GOLGO 13 – Episode 14 – Death Shadow Of The Setting Sun

The CIA are caught stockpiling WMDs, so Golgo 13 is sent to erase the evidence. However the CIA are not the only people who want this swept under the carpet.

For the first time I can actually compare this directly to the manga. This episode is based on a 1976 strip called Shadow Of Death, which is collected in volume 12 of Viz’s recent Golgo 13 collection.

The manga more explicitly makes the opening investigation the Church Committee and delves more into the politics during the opening scene. However both the anime and the manga keep the identity of the man who orders Golgo’s hiring secret (are we suposed to assume it’s the President?). There’s one other change regarding the politics of the story, the second professional AX-3, is hired by the KGB in the manga, whereas he is hired by some nebulous Middle Eastern country in the anime.

Beyond the politics, the episode plays out very closely to the manga. Outside of a couple of extra scenes the manga has to play up Golgo’s awesomeness the story is exactly the same. The key part of the story as it pertains to the philosophy of Golgo 13 is again in the difference between Golgo and the episode’s main guest character.

In terms of his skill as a gunman, AX-3 is Golgo’s equal, so what is the difference between them as men? Well AX-3 shoots to kill, Golgo it appears, based on an exchange here, shoots to shoot. A target is a target to Golgo, it matters not if it is man or hairpin. And I think that’s a key part of Golgo’s appeal, in that it’s glorifying the skill he has, rather than the end result of it. He’s a man to be admired for his skill rather than what he uses that skill for.