Story: 6
Each episode is non-sequential, and has no bearing on future or previous episodes so you can essentially watch the episodes in no particular order and have more or less the same enjoyment. Each episode begins with Duke Togo aka Golgo 13, receiving a request to kill a target, and the rest of the episode usually involves Golgo 13 undertaking some masterful feat to accomplish his goal. There is no story overall other than following Golgo 13's exploits, however each individual story is fairly unique in regards to how it is presented, each supporting character's backdrops and storylines. That being said, each episode falls back into same formula and you essentially know how each episode will end.
Characters: 7
Ah characters... or should i say "character" as each episode introduces us to only one character who returns every episode. (excluding the gun craftsman who appears a few times). As previously stated, Golgo 13 is the best sniper in the world, he can take out any target, regardless of the circumstances. Also a master in hand to hand combat and short ranged armed combat. Golgo 13 has the outward appearance of a cold emotionless killer, amazingly well built, and has his share of battle scars from earlier days. Quite possibly the manliest man of anime. That being said though, he undergoes very little character development over the entire series. There is a plethora of other characters introduced, usually with unique stories, or backgrounds, however many either end up dead (targets) or will never appear again throughout the series.
Art: 8
Clean artwork, great colouring and shading. I was a big fan of the gloomy atmosphere that the shading gives the series. even in the bright and sunshining days, there still exists that sort of darkness. Character design is somewhat lacking however in this series. Although for the first few episodes you don't really notice it, a general trend starts to develop... A lot of the supporting characters start to look the same. There are soo many supporting characters introduced throughout the series, that most of the henchmen,a few of the targets, and many of the supporting/extra women throughout tend to look nearly identical to each other. Fluid animations throughout, amazing backdrops, and overall pretty good stuff
Sound: 9
the First Opening: "take the wave" from naifu was actually quite catchy, Also a big fan of " Glass no Highway from doa. other op and eds were alright. I thought the seiyu for Golgo 13; Tachi Hiroshi did a great job voicing Duke Togo (Golgo 13), It was a cold emotionless voice that just fit the character perfectly.
Enjoyment: 8
This series was fairly enjoyable, The viewing experience was over a period of 8 or so months, so there was a decent gap inbetween watching, Although thinking about it now, This likely isn't one of those anime where you can just keep watching all the episodes back to back and in 1-4 sittings, Each episode will tend to get very repetitive over time. But as a simple, sit back and watch every now and then show, this anime has merit
Overall: 8
A pretty good experience to watch, Has some pretty enjoyable moments, and a few twists and turns along the way. Check it out if you find the time
