Manga Creator of Popular Golgo 13, Takao Saito, Passed Away

The veteran Manga author and artist Takao Saito, who created the long-running and popular series Golgo 13, sadly passed away on 24^th September 2021 from pancreatic cancer. Born in 1936 in Wakayama Prefecture in western Japan; Takao Saito was 84 years old at the time of his passing. His most well-known work, Golgo 13, is a story of a legendary hitman called Togo and his many targets and misadventures. Takao Saito leaves behind a great legacy with his repertoire of work, of which amongst is ‘The Story Of Togo’ which recently became the longest-running ongoing Manga series of all time. Published in 1968 ‘The Story Of Togo’ a well-remembered Manga will certainly be something many fans of his work will hold on to in remembrance of him.

Takao Saito debuted as a Manga artist in 1955 with Kuuki Danshaku, which he started while working as a barber. His most famous work, Golgo 13, has an incredible collection of 200 volumes, and it celebrated its 50^th anniversary in 2018. Since the Manga has been around for a considerably long time, it comes to no surprise that it is the second bestselling series of all time after One Piece, which is created by Eiichiro Oda.

As a second bestselling series, the Manga, as well as the creator, have received many awards; which includes the 21st Shogakukan Manga Award in the General category for Golgo 13. In 2002, Takao Saito and the Manga Golgo 13 won the Grand Prize at the Japan Cartoonists Association Awards; and in 2003, the Japanese government awarded Takao Saito with a Medal of Honour with Purple Ribbon for his contribution to the arts. 2005 was when Golgo 13 was one of two winners of the Special Judges Award at the 50th Shogakukan Manga Awards; and in 2009, Takao Saito was among the 158 Manga artists invited to celebrate the 50th anniversary of both Shogakukan’s Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine and Kodansha’s Weekly Shōnen Magazine.

Even with a list of awards, Takao Saito admitted in 2013 that he often feared the series would be cancelled at any moment, and so he planned a comprehensive finale for Togo in his head. He said, “I always get questions about the final episode, and it has always been in my head. I just don’t know when it will see the light of day.”

According to the Golgo 13 Manga publisher Shogakuan, Takao Saito had already arranged for the story to continue in his absence. Several editors and scriptwriters from the artist’s company, Saito Production, have been drafted in to help continue the series and allow Saito’s impressive legacy to live on.

With so much recognition for Takao Saito’s creative work, as well as the creations themselves, it was very unfortunate to hear of his passing, however, with promised continuation of Golgo 13, we can be sure that Takao Saito will continue to be remembered and celebrated for his amazing work in the graphic novel and animation industry.