Lupin the Third: Mine Fujiko to Iu Onna

This series is just what it says on the tin: a story about the femme fatale, what made her who she is and how she intersects with Lupin. It lacks much of the humor of the mainline series, though that does peek through in places. It’s a much more serious tale, and the art style does a lot of the heavy lifting in making you feel that, all harsh lines that make it seem like a noir, hard boiled detective story, which in some cases it most definitely is. The art didn’t always work for me, as I’m not the biggest fan of Lupin’s redesign, ... but for most of the characters it gives them a gravity they’ve never been able to show before, none more so than Fujiko herself.

The narrative really makes the series. Most episodes tie into it in some way, whether by bringing in major players or by tying in elements that will play into it, so it rarely feels like we’re just doing something extraneous. And the payoff is pretty great, if a bit theatrical and over the top in places. That’s sort of what gives this series life, even if it results in some pretty laughable situations. And not everyone gets the solid payoff, with one character in particular, Oscar, feeling kind of out of place in the end and making Zenigata feel like an afterthought. That’s a shame because Zenigata was a more complex character in this series, and I wish we’d gotten more of a payoff to his run here. The series also doesn’t spend much time on Goemon’s backstory, though he does get some exploration. Still, this series lives and thrives on Fujiko, and does it ever do her justice on every level. With her at the center, a lot of what doesn’t work for me feels pretty minor in the end.

Last thing I’ll mention is that this series shows a great deal of nudity and more violence than your usual Lupin outing. Both are fine - it should be grittier and, with the titular femme fatale, the nudity makes sense here, even if it can occasionally be a bit gratuitous. Breasts are great, but it does seem like they’re just on display at points for the purpose of making a splash rather than anything meaningful. Still, this feels like a minor quibble in a story that is so much more than skin deep.

I really don't like Fujiko Mine.
Actually, it would be more honest to say I hate the "woman who just seduces every man she meets by touching his thigh cause all men are horny idiots" trope that Fujiko embodies.

This whole movie just feels like we got some Lupin fan service wrapped with a rejected Killer 7 level. Fujiko is in every scene and always has her breasts exposed, or she's saying something sexual to fuel someone's mommy fetish.

And it gets really dull, really fast.

The villain also feels more at home in JJBA or something. He's got some weird mind control powers and can create sandstorms ... by sweating because he ate a poison flower or something???????????

I get that its supposed to tie into the "assassin factory" plot arc but the other Assassins were somewhat believable. A sniper with a live feed to random cameras in his eye, a really big scary Chuck Noris looking dude with two axes.

Honestly not worth it. Unless your the world's biggest Fujiko fan, then maybe your love (or lust) for her might be enough to sustain you through this film.

Hopefully the next one will be better

Let my preface this review by saying that there are facts that make me biased in the case of The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. I have watched many Lupin releases including the original Miyazaki TV series, also know as "green jacket" Lupin, as well as the 155 episode Part II, variably known as "red jacket" Lupin, as well as many of the movies and specials.

I have not finished Part III, a.k.a. "pink jacket" Lupin, because the ugly art has given me trouble in caring about it, and I have completed Part IV, a.k.a. Lupin (2015) or "blue jacket" Lupin, so I am a pretty ... well-versed fan of the Lupin franchise. I know that Fujiko Mine is supposed to an alternate retelling of the original series, but this series is a disgrace and is disgusting in every possible way.

Another point that makes me dislike this show is that I think Sayo Yamamoto's projects are horrendous and trashy. In my opinion, the only good thing that she worked on is Texhnolyze, but she wasn't the lead director on that project. Michiko to Hatchin and Yuri on Ice are both awful series that don't have a direction with narrative and depend on artsy, pretentious-ness and "socially aware" messages to cushion the fall of their failures.

Despite what Tumblr leads you to believe, just because something is representative of other cultures/ethnicities or has the first homosexual marriage announced in it (even though, not true, technically Kyou Kara Maou had a homosexual proposal before), doesn't make it a good series. I often find that people are victims to internet communities and hype, so much so that they refuse to see any of the flaws in something, because there are moments that they like. Moments don't make a story, something called a cohesive narrative does.

Allow me to begin by saying that the characters are nothing like the original series and are portrayed in crude and offensive ways. Lupin probably is the most accurate portrayal, that was passable.

Jigen being seduced by Fujiko is a big no. In the original continuity, Jigen doesn't like women and especially hates Fujiko with a passion, treating Lupin like an idiot for falling for her. It's completely ludicrous him fall in love with her in this, something in the guise of a prequel.

Goemon isn't believable either, the original series DOES state that he has a weakness for women, and that's practically his Achilles heel, but Goemon has a type. In all of the other variations, he has always gone for the traditional, sweet, and pure type of woman.

In the original continuity, Goemon has even shown disdain for Fujiko being such a vulgar woman, but no, apparently in Yamamoto's brain baby, that just means he wants to sleep with her. Apparently, the show wants you to believe that before Lupin even befriended his gang, before that became a thing, heck, even before Lupin and Jigen's iconic bromance came into fruition, they were all just trying to bang Fujiko? What… the… hell?

And the worse one of them all was Zenigata. In the original, there were a couple of times that Zenigata was tricked because he thought Fujiko was pretty, but the Zenigata I know would never have time for that. In Lupin III Part II, the series makes a substantial deal of letting us know that Zenigata is so obsessed with catching Lupin that that's the only thing he makes time for, he even says that he doesn't have time to bathe or brush his teeth because of his pursuit of Lupin.

And yet he has time to have sex with Fujiko? No, no, no! No! Fujiko has always been the femme fatal, but this portrayal of her and everyone else casts her only as an object to be lusted after, but what the series advertises itself to be is a feminist, "women's empowerment" fantasy (this is feminist in the same way that Twilight is “empowering” for women). The opening is stupid, it’s called "New Wuthering Heights," and has the narrator droning out precocious phrases that try to make this series 3deep5u.

There's nothing that even really indicates that Fujiko is her usual backstabbing self, except for maybe the first couple of episodes. They even write the offensive, psychopathic gay guy (Oscar) to obsessively lust after Fuji-cakes like she's a piece of meat. Even though it originally portrays him as having a thing for Zenigata; it gets mixed up, like all of the other plot points and becomes art for art's sake.

Everyone has sex with her, wants to have sex with her, or wants to be her. Simultaneously, they shame her for having sex. And, I got tired of even hearing her name by the last 4 episodes. If you want to be indoctrinated to believe that being facetious suddenly makes you self-aware then I suppose you would like this hunk of indispensable garbage. Fujiko's personal story isn't even concluded in the end, though heavily alluded to throughout the series.

I wouldn't want this to be anyone's introduction to Lupin, preferably I would want that spot to go to Part I, II, IV, Jigen's Gravestone, or Castle of Cagliostro. I can't even convey how much I hate this series; I would never be friends with anyone who thought this was high art. I give it a 2/10, because the art and animation are superb and I'm a fair critic, but otherwise I would have rated it in the negatives. I wish that The Woman Called Fujiko Mine would have never been added to the Lupin franchise.