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Golgo 13's Saito Discusses How He Creates His Manga

The Sankei Shimbun newspaper posted an exclusive feature article based on an interview with the Golgo 13 manga creator Takao Saitō on Monday. The 75-year-old manga artist discussed how he and his team write the action manga.

According to the article, Saito works with a dedicated team of about ten writers to create the impression of a spy novel in the manga. The creator delegates and strictly checks all their work before each chapter is published.

Saito revealed that serialization of Golgo 13 was supposed to end ten times, and he is planning the last part of the manga. However, he also stated that only the manga's readers and publishers will decide when the story will conclude.

The manga launched in November 1968 in the January 1969 issue of Shogakukan's Big Comic magazine, and it is the longest-running manga still being serialized. It centers around the unrivaled assassin-for-hire Duke Togo and his exploits around the world. Golgo 13 has sold over 200 million copies, and the series' 163rd volume shipped in Japan on December 5. The manga inspired two live-action films (one starring Ken Takakura in 1973 and another starring Sonny Chiba in 1977), an anime film, a video anime project, and a television anime series. The production company Davis Film also announced in September that it acquired new film adaptation rights from Japan's LEED Publishing Co., Ltd.

Viz Media published selected chapters from the four-decade-long run of the original Golgo 13 manga in North America. Sentai Filmworks and Section23 Film released the television anime series.

Source: Sankei Shimbun