Lupin Zero

Lupin Zero is the latest series in the 50 years old Lupin III franchise, and it presents itself as a prequel set during Lupin’s childhood, explaining the story of how this young boy became the titular thief the series title refers to. This review is coming from someone with no prior experience with the Lupin III franchise, and who in fact decided to use this being a short prequel to introduce himself to it, so I may have missed some references and late arrival spoilers people familiar with the other series would know, but I have to say that this series has a lot of ... style I really dig.

The plot of Lupin Zero can be divided in two parts, the first 4 episodes being episodic adventures that mostly serve show the characters and their dynamic, and the last 2 episodes are about a criminal crisis breaking in Tokyo that forces Lupin to choose if he’ll become a thief like the rest of his legacy. While the latter is obviously a foregone conclusion, I’d say that the ride is what’s more important in this series, with the last episode change of Lupin dropping his blue school uniform in favor of a black suit with tie and a green jacket on top being the perfect representation of the theme that all these 6 episodes share: Lupin’s journey to adulthood.

Even if the plot isn’t much to talk about beyond its themes, the characters are the aspect that really made this series stand out. Lupin is a charming trickster overflowing with creativity, while his classmate Jigen is a serious and relatively down to earth boy who is still willing to get into troubles along with Lupin, so the relationship between these two bounces off really well. The other characters aren’t explored as much as those two, but they’re so bold in presentation you can see their personality shine, from Lupin I being a cartoony but clever villain, Lupin II being a master of disguise who sees his talent at this job like a curse, Albert and his great confidence on his training under the First that only gets shattered by Lupin himself, and even Youko, who spends much of the series as just a pretty face, has some surprising depth shown by the end. There’s good chemistry in all the interactions here and that helps with the tone this series is aiming for.

I’m normally not the kind who pays much attention to animation, as I think a good story can carry bad animation, but Lupin Zero’s art style just had me fascinated from the first episode, as it goes for a retro look clearly imitating the cel based animation seen in pre-2000s anime, so I found that a complete delight as someone who loves that style. Even if there’s some CGI help in some episodes, this series really looks like it could have come out in the 90s, and the dedication that would’ve needed to achieve earns my respect for the studio.

All in all, I think that Lupin Zero is a series worth checking out for both fans and non-fans of the Lupin III franchise, with its clever tricks and slapstick, good comedic timing, well done action choreography, and a simple episodic plot that still feels like it delivers a clear message on what it wants to be.

Thank you for reading.