Ranked #2778

Lupin III: Return of Pycal

I'll just cut to the chase: this is a bad anime.

The Lupin III franchise has always been beloved mostly for its quirky cast of characters, fun action sequences, and general charm. This OAV manages to take every good thing about the series, dump kerosene over it, drop a lit match on it, and watch it burn until nothing is left but cinders.

Most Lupin III flicks have silly or unbelievable storylines, but this was just so unbelievable, and so unbelievably bad, that I really wondered if it was part of the Lupin III universe or just some trash that just had the name "Lupin III" slapped on it to give some credibility to the incredulity. The storytelling aspect of this anime is pathetic and the story itself is no better. It leaves no room for a first-time viewer to get into it, unlike other titles such as Castle of Cagliostro. In this OAV, Lupin meets up with an old nemesis and random, boring things happen, and it is eventually resolved by the end of the anime. So much for thrilling the viewer with a wild, fun story.

As for the art, it jumped between being actually good to being bad. There were a lot of still shots and repeated sequences. It was rather unappealing. Also, the character designs were a little altered. For some reason, instead of getting Lupin's mischievous grins and smirks, he looks evil. In fact, a lot of the characters look evil. I didn't quite understand the change in character design. Perhaps to make them look more "mature"...? Who knows. The art was for the most part dull and uninspired. The chase scenes which the Lupin III series thrive on were animated half-heartedly, and it shows.

The sound was quite average. The jazzy, fun scores that serve as background music for Lupin's misadventures were present, though they were highly underwhelming. It wasn't exciting, and an anime of this sort definitely needs an energetic score.

Now, this was what made this anime actually unbearable: the characters. What is usually the winning aspect of any Lupin III production now served as something quite detrimental. Lupin's personality itself seemed to have been stolen. He was not charming, goofy, or cunning as he normally is. Instead, we got some half-rate Lupin who seems dull, simple-minded and more licentious. The supporting cast barely even supported honestly. There was very little rapport between them and Lupin; the characterisation of Jigen was especially disappointing. Hardly any zingers, no bantering between him and Lupin. And the bad guy of this OAV was actually too stupid to be considered a real bad guy. He instilled no fear, and was one of the most inefficient, meandering criminal "masterminds" I have ever seen.

I completely wasted my time watching this. As an anime, it just manages to be barely worth a watch, but as a Lupin III OAV, this was a sore, horrible disappointment. Worse than having a stupid story, lame characterisations and sub-par art--it was boring as hell. That is the absolute last straw, really.

Also, the random nudity and sexuality was completely out of context and just seemed to be stuffed in there. I am not against nudity in anime, but I assumed this OAV would have been something a younger audience could watch (as are most other Lupin III anime), only to be shocked by the pointless topless women and bare bottoms scattered throughout Lupin III: Return of Pycal. To think I nearly let my younger siblings watch this with me! I am glad I didn't. It wasn't the nudity I was too concerned with though--I am glad I didn't bore them to death by letting them watch it. That would be a greater disservice.

Do yourself a kindness, don't watch this. read more

Lupin III, Return of Pycal can best be described as a big "Meh".
Let us begin the slow, painfull and necisary torture of this movie.
First of all, the story was weak, like realy weak. A good Lupin film always have a story that blend in with the characters, meaning the characters work well with the setting if the story. Most of the character, rather all the character exept one, just feels out of place. The one character that fits in the boring story, is the boring villain, Pycal.
Pycal is a illusionist that Lupin busted a fake in the original series. Then Pycal used a mixture of advanced and cheep tricks to achive his magic, amongst others walking on glas so it looks like he is hovering, and a chemical mix that makes him burn without getting hurt.
In this movie however he uses real magic, that he got right out of the blue. and he is basicly out after revenge on lupin and the world. As i said, weak story, but not bad enough to make you angry, as in example Lupin III Secret of Mamo.

On to the art.
The movie isnt anything special when it comes to the drawing. By all means, it is not ugly. Yet it dosnt got that Lupin feeling. Best describeid is that it is a soulless so-so experience.

Sound:
As said with the art can pretty much be said with the sound. One thing i usually love about the Lupin movies is the music. It is classy, well-written and simply swipes you of your feets... exept in this movie, where its just ok.

Characters:
I have given this movie a score of 2 when it comes to the characters. The characters feel poor, lack the íntense feeling many of the other movies have, and worst of all, there is hardly no link between the characters, no bond to speak of.
In a good Lupin III movie, there is a certain "Hate-yet-friends" relationship between Lupin and Zenigata, the cop trying to catch Lupin. Also there is a certain competition/rivality between Lupin and his companions. This movie hardly contains any of it.
To say it with few words, the characters are weak, bleak imitations of the original characters.

Enjoyment:
I actually remember me sapping through the film at some point, wich i hardly ever do, especially not in a lupin movie where every detail, every sceen can mean a huge difference. Before you start to wonder, yes i have seen the whole moviue without skipping parts also, so it isnt that i just missed some important parts.
See it, dont see it. Your choise. It dosnt realy land that big of an impact on you.

Now you think "Wait, that still dosnt sound as it deservs a score 2 (Dreadful). rather a 3 or 4 perhaps."
And yes, it would probably deserv a 3 or 4... if it wasnt a Lupin movie. Then it would simply be a bad movie. Now it is a rape of a big name, without any idea, only made for the money. And in my point of view that makes it more horrible. read more

Return of Pycal is a decent Lupin OVA, but it does have it's drawbacks.

It starts off pretty quickly with Lupin doing a flashy robbery, making women's clothing disappear, and doing magic tricks dressed up as a clown. This leads into a gunfight in a hall of mirrors with Zenigata, who is acting very strangely...

This is the return of Pycal, the villain from the 2nd episode of Lupin III, as you'd figure. It's entertaining to have him back, he's a stylish villain. This has some other nice callbacks to the first Lupin series, such as Lupin's green jacket, and Fujiko's motorcycle animation from the original show's ending credits.

This OVA also has a slow paced, laid back feel reminiscent of some of the first Lupin episodes. This isn't a problem by itself, but combined with the short length it is a drawback.

Fujiko is sexy as always, sporting a character design closer to the first series in this one. Her amusing obligatory playing the seduction card on Lupin is a standout scene.

Lupin comes across as cool and confident like usual, trying to collect some crystals to thwart Pycal. Jigen and Goemon are solid, but in fairly small roles. Zenigata has a very small part in this, but the screen time he does get is entertaining.

The problem however really comes about 46 minutes in, when the credits start to roll. This ends abruptly, with questions unanswered, and it feels like we're missing a third act to come. We do get a few minutes of decent stuff after the credits, but unfortunately this only makes things more confusing.

So, if you're a Lupin fan this is worth watching, but it does leave you wanting much more. read more