Image via Saito Production on Twitter
The editorial department of Big Comic announced today that renowned manga creator Takao Saito, who is best known for creating Golgo 13, the longest-serialized manga of all time, passed away on September 24 due to pancreatic cancer. He was 84 years old. In accordance with Saito's wishes, the department confirmed that Golgo 13 will continue under the production of Saito Production, a company set up by Saito himself to create manga.
Takao Saito was born in Wakayama prefecture on November 3, 1934. Saito didn't know he was born in Wakayama until he was 43 years old because soon after his birth, his parent and his 4 siblings moved to Osaka to set up a barbershop. Soon after his father left the family to become a photographer. His mother raised all 5 children as a single parent working as a hairdresser. While growing up, Saito was well known for his drawing skills and being a delinquent.
After graduating Junior High school in 1950, Saito worked at the family hairdresser where he took over the family shop in 1952. In his spare time, he drew what became his debut manga, Baron Air. After a year of rewrites on the advice of the publisher, Saito debuted with Baron Air in 1956 with rental-manga magazine publisher Hinomaru Bunko at the age of 18. Saito was inspired by the works of Ranpo Edogawa and Osamu Tezuka.
In the same year, Saito quit the barbershop to concentrate on manga, which angered his mother so much, she denounced manga, never picking up any of his books until her death.
Under the guidance of Masami Kuroda, an established manga creator, Saito moved to Tokyo and co-founded the Gekiga Kobo, a manga creative collective that aimed to spread the Gekiga genre to more people in a world where Tezuka’s works were mainstream. The influential group disbanded in 1960 over internal issues, which prompted Saito to found Saito Production, which continues to this day.
After some more works under the rental-manga system, Saito debuted in a general manga magazine in 1963 with an adaptation of James Bond in Shogakukan’s Boy's Life magazine in 1963. This move was seen as the death knell in the rental manga market where Saito made his name and kept afloat.
After the completion of 007, Golgo 13 began in the newly established Big Comic magazine, where it is still serialized today. Golgo 13 has the Guinness World Record for longest-running manga series, won the 1975 Shogakukan Manga Award, the Grand Prize at the 2002 Japan Cartoonists Association Awards, and is reportable the second best selling manga series of all time after One Piece and ahead of Dragon Ball.
Memorial for Takao Saito on Big Comic's website:
Saito was awarded the Order of the Rising Sun 4th Class, Gold Rays with Rosette in 2010 by the Japanese government in the name of then-current Emperor Akihito, one of the highest honors in Japan for a civilian, and was awarded the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize special price in 2019 for the 50th anniversary of Golgo 13.
Big Comic revealed alongside the announcement that Golgo 13 will continue at Saito Production. The editorial department wrote that Saito had wished to see Golgo 13 continue “with or without” him and so will be working closely with Saito Production to continue the series to continue Takao Saito’s legacy.
Source: Big Comic editorial department
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Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs a YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza, and posts photos of his travels on Instagram.
Source: Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!
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