Lost 1971 “Golgo 13” animated series which was recently found will be distributed on Amazon Prime

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The first animated work of “Golgo 13”, which had been a “phantom anime’ because the whereabouts of the film was unknown for a long time, is being distributed sequentially from December 29th on Amazon Prime Video and other channels.

This work is the first animated work of manga artist Saito Takao’s masterpiece “Golgo 13”, which is also known as the “single manga series with the most volumes published”. It was produced using a method similar to what we now call motion comics, in which the colors were applied to the graphic by hand and then shot on film, using a method similar to what we now call motion comics. It was broadcasted on Tokyo Broadcasting System (currently TBS) in 1971.

In later years, the whereabouts of the film became unknown and it was thought that the footage did not exist, but 52 years after its broadcast, part of the film (all 40 episodes, 130 cans) was discovered, and in 2023 In December, digitally remastered episodes such as “Byakuya Wa Moan of Love” and “Sniper GT” were broadcast on BS-TBS as “Golgo 13 Selection”.

In response to fans’ requests for all episodes to be released, it has been decided that all 40 episodes will be released. Ten episodes will be distributed at any time from December 29th on Amazon Prime Video, d Anime Store, DMM TV, etc.

In conjunction with the decision to release all 40 episodes, Saito Teruko, president of Saito Productions and wife of the late Saito Takao, commented as follows, “He was always grateful to the staff, everyone involved in his work, and most of all, his readers. The way he sat at hi desk, holding a pen in his right hand and a man’s romance in his left, looked like a true craftsman. At times, his eyes sparkled like a young boy, and he was full of a sense of adventure until the very end. I was informed that an old film that had been made into an animation based on the teacher’s gekiga works had been found in TBS Sparkle’s warehouse, and when I saw it, I realized that even though the animation was done using old techniques now, I found it refreshing. I would be happy if many people could see this work and come into contact with his gekiga works and feel something”.

Note: Saito Takao has often rejected being called a mangaka and preferred “Gekiga” which is a style of Japanese comics aimed at adult audiences and featured more of a cinematic art style and more mature themes.

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