The Golgo 13 series has been one of the longest running manga series of all time, first published in 1968, and still being going on today without a break. Artist Takao Saito is still drawing the series, and even with his over 80 years of age, he is still keeping up the schedule and the series he had created.
He has a fantastic drive and creative spirit, and if you wish to see how he does his work, I highly recommend the “Manben” documentary series, where his work process if recorded and commented by himself. For example, he uses his own cigarette to dry the white-out spaces on the page. To the question if he has burned the page before, he simply answers with “Yes, many times.”
A technique as rad as his own drawings. (Source)
And of course, his works have been adapted many times, into films and TV series of all sorts.
Golgo 13: The Professional (1983) by acclaimed and beloved director Osamu Dezaki is a fantastic way to enter the franchise, as it tells a self-contained hard-boiled story of a family drama that professional sniper “Golgo 13”, or Duke Togo as he calls himself, gets pulled into. This film is also widely known as the first anime to ever use CGI in its animation, and it truly is something to marvel at how far we have come. Seeing the 2D and 3D segments clash is simply astonishing, especially since Dezaki’s directional style is very aesthetic and precise in its framing, which is then broken with a free camera moving low poly helicopter scene. I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys a good adult crime or spy thriller, and to fans of the medium for Dezaki’s superb style, action and framing.
While the film is fondly remembered and often discussed, there is another adaptation that I wish to talk about. The 2008 TV series, simply named Golgo 13.
This series spans 50 episodes in total, I have now seen 8 episodes and want to give you my first impressions.
Duke Togo is a professional sniper, the best in the trade. He works under the codename “Golgo 13” and practically no information is given about him: we don’t know his age, his nationality, his background or anything else. All we have is a stone-faced hitman with no internal monologue – we cannot see inside his head, neither the narrator, nor the viewer.
Togo’s days seem to follow the same structure every time. He is called by a client, he is told his mission, he starts preparing, he shoots said target, and then disappears as silently as he arrived. He gets a job, then he gets the job done. As simple as that.
While this may sound monotonous on paper, it’s the execution and variation that makes this series.
Maybe Duke will be caught halfway through the episode, and the rest is just him trying to escape the police’s grasp with mindgames. Or maybe, his client falls in love with him, so he needs to deal with this inconvenience. Or maybe, Duke is supposed to interrupt a weapon’s deal from happening.
Duke Togo. The man, the mystery, the person with the single most permanent scowl.
Essentially, Golgo 13 excels in the creativity of its cases and how these are framed. As a sniper, the main goal is not to kill some, it is to shoot somebody or something. And these can range from killing a corrupt politican, to killing a yakuza boss, but also towards shooting a violin string.
A violin master is humiliated during an important concert when one of his strings snaps. As this string is vital for the performance, he cannot play anymore and is booed off-stage. When he hears that one of his most hated rival musicians is supposed to replace him, he wants to humiliate him just the way the audience did back then: Duke is supposed to shoot the fourth string of his violin during a concert. With everyone watching. Without the musician noticing that this was sabotage. And the whole episode is dedicated to this music feud and Duke figuring out on how to do such an impossible job – planning, observing, gathering tools and then executing this complicated plan.
In another episode, Duke must fight again two ultra-modern military snipers in a desert, which slowly unfolds in a delicate and deadly game of hiding and seeking in the sand. And as these episodes tend to be quite slow and careful in its depiction of a sniper’s work, the surroundings can shine with their beautiful designs and atmosphere.
The battle goes far into the night, and the colour work is fantastic.
For a sniper, the surroundings are essential to their work, making a shot possible or impossible, so it is extraordinary to see how much care the Golgo 13 TV series puts into those. They may not be of the highest quality or most elaborate architecture, but the backgrounds and setting make everything grounded and easy to grasp.
But a world is nothing without the characters it inhabits. And here, Golgo 13 has great fun in its episodic structure, always building a little microcosm of relationships and people to visit. And this is where Duke Togo shines.
Looking at this unit of a man, one might think that he is an emotionless killer machine who just does his job and nothing else. Here is where this initial impression is wrong: By pairing him with different foes and friends to play off of, his deadpan attitude and seemingly emotionless face achieves either strong respect or a blissful comedic status.
Especially in one episode where Duke gets caught after an assassination by an equally bearish police commissioner, who is dead-set on arresting Duke. The whole argument and trying to unmask him as the true culprit feels similar to a bonkers court case, where evidence and testimonies are thrown against each other in rapid fashion.
You!
Duke Togo’s unmoving face truly is the best.
And so, this stone face becomes one of the greatest assets of the series, be it as a comedic reaction, an expression of repressed melancholy, or maybe even something more enigmatic when Duke gets entangled in romantic or life-threatening situations. And if you see his face move, be it just a twitch of the eyebrow or a silent drip of sweat running down his temples, you know that the situation is drastic.
Those rare moments really make for a nice treat, and so, Golgo 13 delivers its emotional core just a bit differently – but to great effect.
Conclusion
Of course, giving a final rating to a 50-episode show after only 8 episodes is nonsensical. However, the direction it has taken looks absolutely entertaining, and reading from other reviews, the series is not dropping its episodic structure. And so, we will get 50 little adventures in the life of Duke Togo, the sniper called “Golgo 13”.
If one looks at the staff list, we find 20 different episode directors, and maybe this is also why everything feels so fresh every time: Many different creators telling stories about the same man, all from different angles and perspectives.
Will he win every time? Sure he will, he is Duke Togo – one of the best marksmen in the world. He has done this job for over 50 real-life years now. Many stories, many cases, many clients – and yet, he continues with that unwavering face of his.
And this is what made this show a very comfy watch for me, something lovely to put on in the evening to relax. The slow preparing and planning of his jobs, the certainty that all will go well, but mixed with that light suspense of not know exactly “how”. The creativity and the wonderful execution make this simple concept shine, and I can’t wait to continue watching this series. Will it be funny, will it be dramatic? Who will he fight against, the FBI, the yakuza, or just a private person? We can only find out by taking more short but serene glimpses into the life of a Duke Togo, the sniper called “Golgo 13”.
The End.
Sources: Manben Episode “Takao Saito”, Wikipedia, AnimeNewsNetwork & MyAnimeList “Golgo 13 (TV)”
All images are taken from my French release DVD.
Elena DS 