Starring: Hiroshi Tachi
Director: Shunji Oga
Number of discs: 6
Rated: Unrated
Studio: Sentai Filmworks
Release Date: September 17, 2013
Run Time: 1250 minutes
Series: 4 out of 5 stars
Extras: 1 out of 5 stars
“Golgo 13” has been around since its manga days going back to 1969, which was written and illustrated by Takao Saito. I was first introduced to this series with “Golgo 13: The Professional”, which was released in 1983 and fell in love with it. “Golgo 13” currently shows no signs of slowing down as it is currently the oldest manga that still in publication today. This Blu-ray release including the complete collection of the TV series for “Golgo 13”, which was produced by The Answer Studio back in 2008-2009. There are 50 episodes in this series, so there is some substantial content here to be had. This is no OVA, so get ready for some action packed spy insanity. If you love this “Golgo 13” from the manga or past films, this series is a must! It is fun, kick-ass and a great addition to this brand!
Official Premise: His targets never see it coming and he’s never caught. If there’s a witness to the kill, that poor SOB winds up dead too. People say he’s a ghost. A machine. A monster. But he’s Golgo 13, the most feared assassin in the world, the professional’s professional, and the killer of killers. And now he’s back with 50 targeted missions that will keep you glued to the screen and away from the windows. Load up for high-powered, bullet-riddled action with Golgo 13.
Sentai Filmworks gave this show a great Blu-ray treatment. The episodes are sharp with it’s 1080p transfer and the animation looks very impressive. In the OVA from 1998, “Golgo 13: Queen Bee”, our lead is voiced by John DiMaggio (aka Finn the Dog from “Adventure Time” and Bender from “Futurama”). But in this series, he is voiced by David Wald who is a well-known voice actor for Funimation Entertainment and ADV Films but doesn’t deliver like DiMaggio. In fact, I have to admit if it was DiMaggio voicing Golgo, I would have favored the English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. But with this release, I would have to recommend the Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0, with Golgo voiced by Hiroshi Tachi, for this release no question.
In terms of special features, there really isn’t much here. There is a clean opening and closing animation, which is nice to see once but nothing worth wild really. I was hoping for perhaps a featurette on the voice recording for the English dub or even a commentary track. Besides that there is just some additional trailers for upcoming Sentai titles. But the real sell for me anyway on this release is having all 50 episodes on high-def Blu-ray, so it is worth the purchase for that alone.
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