Worm_Death's Blog

Anime Relations: Lupin III

The day I was dreading... The final episode of part 1. I really did have a blast going down memory lane to my first exposure to Lupin and I am glad I could appreciate it so much more from the perspective of a fan now. It really is a shame that part 1 never found its audience while airing, and got canceled before it got to go anywhere. From what we did get, this was a great way to conclude the series, they put their all into this, and it shows.


The energy of both was excellent. The sub actors were screaming even more like psychopaths than usual, and the dub had great line deliveries. The way Zenigata says "Lupin just lives in a basic apartment" was funnier in the dub. I also love that even in the dub, Goemon says "Kanpai!" when they cheer. Obviously, they would all say that in the sub, but it's such a good touch to his character to keep him saying that.


Lupin's planning to steal a ton of gold and Zenigata has decided that if he can't nab him now, he'll quit the police force. Zenigata sets up the elaborate plan to destroy all of Lupin's hideouts and bases, so he has nowhere left to run, and Lupin will lead him right to them, with the trackers he's planted in the fake gold. A trick like that isn't tough for Lupin to figure out, so he throws the trackers into a bunch of garbage trucks across the city, stumping Pops yet again. After he realizes they're all heading to the dump, where Lupin and his gang are they finally meet. Lupin admits defeat, and with nowhere else to go, they all decide to blow themselves up. AS IF! They all just hid in barrels that landed in the ocean. As if Zenigata was going to believe they were actually dead too, so he was right behind them. And they all go swimming off into the sunset.
Every second of this episode was so exciting and full of fun, crazy, goofy moments. It might be simple as most part 1 plots are, but at the same time, I think the ending is nice, and we got a super solid little adventure out of it. The humor was great as well, definitely the most I've laughed in a part 1 episode. If it hasn't been made obvious I love Lupin most when we get a light-hearted adventure with the whole gang.


I'm so glad everyone was here, all working together and being crazy. Zenigata definitely stole the show for this episode. He was going crazy, trying his very hardest to get Lupin. You really gotta respect this man's determination. Not only that, but he was hilarious in this episode, super-expressive, and yelling like crazy. I'm also glad Goemon is back and helping out as much as he did. I do wish we got more of Goemon for part 1, like they introduced him, and shoved him to the side after that. But seeing him helping out and tagging along was good to see. It was nice just seeing the four celebrate their victory, nothing beats seeing the four of them getting along.


Just with everything else, they went all out with the animation. Everything was super-expressive, the best we've seen from part 1. When subtle things, like the way Pops slams his resignation on the desk, there's so much emotion in it. The car scene was great as always. If it wasn't obvious, Lupin car scenes are one of my absolute favorite parts of the series.



I did not remember Jigen with bangs so early on, and honestly, I've never been a fan of it. I'm a strong proponent for hair back Jigen. The entire part, Jigen's had his hair like that too, I don't know why he doesn't here. I will say it looks better here than it has in later Lupin parts, probably because this just looks like a common hairstyle back then and not necessarily the weird thing going on with Jigen's bangs later on.



I want this phone thing so bad. I want to get my dad to call me every day so I can use it.



The car scene! This quick turn alone is great and very fluid. This was the start of making the car almost operate like a cockroach rather than a vehicle, it really is cool how much personality you can put into something like this.



The whole scene was so funny. Vruh why were they completely wrecking the commissioner's office 💀



I haven't really commented on it yet, but I've always liked the police pile-ups Lupin always does. It's so full of energy and just adds another element of chaos to any chase.



Again with the expressiveness, like Pops probably broke his legs just now. Really went all out cartoony, couldn't ask for more.



This face...I can't put it into words...
(He was talking about Zenigata while making this face hehehehe)



Lmao Goemon literally just joined this heist and he's already done.



I'm such a sucker for cool, highly detailed city backgrounds, this is a cool shot.



This is very important, silly Goemon face. We don't get a whole lot of this, so these moments are extremely precious to my heart.



Might seem like a minor point, but even just animating all these hands moving at once is impressive. Very smooth animation.



Pops crying and getting upset like this will forever tug at my heartstrings. I do not want to see my man like this‼️




I will always love the relationship Pops has with the gang. Look at that giant smile he can't wipe off his face as he goes chasing after Lupin, it's great, he's having so much fun.



They all swim like frogs. This is an amazing visual to end the series.


Quite the collection, it's cool, feels like we got a bit of everything. At least this isn't the last we'll be hearing of these songs.


Rewatching this series as a fan now was great, and I think necessary for me. I didn't care for part 1 when I went through the series the first time, but this was my introduction to the series. So, now that I know and love the characters, I think there's so much more to appreciate about it. It's not perfect, definitely not, but this was the series's humble beginning. This part alone would be the jump start of many well-known people and the inspiration for many others, and that alone makes it great. I decided to rank all the episodes from best to worst, here they are:

1. Let's Catch Lupin and Go to Europe!
   
2. Beware the Time Machine!
   
3. The Great Gold Showdown
   
4. The Emerald's Secret
   
5. Once Chance to Breakout
   
6. Lupin Caught in a Trap
   
7. Keep an Eye on the Beauty Contest
   
8. The Gang's-all-here Playing Card Strategy
   
9. A Wolf Calls a Wolf
   
10. Which Third-Generation Will Win!
    
11. The Coming of Goemon the Thirteenth
    
12. Catch the Phony Lupin!
    
13. The First Move Computer Operation
    
14. Rescue the Shrewish Girl
    
15. Operation Jewel Snatch
    
16. Killer Sings the Blues
    
17. The Man they Called a Magician
    
18. Farewell My Beloved Witch
    
19. Is Lupin Still Burnin...?!
    
20. Hunt Down the Counterfeiter!
    
21. Who Had the Last Laugh?
    
22. Rainy Afternoons are Dangerous
    
23. When the Seventh Bridge Falls
    

Anime Relations: Lupin III

There's been a lot of exciting titles recently! Here's a fun strategic episode.


Gordan is also voiced by Tony Oliver in the dub, which is kind of a smart decision. It's one less person you have to pay in the end. Gordan is voiced by a different actor than Yasuo Yamada, but half the time he's on screen, it's Lupin disguised as him, in which Lupin is voicing him. I find that weird though, because Lupin usually always completely disguises his voice, especially for characters that have a pre-established voice. One of the only noticeable changes, otherwise, everything's the same, and both are good as usual.


Gordan prevents the police department with a computer that is perfectly able to calculate the exact plans Lupin will take in his next heists and how to stop him. Lupin's up for the challenge though, but the computer wins this battle, getting Jigen and Goemon arrested. Lupin's gotta get them out, but it's gonna be a real challenge with the computer there. He disguises himself as Gordan, just as everything's been planned. However, Lupin realizes he just needs to be sporadic and unpredictable, which works! He gets the guys out of their will the police mistakenly arrest the real Gordan.
A cool premise, Lupin had to really think his way out of this one. This won't be our only time encountering a dangerously powerful computer but's here the first time we see one. It easily presents the questions of what can you do against that? Well, this is Lupin we're talking about, the computer can't calculate his crazy brain.


Gordan isn't technically the main antagonist, but the computer instead, and he great challenger to Lupin. Because of that, a bit of Lupin being cockier comes out here. It's not often that Lupin misjudged a situation, but I'm sure a large reason why he still went through this whole fiasco was to prove that computer wrong. And while he obviously wants to help his friends, he's trying to show off as always, For the most part, all the roles are subdued. Plenty of great Zenigata moments though. Seeing how he reacted Lupin was dressed as Gordan but he just had to fight the urge to arrest him right then and there was so funny. Was making him cry he wanted to arrest him so badly.


While there was nothing super standout-ish to me as far as animation. I still noticed pretty obviously the different animators who worked on certain scenes just from the character faces again. Maybe they're getting looser, or I'm just getting sweatier



The classic hehenonomohe face. I've always loved seeing these dummies, just cute. First time Lupin used it too. I probably just obsess over the face because it helped me learn Japanese when I first started.



A golden Pops face, had to include.



Another weird flying contraption. And hey, Jigoe fans, here's a bit of something for you here.


I liked the jazzy bridge they used to establish the scene where Lupin is reading all the books. Outside of that, our standards again.

Anime Relations: Lupin III

Another episode I remember pretty decently, if only for the train scene.


Don't really have much to say both were good as usual. I will say I think Rie's VA is better in the sub, she screams like crazy, so just as wild as all the other voice actors have been.


Lupin dad's partner's daughter is being held hostage and because of that connection, Lupin's gotta rescue her. Her kidnapper is her uncle, so she doesn't realize that she is, so when Lupin tries to rescue her, she thinks he's the kidnapper and does everything she can to resist. Lupin gets on a run-down train to get away from her Uncle's goons and the police. Rie starts to realize that her uncle isn't a good person and that something is up. After the train crashes, Rie notices a picture in Lupin's jacket, with her father and Lupin II together. So he explains to her that they were friends but after his father died, Ken (her dad) decided to quit the entire thieving scene and lived a quiet life. His brother wanted him to do a job with him, but after he refused he held Rie hostage. Lupin tells her to go run off to the police and they'd handle the rest.
A sweet little story. I know I had complained about Lupin girls, but this is a bit different. The chase is engaging and exciting! I feel like this was a story a lot of TV specials try to pull off, but a lot of those fall flat, this is not one of those times.


Lupin is his overly charming heroic self in this episode. Again, while I like him to be a bit more mischievous, I think it was done well. I compare this episode a lot to episode 10 for a fairly similar plot, and that being the other episode with a Lupin girl. Leesa was boring and basically non-existent. However, I think Rie was a lot better. Mainly because she had a personality and it led to some funny moments. The same goes for Lupin's motivation, she had an actual connection to her, unlike Leesa. In that episode, Jigen had even commented that he's really doing all of this for some random chick. And while their relationship might be indirect, it's still there. My one minor nitpick with her is that she looks really similar to Fujiko, not that she was in this episode so it's not like it was confusing. It just would have been nice to have switched up the design a bit more. This does feel like a Ghibli ending, but not out of place. I didn't remember that Arsene Lupin and Lupin's dad were brought up so much, as the last several episodes have indirectly involved them. Kind of neat.


The train scene looked great, a lot of sakuga here too.




The goofy boys. I loved the expression they made while Rie was beating them up. Also more gummy Lupin AHHH







This one part of the episode makes it very clear who animated what. So far, aside from a few scenes it's been undetectable, but here, you can really see how the different animators drew the characters' faces. I wanted to try and do a bit of research to see exactly who did what, but I couldn't get anything. A lot of the animtors that worked on Lupin went on to work for other Miyazaki works so their styles are pretty similar. I will say I definitely think Kouichi Murata had a hand in this section. The faces are more reminiscent of his style. Possibly Tetsuo Imazawa(?) It seems to reflect a bit of his style as well. And while I would say Lupin in the first picture looks very Miyazaki-esc, again a lot of these people worked on other Miyazaki projects, so I think Yoshifumi Kondou, there's something slightly different from his face than how Miyazaki would draw him, I can't pinpoint exactly but that's what I think. Don't take these words as truth, this is just from my own analysis of it, aside from knowing who worked on the project, who did what is not available to me.



Cool angle


Our standards, not much to talk about, I don't think there were any tracks not on the album. All works well for the episode.

Anime Relations: Lupin III

Yet another episode full of slapstick yipee!


A lot of fun here both ways. Felt that there were more creature sounds from Lupin in the dub than in the sub for some reason. Never thought I'd see the day but it was a nice treat. Fun fact, an extremely small background character was voiced by Teru from Mob Psycho, I am a VA sweat.


There's an imposter posing as Lupin and has been doing a great job at convincing everyone he's the real one. Lupin won't let this guy get away with this and follows him. It ends up leading him to an island of thieves. He has to prove to them that he is a thief but without revealing he is the actual Lupin. The village elders tell him to prove it by seeing if he can survive massive rocks rolling after him. He might have almost died, but he barely survived. He gets thrown in a cell, he pretends to kill himself and get out of there. Doing a bit of spying, he overhears the villagers talking about how they use Arsene Lupin's book on thievery, and Lupin's gotta get his hands on it. The police show up and they transform their houses into poor run-down old huts. Lupin tells Zenigata about the island's secrets. Lupin disguises himself as Zenigata and says that Lupin III has arrived here. Freaking out after seeing a picture of him, realizing that Lupin was on their island. Zenigata Lupin says he'll protect the book the village is protecting but of course, Lupin gets away with it.
Another silly episode. A nice change of scenery with Lupin being the one in danger here. Lupin has to sneak his way around for once and be a bit more alert. Despite that, the tone is still super silly. The ridiculous rock chase scene, freaking Crash Bandicoot ahh antics. The whole island that worships Arsene Lupin's book is stupid, but it seems to work for them.


Again, Lupin being the weaker one here is an interesting change. Thankfully Zenigata shows up to help him concoct the perfect plan. We get to see Lupin's mind really churning with this. Bro is also crazy strong, people have literally died from those rocks, and he slapsticked his way out of that. And I love the name he comes up with, Daisuke Ishikawa, thinking about his buds, it's cute. Nice little Zenigata and Lupin team up here, even if it's short-lived. This means this is actually the first time in the series those two have gotten remotely along at all so far. Jimbei might not have played a bigger role than I expected but I did still enjoy him. I found it funny how he signed everything as "The Real Lupin III" and I love that he got away with it. Like some stupid social media account or something, like it's just funny he had to put the "real" part. He wasn't so much a bad guy either, just kind of a dummy who's good at stealing.


The rocks rolling were animated great, just a lot of sakuga in this episode. When the house's floor flip over, it looks really good. When I first watched it, it didn't really register, but they put a lot of effort into that.







Probably pretty obvious that I loved this scene, we got some great expressions out of this. Also the return of gummy Lupin.




Yet another scene that I know Miyazaki had to have animated. Just something about the way he animates characters that stands out so prominently to me.



This expression 💀 This has got to be one of the most off-model expressions in Lupin, it's great though, I would love it if they kept making these ridiculous faces



I'd like to think that Zenigata just always has this photo on him, Lupin looking all handsome. Like bro, where'd you even get that??


The final track from the album has arrived, Midnight Chaser. I really liked this song. The cool jazzier organ in this is different from all the other music. Sets a good mood for the episode.

Anime Relations: Lupin III

A bit of cat and mouse here. While I don't think the episode was as engaging as the previous ones, it was still a good time.


Goofy accents are back in full swing. Of course, as I've mentioned before this episode, we have gotten some silly voices, but this was some classic, stupid, horribly fake, thick accent stuff from part 2. Of course dub only. I've always wondered, is it just too hard to pull off another accent with Japanese? I guess so, I've attempted to try speaking Japanese with an accent but from my own experience, you have to completely butcher pronunciations to remotely sound like the original accent. So, I guess that's why you don't actually see non-japanese characters with an actual accent and just substitute it for throwing in occasional words from their native tongue. A weird change they made in the dub was when Jigen says Lupin was busy eating beans, they change it to jelly beans, I guess because it fits the lip-syncing better? If not, maybe they just thought it was weird that Lupin was just eating straight beans. Who knows.


Ganimard III announces a show he will be a part of displaying all sorts of riches. A treasure Arsene Lupin had tried to steal from his grandfather. Lupin wants to finish the job for his grandpa however and take the treasure once and for all. Zenigata meets with Ganimard and he shows him where all the valuables are being stored before the show starts, including their security system. This doesn't stop Lupin, he just has to disguise himself as Pops to get his way. When they get a fake report that Lupin had stolen the riches, Jigen pretends to be an appraiser and tells Ganimard that they're all fakes, that they were indeed already stolen. They take the actual stuff with them, but Zenigata shows up and stops their truck. Lupin is a bit of a fix and doesn't quite know what to do, all Jigen and Fujiko's attempts had failed, but Lupin has thought of something just crazy enough to work. Using as many volunteers as he can to disguise himself, he completely confuses Pops and Garnimard every time they spot a new one. In all the confusion, Lupin and co can get away easily,
What I liked about the episode compared to other heists is that it was a lot more trial and error. Every time coming up with a completely different plan, each more insane than the last, something truly only Lupin could think up. Watching all these attempts was great though. I also think it's so stupid and completely Lupin that he managed to just get a crap ton of people to just willingly volunteer to dress up as him.


Jigen was eager as ever in this episode again. I liked the dynamic the 3 of them have in this episode. It was actually interesting to see Fujiko and Jigen take on the job together, seeing them get along is a once-in-a-lifetime event. I feel like this better time than ever to bring this up, which someone on Twitter had reminded me of. Jigen and Goemon still care about Fujiko, despite all the crap she puts the guys through. If she's ever in any real danger, they're not gonna leave her hanging. Their relationship might be ultra cold, but there's still some compassion in there. It's like a family that never says "I love you" to each other, but it's something that everyone quietly knows is true, even if they don't think about it. With that reaffirmed in my head, seeing Fujiko and Jigen making a plan and carrying it out, just the two of them, was a neat moment. Lupin almost took on the role of Jigen for a good part of the episode, lounging around, scrutinizing plans, etc. However, when Lupin isn't feel a plan's gonna work, I believe him. Once he does come up with a plan, I loved it. The classic, make Pops and whoever else thinks they're actually going insane. Zenigata was great as always. Ganimard was alright, just another one of the foes that think he's got the upper hand on Lupin, but you know they never do. Both their grandfather's having beef didn't play too much into the story, which I would have liked more, but that's just a minor complaint.


A lot of slapstick and insanity here, good, very good.




Time for more of my pookie bear 💕 The second one's there just because he looked insane and kind of like a horse, like god dang, look at the size of those chompers. Any exasperated Pops is priceless a face.



It's not often we see Lupin breaking character like this when disguised. He can't wipe that stupid smile off his face when he's talking to Ganimard. I know he does break character a lot, but he's usually hiding crazy good in front of the people that aren't supposed to know.




I know for another stinkin' fact Miyazaki animated this scene. The way Fujiko hits in, and everything. You really gotta appreciate Miyazaki's slapstick, it's so distinctly his and always just the best.



They're getting along! A record for the history books.




I hope that when I die, this is my own personal heaven. If not, can I just take one of them home, please?



They are small and they are friends. Truly one of the best visuals I've ever seen.


The episode starts with a bit of accordion which is cool. Obviously because we're dealing with France but it had me totally thinking about modern Lupin and especially part 5 which incorporates a lot of that into the music. Also, I've never been the biggest fan of Dixieland, but it does work great. Honestly, when the genre is applied right it's great music, and that's true in Lupin. I know this is by no means the first time hearing Dixieland in Lupin but it stood out to me in this episode because there seemed to be a lot of it.

Anime Relations: Lupin III

Even I originally remember enjoying this episode. Just a fun ride the whole way through.


Probably doesn't bare repeating at this point, but they were both good. Hearing Yasuo use a normal voice when Lupin is acting as an announcer was so bizarre to me, to hear a normal voice coming out of Lupin's mouth. Tony just does Lupin's regular voice in the dub, which isn't a complaint at all, just an interesting difference I took note of. One thing I like that the dub did (maybe they did it for the sub too, my Japanese isn't good enough for me to have realized it) is when Goemon pretends to be a cop. Because he has giant fake teeth, his speech sounds all lispy. I thought it was a funny and great touch.


It's babes, bargaining, and buying! Lupin knows that at the Miss Global Beauty Contest, all three are going down, but how exactly do a beauty contest, stolen art, and wealthy buyers all correlate? Lupin, Jigen, and Fujiko dress up as a TV crew reporting on the contest to help gather intel, with a bit of help from Goemon and Zenigata for it to completely come to fruition. During the contest, Goemon flies down from a helicopter and runs around cutting everything in his way, Lupin makes sure Jigen follows him closely with the camera. The whole point was so they could review the footage and find out where the stolen art was hidden. In the girls' suitcases. Knowing that Lupin's onto him, Smith wants to hurry the rest of the show. He ushers everyone onto boats so they can take their photoshoot, and also where he plans to exchange all the money for the paintings. Lupin's got everything under control however, making sure Zenigata tags along, he replaces all the paintings in the suitcases with some of the contestants. When Zenigata walks in to investigate he gets them all arrested. Leaving everyone stranded, Lupin gives them one final goodbye on his boat showing the sail in all the paintings.
I just had a lot of fun with this one. It might have been a simple plot again, but it was fun watching the gang figure out where and how to get the paintings. The first part of this, pretending to be a TV crew reminds me so much of Castle of Cagliostro that just that alone was cool. I appreciated that everyone served an equal purpose here. Just a nice, well-rounded episode overall.


As I said, everyone had a part to play here! Lupin and Jigen bounce off each other well here and I like to just see the two sleuthing around. Goemon was a lot of fun too, I really can't explain how much I loved the scene of him cutting everything, it was just so much to watch him go wild like that. Plus seeing him dressed as the cop was great too, whenever Goemon dresses up I always find it so funny for him to be so out of character. And the day wouldn't be completely saved without Pops, Smith made the dumbest decision to hire him when he was literally in the middle of committing illegal activity. Gold or Morgan as he's called is here too. Not that he does much but this is the first time we've seen a past villain.





Oh, my baby is back, Lupin with glasses. It really is insane how well he pulls these off man.




Not one singular person on this entire planet can convince me otherwise that Miyazaki animated this scene himself. THESE are some Ghibli antics right here. Just the entire way Goemon moves and how the security gets hit, it screams him. And yes, this is my favorite part of the episode.




I found this interesting how the women here are drawn like this. Softer outlines that are colored instead of solid black. Just curious why they did this, it almost looks like they're supposed to be in the background.


Hooo man, I've been on a 60s-70s music kick recently so, I've been enjoying myself so much with this soundtrack. We get some new stuff here too, a bit of bossa nova, and some real smooth jazz during the contest too. Of course our staples too.

Anime Relations: Lupin III

Fun mindless antics, I had a blast with this episode.


I definitely preferred the sub here. Nothing wrong with the dub, I still enjoyed it, but the sub was a lot better. This episode was a step away from a Loony Tunes episode, so the characters acting like maniacs come across much better in the sub. When they're about to crash into a condo, Lupin's comment about it being in the way is a lot funnier in the sub than in the dub. They changed the script a lot for that one joke and I don't think it came across as well. I did like that they kept the line about Goemon cutting back in both versions. It's gotta be a pun so that one line is much appreciated.


Fujiko invites the gang to a fun night out and introduces them to the woman running the club(?), Ginko Hoshikage, and while Lupin and Jigen are very interested, Goemon declines. Once they've all drunk themselves silly, the three collapse onto chairs but are strapped down and have watches put on them. Ginko explains that they're going to have to pay for their own ransom in 3 billion yen and any attempt to take off the watches or failure to get the money within 24 hours will result in them exploding. Without any choices, Lupin decides they'll have to break into the mint and print their own money, a plan Lupin and Jigen had been planning but not completed, so this is risky business. The only way they can in is through a giant balloon. Using gas to knock out all the employees, Lupin and Jigen get to work. Right as they finish Pops arrives, and the two have to get out of there quick. Their balloon is shot at and starts floating down. Now they have to make sure they don't get caught and keep the money. After a thorough search, nothing is found. Promising Ginko that they can get the money within three days, Lupin waits for the fuzz to die down. And three days later, Lupin leads them to a shack, where the walls are all filled with cash. Turns out Fujiko was working with Ginko the whole time too and while the two make off with the dough, a bomb Lupin had attached to the car goes off. They panic to grab the money but it's all rendered useless since Lupin had put his face on all the bills. I think what I found so enjoyable about this episode was that Lupin and Jigen had literally no idea what they were doing, just running around with their heads cut off and doing what they could to nearly escape. Because of that, a lot of this episode's humor comes from Lupin thinking on the spot and him fumbling through everything, it's a lot of fun. It was also super satisfying to see Lupin finally get the better of Fujiko for once.


Lupin and Jigen worked so well off each other here, I loved seeing them getting into trouble. A lot of banter in this episode I guess. It was especially surprising to see Jigen get all excited about Ginko. I know he has that side to him, but it is definitely an extremely rare occasion. But I like that the two were basically grasping at straws, trying to complete this mission. I don't really remember seeing them scrambling around as much as this and it was a nice, fun treat. I really liked Ginko as a villain, we haven't really had someone like her yet. I can think of later characters that are similar to her from part 2, but as of now, she's such a change from the previous antagonists, that it's nice to have another femme fatale in the fray. Also while Goemon is barely in this episode, I still appreciate the attention to detail of his character so much. He gets one look at Ginko and he's out, he's so weak to women lmao. I love it too when Lupin is wondering how to get the watches off and Goemon offers to literally cut their arms off and adds the comment "I know a technique to minimize the bleeding." Like Goemon bro, you are insane, my guy. When Lupin calls him crazy, he just laughs and walks away. Goemon is literally insane and not all there, I swear. This is why I love him though, he is an actual anomaly.


As I said, this episode was super silly, Loony Tunes vibes. May not animate as smoothly as those are, but the action is still felt.





More happy Jigen, thank you very much. Also, he got some rizz. If Jigen didn't accidentally meet literally the worst women, he would be a real lady killer (haha oh wait...).



I LOVE this frame. Points for happy Jigen, but just from an art standpoint. I love the colors here so much. Ginko's hair mixes well, and I love the pink glow from the neon lights. Just awesome looking.




Cute Goemon faces, I cherish you so much, you mean the world to me and more.




I still love when they make faces like this, with their eyes crossed like this. It's so reminiscent of the manga. I love to see it every time.



Their running around like maniacs were so funny, with how quickly everything was animated, I kept laughing, so silly.



THE CLASSIC LUPIN LONG JUMP!!!! Oh, how I love this so much. The lanky man is monkeying around fr fr.



hahahahahahehehehehehehe


Still have the new OP, but no Zenigata :( Probably why I didn't remember hearing him in the first place since it was only one episode. A nice bit of saxophone to start off the episode as well. A thing I'm a sucker for is any club or casino scene in any media because they always be playing the most fire music. Another version of Gallop Samaba too, which unfortunately isn't on the album. In the scene where Lupin and Jigen are packing the rest of the money, I was laughing so hard not only at their actions but the music too. It was just one of the dumbest things I've watched with a sped-up Afro Lupin and those two, being those two.

Anime Relations: Lupin III

A fun little adventure. It's not much, but still a decent episode nonetheless.


Both were great as they have been. But man, there really is something primal about Yasuo Yamada's performance in part 1. One second Lupin is the gentleman thief he's allegedly supposed to be, the next second, Lupin is a creature and is exemplified in the insane performance Yamada brings.



I just want to make it clear that I really love Tony Oliver, but this is something that cannot be beaten.


The Beaver organization is transferring hundreds of millions of yen worth of diamonds, and thanks to a tip-off from Fujiko, Lupin is all over it. Lupin and Jigen walk right into the jewelry shop run by beaver, pretending to be plumbers, but after acting like clutzes it scares away the customers from how gross they are. Lupin cracks some safes and uses a giant vacuum to suck up all the diamonds. They're about to head out but Fujiko eggs Lupin on to steal everything. Making them 13 minutes behind schedule. Lupin and Jigen continually run into a string of bad luck as Fujiko keeps getting away with more. They manage to stop her and get the cases full of diamonds, just when Beaver is back to stop them. Trapped in a small cabin, they try to figure a way out, then the ICPO shows up. Beaver is stopped but even suspending a house on a rope across a canyon isn't enough to stop Pops, however, they still escape in the end, even if all the diamonds fall out in the process. This episode felt short honestly, just cuts right to the chase. Which isn't bad, just felt shorter. The story was still fun and had plenty of great moments in here still. Because of that, I enjoyed it, but I don't have much to say about it.


I love the scene where Lupin and Jigen pretend to be plumbers, they act so stupid. Again, I just love these simple episodes because we get to see them just have fun doing the job. And really, what's better than that? Fujiko is a mater manipulator here and I don't think we've seen Lupin under Fujiko's thumb this much in the series yet. She's teasing him the whole episode and I think this is kind of where some people are divided on her character. I love Fujiko, but at the same time she can annoy me, yeah she's whiney, yeah she's manipulative, yeah she's selfish, etc, etc. But that's just her. Really, Fujiko is an antagonist and should be treated as such (depending on the episode). While there wasn't as much Zenigata, he's still here and even his small appearance was great. His climbing an entire mountain like the maniac he is will always amuse me, as how the three use him as a bridge in the end. This marks one of the first episodes where they end up with nothing in the end. Which will eventually become the standard, but it's interesting that despite the entire episode is about getting away with the diamonds, it fails. Another thing I'll commend Miyazaki for is Fujiko gets put in her place. Miyazaki's Lupin is definitely the most humbled we're gonna see the characters.


Not much to comment on. I do think the jewelry scene was good even the vacuum was animated super smoothly. Also Pops when he was climbing up the mountain



Some more Lupin expressions because that's just what I do here.



I guess this is the prototype of what would be the yellow Fiat.



Fujiko looking particularly cute, I don't know why she's wearing such old fashion clothes, but she's honestly rocking the fit.





I just love this and I need people to be aware of this.




Jigen is absolutely done with her lmao



Our second instance of seeing this flying "contraption" really I have no idea what you call this. Miyazaki is really obsessed with planes and whacky flying things.



The lengths Pops will go... Just love this bit, literally monkeys, all of them, I swear.



hahahahahahehehehehehehe


Yo, a new OP! This one is a lot of fun and I think it really fits the tone for the latter half of the series, funnily enough, does not feature a single episode Oosumi worked on. And hey, everything in the OP is actually from part 1 instead of the majority of it being ripped from the pilot. Also, Zenigata's here narrating it instead of Lupin. I remembered this OP from my original watch, but I didn't remember any kind of narration at all. All 3 versions of Gallop Samba are introduced and it's the perfect goofy accompaniment for this episode. At the jewelry shop we even get some real classical, Vivalidi's Four Seasons - Spring, to be exact. That's right I'm not just a Lupin nerd, but also a music nerd, mwuahaha my powers grow stronger!

Anime Relations: Lupin III

They were so unserious here. Another really light-hearted episode and I loved it. This is pure Lupin here. Like the very essence of the show.


Both of these were great, as they have been. And yeah, after having been completely exposed to the true essence of Zenigata I'm completely fine with him now, he was great in this episode. Despite how much I liked the dub for this episode, I still really prefer the sub. Mainly because of how insane everyone was in this episode, I swear they were making more sounds than actual words.


It's Pops's big break, if he can catch Lupin in this next heist, he can finally enjoy a nice vacation in Europe. Unfortunately for him, when a 300 million yen gold bust is on the line, Lupin's not passing that up. And while Zenigata pulls up all the stops, Lupin still gives him the runaround. Zenigata thinks he's caught Lupin, but really, he was just waiting for him to go to Europe so he could steal the bust, easy peasy. And it's all too late when Zenigata finally realizes that.
This is what I call some peak Lupin. Everyone one working together to out-dupe Pops. A super simple episode, most of it being spent on the gang figuring out a way to infiltrate. It thrives off the character interactions here


Everyone was perfect. Of course, Zenigata took the spotlight on this episode. His determination is stronger than ever, the lengths he goes, man. Seeing Zenigata genuinely think he's finally got Lupin, just warms my heart and makes me feel bad all at the same time. Like, I love Lupin, but sometimes I kinda just want Zenigata to finally get a victory.
Speaking of Lupin, he was great too. Bro really was acting like a monkey in this episode. The amount of silly things he did is too much to count. This episode also really, really let me appreciate part 1 Jigen. He was loving this job so much, he had so much fun. Honestly, it's rare to see him not smile in part one, which is ironic considering he's the complete opposite for basically everything after this. We. Need. More. Happy. Jigen. While serving fairly minor roles, Fujiko and Goemon are still great, I love having the four of them work as a team and get along, an extremely rare sight to behold.


I want to make it clear that when this show originally aired, it was not a hit. It was not well received. Mainly because of Oosumi that the rest of the show suffered. And yet, the man, the myth, the legend, and the complete sweat, Miyazaki was like, let's go WiLd! I've already mentioned how obvious it is when Miyazaki pitches in because of how good it is, but man this whole episode. The characters move with so much fluidity and expressiveness in everything that they do. One reason I've always liked Ghibli movies is the subtle attention to detail that people habitually do, and that is so obvious in this episode. I love all the little things that they include.



This threw me for a loop 💀 I had no recollection of Zenigata ever having a receding hairline, but I'm glad he got some implants or something now lmao




Some great expressions again. Especially when he got electrocuted, I couldn't stop laughing.




The subtleties here... I love that Lupin was slightly disoriented from the fall, and so he slips a little, which kind of hurts his foot. They did not need to include that, but they did and GOD I LOVE IT!!



THEY'RE DOING THE CAGLIOSTRO SYNCHRONIZED RUN!!!!!
These two bro, I love them, they're so close and I'm so happy they always have each other.




They made him run so fast here lmao I couldn't help but laugh. Zenigata you are an actual psychopath, never change.
Side note, in the first picture here, I don't know why but I miss how old anime used to have the characters always run with their arms up and out like this. It's so cute and goofy.



LOOK AT THE WAY HE'S SITTING! This is what I want, I just love this detail so much, this is just, so Lupin, how can I describe it? Yes, he would totally sit like that, I love you, sir.



"I will catch him, I won't catch him" Lupzeni fans, rejoice.




Jigen was so freaking excited about this job it's actually adorable, look how prepared my boy came 🥹



Our first encounter with Miyazaki's gummy smile Lupin, I dunno why he made him make this terrifying smile so much lmao.



Sweaty ahh Miyazaki making one of the funniest scenes here. His continually falling in all his hysteria is just great, love you Pops. You'll get him next time champ, go enjoy Europe you deserve it.












I need to make it clear how much I love this man. How I want him to have the world and more. He's just precious... LOOK AT HIM, HE IS SO FREAKING HAPPY AHAAAHHHHHH. He is so genuinely proud of himself, and everyone is giving him the proper praise he deserves. Jesus christ, Miyazaki you are spoiling me rotten with these Zenigata moments.




A few new songs here. And one namely "Zenigata Fanfare" and yes this episode was. Good job Zeni, just like in the song, I'm clapping for you!

Anime Relations: Lupin III

Pretty solid episode, had a lot of fun with this. Probably the most unserious episode yet.


Both of them were so much fun! The acting was super solid both ways. And yes, Zenigata's dub actor proceeds to grow on me more. I think this was our first instance of a true Zenigata freakout, and he does a good job with it. Seems like everyone had a fun time working on this and I had a fun time watching it! The only change I really noticed was when Fujiko shows Zenigata how to dance, she counts in French in the Japanese version, whereas she says them in English in the dub.


Catherine owns the Emerald of the Nile and Lupin and Fujiko have their eyes set on it. Fujiko pretends to be Catherine's maid while Lupin sneaks into her wedding cake. Zenigata's here too, and ready to catch Lupin. While Lupin does get the gem, he meets with Fujiko and says she swapped it out, and that she has the real one. Just when Catherine's cat, Belle, comes in, knocking the emerald on the floor, breaking it, it was a fake too. Fujiko and Lupin team up to find out where the real emerald is hidden while having to cleverly evade Pops. Fujiko gets freaked out by Belle because she keeps sleeping with one eye open, and Lupin realizes that the emerald was hidden in her eye all along. So the two, escape the cruise ship and leave with the emerald. This episode is just great light-hearted fun. Super simple, but fun nonetheless. It gets whackier and whackier as the story goes on too. Zenigata was finally really relevant to the plot which I'm so grateful for because this episode was perfect with him.


Ah, they were all so fun. Lupin was so charming and just a great time to watch. He really got into true cartoony antics and I love it so much. It was great seeing Lupin and Fujiko team up to find the emerald, their dynamic in this episode was great. Of course, Zenigata is here, and my god was he great. You cannot tell me Miyazaki wasn't a Zenigata simp because he just made him have so much fun. Here, we finally get to see more Zenigata as his own character rather than just an obstacle for Lupin. The dance he has with Fujiko is adorable, I wish him all the best. I also really liked Catherine, I think she's clever and cool. She's even voiced by Eiko Masuyama, who would later become the voice of Fujiko! I liked her design as well, very cute. Speaking of designs, I also think that it's interesting to see Fujiko with short hair, you would think that it's just a part of her disguise, but if memory serves correctly, that's just her hair now. Dunno, why Miyazaki makes like all his female characters, have short hair. While I prefer Fujiko with the longer hair, she still looks really cute here.


It's a pretty well-known scene, but the dance Zenigata has with Fujiko is just great, but really the whole episode looks really good. They were looser and had more goofy exaggerated expressions here, just so much fun. (I keep saying fun)...



Catherine and Belle ^_^
Also, Belle will be showing up in part 2 as Emmanuelle's cat!



Jesus Christ Pops, bro ain't playing around lmao



Fujiko looks so cute in this episode, and here's her with short hair.






Hello everyone. I would like to inform you all about Pookie Bear Sunday, a beautiful event that takes place on Twitter every Sunday. A day completely dedicated to the beloved Zenigata, so here's my contribution, because again, Miyazaki loves Zenigata so this episode alone had so much material. <3




I LOVE THIS DANCE!! Seeing Pops being so happy and carefree is my version of fan service, I just want the best for him. The whole thing is animated so well too, some of the most fluid animation we've seen yet. The clothes flow so well, I could just praise this forever. ^^



Doraemon ahh face



Monkey Punch reference hehehe



This expression was too good, had to include it


Most of it is fancy ballroom music, which is nice, and gives a lot of it a relaxed tone. Of course, we have some soundtrack staples back too.