The legendary creator behind "Golgo 13," Takao Saito, passed away at 84.

The death of Saito was confirmed by the official Twitter account of his production company, where they mentioned the day of his passing, which was on September 24 at 10:42 am in Tokyo.

Saito passed away after suffering from his pancreatic cancer diagnosis.

As reported by this article, Shogakukan admitted that Saito wanted his most extended running series to continue without him before his death. And so, a group of artists in the company will still proceed on producing "Golgo 13" as they get assisted by the editorial department of Shogakukan's Big Comic magazine and an additional scriptwriting staff.

It can be recalled that on July 17, Saito Production launched the first-ever spinoff manga of the franchise.

Rest Easy, Takao Saito

Takao Saito was born in November 1936 in Wakayama, western Japan, and grew up in Osaka Prefecture. The manga creator made his debut in 1955 with "Kūki Danshaku" and became an advocate of dividing up the work process of producing manga. He also established his own manga production company, Saito Production, in 1964.

A few years later, by 1968, Saito published the "Sagashiya hage Taka Tōjō!!" and launched "Golgo 13" later that year. With the help of "Golgo 13," Saito earned numerous prestigious awards throughout his career.

His well-known manga won the 21st Shogakukan Manga Award, a Japan Cartoonists Association Grand Prize award, and the special judge's award at the 50th Shogakukan Manga Awards. In 2003, he was awarded the Medal of Honor With Purple Ribbon and the Order of Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays With Rosette, in 2010.

"Golgo 13" celebrated its 50th year of serialization in 2018 and Saito's 65th year as a manga creator in 2020. The article also mentioned that "Golgo 13," is recognized as the oldest manga currently still in publication.

It even tied with Osamu Akimoto's "Kochira Katsushika-ku Kamearikouen-mae Hashutsujo" ("Kochikame"), which is a police comedy manga that earned Guinness World Record for "most volumes published for a single manga series," tied with 200 volumes as of April 5.

Later on, "Golgo 13" surpassed the previous record-holder as they published the 201st volume on July 5 and the 202nd volume on September 6. Numerous fans of the manga creator shared their tributes on social media as soon as they heard the news.


May his soul rest in peace.