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It’s been a long time since I started reading Golgo 13, but I wonder if there was ever a time when I got tired of it. There has never been a wasted volume. It’s always packed with such deep content that the whole story is entertaining. And it’s not just Golgo 13,
all of Takao Saito‘s manga has this feel to it. He had a wealth of knowledge about the times and always had a high storyline that made you a fan. So it feels a little bit lonely for the time being. This obituary was really sad and surprising, but I guess I’m glad I met Duke Togo. There were a lot of crazy things over the years, and the adventure isn’t over yet, but thank you.
Here’s a token from indiananimenetwork.com to wave him a last goodbye before departing to the horizon.
5 Must-Read Manga From Takao Saito
5. Breakdown
The end of the 20th century. The asteroid Wilby is approaching near the earth. The missile interception fails, and the asteroid splits and falls into the Pacific Ocean! What is the fate of the earth?
Breakdown is a story about surviving in a society in which civilization has collapsed due to the global catastrophe caused by the collision of asteroids. Leed Publishing house calls it a seinen urban disaster version of Saito’s Survival as the theme of the story is based on the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake that took place in Japan in 1995. For those who aren’t aware of the Great Hanshin-Awaji or Kobe Earthquake, it was Japan’s most deadliest incident after World War 2 where 6,434 people lost their lives, 43,792 people were injured,105,000 houses were completely destroyed,144,000 were partially destroyed, 1.23 million households were cut off from water supply and city gas supply suspension of about 860,000 units within the jurisdiction of Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. Has occurred and more. The total damage was about $200 billion.
So it is an interesting piece of work that has a bit of historical significance behind it. Both the characteristics of the illustrations and the characters realistically depicted a severe environment in both good and bad ways or more like a human-like way possible. I think it’s worth reading. Do give it a shot.
4. Shikake Jin Fujieda Baian
Umeyasu Fujieda lives in Daimachi, Shinagawa, Edo, and is usually loved by the neighbors as a well-known acupuncturist, but behind the back, he is a villainous villain killing killer machine of the underworld who bury evil with a deadly needle.
Based on the original work by Shotaro Ikenami, Takao Saito’s Shikake Jin Fujieda Baian is a beautiful classic historical drama that Saito himself considered as one of his most important works. The story has a certain Japanese feel to it. It’s a work where you can really feel the times. The illustrations, the backgrounds, and the settings are wonderful. Saito launched the manga in “Special Comic Ran” in July 2001 and later relaunched it in Comic Ran Twins in 2003 where it was serialized until the January 2015 issue upon the death of Fumiyasu Ishikawa, chief assistant of Saito. If you like historical drama and stuff and have a fascination for old classic age stories then this is the perfect manga for you.
3. Survival
A big earthquake has occurred! !! Satoru, who encountered an earthquake while exploring a cave with his friends, was left alone on an uninhabited island with and there is no one to help him. Can Satoru learn how to survive by himself? The battle to survive against the looming crisis begins now!
“The surroundings are the sea. Food is running out. I don’t even have someone to talk to. Am I gonna die? “
How to survive such despair!!!
Serialized in Shogakukan Weekly Shonen Sunday from 1976 to 1978, Takao Saito’s “Survival” is one hell of an adventure action masterpiece !! It is one of the if not the best textbook for survival in the anime manga industry. While the theme of the “Breakdown”, which I introduced earlier is almost the same but it has the drama that becomes deeper when the main character grows up. Satoru has become a character that symbolizes ordinary people who lack knowledge and lack a sense of crisis. Therefore the development of such a character facing difficulties and growing little by little is the most attractive and amazing viewpoint in this work. Try it. It’s really good.
It has been made into various remakes in different media such as in 2000 as Survival 2000 (Kyoichi Nanatsuki), in 2007 “Survival NEO (Okada Tai)”, in 2015 Survival-Shonen S Record (Akira Miyagawa)” and In 2011, into a radio drama on NHK-FM.
2. Onihei Hankacho
Heizo Hasegawa, who was appointed as the secretary of the fire thief in the 7th year of Tenmei plays an active role as a way to change fire thieves, centering on Fukagawa, the headquarters of Edo.
Another Shotaro Ikenami’s timeless masterpiece manga adaptation by the masters of the manga world! The original novel, historical drama, anime, and all Onihei fans are sure to be satisfied if they ever decide to read this work because the world view of Onihei is drawn thoroughly through every panel of the manga. There is no lack of explanation or anything. Trust me you can enjoy it more with a variety of background depictions compared to the historical drama on TV. So just give it a go.
In 2017, the manga was adapted into an anime television series by Studio M2, directed by Shigeyuki Miya with the music by Kohei Tanaka and Ryū Kawamura.
1. Golgo 13
I will not dare to touch on the contents, but to just give you a lil bit insights-serialized in Big Comic since 1968, the manga has been certified by the Guinness World Records as the highest number of volumes for a single manga series. The cumulative circulation of the series has exceeded 300 million. Received the 21st (1975) Shogakukan Manga Award, 31st (2002) Japan Cartoonists Association Award Grand Prize,50th (2004) Shogakukan Manga Award Jury Special Award. Adapted into live-action movies, countless spinoffs, theatrical animes, OVA, television animes, motion picture animations, novels, radio drama CDs, digital comics, video games, etc. The manga also appeared in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ crisis management, Denso Corporation, Globeride Inc, LOTTE Co. Ltd, FOREX.com, Yomeishu Production, Japan Racing Association, Nomura Securities, FCE Process & Technology, Hagoromo Foods Corporation, and many more, and I will not say anymore. It will take me twice as big as this article to just give you the evaluation and legacy of this damn huge thing. So I will stop right here.
Just dive into it. It is truly an amazing piece of seinen entertainment thriller drama where you can feel the emotion and taste different way. It has stood the test of time for 52 years and 11 months and it’s still ongoing as it has been confirmed that “Golgo 13” will continue to be serialized in cooperation with Big Comic magazine editorial, assistants, and staff as Saitou Takao has wished for.
Farewell Golgo !!
