Two departments of the US government pit Golgo 13 and the young sniper Katz against one another, as Golgo attempts to kill a Jordanian envoy and Katz tries to stop him.
Oh, and we also get the most Osamu-Dezaki-y episode of Golgo 13 TV yet.
By which I mean… POSTCARD MEMORIES~!~!
And in a callback to Dezaki’s cinema outing with Golgo 13, a CGI HELICOPTER~!~!~!
While I’m not expecting this to be Dezaki (I’m assuming he’s busy with Ultraviolet & Cobra), I would be interested in seeing who directed this, as I’m surprised with not seen the Postcard Memory technique used more often in the series. Admittedly the episodes tend to be packed as it is and there may not be time such a pace slowing technique, but it’s almost something you are expecting from the series.
Storywise, it’s another mind game as people try to out-think Golgo, with some modern politics thrown in as background. It is a shame the television isn’t as brave as the manga and refuses to use caricature when real people turn up. This episode’s US Secretary of Defense looks nothing like Robert Gates, and only looks like Rumsfeld if you squint and imagine glasses.
They’re definitely showing traces of the “old” G13 but I have yet to see something that truly has the look and feel of either the manga or the old movies. The intro music, while cool, is completely irrelevant to G13 (young J-rockers singing about love and emotion? They seem to have the wrong show…) and the artwork is the typical glossy nu-style anime that just can’t pull off the gritty feel of the old stuff.
I don’t expect them to change anything at this point, but I hope they try some new directing. They still have a few great untold stories left, maybe if Takao were to step in and take a more hands-on approach..
…
I find this series works just fine and wouldn’t really like the older Golgo animation techniques or stories. I think the stories are the closest we’ve seen to the manga, and that may be because your typical Golgo story translates to about a 1/2 hour of sheer entertainment.
No blood geysers from shots to the forehead. No unbelievable circus-performer assassins or 7-foot tall long-tongued freaks, or piano-playing psychotics with over-the-top back-stories.
Actually, one improvement I did notice is that the anatomical proportions are actually consistent. Sometimes the Takao’s artists would draw the heads too big or Golgo’s face would squish or lengthen, part of the charm? Perhaps, but the series Golgo looks damn fine.