I'm looking for a manga that has politics as its major theme - you know, stuff about power structures, governments, revolutions and conspiracies etc. Basically, any manga where there are a lot of tactical and strategic maneuvers, whether backed by violence or not.

Genre no bar. Seinen's tasty, but I wouldn't mind shoujo, either. Romances, action stories, science fiction and everything else is okay, as long as politics is the main driving force of the plot. (Or at least, one of the main driving forces.) I have a special fetish for historical settings, so political manga set in the past will be great, too.

Some examples of political manga...

Cesare: THE political manga, as far as I'm concerned. Flawless research and unremitting strategy - "pure" politics, even if it does often get soiled with blood. (By pure I mean that no romance or anything else intrudes on it; every chapter of this manga is one political machination after another. Makes me weep with joy...)

Sanctuary: Awesome tale of the links between the Japanese yakuza and the government.

Monster: A classic. Everyone knows about this anyway, so let's carry on...

My Name is Nero: Sadly discontinued. Someone, anyone, please pick this up! Even if it's got the freaky mother/son incest...

Kerberos Panzer Corp: Mecha-enhanced political manga. Gotta love it! (Well, I presume I will; I've ordered it but haven't received it yet.)

Kunimitsu no Matsuri: A humorous shounen manga about a young guy who decides to change the corrupt government!

Poland's Secret Story: Again, sadly discontinued. Polish politics in classic 70s shoujo art.

Several titles by Kawauchi Kaiji: Yeah, most of his work has a major political theme. Some of it is very nationalistic, but I still love it.

Princess: Apparently a shoujo political manga, but I lost patience after the first volume - too much romantically-driven angst. (I'm okay with national tragedies, but not personal ones... Go figure!)

Adolf: You already know what it's about, don't you? Yes, it is about Adolf Hitler - but also about a Jew and a part-Japanese guy who also share Hitler's first name.

Path of the Assassin: A ninja gets deeply embroiled in the dangers of politics, thanks to the young shogun he is assigned to protect.

Hyougemono: Tea and politics - they go together well, don't they?

Historie: Politics (and sundry other things) in the time of Alexander the Great.

Afghanistan: A somewhat optimistic political allegory, if very topical. Just a one-shot.

Apocalypse Meow: Another allegory, but far darker this time! Portrays the horrors of the Vietnam War in a distinctly Orwellian style. If you don't mind bunnies getting shot, maimed or otherwise injured, then this is the manga for you. (I quite like it; the rabbits give as good as they get!)

Further political recommendations will be appreciated.

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Read manga with the following themes...
Politics
Power Couples
Pure Subtext

The only ones I can think of with politics involved are CAT and Akumetsu

Whee! CAT sounds good! Thanks...

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Read manga with the following themes...
Politics
Power Couples
Pure Subtext

Eden I only read a bit, but it seems to fit
Shin Angyo Onshi is also historical, but politics is mainly relevant in the flashback (but it's almost flashback > main story). It also one of my fav manga.

There is also Ares, but that's arguable. But at least to me it's one of the few shounen with a decent political interaction between the countries, especially in the middle of the story.

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What I like in Trivial Pursuit style. Pick your category:

Eagle by Kawaguchi Kaiji, it's about US Presidential election. As it's licensed by Viz, I'm not sure whether scanlation is available. I wonder if Zipang (also by the same mangaka) can be considered as political manga. It's about a bunch of soldiers from the future go back to the world war 2 era.

Thanks for mentioning Ikeda Riyoko's Poland's Secret Story, I'll try it out. I love it best when Ikeda Riyoko makes stories based on historical events, such as Versailles no Bara (but it's not so much political manga in my opinion, Eikou no Napoleon - Eroika has more politics than Versailles).

Hmm, I rarely find good political shoujo manga (moreover in english), but I know they do exist. For good one, try Basara, although it takes a couples of volumes before I'm completely addicted to the story.

If you don't flat out reject shounen-ai, try From Eroica with Love (being a work from the 1970s, nothing is explicit anyway). For better description and some previews go here. It's not exactly political manga, but it has NATO, KGB, CIA, MI6, and secret agents from other countries. Don't be fooled by volume 1, the actual story starts when the NATO officer appears.

Last edited by yuuri097 at 7:38 am, Aug 8 2008

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ares
houshin engi

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"Hip-hop was set out in the dark. They used to do it out in the park"

Akumetsu it looks like some1 recommended it already...thts the only one i kno

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The Don: Young Makaveli

love is evil, spell it backwards and I'll show you...

"my mind shines bright even when my thoughts seem dark"

Never Ignorant Getting Goals Accomplished

The Hate U Give Little Infates F***s Everybody

justILLMATIC

Try some of these then:

Ouke no Monshou

[m]Antolia Story[/m]

It might not be a hundred percent fit with your description, but close enough i think

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****You like the things that i HATE, and i HATE the things that you like****

Well im really happy to see that someboy actuay brought up Eagle . Theres also Barefoot Gen and then theres pretty much the whole Gundam series, which is pretty much all about politics. Man you should try playing the Front Mission video games sometime, you would probably like them (unless you have something agenst SRPGs).

Political manga:

Eden (Yeah, THE political manga about the struggle of 3rd world countries, READ IT! because I scanlate it.)
Great Teacher Onizuka (critical society manga)
A Spirit of the Sun (a post war manga)
Bokurano (a critic to adults and society)
Hikori Endo Short Stories (awesome collection of short stories, very political)
Hotman (a critic to society)
Robo & Sexy Voice (a detective manga, somewhat political as it reflects the dark side of society)
Pluto (a world where robots and humans live together)

But remember one thing, manga are made for entertainment. The facts are distorted to fit the story and often exagerated, so don't think you have a great knowledge about Japan's gov. system after reading Sanctuary. Who cares about "politicial manga"? You read Sanctuary because it got cool heros and lots of sex scenes, not because you think it's awesome how those old geezers fight the younger politcians. Most ppl don't understand shit they read. The majority just reads those mangas to get a feel that they understand something, but in reality they don't. So I'd adivse you to pick any manga up you like, not because of its genre.

I recommend to read mostly old mangas like Lone Wolf and Cub or Samurai Executioner. No other manga series illutraste politics deeper than them, well maybe only Sanctuary.

Team Medical Dragon is about hospital politics.

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It is a little out there but Millennium Prime Minister has politics but is more of a comedy manga.

Code Geass? Kinda

Shaman Warrior
The Stratocracy of Altair



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Political themes in a fantasy setting...

Full Metal Alchemist (the anime is great for this one)
Basilisk

and hmm...

Bokko

edit: didn't notice one had been mentioned so I removed it

Last edited by Juneau at 10:51 am, Sep 17 2008