Episode 421: Golgo 13 (Patreon)

I vowed 12 months ago that 2021 would be the Year of Golgo 13—by which I meant I was going to publish a couple of videos about Golgo 13 games. I did not expect 2021 to be the one where Golgo 13 made international news because its creator passed away after working on the series for more than 50 years! But here we are, and with the topic front of mind for multiple reasons, it only seemed right to make a podcast about it, too. 

So, this week, I connected with Diamond and one of the show's favorite men-in-Japan to talk about the cultural clout of the Golgo 13 series, the history of manga and gekiga, and of course the (surprisingly few) games starring Golgo 13 himself. 

And because Golgo 13 continues to make news, we learned about one game we missed just a couple of days ago—a CDi interactive comic that no one had bothered to chronicle in the multiple English-language resources we referenced in putting together this episode. That's Golgo 13 for ya, though. You never see him coming....

Art by Shaan Khan and edits by Greg Leahy. Music this episode:

• 14:03 - The Professional OST: Command G-13
• 24:58 - The Professional OST: In Masquerade Scope
• 33:07 - The Professional OST: Danger Zone
• 45:48 - The Professional OST: Tail to Nose | Top Secret Episode (NES): Title/Pause Theme
• 53:48 - Golgo 13 (SG-1000): Round 2 Gameplay
• 1:01:08 - Top Secret Episode (NES): Aqua Base
• 1:12:48 - Top Secret Episode (NES): Night Time
• 1:19:50 - The Mafat Conspiracy (NES): Paris (Act 1 Theme)
• 1:29:30 - Kiseki no Dandou (Arcade): Stage Select
• Closing - The Mafat Conspiracy (NES): Title/Act 3 Theme