Lupin III: Part 6

Lupin III Part VI is a step back in modern Lupin.
After the brilliance of Part V I had high hopes for this season, sadly it didn't quite reach them.

In Part VI we get two main stories, Sherlock Holmes and Lupin's Origins, with a mixture of episodes from well known creators in between, sadly the series doesn't have solid arcs like Part V.

London and Sherlock Holmes was an interesting arc spread throughout the first cour, Sherlock was portrayed well and the mystery was interesting, sadly the arc was split with odd episodes wedged inbetween its beginning and end, making it a bit jumbled.

Lupin's Origin which is ... spread through the second half of the series, again with odd episodes breaking up it up once again. This arc is weaker, with less interesting characters and a so-so ending.

The singular episodes between were of varied quality, though many were quite creative, personally my favourite was Episode Four: The Killers in the Diner.

As for characters, they're as good as always, but sadly the series has none of the exploration of their relationships that Part V had.

Side Note: Jigen's voice actor has changed for the first time ever, his new VA does a great job.

Overall it's Lupin III which other than Part III automatically makes it a good series, but it doesn't reach great.

This latest installment of the Lupin III franchise appears to go back into the "green jacket" roots with its major characters. Mixing ongoing and episodic story developments, Lupin III: Part 6 dabbles into two ongoing story arcs with the first exploring Lupin and his gang crossing paths with the modern incarnation of Sherlock Holmes connecting him with the murder of his former assistant, Watson, and the second half featuring Lupin trying to gain possession of a diamond stolen from his family years earlier while crossing paths with a group of women thieves going after the same valuable item. Whether episodic or ongoing, all the episodes ... go back to the roots of the "green jacket" style of Lupin III as the characters are more serious and Lupin's gang aren't afraid to take lives if things get serious.

As far as the storytelling goes, the ongoing story arcs have a good deal of plot development and foreshadowing that elude to elements of their situations as things build up. The Holmes arc has its fair share of layers to its plot with Watson's murder seemingly connected to a larger conspiracy that is unraveled as episodes progress and having some element of drama as his murder affected Watson's daughter, Lily, who has repressed memories of the incident. The Witch and Gentlemen arc attempts to add some fleshing out of Lupin's past as the group of women thieves are apparently connected to an old teacher Lupin had in his childhood named Tomoe, though this plot gets a bit convoluted to follow in later episodes as more about these connections get revealed.

The episodic plots in the series either attempt to get experimental exploring different heists or characters within Lupin's gang or providing humor to attempt balancing out the more serious direction of the ongoing story arcs. These stories are a bit hit and miss with their quality, as I tended to lean more favorably for the more comedic episodic plots for the series that include Lupin and his gang attempting a heist against an elaborate security system that longtime Lupin fans may be familiar with from past parts of the series and a young woman misunderstanding the interactions between Lupin and his gang as some sort of complicated romantic developments involving Fujiko.

In short, Lupin III: Part 6 largely offers more of the same in its storytelling structure offered from recent TV installments of the franchise mixing ongoing story arcs with episodic plots, but following more in the tone of "green jacket" installments of it. The quality of the story arcs and episodic plots have their fair share of highs and lows for me personally, making the quality of it overall be down a nudge compared to Part 4 and Part 5. But if you are a longtime Lupin III fan craving more of the "green jacket" tone, Part 6 may be worth a look.

Let me start off by saying you should watch Lupin if you haven't. The franchise has so much variety, from goofy to cool to serious, yet it all mixes so well. Parts of the franchise have their ups and downs but the successful ones show off fun adventures with a wholesome cast and a feel-good tone.

That being said Part 6 falls really short from it's animation to, especially, it's storytelling. Parts 4 and 5, while being self contained narratives, broke new ground in the series by keeping one main plotline going through an entire season. Past parts and movies always had self contained stories ... for each episode. Part 6 tries to have a bit of both and that's where the issues start.

We begin with a really promising setup: Sherlock Holmes vs Lupin. We're teased with a rivalry between the two based on their past together, and we're given an intriguing shadowy organization that's against the two of them. This plotline doesn't go anywhere interesting beyond the first few episodes with a really disappointing reveal and abrupt ending to the Sherlock arc entirely. Afterward we're given a mix of one-off stories and a new arc exploring some really deep territory surrounding Lupin. While its revealed these events are connected the executions disappointing.

The "one-offs" are decent, and the big arc they've been developing is great but it's not presented in a sensible manner. Its back and forth for seemingly no reason and when the reveal comes you can't help but wish they handled those one-offs differently.

Then we have the animation which is a huge step back in quality. I imagine Covid has affected the production heavily so I can cut some clack but compared to recent entries in the series Part 6 just looks flat out bad at parts. The color palettes and outlines of the characters don't really blend naturally into the backgrounds, almost like you're playing a low-budget visual novel or these characters were pasted onto backgrounds that they weren't designed for. The CG isn't too bad when it's used for vehicles but when the backgrounds go 3D it can look atrocious.

There are positives here. The few good moments between Lupin and Holmes are great, the one-offs are mostly decent, when they actually choose to develop the second arc it's well done, the tone and atmosphere are cozy yet cool, and series veteran Yuji Ohno makes another amazing soundtrack that's great to listen to outside of the show. His music, even in the worst series entries, is always fantastic and Part 6 is no exception. A last positive I'll give, episode 23 has what is probably my favorite scene between Lupin and Fujiko. If you've watched the series you'll find a very effective moment between the two.

So Part 6 has stuff to enjoy but the animation and storytelling are frustrating. Part 4 was a very good return to the franchise on TV and Part 5 is one of the best pieces of media the franchise has ever produced so it's disappointing to see the streak end here. It's not flat out awful but the decisions they made are questionable and I hope if we get a Part 7 they can steer the ship in a better direction. I'd recommend to fans, for anyone getting into the series Miyazaki's masterpiece The Castle of Cagliostro is the best place to start along with the recent CG movie Lupin The First. From there you'll know if the series is for you.