The first manga that really drew me into that larger world was Eagle, the story of a Japanese-American seeking the office of President of the United States. So the most intriguing manga for me in the initial Raijin Comics offerings was First President of Japan, a political fiction about Japan's first elected prime minister. However, while Eagle surprised me with the creators understanding of American politics, First President is part political story and part military suspense thriller, and the politics and personalities involved seem a bit more exaggerated and in some cases outright ridiculous in order to up the tension, and so the tone of the book is often a little bombastic for my tastes. The plot is something of a cross between West Wing and a Tom Clancy novel, but the geopolitics and military maneuvering doesn't have that level of sophistication, and that drags the story down.
Which isn't to say that this is a bad story. Ryuji and Yoshiki pile on the big occurrences a little heavily, but they do provide a plot that is unquestionably on the large scale. The challenges that Prime Minister Sakuragi faces make for more tense, more exciting conflicts than just dealing with the entrenched bureaucracy, and allow for the grandstanding and life and death consequences that make the story more exciting to those who don't find politics that interesting in and of themselves. Sakuragi's ability is demonstrated effectively through his intelligence and calm demeanor, but it is his willingness to be open to risk that really makes him stand out as the protagonist.
Actually, one of my problems with this book was the ease with which you can tell the good guys and the bad guys, which is too simplistic for a political story. The current Prime Minister and his cabinet aren't just career politicos who play it too conservative, they're simpering morons who have nothing of value to offer anyone. The Chinese President isn't just a man driven to spectacularly aggressive action by a disgruntled military, but a scheming and wicked man with no care for anything beyond his own political career. Even the U.S. President, who is played as somewhat sympathetic in terms of his relations with Japan, is a schemer with no principles, driven entirely by political needs. It's sloppy characterization, and though I have no trouble buying into the concept of politicians who do bad things, most of them have reasons for it beyond "the plot needs me to be a bad guy."
By the same token, Ryuji and Yoshiki present a military crisis of unimaginable proportions, which is saying something in our post-9-11, Kim Jong Il sabre-rattling, Bush Administration "anti-terrorism" world. The notion of an invasion of South Korea is outrageous, but within the realm of possibility, but having the North Koreans massacre Japanese tourists and the Japanese embassy refuse to admit its citizens seems remarkably unlikely, as does the notion of the Chinese firing a missile at Japan and pretending it might be nuclear as a bargaining tactic. There's a powerful crisis at hand here for the new President of Japan to deal with, but because everything is taken to such ridiculous extremes rather than building more slowly, it's hard to find it believable.
While I find the general tone of the writing to be a bit melodramatic, I don't have any complaints about the artwork. Ryuji does a great job, especially early on, of distinguishing Sakuragi as someone real, someone capable of looking rumpled and tired as well as polished and professional. He falls back on the manga cliche of a character with an eyepatch to simulate someone who is tough, which comes off as a bit ridiculous in this setting, but in general I was pleased with how he managed to make distinctive characters, even though the cast largely boils down to men in suits. In addition, the background details, from the landmarks that reveal the setting to the military technology like planes and aircraft carriers, are very strong.
