Takao Saito, the creator of the long-running and highly influential Golgo 13 manga, has passed away at age 84 from pancreatic cancer.

Yahoo News Japan is reporting that the celebrated author and gekiga artist passed away on Sept. 24. Saito was best known for creating the Golgo 13 manga, which was first published in 1968 recently set the record for the longest-running ongoing manga series with over 200 collected volumes. Golgo 13 is also the second best-selling manga series of all time, surpassed only be Eiichiro Oda's One Piece. The manga celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018. In 2003, the Japanese government awarded Saito with a Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon for his contributions to the arts.

Saito's epic told the story of a legendary assassin with the codename Golgo 13, who is also known by the pseudonym Duke Togo. Willing to kill anyone for the right price, Golgo 13 documented the hitman's many missions as he drew the ire of virtually every government and security organization in the world.

Golgo 13 was adapted numerous times to other media during its long run, including two live action movies in 1973 and 1977, the second of which cast acclaimed actor and professional martial artist Sonny Chiba in the titular role. The series was adapted into anime three times, with the first being a 1983 film that featured one of the first uses of computer-generated effects in an anime. Many of the series' fans in North America were first introduced to Duke Togo in the 1988 video game Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode, which was published by Vic Tokai for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. In 2006, Viz Media localized the first 13 volumes of Saito's work into English.

In 2013, Saito confessed that during the manga's decades-long run, he frequently thought that the series was going to be cancelled, so he planned a finale for Togo's many adventures in his head. In April of this year, Saito spoke of the end of the series, saying, "I always get questions about the final episode, and it has always been in my head...I just don't know when it will see the light of day." According to publisher Shogakuan, Saito said before his death that he wanted the story to continue without him, so the publisher has commissioned several of its editors and scriptwriters to assist the staff of the artist's company, Saito Production, with the continued development of the series.

Source: Yahoo News Japan