IDR 14,500 apiece). Don't sneeze at the looks-discriminatory, one thousand rupiah difference; the seinen political series also known as Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President just might become a favorite; I know I was intrigued after reading the review by Greg McElhatton-san, not my square of 'often' equals 'usual' manga fare notwithstanding.

Eagle is set in the present day, as Senator Kenneth Yamaoka (D-NY) announces his intention to run for the office of the President of the United States. In Okinawa, young journalist Takashi Jo is requested by the Senator to come and cover his campaign. As the reader watches the Senator through the eyes of a newcomer, we start to learn not only about the Senator's race and his personality, but about his past as well.

Eagle is in a unique situation, looking at American politics through the eyes of an outside (author Kawaguchi) even as its main character does the same thing. Takashi's newness shines through, making him an extremely likable character even as he finds himself rapidly lost in the world of American politics. In terms of interesting characters, though, the winner is definitely Senator Yamaoka. It's one thing to tell the reader that your character is a good speaker; it's something else to show it. Yamaoka's speech on the Potomac River is a sharp one, and his charisma comes off the printed page surprisingly well.

Eagle was originally serialized in Shogakukan's Big Comic anthology. The series spanned 11 volumes.

If Haruka 17 (or Haruka Seventeen) sounds familiar, it's probably because of the 2005 TV Asahi J-dorama which was based on this seinen manga. The 19-volume manga by Yamazaki Sayaka-sensei (who also created Telepathic Wanderers) was originally serialized in Weekly Morning, a seinen manga magazine published by Kodansha. The first Japanese tankoubon came out February 2004, the latest 19 will be released November 2007.

I don't need to belabor the 12+ volumes xxxHOLiC, so I'm off to check the Elex and m&c! manga releases. (Wasn't the first Death Note supposed to be released in October?)

~nik AKA 花木兰03 (huamulan03) who made this manga release schedule while listening to the beauteous JUNE sing "Pride of Tomorrow" on Animax

invaluable resource(s)

Elex Media
Wikipedia
Baka-Updates Manga
ComiPedia
7&Y