NoaIzumiManga Review: Golgo 13
April 21st 2009 22:32
Golgo 13, aka Duke Togo. No one knows his nationality, background, or even his real name. No one knows who he is, but everyone knows what he is: the world’s greatest assassin. Whether you’re his employer, his target, or someone who’s crossed him, you can be 100% certain he’ll get the job done.
Golgo 13, drawn by Takao Saito, is one of the longest running mangas in Japan, and Duke Togo is one of the most famous characters in Japanese media. Viz has just finished a re-release, of the 26 best Duke Togo stories in thirteen volumes, and it’s this re-release that this review will be based on. The stories are from all over the world, and from varied points in the past in Togo’s career. As the ultimate killer-for-hire, his services are sought by individuals and governments alike. Several of the stories show him being hired by the US government, and sometimes being hired by others against the US government.
Duke Togo himself is a little short on character development, coming to us fully formed and never changing. Although he is well for his physical relations with women (it’s said that he has sex before every mission), he’s never seen in a relationship. Nor does he have any family or relatives (and there is a story behind that lack, seen in Vol. 13). Judging from the Viz series, there’s only one person who could remotely be called a friend, a gunsmith whom Golgo uses for specialty jobs and is seen in a couple of stories. And while his career has been profitable, the money appears to be a secondary consideration. In one story, he gives up a sizable part of his fortune rather than have his identity revealed. His strong sense of honor is also revealed a few times. For someone almost inhuman in personality, he’s strangely compelling, probably out of curiosity as to what really makes the man tick.
The stories are mostly excellent reads. It is impressive that after all these years, the franchise is still relatively fresh. One of the ways that Takao Saito achieves this is by not making Duke Togo the main character every single time. In several stories, the focus is on other characters, making for more diverse plotlines. In fact, one of the best stories in the series is one in which Golgo never actually appears at all.
Great moments: My favorite story is still the first one, with a topical subject, interesting characters, and the finale when Duke Togo literally hits a bullet with a bullet.
Summary: Solid anthology series with plenty of drama and action. Grade: A
Age rating: 17 and up. Sex, nudity, and bloody violence.
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