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June 12th, 2024
Lupin III: The Hemingway Papers
Anime Relations: Lupin III: Hemingway Paper no Nazo
Ah, already in the 90s. I'd say time sure flies but I started this blog series well over a year ago LMAO. Sorry I'm slow y'all. Just as a heads up, this might be my last blog for several months, there's a big anime convention coming up, and I need to not spend my spending money on pretty much anything else. I'll be getting Goro, Zengiata's assistant's signature, so I think I can justify my spending for a Lupin-worthy cause. I'm giving myself a small bit of spending money for anything else, including these Blu-rays/DVDs, but I need to be smart all the same. Thanks for understanding ^^
Remember how I said I was going to watch the dub first then the sub? lol. I didn't actually know this one didn't receive a dub. Mayhaps this is the new dub we were getting teased?? Hmm, food for thought. Maybe this is why I couldn't even find the bluray for this movie, and had to get it as the DVD.
Lupin gets a tip-off that there might be some credence to the theory Ernest Hemingway was killed while recounting a story in the form of a book. His manuscripts are said to lead to a treasure, and the papers are believed to be located on the island of Colcaca. Upon landing, he's immediately sounded by the army since the island is currently in a massive state of civil war. After finding a gun on him, he's pursued until a truck pulls up and asks to be let on. The truck driver allows him to hide and even gives the army a red herring. They pull into a ghost town, and the driver, Maria, seems to be the only resident. After leaving her bar, Lupin sees the Cansano Family, the army Maria had alluded to earlier, ride into town. Amongst the family, he spots Jigen and signals to him. Jigen can't talk for now but plans to explain everything to Lupin later. Cosano comes to the president's place to show off their card, Jigen. Displaying his shooting prowess. Right after, President Carlos had his own card, releasing Goemon to cut up their motorcycles. When placed against each other, they leave their weapons in place of a simple brawl and slap each other out cold. Later that night, the three guys reunite at Maria's Bar as Lupin explains why he's there for the treasure. However, Jigen declines the offer and looks for a man instead. Once Goemon sees the box meant to contain the treasure, he freaks out. Realizing that it's the box said to be the only thing Zantetsuken can't cut. Lupin tells Jigen he's met the guy he's looking for, Mash, and so he celebrates that their goals all seem to line up. However, Jigen and Goemon storm off, still wanting to go solo.
The next morning a plane arrives with more Consano men, including Marces and Fujiko and Crazy Mash as well. Marie leaves early to find the same secret base; ready to snipe Consano but she's soon discovered and taken down. Luckily, Lupin shows up just in time on horse back to knock them all out.
Meanwhile, Cosano and Marces discuss splitting up the fortune after they take over President Carlos's position and Marces only promises to help if he's given his whole art collection to expand his business. Jigen listens in.
They all meet at the bar, and Jigen seems relieved to see they're both doing alright and speaks ominously about the Crazy Mash guy he's been sent to kill. Lupin and Goemon quickly jump up to help, but he refuses. Finding Crazy Mash's hideout but unfortunately falling for a deadly trap. And right before he's about to be shot, Lupin comes in to capture him as well. Jigen and Mash are about to have a standoff before the Casano family pulls up in their tanks. Lupin is able to make an escape, but Jigen isn't so lucky.
Meanwhile, Goemon snoops around President Carlos's place until he eventually finds a hidden room where he runs into Lupin. Lupin asks for his help, but before they can talk, they find the Pandora's Box Goemon's been searching for. Unable to slice the box, Zantetsuken is broken, and the alarm goes off. Defeated and alone, Lupin returns to the bar. Casono's men come by to arrest Maria but make one final request to input Z2Z2 on the jukebox, creating an explosion and a good chance to escape. Maria shows Lupin to a secret hideout credited by the Scorpions and a liberation front created by the residents on the island to help end the war. She explains why they created it, that years ago, people from all over were swarming the island in search of the treasure and eventually destroyed the whole island in order to get it.
Fujiko reunites with Lupin so they can team up together and steal the box. They escape the island to return back to Marces's save where Lupin disguises himself to steal the key to the treasure box. They're almost immediately tailed by Mash and Marces, but Lupin's taking pictures of all the papers. They run off a cliff, where Mash picks them off, takes the treasure, and drops them in the ocean.
Since the Papers have been released, it's a 3-way battle to obtain them. Consano and Carlos have a debate, but it just leads to them planning the time for Jigen and Goemon's deal the next day. Goemon can knock Jigen off the board, but he breaks the entire thing so they can land safely on the railing on the side of the large hole they're in. Since both sides have been betrayed, they shoot at the guys. Lupin rushes in to assist them in their escape. Safe, Lupin reads the manuscripts and finds the treasure, which is somewhere called Mother Womb.
All sides are heading for this Mother Womb. Maria is reluctant to help, knowing that Lupin and the gang are just like the other, wanting to exploit the island. But the gang goes without her nonetheless. The two groups quickly find each other and a massive fight breaks loose. But with all the tank fire, the rocks around crumble, releasing all the built-up rainwater onto them. Allowing the gang to make a getaway.
They enter the Mother Womb cave but the entrance has been sealed off by Hemingway to not stir the beauty. They convince Goemon to cut it. What they find is a room full of uranium. They leave disappointed, knowing harvesting it isn't worth the health risk. As they leave, Mash and his men find them. Jigen shoots Mash in the head, and it's all over. The rainwater starts to make the cave crumble, so they make a mad dash out of there.
Lupin makes his final goodbye to Maria before catching up with the rest of the gang. Goemon is fruitlessly trying to cut the box, and just before giving up, he taps the box with his sword, splitting it right in half. They finally fly back home.
Ah, so this one was pretty disappointing, unfortunately. A mutual friend of mine had even said as we talked about Dezaki's work with Lupin that it's so cool that Dezaki got to direct/storyboard four Lupin movies, and yet only one of them was actually good. I think compared to the other two we're yet to see, this was the highest rated. Why? I don't know. Hopefully, I wasn't right in that assessment. There's a universe where this situation could have worked, but I honestly think that this story could have worked. I've said this multiple times, but I do not like military/war stories in practically any capacity. I think there's ways it can be presented in an interesting way, but a "war film" perse is something I can't get behind. And while this isn't one, it still has many elements of a war movie. It's still the central conflict and that makes for a very interesting story. I honestly think it could have been more interesting if Scorpions had a bigger presence in the movie rather than Marie being the only one left. Having Lupin join her side, they fight together, and then while taking the government and Cosano family on, that's when Lupin finds Goemon and Jigen, and he's thrown into the conflict between them, too. I think it could have been interesting to see them lead more into Jigen and Goemon being on opposite sides. This does present the characters in a unique scenario, but it's almost never touched on, and the two are only forced to fight each other twice. Another thing I could have enjoyed seeing was this just being a race to the treasure. Have the same characters but purely having the shared goal of finding the treasure. That could have been fun as well. It would have streamlined the plot a lot while still retaining the tension between the groups.
I guess that's what sucks, there's a lot of room for improvement and it's pretty easy to make those improvements. With the last special, there was a strong sense of adventure and an easy way to melt all the plot points together. And while, yes, technically, everything in this special exists for a reason (except Zenigata), it just doesn't seem to make a bigger impact. Well, it just plain isn't as good a story. I don't need acid trips, but this also just feels too generic, a nothing story if you will.
As I was just saying above, Goemon and Jigen could have a genuinely interesting conflict. I'm not saying they need to turn on each other, but their issues are resolved really quickly. They constantly go back and forth on this. Will they help Lupin with things? Like is this supposed to bring tension? Because if it is, it feels too forced. It's made really obvious they all want to be on each other's sides but can't. But you can at the same time! When the two are pitted against each other, maybe have them be threatened, someone else's lives are at stack or something. Make this point seem more serious.
Although I do like Jigen and Goemon's attempt to constantly try not to harm each other, The little pseudo-sumo fight at the beginning is fun; it was one of the few times this special got a laugh out of me. I would rather them not be hostile towards each other, never what I wanted. If they could just combine the strong desire to not want to hurt each other with stakes that say they're going to have to, I would have been way more invested in it. Other than that it's just a wasted opportunity.
Everyone has their reason for being here, and well a lot of them are weak. Jigen's here to kill Mash. (Which I don't know for sure but I'm almost leaning on this being a reference to the series M*A*S*H, since it was also about the military and certainly something that I could easily see them referencing. Heck, Yuji Ohno did a cover of the opening song). Anyway, his conflict with Mash seems pretty meh. One time, they were going after a treasure together, and then Mash decided to kill everyone, and only Jigen survived. And that's it. Nothing deeper. I guess that serves as reasonable revenge but I dunno, I just don't feel the stakes. They barely interact, so you can't really get any sense of tension.
I do think it's weird that while Lupin does take a small backseat, he's still seen as the main character. Clearly, a lot more is going on with Jigen and Goemon in this special, so why do we barely get to see any scenes with them by themselves, but we get to spend plenty of scenes of Lupin just lounging around at the bar and sleeping in a horse stable? Like I really don't know why he has the most emphasis placed on him. He's simply just not that as relevant to the plot.
For Fujiko, I don't really mind her minimal appearances, I just feel like her times on screen are solid and move the plots forward. The times when she and Lupin are trying to steal the box away. Those scenes are really solid.
As a whole, I really liked this sense of family the Lupgang has with each other. When trouble calls, they all want to help each other. Fujiko doesn't pull anything against Lupin, she's working together with Lupin, straight up. Lupin comes to Jigen's rescue. Lupin and Goemon jump to help Jigen when he alludes his dangerous mission. There are a lot of examples, and I really enjoyed them. It's just a subtle thing that persists throughout the whole movie. Especially at the bar scenes. They don't do a ton for the plot, but I feel like they do the most for charisma and character interaction.
Now Zenigata. Oh boy, it's here. Zenigata could have been completely written out of the script and NOTHING would have changed. Literally, the only time any of the main characters talk to him is when Jigen gets thrown into the same jail cell as him. Which basically just ads to another joke of him being constantly tortured. They really just beat him up and do nothing else. It's painful to watch; why include him if you're just gonna hurt him, starve him, and throw him in prison? I really, really don't get it. Unfortunately, this is a familiar way we'll be seeing Zenigata from now on.
Since I find every other character too boring to talk about, the last character I'll mention is Maria. Our Lupin Girl of the special. She's definitely one of the better ones. She remains strong, is clearly a much bigger proponent to the conflict, and actually acts on her own. Again, I think she could have been stronger and utilized more if Scoprions hadn't been completely taken out. But I do like that she at least does act on her own. Her going out and trying to snipe Consano is way more than I can say for a vast majority of the others. I still think it's lame that she steals a kiss from Lupin in the end. They don't need to be hostile, just have them give a warm glance at each other, that's all, I'd be satisfied. I don't get the point of forming these relationships, do people actually ship them? When y'know the entire rest of the reestablished cast is already there. Pushing my Fujoshiness aside, there's Fujiko right there and there's some clear chemistry between the two, certainly more so than with Maria. Unless you read it as tsundere. Which I don't see, and also just hate tsundere character tropes.
There isn't much I can say as far as visuals. This had a lot of the same people working on it so it's going to look very similar. A few things of note though. Again thanks to the commentary tracks by Discotek for being my main source of information. Firstly, there was a guest character designer who also worked on Mamo. Maria was designed by him which is fairly obvious when you see the difference in the way her hair is drawn vs Fujiko. But both these guys working on Mamo, I think, helps to make them blend together. I didn't really consider there being a guest character designer until it was mentioned.
The scene where Maria fights off Cosano men, and Lupin pulls up in the horse was animated by legendary Masahiro Ando! Really famous for the action scenes he animates, which is great to see. I've always been a massive fan of his work, a clear master of his craft.
Again, apologies for the screenshots. Although I have the DVD, my DVD player doesn't work anymore so I can't hook it up to my computer with screenshots, so we must deal with the embeds. 😔
I really vibe with this outfit. Lupin in the more casual, loose-fitting clothes and tennis shoes is a cute change.
He looks like Curious George. I love monkey man. He really looks monkish in this movie. His hair is more skin tight so it really gives the appearance. And interesting change considering this is the same character designer.
Maria's design is really strong. Definitely one of the more iconic designs for a Lupin girl. I like this line that runs along the edge of her hair to give it more contour. A unique take, but I love it. I'm also a sucker for pink and green color schemes so that's an instant win in my book.
The backgrounds are gorgeous! The sunsets in this movie are so rich and vibrant especially, but the entire movie looks great. They got some really talented people for the background work, if you look up their team, everyone has a really staked filmography. Specifically, many of them worked on Akira, if that gives you any hint of what talent we're dealing with.
I don't know if I mentioned this last time with Dezaki's staples, but he's known for his splitscreens. This movie utilizes the split screens way more, and they're done better, too. With so many rivalries, they definitely add more tension and drama. Especially with the scene I've screenshotted. Since they're on opposite ends of this board, it really works to do this. They do this several times with Jigen and Goemon alone, and I think that works great.
I know smoking isn't really Goemon's thing, but man if he doesn't look so cool with one.
Honestly of my favorite scenes in the entire movie. It's so goofy but done so well. I love love love the expressions on all the characters faces. Just the perfect amount of humor to cap this special off.
Yuji Ohno is back with another banger OST. Admittedly, I still think Bye-Bye Lady Liberty is better for its jazzier soundtrack, but this one is still great. The more upbeat tracks, especially, seem like great cruising along the beach-type tracks. It has all the vibes. Since '89 will be the representative Theme From Lupin for a while, I won't talk about it much, except that it still rocks. "He's Gone" is one of my favorite songs from the Lupin period, much like Endless Twilight is for more, too. Out of all Lupin songs, which, yes, I have ranked, this is #11. So extremely high up there considering how prolific Yuji Ohno is.
I love how chill it is yet so emotional. Also, this is something I've literally always thought since I first heard that the baseline sounds like something you'd hear at an aquarium. The upbeat vaguely tropical and nautical. It's an extremely nostalgic baseline to me (I know that sounds weird, but I frequented aquariums very often as a kid and now). This is one of the first Lupin songs I completely memorized since the full song includes half the song in English. Anyway, love this song.
So it's unfortunate to step down. I had originally given this a 9/10, but it's more of a 7/10 in retrospect. This was the point in Lupin when I had run through most of the series except the TV specials; having come to this from Part 6 would really shape my perspective. Since we're going from dogshit to a decent movie. I can definitely watch this movie, but if I had to pick a Lupin special to watch, this would not be it. There's enough visual spectacle to enjoy from a technical standpoint. As I mentioned, there's a lot of great talent in this movie, and Dezaki's directing work is great. It's a good note in the history of anime, but again, if I want to watch a Lupin Dezaki flick, Bye-Bye Lady Liberty.
See you all next time, whenever that may be! The latest will be September!
Remember how I said I was going to watch the dub first then the sub? lol. I didn't actually know this one didn't receive a dub. Mayhaps this is the new dub we were getting teased?? Hmm, food for thought. Maybe this is why I couldn't even find the bluray for this movie, and had to get it as the DVD.
Story
Lupin gets a tip-off that there might be some credence to the theory Ernest Hemingway was killed while recounting a story in the form of a book. His manuscripts are said to lead to a treasure, and the papers are believed to be located on the island of Colcaca. Upon landing, he's immediately sounded by the army since the island is currently in a massive state of civil war. After finding a gun on him, he's pursued until a truck pulls up and asks to be let on. The truck driver allows him to hide and even gives the army a red herring. They pull into a ghost town, and the driver, Maria, seems to be the only resident. After leaving her bar, Lupin sees the Cansano Family, the army Maria had alluded to earlier, ride into town. Amongst the family, he spots Jigen and signals to him. Jigen can't talk for now but plans to explain everything to Lupin later. Cosano comes to the president's place to show off their card, Jigen. Displaying his shooting prowess. Right after, President Carlos had his own card, releasing Goemon to cut up their motorcycles. When placed against each other, they leave their weapons in place of a simple brawl and slap each other out cold. Later that night, the three guys reunite at Maria's Bar as Lupin explains why he's there for the treasure. However, Jigen declines the offer and looks for a man instead. Once Goemon sees the box meant to contain the treasure, he freaks out. Realizing that it's the box said to be the only thing Zantetsuken can't cut. Lupin tells Jigen he's met the guy he's looking for, Mash, and so he celebrates that their goals all seem to line up. However, Jigen and Goemon storm off, still wanting to go solo.
The next morning a plane arrives with more Consano men, including Marces and Fujiko and Crazy Mash as well. Marie leaves early to find the same secret base; ready to snipe Consano but she's soon discovered and taken down. Luckily, Lupin shows up just in time on horse back to knock them all out.
Meanwhile, Cosano and Marces discuss splitting up the fortune after they take over President Carlos's position and Marces only promises to help if he's given his whole art collection to expand his business. Jigen listens in.
They all meet at the bar, and Jigen seems relieved to see they're both doing alright and speaks ominously about the Crazy Mash guy he's been sent to kill. Lupin and Goemon quickly jump up to help, but he refuses. Finding Crazy Mash's hideout but unfortunately falling for a deadly trap. And right before he's about to be shot, Lupin comes in to capture him as well. Jigen and Mash are about to have a standoff before the Casano family pulls up in their tanks. Lupin is able to make an escape, but Jigen isn't so lucky.
Meanwhile, Goemon snoops around President Carlos's place until he eventually finds a hidden room where he runs into Lupin. Lupin asks for his help, but before they can talk, they find the Pandora's Box Goemon's been searching for. Unable to slice the box, Zantetsuken is broken, and the alarm goes off. Defeated and alone, Lupin returns to the bar. Casono's men come by to arrest Maria but make one final request to input Z2Z2 on the jukebox, creating an explosion and a good chance to escape. Maria shows Lupin to a secret hideout credited by the Scorpions and a liberation front created by the residents on the island to help end the war. She explains why they created it, that years ago, people from all over were swarming the island in search of the treasure and eventually destroyed the whole island in order to get it.
Fujiko reunites with Lupin so they can team up together and steal the box. They escape the island to return back to Marces's save where Lupin disguises himself to steal the key to the treasure box. They're almost immediately tailed by Mash and Marces, but Lupin's taking pictures of all the papers. They run off a cliff, where Mash picks them off, takes the treasure, and drops them in the ocean.
Since the Papers have been released, it's a 3-way battle to obtain them. Consano and Carlos have a debate, but it just leads to them planning the time for Jigen and Goemon's deal the next day. Goemon can knock Jigen off the board, but he breaks the entire thing so they can land safely on the railing on the side of the large hole they're in. Since both sides have been betrayed, they shoot at the guys. Lupin rushes in to assist them in their escape. Safe, Lupin reads the manuscripts and finds the treasure, which is somewhere called Mother Womb.
All sides are heading for this Mother Womb. Maria is reluctant to help, knowing that Lupin and the gang are just like the other, wanting to exploit the island. But the gang goes without her nonetheless. The two groups quickly find each other and a massive fight breaks loose. But with all the tank fire, the rocks around crumble, releasing all the built-up rainwater onto them. Allowing the gang to make a getaway.
They enter the Mother Womb cave but the entrance has been sealed off by Hemingway to not stir the beauty. They convince Goemon to cut it. What they find is a room full of uranium. They leave disappointed, knowing harvesting it isn't worth the health risk. As they leave, Mash and his men find them. Jigen shoots Mash in the head, and it's all over. The rainwater starts to make the cave crumble, so they make a mad dash out of there.
Lupin makes his final goodbye to Maria before catching up with the rest of the gang. Goemon is fruitlessly trying to cut the box, and just before giving up, he taps the box with his sword, splitting it right in half. They finally fly back home.
Ah, so this one was pretty disappointing, unfortunately. A mutual friend of mine had even said as we talked about Dezaki's work with Lupin that it's so cool that Dezaki got to direct/storyboard four Lupin movies, and yet only one of them was actually good. I think compared to the other two we're yet to see, this was the highest rated. Why? I don't know. Hopefully, I wasn't right in that assessment. There's a universe where this situation could have worked, but I honestly think that this story could have worked. I've said this multiple times, but I do not like military/war stories in practically any capacity. I think there's ways it can be presented in an interesting way, but a "war film" perse is something I can't get behind. And while this isn't one, it still has many elements of a war movie. It's still the central conflict and that makes for a very interesting story. I honestly think it could have been more interesting if Scorpions had a bigger presence in the movie rather than Marie being the only one left. Having Lupin join her side, they fight together, and then while taking the government and Cosano family on, that's when Lupin finds Goemon and Jigen, and he's thrown into the conflict between them, too. I think it could have been interesting to see them lead more into Jigen and Goemon being on opposite sides. This does present the characters in a unique scenario, but it's almost never touched on, and the two are only forced to fight each other twice. Another thing I could have enjoyed seeing was this just being a race to the treasure. Have the same characters but purely having the shared goal of finding the treasure. That could have been fun as well. It would have streamlined the plot a lot while still retaining the tension between the groups.
I guess that's what sucks, there's a lot of room for improvement and it's pretty easy to make those improvements. With the last special, there was a strong sense of adventure and an easy way to melt all the plot points together. And while, yes, technically, everything in this special exists for a reason (except Zenigata), it just doesn't seem to make a bigger impact. Well, it just plain isn't as good a story. I don't need acid trips, but this also just feels too generic, a nothing story if you will.
Characters
As I was just saying above, Goemon and Jigen could have a genuinely interesting conflict. I'm not saying they need to turn on each other, but their issues are resolved really quickly. They constantly go back and forth on this. Will they help Lupin with things? Like is this supposed to bring tension? Because if it is, it feels too forced. It's made really obvious they all want to be on each other's sides but can't. But you can at the same time! When the two are pitted against each other, maybe have them be threatened, someone else's lives are at stack or something. Make this point seem more serious.
Although I do like Jigen and Goemon's attempt to constantly try not to harm each other, The little pseudo-sumo fight at the beginning is fun; it was one of the few times this special got a laugh out of me. I would rather them not be hostile towards each other, never what I wanted. If they could just combine the strong desire to not want to hurt each other with stakes that say they're going to have to, I would have been way more invested in it. Other than that it's just a wasted opportunity.
Everyone has their reason for being here, and well a lot of them are weak. Jigen's here to kill Mash. (Which I don't know for sure but I'm almost leaning on this being a reference to the series M*A*S*H, since it was also about the military and certainly something that I could easily see them referencing. Heck, Yuji Ohno did a cover of the opening song). Anyway, his conflict with Mash seems pretty meh. One time, they were going after a treasure together, and then Mash decided to kill everyone, and only Jigen survived. And that's it. Nothing deeper. I guess that serves as reasonable revenge but I dunno, I just don't feel the stakes. They barely interact, so you can't really get any sense of tension.
I do think it's weird that while Lupin does take a small backseat, he's still seen as the main character. Clearly, a lot more is going on with Jigen and Goemon in this special, so why do we barely get to see any scenes with them by themselves, but we get to spend plenty of scenes of Lupin just lounging around at the bar and sleeping in a horse stable? Like I really don't know why he has the most emphasis placed on him. He's simply just not that as relevant to the plot.
For Fujiko, I don't really mind her minimal appearances, I just feel like her times on screen are solid and move the plots forward. The times when she and Lupin are trying to steal the box away. Those scenes are really solid.
As a whole, I really liked this sense of family the Lupgang has with each other. When trouble calls, they all want to help each other. Fujiko doesn't pull anything against Lupin, she's working together with Lupin, straight up. Lupin comes to Jigen's rescue. Lupin and Goemon jump to help Jigen when he alludes his dangerous mission. There are a lot of examples, and I really enjoyed them. It's just a subtle thing that persists throughout the whole movie. Especially at the bar scenes. They don't do a ton for the plot, but I feel like they do the most for charisma and character interaction.
Now Zenigata. Oh boy, it's here. Zenigata could have been completely written out of the script and NOTHING would have changed. Literally, the only time any of the main characters talk to him is when Jigen gets thrown into the same jail cell as him. Which basically just ads to another joke of him being constantly tortured. They really just beat him up and do nothing else. It's painful to watch; why include him if you're just gonna hurt him, starve him, and throw him in prison? I really, really don't get it. Unfortunately, this is a familiar way we'll be seeing Zenigata from now on.
Since I find every other character too boring to talk about, the last character I'll mention is Maria. Our Lupin Girl of the special. She's definitely one of the better ones. She remains strong, is clearly a much bigger proponent to the conflict, and actually acts on her own. Again, I think she could have been stronger and utilized more if Scoprions hadn't been completely taken out. But I do like that she at least does act on her own. Her going out and trying to snipe Consano is way more than I can say for a vast majority of the others. I still think it's lame that she steals a kiss from Lupin in the end. They don't need to be hostile, just have them give a warm glance at each other, that's all, I'd be satisfied. I don't get the point of forming these relationships, do people actually ship them? When y'know the entire rest of the reestablished cast is already there. Pushing my Fujoshiness aside, there's Fujiko right there and there's some clear chemistry between the two, certainly more so than with Maria. Unless you read it as tsundere. Which I don't see, and also just hate tsundere character tropes.
Art/Animation
There isn't much I can say as far as visuals. This had a lot of the same people working on it so it's going to look very similar. A few things of note though. Again thanks to the commentary tracks by Discotek for being my main source of information. Firstly, there was a guest character designer who also worked on Mamo. Maria was designed by him which is fairly obvious when you see the difference in the way her hair is drawn vs Fujiko. But both these guys working on Mamo, I think, helps to make them blend together. I didn't really consider there being a guest character designer until it was mentioned.
The scene where Maria fights off Cosano men, and Lupin pulls up in the horse was animated by legendary Masahiro Ando! Really famous for the action scenes he animates, which is great to see. I've always been a massive fan of his work, a clear master of his craft.
Again, apologies for the screenshots. Although I have the DVD, my DVD player doesn't work anymore so I can't hook it up to my computer with screenshots, so we must deal with the embeds. 😔
I really vibe with this outfit. Lupin in the more casual, loose-fitting clothes and tennis shoes is a cute change.
He looks like Curious George. I love monkey man. He really looks monkish in this movie. His hair is more skin tight so it really gives the appearance. And interesting change considering this is the same character designer.
Maria's design is really strong. Definitely one of the more iconic designs for a Lupin girl. I like this line that runs along the edge of her hair to give it more contour. A unique take, but I love it. I'm also a sucker for pink and green color schemes so that's an instant win in my book.
The backgrounds are gorgeous! The sunsets in this movie are so rich and vibrant especially, but the entire movie looks great. They got some really talented people for the background work, if you look up their team, everyone has a really staked filmography. Specifically, many of them worked on Akira, if that gives you any hint of what talent we're dealing with.
I don't know if I mentioned this last time with Dezaki's staples, but he's known for his splitscreens. This movie utilizes the split screens way more, and they're done better, too. With so many rivalries, they definitely add more tension and drama. Especially with the scene I've screenshotted. Since they're on opposite ends of this board, it really works to do this. They do this several times with Jigen and Goemon alone, and I think that works great.
I know smoking isn't really Goemon's thing, but man if he doesn't look so cool with one.
Honestly of my favorite scenes in the entire movie. It's so goofy but done so well. I love love love the expressions on all the characters faces. Just the perfect amount of humor to cap this special off.
Music
Yuji Ohno is back with another banger OST. Admittedly, I still think Bye-Bye Lady Liberty is better for its jazzier soundtrack, but this one is still great. The more upbeat tracks, especially, seem like great cruising along the beach-type tracks. It has all the vibes. Since '89 will be the representative Theme From Lupin for a while, I won't talk about it much, except that it still rocks. "He's Gone" is one of my favorite songs from the Lupin period, much like Endless Twilight is for more, too. Out of all Lupin songs, which, yes, I have ranked, this is #11. So extremely high up there considering how prolific Yuji Ohno is.
I love how chill it is yet so emotional. Also, this is something I've literally always thought since I first heard that the baseline sounds like something you'd hear at an aquarium. The upbeat vaguely tropical and nautical. It's an extremely nostalgic baseline to me (I know that sounds weird, but I frequented aquariums very often as a kid and now). This is one of the first Lupin songs I completely memorized since the full song includes half the song in English. Anyway, love this song.
Final Thoughts
So it's unfortunate to step down. I had originally given this a 9/10, but it's more of a 7/10 in retrospect. This was the point in Lupin when I had run through most of the series except the TV specials; having come to this from Part 6 would really shape my perspective. Since we're going from dogshit to a decent movie. I can definitely watch this movie, but if I had to pick a Lupin special to watch, this would not be it. There's enough visual spectacle to enjoy from a technical standpoint. As I mentioned, there's a lot of great talent in this movie, and Dezaki's directing work is great. It's a good note in the history of anime, but again, if I want to watch a Lupin Dezaki flick, Bye-Bye Lady Liberty.
See you all next time, whenever that may be! The latest will be September!
Posted by Worm_Death | Jun 12, 2:06 AM | 1 comments
June 2nd, 2024
Lupin III: Bye-Bye Lady Liberty
Anime Relations: Lupin III: Bye Bye Liberty - Kiki Ippatsu!
We've finally entered the TV special era, and I'm utterly terrified because this is a looong hall. Well, at least we're okay for a bit; it's a gradual decline in quality.
Firstly, I don't know why I didn't stick to my rule of watching the dub first then the sub but it kind of threw my whole process out of whack, so I'm not doing that again.
Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised the dub was not that bad. I had automatically assumed that Funimation had the rights to all the TV specials, but nope, this is the Manga Dub. Who also did one of the dubs for Mamo as well. Which I still haven't seen yet, I apologize. I only ordered the DVD after I did my blog (I'll still go back and update eventually). Anyway, because of that, I can't really compare this dub with the Mamo dub since they do feature the same main voice cast. And I have to say, overall, I'm pretty happy with the casting. While trying to find the other roles a lot of them primarily worked in live-action film or non-anime cartoons.
Starting with Lupin again. He's easily my favorite casting. He seems to perfectly emote exactly what Lupin would naturally do in a situation; I mean, it really fits; I'm a huge fan. William Dufris does a really great job mixing zany with seriousness. Dufris sounds really similar to Bob Burgen, and I've always really enjoyed his role, so I'm perfectly happy with this voice for him in English. Something honestly taken too much to the extreme with the Fuma dub. Anyway, they do refer to him as Wolf here so, it was an older dub. And while I've never wanted him to be referred to as Wolf, this is probably my favorite instance of it. They'll get cute with his name as almost all the characters call him Wolfy at some point, and it just got me like 🥺. But honestly, Lupin's voice alone makes me really motivated to go back and watch the Mamo's dub because he's just a really good role.
Jigen is also pretty good. Honestly, Richard Epcar is the only voice I've ever thought sounded appropriate, but I think Eric Meyers does a good job. I think, in part that they actually understood Jigen's role in the movie a bit better. Not a goon or underling, Lupin's old partner and friend. I think this helps sharpen up his dialogue. But also because Jigen's voice isn't stupid deep or gravelly like all other voices are. I really haven't understood this characterization for him because it's never once been present in the Japanese. So, it was a breath of fresh air to hear this interpretation. The voice acting itself is pretty good, too. But there is a bit of inconsistency in pronunciation. It's mostly pronounced correctly, but every now and then, a "Jig-gen" will slip in. Gulp, a detection of Funimation, just slipped through the cracks.
Yeah, I like this dub cast, except for Goemon. God, it's really bad. I don't know Garrick Haggon from anything, so I can't really gauge his general talents, but in the few instances he spoke in a more casual way, he certainly seems to have the talent, so I don't want to really pin the blame on him for this role. Anyway, yeah, this is the stiffest dialogue I've ever seen. The way they're presented is seriously like, "QUICK, we're gonna flash some sentences at you and just repeat them in the most monotone voice as quickly as possible." Like that's the vibe I get. None of what Goemon says seems like he means any of it and is just spouting off stereotypical spiritual things. It's like really bad I don't know how else to describe it. I also dislike the way they've written Goemon's character here. It's very clear that Goemon is bashful around Isabel because she's a beautiful woman. However, they really lean into this idea that Goemon is about to get it on with her. I really hate the line when they get the motel keys and call the one to their room "the key to heaven." I wouldn't mind this if the other characters were saying this, but because it's Goemon who can barely stand to see women, in general, being so direct and essentially insinuating that he would be the one initiating any action, it really rubs me the wrong way. GOEMON IS A CUTE LITTLE BOTTOM HE AIN'T NO MANLY MAN IN THE BEDROOM, HE'S A SISSY!!! Uh... Anyway, they also pronounced his name like "Gomon" which I still don't understand how it's repeatedly butchered, "Go-eh-mon" why do people always leave out the prominently pronounced "e" in his name omg.
I really liked Toni Berry's performance as Fujiko. Like a lot of her older dub voice actresses, they sound deeper to sound more mature whilst retaining that seductiveness. Yet another example of good casting and the perfect balance of both.
Zenigata is a bit dicier. I do still like his performance but the way he's written and then in turn, played is sketchy. Zenigata is really made out to be a jerk which is really weird since he's usually the poor little sweetheart we just wanna see winning at life. And yet they make him a loser cop that cant even be bothered to tip his cab drivers. The joke is that he's always treated so poorly by the ICPO and how he cant even pay for cab fare, having to throw it all on ICPO expenses. There's no mention of tipping in any scenes in the original since they don't tip in Japan, so this literally just wouldn't make sense to include in general. But the fact that he does this repeatedly makes Zenigata really unlikeable. He's just got a real sleazy way about him. Even when Lupin's arrested and he takes Michael to the saloon. He's actually really sweet to Michael in the original telling him let's go get a sandwich and something to drink. Or something similar. Just Pops being his old dad self. But then Zenigata here is just explicitly let's get something to drink. And while yes, Zenigata drinks a beer regardless, he doesn't have to be that way about it. He's just really negative. I'm so glad this is not his typical characterization because I would legitimately hate him if that were the case. This was a really weird direction to go in for him.
Now for our new characters. I really like Michael's Susan Sheridan as his voice. She does a really great job not just acting but also speaking her voice. I felt like I was tripping when I first heard him; I thought it was a guy voicing him. Don't ask me why I thought it was Spike Spencer at first. But no, Susan Sheridan is really great. It's not very often you actually see Western women VAs that can pull off such a convincing boy voice. You see it a lot more in Japan for some reason. I don't know what that's about, but it isn't every day you find someone this good. May she rest in peace.
Isabel wasn't as great, but I still liked her. I just don't really think her voice acting was as strong. And does this weird half-British, half-American accent, and I just don't really know what they were going for. Or this could have just been a case of a British woman trying to hide her accent, and with the way she sounds, I want to lean towards that.
There are some things I still have issues with. Not just Zenigata, but basically all the characters have a much more mean-spirited tone with each other. There isn't as much warm banter between characters, and instead, things feel like jabs towards each other. Jigen seems to continually make fun of Goemon for this training while this has never once been an issue and has always supported the way Goemon was, even if they did think it was strange on rare occasions. Even the taxi driver says how he's forced to watch his kid while his wife goes out. While the original talks about how he's going to see his wife and kids and wants to see them. Along with that, there's a lot more sexual and crude dialogue and jokes. I only found out conveniently a couple of days ago that Manga was notorious for randomly throwing swear and sexual language like the average 8th grader into their dubs, which is kind of weird, particularly in this case since this one is pretty lax in the sexual stuff. Isabel is seductive, and we see her naked a few times, but that's about it. And as far as I remember, the original doesn't feature next to nothing as far as cursing. Maybe there was a "kuso" thrown in there that I didn't catch, but not much. There isn't a lot of swearing here, especially compared to their take on Angel Cop, but Jigen's a bit of a potty mouth in comparison to the Japanese, anyway. I get you just have to make that kind of change when adapting something because it can just sound more natural, but the changes weren't exactly necessary here.
I also found it weird that the dub never mentions the Three Masons. The organization is never named. I'm going to assume that since the organization is clearly meant to parody the Freemasons which has a lot of conspiracy theories around it. It being a more a sensitive topic since presidents have been known to associate with it. So I can understand why they might not want to bring it up, but there's nothing really wrong by mentioning the Three Masons either in my opinion.
One scene I really liked in the dub was the one where Michael reunites with Lupin at the airport. The point of the joke in the original is Zenigata trying to talk to a foreigner in his classic English since he's never been exactly good. It's a cute scene, but it clearly doesn't work in English. So I was curious to see how it would be handled here, and it's done well. Lupin talks very exaggeratedly and is generally just a goof. The new joke for this scene is just seeing this eccentric character, and it works; I think it provides the equivalent kind of joke.
So, what's my overall opinion? Pretty good! It's not great, but I could easily rewatch this special dubbed episode and completely enjoy it. They definitely take their liberties with the script, but to me, I just say it makes for a unique experience. Again, I don't like how mean-spirited the characters can come off, but at least it gives me an incentive to check it out. I really enjoy a lot of the voice performances too. BUT as always the Japanese is superior so let's briefly discuss it now.
Of course, the voices are as good as always. Goemon's bashfulness is adorable. This might be one of the first instances of true Moemon.
I absolutely love that Michael is played by Mayumi Tanaka. Of course, the voice of Luffy. I actually found out after watching so I never noticed when I initially watched it. This would be the oldest role I've heard her take so she is of course the youngest here. I honestly wouldn't have been able to tell if I hadn't known. But just knowing that makes me love Michael even more.
I would like to mention it's taken me several days to watch all the content for this special and in that time, the announcement of Eiko Matsuyama's passing was announced; Fujiko's voice actor. And so I wanted to dedicate this section to her. A wonderfully talented voice actor who always seemed so invested and enthusiastic in all her roles. She's really given Fujiko her perfect voice and shaped the perfect persona. It's amazing she had voiced Fujiko for over 30 years; she was extremely dedicated to her role. With that, Masuyama was the last of the original cast to pass away, the official end of an era. It's really really sad to hear for all they've done. They've given these characters their voices and have done so beautifully. These are the voices of these characters and so many others. So, I want to thank them, thank you, Yasuo Yamada, Goro Naya, Makio Inoue, Kiyoshi Kobayashi, and Eiko Masuyama. Thank you. You gave the voices to these amazing characters. These are characters that influenced me in so many ways in my life and helped me to understand myself better. If you weren't there to voice such great characters, I don't know where the show or I would be right now. So thank you. 💗
Unable to successfully steal the ICPO's records, Lupin gives up entirely on stealing business. The computers can calculate all his moves; there's no point. Jigen tries to get him on a case but Lupin just wants to live a simple with his new fling, Judy. Jigen's old friend Rooster is being hunted by mysterious figures for his diamond, The Super Egg. Jigen tries to get Goemon's help as well but fails since Goemon decides to go on a journey. Lupin comes by, distraught that Judy dumped him, so he returns to Jigen. He mentions there are a lot of scary guys outside, just as they're shot at. Rooster is shot before he has a chance to tell Jigen where the diamond is located, only that it's inside the Statue of Liberty. A boy named Michael, who's been following Lupin around, appears and says he can help in exchange for him helping him find his mom. They lift the Statue of Liberty off into the skies to get everyone off their tail while they search for it. Meanwhile, Goemon is on a train to Alaska when a woman named Isabel asks him to be her bodyguard.
On the flight, they pass by a plane and see Fujiko with some new man inside. Jigen and Lupin take it to the Grand Canyon. While in the midst of exploring, Michael tells Lupin about a virus this organization, the Three Masons, plans to use, and he wants to stop it from happening. As the organization flies by, they disguise the statue and camp out outside. When the moon rises just above the statue, the flame shines brightly. That's where they find the diamond, but just as they do, they find out again. Jigen gets knocked into the Colorado River. Lupin and Michael run off into the middle of the desert but just so happens to run into Zenigata. He's promptly arrested.
Meanwhile, Jigen is rescued by Goemon and Isabel and quickly goes to rescue Lupin. Zenigata leaves him in a local jail and sets up a helicopter to come pick him up. He takes Michael to get something to eat. Pulling up on horseback, Jigen, Goemon, and Isabel come to take Lupin but are again followed by the Three Masons, but they can evade them.
Resting in New Orleans, they guys recoup. Isabel invites Lupin to a private dinner where they discuss getting the diamond for her. But while discussing, the band playing attacks them. Meanwhile, Jimmy, Fujiko's boyfriend, takes her to a building where he needs to handle some business. Once Fujiko's left alone, she sleuths her way through the place to find any expensive gems and jewels she may find. But she comes crashing down into the middle of the Three Masons's headquarters, where Jimmy is number 3. They take her, and the leader, Number 1, takes a sword out of his mouth and releases one drop of some kind of liquid into Fujiko's mouth.
Lupin finds Michael with Zenigata using his gum to identify himself, and Michael follows after. He's hidden the diamond in a football for him. As Jigen drives them back to New York, Fujiko suddenly appears in front of them and seems to fly into the car window. They meet up with Isabel to trade off the diamond, but Fujiko interferes by taking both back to the Three Masons and kidnaps Isabel. Jigen stops Fujko, but they still get away with Isabel. Michael, finally seeing the commotion, calls out to his mom, Isabel.
They hide out for the time being, and Lupin asks Michael's got to gain from going after her. Michael just wants to call her an idiot for all she's done. He reveals she was the one who created this New Virus that has the ability to hack any computer in the world. While talking, Fujiko begins speaking again, but in the voice of Number 1. He bargains that they bring the diamond in exchange for Isabel tomorrow.
Early the next morning, Goemon sets off separately to go after her on his own. Meanwhile, Isabel meets up with Number 1, who calls her out for being a traitor, but before he can do anything, Jimmy shoots him. Making her Number 1 now. Goemon finds her and finds out he was used. In his frustration, he runs around the building, cutting all in his path, but falls through the floor before he can reach Isabel. It is the same for Lupin and Jigen, who, after making the exchange, kick the football right at Number 1's head. When he falls, it's revealed that he was killed. And so they're sent down, too.
Using jet-propelled shoes, Lupin escapes and promises to come back for the rest. At the meeting of the Three Masons, he disguises himself amongst them and witnesses Isabel retrieving the code. She hypnotized herself so that she would only remember it in these certain conditions. Once her mind has revealed it, Jimmy shoots her now that he's gotten everything out her.
Now that Jimmy is number one, he hacks into the world's computers and plans to launch missiles at the Soviet Union. Lupin and Michael bust in to stop the missiles. And with just .02 seconds left to go, it's stopped. The building starts crumbling down, so the gang escapes escape. As they ride off, Isabel says how Goemon reminds her of her first love and asks Michael for a kiss before passing away. Lupin tells Michael how much she looks like the Statue of Liberty.
After seeing the new virus code, Lupin tries to hack the ICPO back at his apartment. But it doesn't seem to be working out all that well.
Ah, how this TV special sets such high hopes for future TV specials, and how wrong I was to think that. But let's not talk about the future. I really like this special. Always have and still do. There are certainly some outlandish things. I quite never understood the whole Three Masons thing and all their motivations. But it's fine, though; the stakes are fun. This movie has a good sense of adventure since we travel all over the US. I did find it really funny that the city town in Arizona is just an old Western set. I love that's the Japanese interpretation of the South West. I've never been to Arizona, but, uh, I think it's a bit more developed over there by now. My favorite setting was going to New Orleans, where the gang enjoyed themselves at jazz clubs. Unfortunately, not a ton of Dixieland, but we do get it, and that's all that matters. It's brief, but I really had fun while we were there.
In comparison to other specials, I really liked the converging plotlines. Like always, we're introduced to our new character following us around and then the overhanging threat. They link well. Isabel is the villain, and I don't want to say she's our Lupin girl for the movie. I would say our main traveling buddy is Michael. I think this is, in large part, due to Monkey Punch coming up with some of the ideas for this movie, including Michael. He was also based on Mikel from Part 3 as well. Lupin's had a small bit of history with boy geniuses. So because of that, we don't get an NPC girl, which makes the entire experience way more entertaining. Too bad that's about it; this is the last we'll ever not have an NPC girl as our main new character.
So overall, I really enjoyed the movie. I do really think that the movie is able to perfectly make a simple Lupin story. It is really nice to get back to the anime's traditional form. And I'm gonna regret those words for the years and years of Lupin TV specials there is to come, but after going through the 80s, pink jacket, and even return to the green jacket.
As this is a return to form, I think I'll be randomly compiling my thoughts on characters more than separating them from character to character.
I mainly want to talk about Goemon since he seems to have the most interesting character changes. Well, we all know how I uh feel about Goemon as far as relationships go. I don't really like the idea of these relationships, especially the way it's conveyed here, honestly. I just don't see it. And no, I don't think there's any reason for it. Sure, yeah, Isabel used him to get his guard down, but I don't like the lean into it. I'm not gonna lie and say I still think the way Goemon acts is cute, and I'll take any of that Goemon autism behavior.
I do need to mention I love the goofiness of Lupin here. This is a red jacket Lupin goofy, which I'm a lot more accustomed to and probably like the most. Like, I haven't been with this version of Lupin since March, and chronologically, it's been 9 years, so yeah, I'm happy to get this. The Green Jacket is too reserved, and the pink jacket is too much. Not that those are bad, but when I want Lupin, I want this. It's nice to see him being silly, shooting the shit with Jigen, and all that. It's kind of why I don't have a lot to say, I'm just happy to get the red and manga Lupin. He's also very gadgety. While that's certainly never changed, I just love the sheer number of them for one movie. From his, tap-dancing shoes, Statue of Liberty camouflage, or his explosive ducks.
The importance of all the characters is way better here than we will be seeing, so it's nice to see them all being employed efficiently. Although Zenigata still isn't very important, but he does move the plot along. Sure, he's still mainly played for life, but thank god he actually can do stuff.
As I've already said, I love Michael as a voice but also as a character. I really don't like child geniuses characters, but he's still cute and feels like a child. He's not constantly hacking and "I'm in"ing. He's playing games, doing little kid guilt, crying in his mother's arms. He seems like a kid that just happens to be smart. it makes him sweet and charming.
Although estranged, I really find his relationship with Isabel. They seem like mother and son, and their reunion is so heartfelt. Isabel is one of the best Lupin girls we're ever going to get. I like that she plays the villain, too; certainly way more interesting than any other. But she's certainly menacing and has a manipulative presence.
I do wish that the Three Masons as a whole were a bit more fleshed out. I think that Number 1 is the most mysterious. He clearly has supernatural powers, which is why I assume he's so old. But nothing's ever answered. He simply is, and then he's just killed. Also, what's up with the breath? Is it just because he's just so old that his breath smells like rotting flesh? Or like is it another power? I don't know; he literally only uses it twice, so I don't see the point of it being included. But we don't really know why the Three Masons exist. Why do they have so many followers? The whole taking over the world's computers with a New Virus is only a recent thing since they hired Isabel. So what did they do before this? It's just weird.
I learned a lot about Osamu Dezaki from the commentary track, and I'm so glad I watched it. The amount of tricks he employs made me appreciate this movie on an entirely new level. Thanks to Mike Toole for giving me such an informative watch! I am slightly familiar with Dezaki's work like Rose of Versailles and, of course, his other work on Lupin, and a few others like Tezuka's works and Ashita no Joe. But because of this and the many talented artists behind him, this movie looks amazing. I had no idea; Dezaki made so much of what anime employs today or at least the analog way of making anime. We have things like parallaxying - taking multiple layers of animation and moving them to add depth, reflective lights off water, sun flares, and glowing lights. Basically, if there's a light effect, he probably invented it. Heavy shadows and split screens - which I love- really add manga quality to the whole thing. And my favorite effect is the harmony effect. Something extremely common in his work but would really become industry standards. That is taking a panel and overlaying it with another cell and adding painted lines and effects over the cell to give it a watercolor effect. On top of that, doing triple takes (aka repeatedly zooming in on the same shot, y'know, the thing every Western animator parodies). Unfortunately, a lot of these really creative shortcuts would only be massively influential up until the digital age. With modern tech, the need for this stuff just wasn't necessary. While I think they provide a genuinely really interesting visual quality and make so much of what we see dynamic. So it's a shame to see it never really implemented. As Dezaki had said, they were merely shortcuts for low budgetary reasons. He was working on the original Astroboy, so I can totally see him being accustomed to shortcuts. But they don't look like it, and you could never convince me they were if I hadn't been told that.
One of my favorite things about the early specials was the art styles. I looove Noboru Furuse's character designs. Not surprisingly, he had a role in Mamo, which the art style is extremely reminiscent of with the sharp angles, long faces, and spindly limbs. Mamo is one of my absolute favorite movies; I'm extremely happy to see a return to it, but it still has its own unique spin. Furuse was also the animation director, and my god, he did a great job. This TV special looks great. So many moments filled with sakuga that makes it a much watch for anyone invested in the animation scene enough.
Before I get into my screenshots, I did want to briefly mention recolor of Lupin's clothes. While pretty much the same as Lupin's Part 2 design, his pink tie has been replaced with a yellow one. My brain can't freaking stand these primary colors, I'll be completely honest. It would have been cool if they could have made it at least green to nod back to the manga's typical clothes colors. I do like that it's not the exact same as Part 2 to at least differentiate. But still, I think the pink looks way better. This movie isn't as bad since they give him a lighter color blue shirt so it's not quite so baby's first colors. But as the common theory goes, depending on the tone of the TV special the colors will shift in value, so yeah, it's gonna look worse in time.
Let this sink in everyone. Firstly, Zenigata has like proper hair. Not balding like Part 1 Zeni was, or even have it in a buzzcut. Bro's got a full head of hair, and while not my exact interpretation, he does look quite dashing. Also it mentions Zenigata being born on Christmas, 1938. Meaning he was 51 in this movie!! THIS IS THE FIRST CANONICAL AGE FREAK OUT EVERYONE. He's been mainly seen as a bit younger, like his early to mid 40s. Certainly, 51-year-olds are still very capable, but for all the pain Lupin puts him through, good on you, man, that cannot be easy.
I freaking love this shot so much. Very reminiscent of the film "A Cat in Paris" for me. We also see Dezaki deployments: a Dutch angle and light glow effects.
I once saw a post on Tumblr saying this was the very embodiment of transmascing and God, I couldn't agree more. I may not be transmasc myself but I'm just a couple do steps down from being there, so yeah I get this. Such a powerful image honestly, I love it. Lazy, stupid Lupin O, how I love the.
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GAY GAY GAY 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈 It's pride month, let's celebrate. In all seriousness, though, these guys are really fun in this movie. It really captured their buddy-buddy connection. Something just inherently deeper than we're shown explicitly. Haven't seen that for a while, and I'm more than happy it's back.
About the second image too, It's one of the funniest Lupin moments in this movie for me. Just repeatedly yelling "No fair" in his drunken stooper. We don't really see the guys get wasted very often so this is really funny.
Such a cool shot, I love the simulation of all these city lights. Which is yet another Dezaki invention. He really is a genius.
Isabel is genuinely really pretty looking. I know they really try to convey that with how the characters act around her, but I get it, she is beautiful. She has a very strong design full of mystery and seduction.
I also love this shot of her shoulders. They show a similar scene with Fujiko later too. But I love these freakishly exaggerated shoulders. I like to do this with my drawings too honestly. I think it really emphasizes femininity.
Ooooh I love these silly expressions so much. Every time I watched this they made me giggle so I just had to include them.
The first one is a perfect example of Dezaki's harmony shots. I really love these so much.
This fit honestly rocks. Please get more funky outfits, Lupin. You're rocking it. I actually love his whole design as he's disguised. He seems like a character you'd see straight out of Trigun or something like that.
Another absolutely beautiful background. This is simply amazing.
MY GOAT IS BAAACK. It's a bop, man. I love it. It's really nice to hear my favorites again. All the character's themes including Theme From Lupin '89. Definitely the funniest version of his song. Calling him sexy and damn tasty. Also, calling him a cookie. Intriguing. But despite the sillier lyrics, this song is great. I see it as one of the last great themes. Since it seems to really create a unique voice for itself.
There are a couple of stand out tracks within the movie I like. The song playing while hiding the Statue of Liberty is delightfully goofy, and it just makes me happy. The other songs I love are the scenes in New Orleans. Of course, there is the Dixieland, which I've grown more of a fondness for recently. But as they go to the restaurants, there's some really sweet jazz.
Lastly is "Endless Twilight" sung by Akemi Keida. And yeah this is easily one of my favorite Lupin songs of all time. Even just one of my favorite songs in general. I absolutely love this song. It's got a sweet romance to it while still being laid back and mature. Keida so passionately sings it as well.
This is a very great start to the TV special series. It's nice to see the return to form for now and so I welcomed this film in with open arms. And for a simple TV special, it is a really strong movie with great animation, great characters, and a genuine story. It was a great way to welcome Lupin back into the start of this new Lupintic era.
Sub vs Dub
Firstly, I don't know why I didn't stick to my rule of watching the dub first then the sub but it kind of threw my whole process out of whack, so I'm not doing that again.
Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised the dub was not that bad. I had automatically assumed that Funimation had the rights to all the TV specials, but nope, this is the Manga Dub. Who also did one of the dubs for Mamo as well. Which I still haven't seen yet, I apologize. I only ordered the DVD after I did my blog (I'll still go back and update eventually). Anyway, because of that, I can't really compare this dub with the Mamo dub since they do feature the same main voice cast. And I have to say, overall, I'm pretty happy with the casting. While trying to find the other roles a lot of them primarily worked in live-action film or non-anime cartoons.
Starting with Lupin again. He's easily my favorite casting. He seems to perfectly emote exactly what Lupin would naturally do in a situation; I mean, it really fits; I'm a huge fan. William Dufris does a really great job mixing zany with seriousness. Dufris sounds really similar to Bob Burgen, and I've always really enjoyed his role, so I'm perfectly happy with this voice for him in English. Something honestly taken too much to the extreme with the Fuma dub. Anyway, they do refer to him as Wolf here so, it was an older dub. And while I've never wanted him to be referred to as Wolf, this is probably my favorite instance of it. They'll get cute with his name as almost all the characters call him Wolfy at some point, and it just got me like 🥺. But honestly, Lupin's voice alone makes me really motivated to go back and watch the Mamo's dub because he's just a really good role.
Jigen is also pretty good. Honestly, Richard Epcar is the only voice I've ever thought sounded appropriate, but I think Eric Meyers does a good job. I think, in part that they actually understood Jigen's role in the movie a bit better. Not a goon or underling, Lupin's old partner and friend. I think this helps sharpen up his dialogue. But also because Jigen's voice isn't stupid deep or gravelly like all other voices are. I really haven't understood this characterization for him because it's never once been present in the Japanese. So, it was a breath of fresh air to hear this interpretation. The voice acting itself is pretty good, too. But there is a bit of inconsistency in pronunciation. It's mostly pronounced correctly, but every now and then, a "Jig-gen" will slip in. Gulp, a detection of Funimation, just slipped through the cracks.
Yeah, I like this dub cast, except for Goemon. God, it's really bad. I don't know Garrick Haggon from anything, so I can't really gauge his general talents, but in the few instances he spoke in a more casual way, he certainly seems to have the talent, so I don't want to really pin the blame on him for this role. Anyway, yeah, this is the stiffest dialogue I've ever seen. The way they're presented is seriously like, "QUICK, we're gonna flash some sentences at you and just repeat them in the most monotone voice as quickly as possible." Like that's the vibe I get. None of what Goemon says seems like he means any of it and is just spouting off stereotypical spiritual things. It's like really bad I don't know how else to describe it. I also dislike the way they've written Goemon's character here. It's very clear that Goemon is bashful around Isabel because she's a beautiful woman. However, they really lean into this idea that Goemon is about to get it on with her. I really hate the line when they get the motel keys and call the one to their room "the key to heaven." I wouldn't mind this if the other characters were saying this, but because it's Goemon who can barely stand to see women, in general, being so direct and essentially insinuating that he would be the one initiating any action, it really rubs me the wrong way. GOEMON IS A CUTE LITTLE BOTTOM HE AIN'T NO MANLY MAN IN THE BEDROOM, HE'S A SISSY!!! Uh... Anyway, they also pronounced his name like "Gomon" which I still don't understand how it's repeatedly butchered, "Go-eh-mon" why do people always leave out the prominently pronounced "e" in his name omg.
I really liked Toni Berry's performance as Fujiko. Like a lot of her older dub voice actresses, they sound deeper to sound more mature whilst retaining that seductiveness. Yet another example of good casting and the perfect balance of both.
Zenigata is a bit dicier. I do still like his performance but the way he's written and then in turn, played is sketchy. Zenigata is really made out to be a jerk which is really weird since he's usually the poor little sweetheart we just wanna see winning at life. And yet they make him a loser cop that cant even be bothered to tip his cab drivers. The joke is that he's always treated so poorly by the ICPO and how he cant even pay for cab fare, having to throw it all on ICPO expenses. There's no mention of tipping in any scenes in the original since they don't tip in Japan, so this literally just wouldn't make sense to include in general. But the fact that he does this repeatedly makes Zenigata really unlikeable. He's just got a real sleazy way about him. Even when Lupin's arrested and he takes Michael to the saloon. He's actually really sweet to Michael in the original telling him let's go get a sandwich and something to drink. Or something similar. Just Pops being his old dad self. But then Zenigata here is just explicitly let's get something to drink. And while yes, Zenigata drinks a beer regardless, he doesn't have to be that way about it. He's just really negative. I'm so glad this is not his typical characterization because I would legitimately hate him if that were the case. This was a really weird direction to go in for him.
Now for our new characters. I really like Michael's Susan Sheridan as his voice. She does a really great job not just acting but also speaking her voice. I felt like I was tripping when I first heard him; I thought it was a guy voicing him. Don't ask me why I thought it was Spike Spencer at first. But no, Susan Sheridan is really great. It's not very often you actually see Western women VAs that can pull off such a convincing boy voice. You see it a lot more in Japan for some reason. I don't know what that's about, but it isn't every day you find someone this good. May she rest in peace.
Isabel wasn't as great, but I still liked her. I just don't really think her voice acting was as strong. And does this weird half-British, half-American accent, and I just don't really know what they were going for. Or this could have just been a case of a British woman trying to hide her accent, and with the way she sounds, I want to lean towards that.
There are some things I still have issues with. Not just Zenigata, but basically all the characters have a much more mean-spirited tone with each other. There isn't as much warm banter between characters, and instead, things feel like jabs towards each other. Jigen seems to continually make fun of Goemon for this training while this has never once been an issue and has always supported the way Goemon was, even if they did think it was strange on rare occasions. Even the taxi driver says how he's forced to watch his kid while his wife goes out. While the original talks about how he's going to see his wife and kids and wants to see them. Along with that, there's a lot more sexual and crude dialogue and jokes. I only found out conveniently a couple of days ago that Manga was notorious for randomly throwing swear and sexual language like the average 8th grader into their dubs, which is kind of weird, particularly in this case since this one is pretty lax in the sexual stuff. Isabel is seductive, and we see her naked a few times, but that's about it. And as far as I remember, the original doesn't feature next to nothing as far as cursing. Maybe there was a "kuso" thrown in there that I didn't catch, but not much. There isn't a lot of swearing here, especially compared to their take on Angel Cop, but Jigen's a bit of a potty mouth in comparison to the Japanese, anyway. I get you just have to make that kind of change when adapting something because it can just sound more natural, but the changes weren't exactly necessary here.
I also found it weird that the dub never mentions the Three Masons. The organization is never named. I'm going to assume that since the organization is clearly meant to parody the Freemasons which has a lot of conspiracy theories around it. It being a more a sensitive topic since presidents have been known to associate with it. So I can understand why they might not want to bring it up, but there's nothing really wrong by mentioning the Three Masons either in my opinion.
One scene I really liked in the dub was the one where Michael reunites with Lupin at the airport. The point of the joke in the original is Zenigata trying to talk to a foreigner in his classic English since he's never been exactly good. It's a cute scene, but it clearly doesn't work in English. So I was curious to see how it would be handled here, and it's done well. Lupin talks very exaggeratedly and is generally just a goof. The new joke for this scene is just seeing this eccentric character, and it works; I think it provides the equivalent kind of joke.
So, what's my overall opinion? Pretty good! It's not great, but I could easily rewatch this special dubbed episode and completely enjoy it. They definitely take their liberties with the script, but to me, I just say it makes for a unique experience. Again, I don't like how mean-spirited the characters can come off, but at least it gives me an incentive to check it out. I really enjoy a lot of the voice performances too. BUT as always the Japanese is superior so let's briefly discuss it now.
Of course, the voices are as good as always. Goemon's bashfulness is adorable. This might be one of the first instances of true Moemon.
I absolutely love that Michael is played by Mayumi Tanaka. Of course, the voice of Luffy. I actually found out after watching so I never noticed when I initially watched it. This would be the oldest role I've heard her take so she is of course the youngest here. I honestly wouldn't have been able to tell if I hadn't known. But just knowing that makes me love Michael even more.
I would like to mention it's taken me several days to watch all the content for this special and in that time, the announcement of Eiko Matsuyama's passing was announced; Fujiko's voice actor. And so I wanted to dedicate this section to her. A wonderfully talented voice actor who always seemed so invested and enthusiastic in all her roles. She's really given Fujiko her perfect voice and shaped the perfect persona. It's amazing she had voiced Fujiko for over 30 years; she was extremely dedicated to her role. With that, Masuyama was the last of the original cast to pass away, the official end of an era. It's really really sad to hear for all they've done. They've given these characters their voices and have done so beautifully. These are the voices of these characters and so many others. So, I want to thank them, thank you, Yasuo Yamada, Goro Naya, Makio Inoue, Kiyoshi Kobayashi, and Eiko Masuyama. Thank you. You gave the voices to these amazing characters. These are characters that influenced me in so many ways in my life and helped me to understand myself better. If you weren't there to voice such great characters, I don't know where the show or I would be right now. So thank you. 💗
Story
Unable to successfully steal the ICPO's records, Lupin gives up entirely on stealing business. The computers can calculate all his moves; there's no point. Jigen tries to get him on a case but Lupin just wants to live a simple with his new fling, Judy. Jigen's old friend Rooster is being hunted by mysterious figures for his diamond, The Super Egg. Jigen tries to get Goemon's help as well but fails since Goemon decides to go on a journey. Lupin comes by, distraught that Judy dumped him, so he returns to Jigen. He mentions there are a lot of scary guys outside, just as they're shot at. Rooster is shot before he has a chance to tell Jigen where the diamond is located, only that it's inside the Statue of Liberty. A boy named Michael, who's been following Lupin around, appears and says he can help in exchange for him helping him find his mom. They lift the Statue of Liberty off into the skies to get everyone off their tail while they search for it. Meanwhile, Goemon is on a train to Alaska when a woman named Isabel asks him to be her bodyguard.
On the flight, they pass by a plane and see Fujiko with some new man inside. Jigen and Lupin take it to the Grand Canyon. While in the midst of exploring, Michael tells Lupin about a virus this organization, the Three Masons, plans to use, and he wants to stop it from happening. As the organization flies by, they disguise the statue and camp out outside. When the moon rises just above the statue, the flame shines brightly. That's where they find the diamond, but just as they do, they find out again. Jigen gets knocked into the Colorado River. Lupin and Michael run off into the middle of the desert but just so happens to run into Zenigata. He's promptly arrested.
Meanwhile, Jigen is rescued by Goemon and Isabel and quickly goes to rescue Lupin. Zenigata leaves him in a local jail and sets up a helicopter to come pick him up. He takes Michael to get something to eat. Pulling up on horseback, Jigen, Goemon, and Isabel come to take Lupin but are again followed by the Three Masons, but they can evade them.
Resting in New Orleans, they guys recoup. Isabel invites Lupin to a private dinner where they discuss getting the diamond for her. But while discussing, the band playing attacks them. Meanwhile, Jimmy, Fujiko's boyfriend, takes her to a building where he needs to handle some business. Once Fujiko's left alone, she sleuths her way through the place to find any expensive gems and jewels she may find. But she comes crashing down into the middle of the Three Masons's headquarters, where Jimmy is number 3. They take her, and the leader, Number 1, takes a sword out of his mouth and releases one drop of some kind of liquid into Fujiko's mouth.
Lupin finds Michael with Zenigata using his gum to identify himself, and Michael follows after. He's hidden the diamond in a football for him. As Jigen drives them back to New York, Fujiko suddenly appears in front of them and seems to fly into the car window. They meet up with Isabel to trade off the diamond, but Fujiko interferes by taking both back to the Three Masons and kidnaps Isabel. Jigen stops Fujko, but they still get away with Isabel. Michael, finally seeing the commotion, calls out to his mom, Isabel.
They hide out for the time being, and Lupin asks Michael's got to gain from going after her. Michael just wants to call her an idiot for all she's done. He reveals she was the one who created this New Virus that has the ability to hack any computer in the world. While talking, Fujiko begins speaking again, but in the voice of Number 1. He bargains that they bring the diamond in exchange for Isabel tomorrow.
Early the next morning, Goemon sets off separately to go after her on his own. Meanwhile, Isabel meets up with Number 1, who calls her out for being a traitor, but before he can do anything, Jimmy shoots him. Making her Number 1 now. Goemon finds her and finds out he was used. In his frustration, he runs around the building, cutting all in his path, but falls through the floor before he can reach Isabel. It is the same for Lupin and Jigen, who, after making the exchange, kick the football right at Number 1's head. When he falls, it's revealed that he was killed. And so they're sent down, too.
Using jet-propelled shoes, Lupin escapes and promises to come back for the rest. At the meeting of the Three Masons, he disguises himself amongst them and witnesses Isabel retrieving the code. She hypnotized herself so that she would only remember it in these certain conditions. Once her mind has revealed it, Jimmy shoots her now that he's gotten everything out her.
Now that Jimmy is number one, he hacks into the world's computers and plans to launch missiles at the Soviet Union. Lupin and Michael bust in to stop the missiles. And with just .02 seconds left to go, it's stopped. The building starts crumbling down, so the gang escapes escape. As they ride off, Isabel says how Goemon reminds her of her first love and asks Michael for a kiss before passing away. Lupin tells Michael how much she looks like the Statue of Liberty.
After seeing the new virus code, Lupin tries to hack the ICPO back at his apartment. But it doesn't seem to be working out all that well.
Ah, how this TV special sets such high hopes for future TV specials, and how wrong I was to think that. But let's not talk about the future. I really like this special. Always have and still do. There are certainly some outlandish things. I quite never understood the whole Three Masons thing and all their motivations. But it's fine, though; the stakes are fun. This movie has a good sense of adventure since we travel all over the US. I did find it really funny that the city town in Arizona is just an old Western set. I love that's the Japanese interpretation of the South West. I've never been to Arizona, but, uh, I think it's a bit more developed over there by now. My favorite setting was going to New Orleans, where the gang enjoyed themselves at jazz clubs. Unfortunately, not a ton of Dixieland, but we do get it, and that's all that matters. It's brief, but I really had fun while we were there.
In comparison to other specials, I really liked the converging plotlines. Like always, we're introduced to our new character following us around and then the overhanging threat. They link well. Isabel is the villain, and I don't want to say she's our Lupin girl for the movie. I would say our main traveling buddy is Michael. I think this is, in large part, due to Monkey Punch coming up with some of the ideas for this movie, including Michael. He was also based on Mikel from Part 3 as well. Lupin's had a small bit of history with boy geniuses. So because of that, we don't get an NPC girl, which makes the entire experience way more entertaining. Too bad that's about it; this is the last we'll ever not have an NPC girl as our main new character.
So overall, I really enjoyed the movie. I do really think that the movie is able to perfectly make a simple Lupin story. It is really nice to get back to the anime's traditional form. And I'm gonna regret those words for the years and years of Lupin TV specials there is to come, but after going through the 80s, pink jacket, and even return to the green jacket.
Characters
As this is a return to form, I think I'll be randomly compiling my thoughts on characters more than separating them from character to character.
I mainly want to talk about Goemon since he seems to have the most interesting character changes. Well, we all know how I uh feel about Goemon as far as relationships go. I don't really like the idea of these relationships, especially the way it's conveyed here, honestly. I just don't see it. And no, I don't think there's any reason for it. Sure, yeah, Isabel used him to get his guard down, but I don't like the lean into it. I'm not gonna lie and say I still think the way Goemon acts is cute, and I'll take any of that Goemon autism behavior.
I do need to mention I love the goofiness of Lupin here. This is a red jacket Lupin goofy, which I'm a lot more accustomed to and probably like the most. Like, I haven't been with this version of Lupin since March, and chronologically, it's been 9 years, so yeah, I'm happy to get this. The Green Jacket is too reserved, and the pink jacket is too much. Not that those are bad, but when I want Lupin, I want this. It's nice to see him being silly, shooting the shit with Jigen, and all that. It's kind of why I don't have a lot to say, I'm just happy to get the red and manga Lupin. He's also very gadgety. While that's certainly never changed, I just love the sheer number of them for one movie. From his, tap-dancing shoes, Statue of Liberty camouflage, or his explosive ducks.
The importance of all the characters is way better here than we will be seeing, so it's nice to see them all being employed efficiently. Although Zenigata still isn't very important, but he does move the plot along. Sure, he's still mainly played for life, but thank god he actually can do stuff.
As I've already said, I love Michael as a voice but also as a character. I really don't like child geniuses characters, but he's still cute and feels like a child. He's not constantly hacking and "I'm in"ing. He's playing games, doing little kid guilt, crying in his mother's arms. He seems like a kid that just happens to be smart. it makes him sweet and charming.
Although estranged, I really find his relationship with Isabel. They seem like mother and son, and their reunion is so heartfelt. Isabel is one of the best Lupin girls we're ever going to get. I like that she plays the villain, too; certainly way more interesting than any other. But she's certainly menacing and has a manipulative presence.
I do wish that the Three Masons as a whole were a bit more fleshed out. I think that Number 1 is the most mysterious. He clearly has supernatural powers, which is why I assume he's so old. But nothing's ever answered. He simply is, and then he's just killed. Also, what's up with the breath? Is it just because he's just so old that his breath smells like rotting flesh? Or like is it another power? I don't know; he literally only uses it twice, so I don't see the point of it being included. But we don't really know why the Three Masons exist. Why do they have so many followers? The whole taking over the world's computers with a New Virus is only a recent thing since they hired Isabel. So what did they do before this? It's just weird.
Art/Animation
I learned a lot about Osamu Dezaki from the commentary track, and I'm so glad I watched it. The amount of tricks he employs made me appreciate this movie on an entirely new level. Thanks to Mike Toole for giving me such an informative watch! I am slightly familiar with Dezaki's work like Rose of Versailles and, of course, his other work on Lupin, and a few others like Tezuka's works and Ashita no Joe. But because of this and the many talented artists behind him, this movie looks amazing. I had no idea; Dezaki made so much of what anime employs today or at least the analog way of making anime. We have things like parallaxying - taking multiple layers of animation and moving them to add depth, reflective lights off water, sun flares, and glowing lights. Basically, if there's a light effect, he probably invented it. Heavy shadows and split screens - which I love- really add manga quality to the whole thing. And my favorite effect is the harmony effect. Something extremely common in his work but would really become industry standards. That is taking a panel and overlaying it with another cell and adding painted lines and effects over the cell to give it a watercolor effect. On top of that, doing triple takes (aka repeatedly zooming in on the same shot, y'know, the thing every Western animator parodies). Unfortunately, a lot of these really creative shortcuts would only be massively influential up until the digital age. With modern tech, the need for this stuff just wasn't necessary. While I think they provide a genuinely really interesting visual quality and make so much of what we see dynamic. So it's a shame to see it never really implemented. As Dezaki had said, they were merely shortcuts for low budgetary reasons. He was working on the original Astroboy, so I can totally see him being accustomed to shortcuts. But they don't look like it, and you could never convince me they were if I hadn't been told that.
One of my favorite things about the early specials was the art styles. I looove Noboru Furuse's character designs. Not surprisingly, he had a role in Mamo, which the art style is extremely reminiscent of with the sharp angles, long faces, and spindly limbs. Mamo is one of my absolute favorite movies; I'm extremely happy to see a return to it, but it still has its own unique spin. Furuse was also the animation director, and my god, he did a great job. This TV special looks great. So many moments filled with sakuga that makes it a much watch for anyone invested in the animation scene enough.
Before I get into my screenshots, I did want to briefly mention recolor of Lupin's clothes. While pretty much the same as Lupin's Part 2 design, his pink tie has been replaced with a yellow one. My brain can't freaking stand these primary colors, I'll be completely honest. It would have been cool if they could have made it at least green to nod back to the manga's typical clothes colors. I do like that it's not the exact same as Part 2 to at least differentiate. But still, I think the pink looks way better. This movie isn't as bad since they give him a lighter color blue shirt so it's not quite so baby's first colors. But as the common theory goes, depending on the tone of the TV special the colors will shift in value, so yeah, it's gonna look worse in time.
Let this sink in everyone. Firstly, Zenigata has like proper hair. Not balding like Part 1 Zeni was, or even have it in a buzzcut. Bro's got a full head of hair, and while not my exact interpretation, he does look quite dashing. Also it mentions Zenigata being born on Christmas, 1938. Meaning he was 51 in this movie!! THIS IS THE FIRST CANONICAL AGE FREAK OUT EVERYONE. He's been mainly seen as a bit younger, like his early to mid 40s. Certainly, 51-year-olds are still very capable, but for all the pain Lupin puts him through, good on you, man, that cannot be easy.
I freaking love this shot so much. Very reminiscent of the film "A Cat in Paris" for me. We also see Dezaki deployments: a Dutch angle and light glow effects.
I once saw a post on Tumblr saying this was the very embodiment of transmascing and God, I couldn't agree more. I may not be transmasc myself but I'm just a couple do steps down from being there, so yeah I get this. Such a powerful image honestly, I love it. Lazy, stupid Lupin O, how I love the.
vGAY GAY GAY 🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈🏳️🌈 It's pride month, let's celebrate. In all seriousness, though, these guys are really fun in this movie. It really captured their buddy-buddy connection. Something just inherently deeper than we're shown explicitly. Haven't seen that for a while, and I'm more than happy it's back.
About the second image too, It's one of the funniest Lupin moments in this movie for me. Just repeatedly yelling "No fair" in his drunken stooper. We don't really see the guys get wasted very often so this is really funny.
Such a cool shot, I love the simulation of all these city lights. Which is yet another Dezaki invention. He really is a genius.
Isabel is genuinely really pretty looking. I know they really try to convey that with how the characters act around her, but I get it, she is beautiful. She has a very strong design full of mystery and seduction.
I also love this shot of her shoulders. They show a similar scene with Fujiko later too. But I love these freakishly exaggerated shoulders. I like to do this with my drawings too honestly. I think it really emphasizes femininity.
Ooooh I love these silly expressions so much. Every time I watched this they made me giggle so I just had to include them.
The first one is a perfect example of Dezaki's harmony shots. I really love these so much.
This fit honestly rocks. Please get more funky outfits, Lupin. You're rocking it. I actually love his whole design as he's disguised. He seems like a character you'd see straight out of Trigun or something like that.
Another absolutely beautiful background. This is simply amazing.
Music
MY GOAT IS BAAACK. It's a bop, man. I love it. It's really nice to hear my favorites again. All the character's themes including Theme From Lupin '89. Definitely the funniest version of his song. Calling him sexy and damn tasty. Also, calling him a cookie. Intriguing. But despite the sillier lyrics, this song is great. I see it as one of the last great themes. Since it seems to really create a unique voice for itself.
There are a couple of stand out tracks within the movie I like. The song playing while hiding the Statue of Liberty is delightfully goofy, and it just makes me happy. The other songs I love are the scenes in New Orleans. Of course, there is the Dixieland, which I've grown more of a fondness for recently. But as they go to the restaurants, there's some really sweet jazz.
Lastly is "Endless Twilight" sung by Akemi Keida. And yeah this is easily one of my favorite Lupin songs of all time. Even just one of my favorite songs in general. I absolutely love this song. It's got a sweet romance to it while still being laid back and mature. Keida so passionately sings it as well.
Final Thoughts
This is a very great start to the TV special series. It's nice to see the return to form for now and so I welcomed this film in with open arms. And for a simple TV special, it is a really strong movie with great animation, great characters, and a genuine story. It was a great way to welcome Lupin back into the start of this new Lupintic era.
Posted by Worm_Death | Jun 2, 4:04 AM | 0 comments
Private Entry
May 14th, 2024
Lupin III: The Legend of the Gold of Babylon
Anime Relations: Lupin III: Babylon no Ougon Densetsu
Sub vs Dub
This is certainly an interesting one. For one thing, the dub sound quality is way better, not just in mic quality but also in music and sound effects. Since I watched the dub first, I'll talk about it first.
The dub was really great. First of all, the voice acting was solid, even for the smaller roles. Definitely a step up from the Genon days. I learned that Part 1 Lupin was recorded during COVID-19, so that explains a lot; I no longer wanna harbor any negative feelings for it just because of the uphill battle that had to be worked on. Anyway, now that I see what they can do outside of the Genon early 2000s bubble, it's great work. It sticks a lot closer to the script while still throwing in the occasional new lines. Certainly, Tony Oliver's Lupin is still very distinct from Yasuo Yamada's. I think Tony was one of the strongest voice actors in the movie. Although my one complaint is, as I believe I've said before, he can't really do serious situations all too well. His voice is too silly for serious situations to have some weight. This is only really relevant to the scene where Lupin first sees Rosetta as a young woman.
Honestly, Doug Erholtz really won me over here. My only previous exposure to him was Part 1, and I already said what I thought of it. He does a great job and is clearly passionate. That's what I've heard from both fans and his coworkers, and now that I have a first-hand account, I totally see what they meant. He almost has this kind of New Yorker accent, weirdly enough. He might be Japanese-born and raised, but for an English adaptation, sure, this works. I had no problem with it.
A lot of the side characters were good. I think Marciano's voice suits the character well. Rosetta's voice actor is really charming; I enjoyed her a lot. As useless as Chin and Willy were, I got really excited to hear Chin voiced by Todd Haberkorn, one of my favorite childhood voice actors. However, the ICPO girls have much to be desired. They're really rough. Three of them are voiced by the same woman, one even voiced by Michelle Ruff, and the other plays young Rosetta. And I get they were probably working with a shoestring budget; I'm theorizing this was made specifically with the Bluray release of this movie, so this is probably all Discotek money. I can't imagine they have a ton of extra money, and they can just fling around. I know they try to get things dubbed as much as they can, but yeah, that's a lot of work. The issue I have with the limited voice actors, though, is that it's just white women putting on accents. And it's rough. Especially Saranda since she's supposed to be from Kenya, and yet they make her sound African American, and it's a white woman playing the role. Wow, yikes, no, that's not good. I want to give them all the benefit of the doubt and say this was mainly a financial issue versus laziness to actually hire a black voice actor. Not that any of them are too great; the accents are all really bad and about as stereotypical as they get. They're definitely rough to watch, but luckily, the girls are pretty minor characters, so it's not the worst thing.
Oddly enough, they remove one of the gayest lines in the movie, which is really weird considering this cast since they tend to write dialogue to be 10x gayer. But they removed the lines "It makes me want to give you a kiss" and "Then kiss me!" from Lupin to Zenigata. Crazy stuff. But they just turn Zenigata's line into "Monkey see, monkey do." What a shame.
Despite what I enjoy, I'd still rather watch the sub; I could easily see myself switching off, though. Again, the characters are just way better suited to the multi-talented Japanese actors. The ICPO girls aren't great here either honestly. There are a couple of rough lines, like when Saranda is introduced and, as she dances, she just chants "Kenya." You guys really couldn't be bothered to figure out how to say "hi" in Kenyan? It's really frustrating, but at the very least, they don't put on accents, which makes it worlds easier to watch. Rosetta's voice actor I preferred a lot more. When she sings, it reminds me of how my grandma sang to me as a kid, and it makes me nostalgic.
Story
An old lady wanders into a bar where Lupin just happens to be. He's given a delivery, Zenigata, and a massive motorcycle chase ensues. Once Lupin can cool down, he's visited by the old woman, an acquaintance, Rosetta. She tells Lupin about the gold of Babylon, immediately appealing to his interest. Meanwhile, Zenigata's been taken off the Lupin case for failing to capture him again. He's put in charge of an ICPO beauty contest. Afterward, he's given his position back but has to work alongside all the pageant participants.
Meanwhile, Fujiko is with her new boyfriend and former gang boss, Marciano. Fujiko says she'll only plan on marrying him if he's able to acquire the gold of Babylon. He decides to show her his father's collection. While destroying an old building, his father discovered some old cuneiform tablets from ancient Babylon. She is able to see them firsthand and is amazed. However, Marciano notices Fujiko taking pictures with her necklace, and she reveals herself to be Lupin in disguise. Scanning the tablets, he's able to translate what they say about a god and all the city's gold being used to make a grand treasure. Lupin's up for the task, but he's alone in this. After they leave, Rosetta revisits him. She takes the candelabra from Lupin, and he asks what its significance is. She explains that the Babylonians believed God rode on a comit to reach them every 76 years. She also offhandily mentions her loving relationship with Napoleon before leaving. Lupin doesn't understand how she could be alive for 2,500 years. The new gang boss is busy trying to take out Jigen, but Lupin rallies them together to head to Babylon. The gang goonies attack them on the train, but they make it to Babylon intact. They make it to the excavation site, where they already see Marciano getting started. Lupin launches himself into one of the ruins, full of booby traps. In one of these, he's a beautiful woman who calls herself Rosetta. She tells Lupin that God had her descend onto Earth many, many years ago, and she is reborn every 76 years, stuck in an endless loop. Lupin tries to wake himself from the illusion and finds himself in the center of a big room. He pulls a candle holder down, and it reveals a pure gold griffin statue. This also triggers the collapse of the entire ruins, so he makes a mad dash out. He exits right in front of Marciano's dig site but is luckily lifted up by helicopter before they can take the statue. The rope he clings to is cut down by a boomerang, a ploy by Fujiko to get the statue all to herself.
Meanwhile, the guys are out driving in the desert but certainly aren't alone. The ICPO girls managed to acquire some foreign nation's tanks and chase after the gang. They might be close, but their Jeep is aquatic. Fujiko appears on a speedboat in front of them with the statue, but Kowalski, the gang boss, quickly swipes it. Lupin's not too bothered because he's realized where the really big stash is, New York. They notify Marciano that they're there and get to digging. Lupin and Jigen uncover the giant gold stash. Lupin figured it was buried under Madison Garden Square because the recovered Babylonian tablets were found in a roughly circular pattern. This is the other Tower of Babylon, and as Rosetta described, the comet will pass over it in 76 years. Halley's Comet just so happens to be passing in 25 hours from now. They go back to the bar from the beginning but are targeted again. Lupin runs into Rosetta again, and he tells her where the new Tower of Babel is. She tells him that Fujiko has been captured by the gang, so Lupin rushes over. Threatening Fujiko's life, Lupin throws away his weapons and box of cigars before being tied up with Fujiko and sent down the river. As they are washed away, Fujiko asks him what's going on. He explains that God made the Tower of Babel in Babylon, but as he went to grab it, he dropped it, and it landed in New York, and this is why Halley's Comet travels there now. As Rosetta' stands about it, it sends off a UFO after her, and the entire tower flies into the sky. The gang just manages to scramble on before it's too far. Rosetta reverts back to her original self, and she's finally able to return home. After she ascends, Lupin destroys the candelabra to destroy the entire tower and gold for them all.
Honestly, I'm surprised I ended up enjoying this as much as I did. I never liked this movie since I first watched it, and honestly, outside of a few scenes, I didn't remember this movie well. It's been a year and a half since I first saw it. Unlike even some 24-minute episodes of Lupin, it was able to retain my attention a lot better than those. I never felt the need to go do something else while this was in the background. While not always particularly engaging all the time, I never felt bored. The locations are kept fresh, and there's a lot of really fun action. The plot is a bit... weird, to say the least. But honestly, I followed it pretty closely. Knowing about the production, it makes a lot of sense that there were clearly a lot of writers and propositions for this movie, and they got it to work while still making sense. I feel like it just flows well. I think it helps once they relate a lot of the more magical stuff back to Babylonian mythology. It seems a lot more believable. Call this Ancient Aliens, y'know. The action I found to be really fun. Arguably, the first one with Lupin and Zenigata is the most pointless, but there's just so much energy bursting into the whole time I can't complain. Lupin's had stronger plots, for sure. I only changed my rating of this from a 6 to a 7 out of 10, but I can thoroughly say I enjoyed it. This is a nice change because before, I had basically decided I'd never watch this movie again.
Characters
This is a fairly safe plot for Lupin, but there's not a ton I can say for our main guys. They do cool stuff, and I love them just as always.
While small, I want to talk about the weird mini-relationship they tried to force with Chinjao and Goemon. I just think it's pointless. She's good at martial arts and he's good with the blade, and then it's love at first sight, it's just a weird premise. They never even share a sentence with each other after their initial meeting. And yet the second Goemon exists in the scene, Chinjao is calling for him. If you're going to do that, commit or just not at all. Which I would prefer, they had no chemistry.
Speaking of the ICPO girls, I had the most issues with them for fairly obvious reasons. As I already stated, they are just really stereotypical caricatures of different cultures. Wearing stereotypical clothes and all. It made me cringe that the ones meant to seduce Lupin were the two white blonds, and the server is Saranda, in a freaking maid outfit on top of that. It's really bad. This could have served as a fun opportunity for Zenigata to be a bigger force and not just with nameless officers but a real fun cast he could work off of. But no, while they do some honestly important things, they're usually just there and often as comedic relief.
Outside of that, the new characters for this movie are honestly pretty fun and well-written.
Art/Animation
I decided not to just throw in every time there was a sakuga moment because duh, it's a movie they'll have the higher budget to do it more consistently, and I don't feel like recording a ton of clips and converting them into gifs. This movie has a lot of great sequences though, like driving into the ear, the gold crumbling, or the ruin being destroyed.
I liked that this movie was a compromise of the new and old Lupin styles. Combining Part 3 with a bit of the past. The pink on grey-blue, on light-blue really works for me, I think it looks great. The other guys are colored more traditionally, but I found it interesting that Jigen seems to constantly change art styles, sometimes looking like Mamo or Caglisotro. However, you'll notice the movie has fairly inconsistent designs. This movie was the reason they decided to get looser with the art style of Part 3, so it makes a lot of sense. I really like the designs here. They really polished the latter half of part 3 designs, so they're way nicer looking. It's honestly not that hard to tell all the individual art styles at play here.
That being said, the amount of black face and just racial incentive depictions of black people are so bad and a major reason why i dislike this movie as much as I do. It's really hard to justify when they race on a giant racist depiction of a black man for the first 10 minutes. I don't know why they decided to do this, but Christ, I'm glad we've all grown out of this and Japan, even if they are unfortunately way later to that realization.
Gay little guys sleeping together
The number of direct monkey connections to Lupin in this movie is beautiful.
Oh, nah, I'm not vibing with this hair at all. Please just give me a slick back, not these poofy bangs. Bro looking like a Beetles member rn 😭
Love these scenes, they remind of something you'd seen from Ghibli. Unrelated, but that water is also colored really pretty.
PLEASE APPRECIATE THESE BACKGROUND PLEEEEASE. DO YOU GUYS SEE HOW MUCH EFFORT HAD TO GO INTO THEM, THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL
Part 2 reference: they are so cute
This is a rather bold interpretation of God, but uh mad respect to Japan that their population of those that believe in this god is like 1% of their population., so we can get stuff like this.
IS THIS REAL CHAT?!? Please, bro, this scares me. If Lupin is actually bald, I don't know how I'll be able to go on knowing I've lived a lie.
I love this scene so much. Seeing Lupin and Fujiko just genuinely love each other is so sweet. And the way the gold leaves these strong beautiful highlights UGH, yeah, this is a good way to end their movie out.
Music
MANHATTAN JOKE, MANHATTAN JOKE. OH YEAAAH BABY!!! One of the absolute best songs to ever come out of Lupin, I love it so much. The entire soundtrack bops. It's certainly found a nicer balance of 70s and 80s, clearly Yuji Ohno has found a bit more of that balance which is great, I very much prefer. They even managed to sneak in Zenigata March and Lupin's theme. They're both great versions, and it's nice to hear Lupin's theme in a Part 3 property. It only takes up one scene, so it's not overbearing as it can often be. The music is just all great!
Final
So again, there are a lot of serious flaws with this movie. The racism and stereotypes are awful and make it hard to watch this movies at parts. But I did find a lot more value this time around in the movie, I genuinely had a good time and would happily rewatch it. Certainly not a movie to start off with because it'll turn most people off, but if you're checking out Lupin give this a watch, I think there's plenty left to still enjoy.
Posted by Worm_Death | May 14, 5:43 AM | 0 comments
May 3rd, 2024
Lupin III Part 3 Episode 50: Orders to Destroy the Atomic Sub Ivanov
Anime Relations: Lupin III: Part III
Well, we're here already! Time sure flies when the previous part was 105 episodes longer!! I'll be giving my thoughts on the series as a whole after the actual episode analysis, as per usual. I will be taking a short break from the blogs while I wait for my copy of The Legend of the Gold of Babylon to be shipped to me. So expect the blog back in roughly a week. That'll just be how it goes from here on. I'm using this blog as an opportunity to collect the entire series so please bear with me 🙏
Lupin and Jigen hijack a submarine owned by the Soviet Union. They're able to defend against them with relative ease, so all seems to be smooth sailing. Although Fujiko is followed by all the world's spy decisions and tailed by Zenigata. They are all trying to make deals with her in a sort of auction over the submarine. During the chase, the CIA comes in and takes Fujiko and Zenigata. One of the members settles for $10 million. Meanwhile, Lupin and Jigen have arrived at the bottom of the ocean to find a pirate ship they believe hides gold. While they uncover it, they're stopped short by the USSR again trying to retrieve their submarine. Fujiko has joined them and receives a call from the CIA man again, and a bidding war between the different nations ensues. To break them up, Goemon splits the submarine in half since they can't seem to decide on a victor.
Well, I'd say that was one of the most anticlimactic endings to a show, but then I learned about the production story. Again I'll be a Discotek shill and say it's thanks to them that I know this. They provide a whole backstory on the production of Part 3. So, apparently, because Part 3 was put in such a popular time slot, it often got replaced with baseball games and award shows so episodes got delayed excessively. The series was eventually cut back from airing 52 episodes to 48 because of how difficult it was to maintain the series. 2 more episodes were reissued, however, just in case there was ever a rainy day for baseball games. Episodes 49 and 50 were those two extras, so no one knew when those episodes would be airing. thus, the actual final episode of Lupin was meant to be spliced right through the middle of the series.
Now that that's out of the way, I won't be judging this episode as a finale, simply as any other episode in this series. And, well, yeah, this episode isn't really anything special in general. So much is happening in this episode that it really is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it situation. And I wasn't doing anything else while watching this, so I just glanced somewhere for a second, and I was lost. I appreciate the chaoticness but wow, maybe it's a bit too much this time. I didn't find the plot itself very interesting. I did think that every country trying to bid on it with Fujiko definitely bumbed up the episode from it being really mediocre. If this was just a bunch of countries chasing Lupin and having in-fighting along the way, it would have been really boring and extremely standard for Part 3.
There wasn't a ton of interaction, but Fujiko and Zenigata being alone together is a cool team-up. I'd appreciate seeing more. Even if Zeni and Lupin are arguably complete opposites, Lupin tries to be soft around him. Fujiko just doesn't care and she's so unapologetically her. That kind of dynamic where you have two extremely stubborn dorks makes for a cool dynamic. I would have liked to see more interaction between the two.
I love these goofy drawings so much. Look how Monkey Punch-eqsue they are. Some real rubber hose type exaggeration here. I'm having so much fun just watching them.
Jarring dawg. He's kinda slowly approaching the camera then just a single frame of this. It's really funny I almost feel like they did it on purpose. This is Lupin subliminal messaging or something.
Part 3 stories are a serious mixed bag. This one has been by far the hardest series to rate because of the highs and lows. Arguably, episode 3 is one of the worst Lupin episodes, period, for what they did to Flora. And then there are some absolute bangers like episodes 2, 11, 18, 21, 24, or 30, etc, etc. It's hard to be truly critical of the series, however, because of the extremely messy production that haunted most of the series. Having to also squeeze out The Legend of the Gold of Babylon in 5 months while the series was still being worked on. Many plots fall flat admittedly, and there's a lot of rinse and repeat in many of the more boring episodes. At the very least, the way the episodes are spread out if you run into a few clunkers, a fire episode is bound to show up. I do appreciate the direction to keep the chaoticness of the manga here. If there was an anime adaptation most faithful to the manga's tone this is certainly it. I like that they combined the ideas of both Part 1 and 2; it clearly shows. I think it was good to have a more grounded version of Lupin again, away from the sometimes even childish themes of Part 2, but not the slow-paced episodes that seem to drag Part 1. It's a good combination. Do I still like Part 1 and Part 2 more than Part 3? Yeah, but I certainly appreciate Part 3's existence within the franchise and what it tried to achieve, especially understanding the mess behind the scenes.
I found the character writing to be pretty solid especially for the main gang. They had more moments to hang out, make quippy comments, and just have fun. Of course I always enjoy a good team up, but I think Part 3 allowed the individual cogs in the heist machine to shine.
I really enjoyed Jigen's character in Part 3 especially. I love how passive he is honestly. Aside from the episodes centered around him, he just kinda goes with the flow. Making a running gag out of saying "I'm never working with you again." And a whole lot of sitting back and laughing as the world crumbles around him. That certainly is the Part 1 in him. I love this chill bro so much.
Goemon wasn't as relevant here as he was in Part 2, but his appearances seemed to have more meaning, however. Goemon seems to be a lot more expressive, especially in the sillier episode of Part 3. Letting him actually be an active part of scenes helps add to his character so much and actually makes him seem more a part of the episode and gang. How many episodes of Lupin, in general, did Goemon just show up to cut something and leave?
The fact that Part 3 decided not to have every character show up in every episode is the strongest writing element they employed. I think everyone at some point has complained about that. It's simply just too hard to shoehorn in 5 characters into every plot you conceive, and trying to do so will only dampen the plot down. I never once missed them either. I usually realize by the end of the episode if any of them are missing. Clearly, they wouldn't have made an impact so don't write them in.
Unfortunately, Zenigata only had a few stand-out episodes. The 2nd episode is the best Zenigata fanfare since Part 1, in my opinion. Somehow he's still forced into so many plots despite them cutting back on the characters more in Part 3. He's just as irrelevant in a lot of plots as Part 2 had him in. But again, in the episodes where the rest of the cast gets cut, he makes so much more sense. Even episode 49 let him shine a lot more. While not a "Zenigata" episode, just cutting Goemon and Fujiko out of the equation entirely lets Zengiata have more screen time and lets him be a formidable appointment to Lupin. Something I did appreciate is despite him still being the butt of the joke a lot of the time. Still, he's given a bit more dignity than in Part 2. When Zenigata is intended to be the main antagonist for Lupin in an episode, he is a challenge. I'm glad that Zenigata is shown to be way stronger and a formidable enemy.
I think it's super cool the animation team was super flexible. Each animator got to draw the characters with few boundaries. Looking at all the production notes is really cool. You can tell each of them has their own art style and unique interpretation of the characters. Lupin was never meant to be cookie-cutter or rigid whatsoever. Following that ideology lends itself well. You can clearly tell the animators had fun with their drawings.
Again, after reading the behind-the-scenes, the sudden art style changes make a lot more sense. The series "director" and character designer, Yuzo Aoki, had a much greater grasp over the series at its start, so it was followed more closely. However, once the latter half came around and the movie production started, animators got looser and had more implied drawings of the characters to make the production streamline a bit faster.
So, while I really love Aoki's designs and still prefer the first half's style, I can still appreciate the latter half. I did enjoy Part 3 capture the series and silly that is Lupin and it does it well. There's a lot of very commendable things I can say about that.
The color palettes really grew on me over the years of being into Lupin. Even Jigen's, who I used to find downright ugly. While the shade of green in his tie still throws me off a bit, I think the characters all look nice. The screaming 80s pastel colors are such a vibe, honestly. Maybe I'm biased; I just got a jacket that looks like I just pulled it out of a time machine to the 80s, lol. Lupin's color palette, especially, is great. Pink and blue always look good together and combine that with the bright orange tie against that blue, mwuah a lovely design, truly.
Zenigata's design is also something I really liked. The rich pink, greyish blue, and mint green are cool together. Nothing I'd ever think to combine, but they just mesh somehow. Whenever I draw Lupin characters, whenever I decide to go with the Part 3 palettes, admittedly I have the most fun; they're just so vibrant!
Aha, different TV stations, thus they did not have the rights to the same music. Now I see. Not that it really matters, because Part 3's soundtrack still slaps since it's still got Yuji Ohno at the helm. Very, very 80s and a clear contrast to the very, very 70s sound of Part 2's soundtrack, but I still love it nonetheless. There's some really nice chill stuff that still carries some of the vibe of the 70s. The action music is really fun as well. Just a perfect soundtrack again. Of course, Sexy Adventure and Fairy Night are some top bops, they rock so hard. Every night as I've written these blogs I'm singing along to the OP and ED, they're impossible not to; great earworms.
Well, that's all for the TV for now, folks. We seriously won't be getting anything until The Woman Called Fujiko Mine! Again, Part 3 isn't anything amazing but it shouldn't be overlooked. I think it still provides plenty of fun. And compared to 155, 50 episodes is nothing. This feels like a freaking 12-episode show, honestly. I hoped I would enjoy it more since many manga fans find Part 3 to be their favorite part, but alas, I am not one of them. As of now, Part 1 is still my favorite. My rating is unchanged, still a 6/10. The amount of mediocre episodes + episode 3 just weighs too much. This is really unfortunate because when Part 3 peaks, it really does.
See you next time for one last Part 3 rodeo, The Legend of the Gold of Babylon!
Story
Lupin and Jigen hijack a submarine owned by the Soviet Union. They're able to defend against them with relative ease, so all seems to be smooth sailing. Although Fujiko is followed by all the world's spy decisions and tailed by Zenigata. They are all trying to make deals with her in a sort of auction over the submarine. During the chase, the CIA comes in and takes Fujiko and Zenigata. One of the members settles for $10 million. Meanwhile, Lupin and Jigen have arrived at the bottom of the ocean to find a pirate ship they believe hides gold. While they uncover it, they're stopped short by the USSR again trying to retrieve their submarine. Fujiko has joined them and receives a call from the CIA man again, and a bidding war between the different nations ensues. To break them up, Goemon splits the submarine in half since they can't seem to decide on a victor.
Well, I'd say that was one of the most anticlimactic endings to a show, but then I learned about the production story. Again I'll be a Discotek shill and say it's thanks to them that I know this. They provide a whole backstory on the production of Part 3. So, apparently, because Part 3 was put in such a popular time slot, it often got replaced with baseball games and award shows so episodes got delayed excessively. The series was eventually cut back from airing 52 episodes to 48 because of how difficult it was to maintain the series. 2 more episodes were reissued, however, just in case there was ever a rainy day for baseball games. Episodes 49 and 50 were those two extras, so no one knew when those episodes would be airing. thus, the actual final episode of Lupin was meant to be spliced right through the middle of the series.
Now that that's out of the way, I won't be judging this episode as a finale, simply as any other episode in this series. And, well, yeah, this episode isn't really anything special in general. So much is happening in this episode that it really is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it situation. And I wasn't doing anything else while watching this, so I just glanced somewhere for a second, and I was lost. I appreciate the chaoticness but wow, maybe it's a bit too much this time. I didn't find the plot itself very interesting. I did think that every country trying to bid on it with Fujiko definitely bumbed up the episode from it being really mediocre. If this was just a bunch of countries chasing Lupin and having in-fighting along the way, it would have been really boring and extremely standard for Part 3.
Characters
There wasn't a ton of interaction, but Fujiko and Zenigata being alone together is a cool team-up. I'd appreciate seeing more. Even if Zeni and Lupin are arguably complete opposites, Lupin tries to be soft around him. Fujiko just doesn't care and she's so unapologetically her. That kind of dynamic where you have two extremely stubborn dorks makes for a cool dynamic. I would have liked to see more interaction between the two.
Art/Animation
I love these goofy drawings so much. Look how Monkey Punch-eqsue they are. Some real rubber hose type exaggeration here. I'm having so much fun just watching them.
Jarring dawg. He's kinda slowly approaching the camera then just a single frame of this. It's really funny I almost feel like they did it on purpose. This is Lupin subliminal messaging or something.
Part 3
Story
Part 3 stories are a serious mixed bag. This one has been by far the hardest series to rate because of the highs and lows. Arguably, episode 3 is one of the worst Lupin episodes, period, for what they did to Flora. And then there are some absolute bangers like episodes 2, 11, 18, 21, 24, or 30, etc, etc. It's hard to be truly critical of the series, however, because of the extremely messy production that haunted most of the series. Having to also squeeze out The Legend of the Gold of Babylon in 5 months while the series was still being worked on. Many plots fall flat admittedly, and there's a lot of rinse and repeat in many of the more boring episodes. At the very least, the way the episodes are spread out if you run into a few clunkers, a fire episode is bound to show up. I do appreciate the direction to keep the chaoticness of the manga here. If there was an anime adaptation most faithful to the manga's tone this is certainly it. I like that they combined the ideas of both Part 1 and 2; it clearly shows. I think it was good to have a more grounded version of Lupin again, away from the sometimes even childish themes of Part 2, but not the slow-paced episodes that seem to drag Part 1. It's a good combination. Do I still like Part 1 and Part 2 more than Part 3? Yeah, but I certainly appreciate Part 3's existence within the franchise and what it tried to achieve, especially understanding the mess behind the scenes.
Characters
I found the character writing to be pretty solid especially for the main gang. They had more moments to hang out, make quippy comments, and just have fun. Of course I always enjoy a good team up, but I think Part 3 allowed the individual cogs in the heist machine to shine.
I really enjoyed Jigen's character in Part 3 especially. I love how passive he is honestly. Aside from the episodes centered around him, he just kinda goes with the flow. Making a running gag out of saying "I'm never working with you again." And a whole lot of sitting back and laughing as the world crumbles around him. That certainly is the Part 1 in him. I love this chill bro so much.
Goemon wasn't as relevant here as he was in Part 2, but his appearances seemed to have more meaning, however. Goemon seems to be a lot more expressive, especially in the sillier episode of Part 3. Letting him actually be an active part of scenes helps add to his character so much and actually makes him seem more a part of the episode and gang. How many episodes of Lupin, in general, did Goemon just show up to cut something and leave?
The fact that Part 3 decided not to have every character show up in every episode is the strongest writing element they employed. I think everyone at some point has complained about that. It's simply just too hard to shoehorn in 5 characters into every plot you conceive, and trying to do so will only dampen the plot down. I never once missed them either. I usually realize by the end of the episode if any of them are missing. Clearly, they wouldn't have made an impact so don't write them in.
Unfortunately, Zenigata only had a few stand-out episodes. The 2nd episode is the best Zenigata fanfare since Part 1, in my opinion. Somehow he's still forced into so many plots despite them cutting back on the characters more in Part 3. He's just as irrelevant in a lot of plots as Part 2 had him in. But again, in the episodes where the rest of the cast gets cut, he makes so much more sense. Even episode 49 let him shine a lot more. While not a "Zenigata" episode, just cutting Goemon and Fujiko out of the equation entirely lets Zengiata have more screen time and lets him be a formidable appointment to Lupin. Something I did appreciate is despite him still being the butt of the joke a lot of the time. Still, he's given a bit more dignity than in Part 2. When Zenigata is intended to be the main antagonist for Lupin in an episode, he is a challenge. I'm glad that Zenigata is shown to be way stronger and a formidable enemy.
Art/Animation
I think it's super cool the animation team was super flexible. Each animator got to draw the characters with few boundaries. Looking at all the production notes is really cool. You can tell each of them has their own art style and unique interpretation of the characters. Lupin was never meant to be cookie-cutter or rigid whatsoever. Following that ideology lends itself well. You can clearly tell the animators had fun with their drawings.
Again, after reading the behind-the-scenes, the sudden art style changes make a lot more sense. The series "director" and character designer, Yuzo Aoki, had a much greater grasp over the series at its start, so it was followed more closely. However, once the latter half came around and the movie production started, animators got looser and had more implied drawings of the characters to make the production streamline a bit faster.
So, while I really love Aoki's designs and still prefer the first half's style, I can still appreciate the latter half. I did enjoy Part 3 capture the series and silly that is Lupin and it does it well. There's a lot of very commendable things I can say about that.
The color palettes really grew on me over the years of being into Lupin. Even Jigen's, who I used to find downright ugly. While the shade of green in his tie still throws me off a bit, I think the characters all look nice. The screaming 80s pastel colors are such a vibe, honestly. Maybe I'm biased; I just got a jacket that looks like I just pulled it out of a time machine to the 80s, lol. Lupin's color palette, especially, is great. Pink and blue always look good together and combine that with the bright orange tie against that blue, mwuah a lovely design, truly.
Zenigata's design is also something I really liked. The rich pink, greyish blue, and mint green are cool together. Nothing I'd ever think to combine, but they just mesh somehow. Whenever I draw Lupin characters, whenever I decide to go with the Part 3 palettes, admittedly I have the most fun; they're just so vibrant!
Music
Aha, different TV stations, thus they did not have the rights to the same music. Now I see. Not that it really matters, because Part 3's soundtrack still slaps since it's still got Yuji Ohno at the helm. Very, very 80s and a clear contrast to the very, very 70s sound of Part 2's soundtrack, but I still love it nonetheless. There's some really nice chill stuff that still carries some of the vibe of the 70s. The action music is really fun as well. Just a perfect soundtrack again. Of course, Sexy Adventure and Fairy Night are some top bops, they rock so hard. Every night as I've written these blogs I'm singing along to the OP and ED, they're impossible not to; great earworms.
Final Thoughts
Well, that's all for the TV for now, folks. We seriously won't be getting anything until The Woman Called Fujiko Mine! Again, Part 3 isn't anything amazing but it shouldn't be overlooked. I think it still provides plenty of fun. And compared to 155, 50 episodes is nothing. This feels like a freaking 12-episode show, honestly. I hoped I would enjoy it more since many manga fans find Part 3 to be their favorite part, but alas, I am not one of them. As of now, Part 1 is still my favorite. My rating is unchanged, still a 6/10. The amount of mediocre episodes + episode 3 just weighs too much. This is really unfortunate because when Part 3 peaks, it really does.
See you next time for one last Part 3 rodeo, The Legend of the Gold of Babylon!
Posted by Worm_Death | May 3, 4:06 AM | 0 comments
May 2nd, 2024
Lupin III Part 3 Episode 49: The Day Pops Got Adopted
Anime Relations: Lupin III: Part III
Story
Zenigata visits Madam Tequila since he knows Lupin'll be after her diamond, the "Black Pig of Mexico." She reluctantly allows him to guard her mansion after calling her a hick. Although, she wanted Lupin to steal the diamond so she could make a fortune on the insurance. Attempt after attempt, Lupin just can't break in. Lupin and Jigen ram their way in, and during the confusion, they break in. Dressed as Zenigata, Lupin convinces Madam Tequila to hand the diamond off to him to keep it safe. The real Zenigata busts in, knocking Lupin over, and the diamond lands in Tequila's mouth, and she chokes. During their kerfuffle, Zenigata hits Tequila, knocking it out of her mouth, but Lupin escapes with it again. Despite Zenigata's chase, Lupin is picked up by Jigen and escapes.
Zenigata apologizes to Madam Tequila for letting it get away. Still, she dismisses it and says she finds his dedication so admirable she wants him to be the heir to her fortune. Despite all the fame and fortune he'd receive, all he wants to do is catch Lupin, so he declines. She won't let him get away that easily. Lupin tells Jigen they stole a fake, but that's the one with the $10 billion insurance on it. They'll sneak back in that night to pick up the insurance money and the real deal. Zenigata is tied up and showered with the $10 billon to convince him to be adopted by Tequila. Lupin and Jigen jump in to vacuum up all the cash. In Tequila's craze, she throws bombs left and right. They manage to escape, but the money is destroyed, and even the diamond has been turned into coal.
I didn't really know what to expect from this episode, but it ended up being a pretty fun time. Not my favorite episode but it was decently enjoyable. I think everything blends pretty well. Even scenes like Pops and Lupin's chase scene, while not vitally important, are still fun to watch. I like that Lupin struggles to break in and again while ultimately serving as filler, it feels appropriate and is fun to watch anyway. The story of Zenigata being adopted is certainly an interesting one, something I didn't quite expect. But that concept lends itself to the characters certainly being put in a unique situation. I was really curious about this episode. I couldn't remember what this episode was about at all, but I would always see that one video, "I know what you did in Mexico 1985," and then it's just the title card "Pops Gets Adopted." It's funny out of context. So I really had no idea what to expect.
Characters
There only being 3 of the main characters but this episode at a serious advantage honestly. Not having a single mention of Goemon and Fujiko let's Zenigata take the much deserved limelight. He hasn't served a whole lot of purpose in the episodes in a long time. Even if he is more present there's barely been any episodes of Part 3 dedicated to him. Lupin and Jigen honestly aren't in this episode as compared to Zenigata. I really appreciate that. And here's way more fuel for the LuZeni fans out there. He's dreaming about Lupin even when he's handed $10 billion, and then the chase scene I see get screenshotted a lot. I've really steered away from the LuZeni train, so it's not for me, but y'all go crazy. Imma stick to my JigLup like I've always been a die hard fan of.
Madam Tequila is certainly interesting. I'm glad they weren't extremely fatphobic about her. Based off the preview from last episode I was worried we'd see a lot of that. And while she wolfs down her food and has a generally abrasive attitude, which is often associated with "unattractive" women characters in media, but it's not extremely direct (?). At the same time she's the head of an empire she built by herself so yes ✨girlboss✨. I can appreciate that at least and it's also cool she just straight up has like psychic powers. That came so out of left field her eyes just start glowing like 3/4 of the way through the episode. A interesting twist, that is for sure.
Art/Animation
The sakuga in this episode went crazy. The episode seemed to get a massive jump in budget. My assumption is since this was the second to last episode they probably had a good enough budget left to splurge, fingers crossed that crosses over into the next episode.
AAH yes... These are some of the most iconic images of LuZeni out there. I finally know which exact episode they're from.
Posted by Worm_Death | May 2, 2:00 AM | 0 comments
May 1st, 2024
Lupin III Part 3 Episode 48: Hades' Tear
Anime Relations: Lupin III: Part III
Story
Lupin and Jigen steal Hades' Tear but are immediately targeted. While Lupin hides in some bushes, a woman finds him and takes him in. But she's working for that same group. They explain that the tear is fake, not a diamond at all. They want Lupin to take the diamond across the boarder of Kingsland for a high reward. Lupin agrees, but he and Maria are quickly captured by a gang that wants Hades' Tear, not realizing it's fake. Once they realize that Lupin and Maria don't have any information, they leave to seek revenge on the leader, Gordon. Left alone, Maria reveals she's actually a spy to uncover what they're really transferring. They want to transport the whole statue, so there must be something to it. Lupin realizes they must be transporting plutonium since Hades is also known as Pluto. Once they escape, they meet up at the port where Gordon plans to ship it out and intervene. In the middle of that, however, the gang shows up to take the statue. Gordon takes out the men, and Lupin takes out Gordon. He wanted to ship it over to be turned into nukes. Now that the case has been solved, Maria can go to France and be with her fiance.
Exposition, oh lord, the exposition. The first line in this episode is exposition about the diamond, the next scene is exposition about why they want to transport the Hades statue, the next scene is Lupin explaining that plan to Jigen and Goemon, and when Lupin and Maria escape, they just explain. This episode is really boring. It's mainly just talking about conflict in countries we never see. There are supposedly two warring countries, but we never see that, so the mystery of the plutonium being used as weaponry serves literally no point or has a proper build-up. I know this isn't necessarily a mystery to be solved, but the mysteries only ever feel satisfying if you could have reasonably concluded that. I was going to say it was hard for this episode to keep my attention, but that's not even it; I paid good attention to this episode; I just literally didn't know what they were talking about. There's so much "this is happening somewhere else, so do this" kind of dialogue, so when a lot of names and terms are being thrown around without context, it left me so confused. This episode is just a lot of nothing to me.
Posted by Worm_Death | May 1, 2:06 AM | 0 comments
April 30th, 2024
Lupin III Part 3 Episode 47: Mystery of a Painting
Anime Relations: Lupin III: Part III
Story
Goemon is training a young boy, Ken, who falls ill. A doctor diagnoses him with Jinrozen, an incurable ailment that attacks multiple organs at once. Ken asks Goemon to help him. The mafia boss, Keppochi, killed his father for his fortune, although he couldn't actually locate where the money was hidden. He stole what he could, including a painting his father made, The Tree Which Bares Bells which hides a map within it. Goemon vows he'll help Ken seek his revenge and enlists the help of Lupin and Jigen as well. They're persuaded by Fujiko to join them since she used Keppochi's computer to locate the map on the painting. It's revealed when put up against a light. But once they realize that Keppochi can't figure out where the map is, he throws it out, so he'll definitely go after Ken for the inheritance. When Goemon reaches him, the cabin is burned, and Ken has already been kidnapped, so he goes ahead with the rest of the gang. Arriving at Ken's father's mansion, Goemon is stopped right away and forced to drop Zantetsuken; otherwise, Ken will be killed. Meanwhile, the gang sneaks into the mansion. They run into a room full of junk and find the painting. Goemon is tortured in order to get answers out of Ken. Lupin, Jigen, and Fujiko hide out underground to figure out how to reveal the map, but suddenly, a window above them shines moonlight on it, revealing the map. They leave but are sent a random message that they have Goemon and Ken, and they'll exchange them for the map. They meet up and see Goemon disheveled and run to see if he's okay. But they fall into Keppochi's trap. They trap them in a cage and send them down underground tunnels in the mansion. Fujiko tells Keppochi how to find the map, and they run off, leaving the mansion to explode. Luckily, they managed to escape through the waterway in time. The guys all start to follow the map to the fortune, but Fujiko appears. Lupin runs over to her, clearly battered and bruised, she says that they shined the painting on the sun, revealing a fake map that took them through trechourous mountains so she was the only one to survive.
I thought this episode was pretty sweet. While it wasn't really a Goemon episode, it put more emphasis on him than usual. I feel like there was a proper, honest setup for why everything happened. They weren't tricked into it, this kid Goemon was training just wanted one last wish, and that's what leads the plot. It makes you want to root for the guys far more than if it was just Fujiko asking Lupin for something again. So, like a few episodes ago, this is definitely a revenge plot I support.
Characters
I think it's weird Goemon is raising this kid first of all. Nothing wrong with it, but I'm just a bit curious as to the circumstances of how they got here.
Fujiko was really evil. I honestly thought she had good intentions but then she actually tries to find the treasure with the mafia. That's so awful to do to a kid I presume she knows and is dying. When she came back from the mountains completely wrecked, I can't say I felt to bad for her, she did something really evil here.
Art/Animation
The character designs in this episode were really weird. As I mentioned in the last episode, there was a noticeable change. They look a lot more reminiscent of the solid manga designs, like what you would see on the covers. While this is just weird. I didn't get Lupin pictured here because he was the least different. But Jigen has hair under his hat now, Goemon and Fujko's hair have no fluff to them and droop down like it's wet, and oddly, Zengiata seems more sturdy, more akin to Otsuka's design of him. Very bizarre design choices for whatever reason. I actually liked the characters new to this episode. They seem like characters you could easily believe seeing in the manga. Especially the doctor, who has an elongated body yet short legs.
Posted by Worm_Death | Apr 30, 2:32 AM | 0 comments
April 29th, 2024
Lupin III Part 3 Episode 46: Soaring on Scrap Wings
Anime Relations: Lupin III: Part III
Story
Fujiko wants Lupin to steal a Hina doll set being transferred from Japan to the US as a form of an economic treaty. They hijack the plane and head for Dump Island, where they will meet with Goemon. Fujiko relays the info to someone unknown. They take the Hina dolls and parachute down to the island. A submarine comes to pick up Fujiko and all the dolls, leaving the guys stranded. Fujiko celebrates the heist with Mr. Barracuda, revealing why he wanted the dolls so badly. Instead, the head of the emperor doll's head is a receipt for some kickback from the Japanese VP for promoting the US ABC Company's new military weapon. With this receipt, Barracuda can blackmail both countries. He wants to control both of them.
Meanwhile, Lupin convinces the guys to build a makeshift plane to escape. They cut logs, gather leaves, and barrow parts from old crashed planes. Fujiko and Barracuda share drinks to celebrate their newfound wealth. Barracuda wants Fujiko to be his 47th wife. Fujiko refuses, but his other wives force her to prepare for a wedding. Lupin's little plan has a few hiccups, but they manage to get it working and try to track down Fujiko. While they were following a chip in her necklace, one of the wives shot it as a threat, losing the signal. Luckily, they notice a tanker ship in the ocean, reserved for fishing boats only; it must be where Barracuda is. Lupin breaks in while Jigen and Goemon fight from the air. The plane crashes into the ship, letting Lupin make his escape with Fujiko. And now, Lupin can finally get his hands on the receipt.
This episode was so much, I loved this. I remember having fun with this episode the first time around. I, for some reason, thought this was a part 2 episode until I recalled that the guys were about to build the plane. I loved that part of the episode; luckily, that's where most of the time is spent, so you can just enjoy the boys goofy off making a plane. I've talked a lot recently about my dislike for politics and economy talk, but it's kept really brief. It's there long enough to give the characters a proper explanation as to why they do what they do. Again it's just a motive to keep the plot moving while the fun stuff is left to the guys. This is how you make a proper fun episode that has those more serious themes mixed in. There's a different vibe from this episode than the rest, there's a cook here unseen before. I slightly felt it with the art style, too; the designs are more grounded than they had been.
Characters
Oh man, what don't I want to talk about? The guys' chemistry was the best it's been in arguably all of Part 3. I love watching them all work together to build the plane, Jigen and Lupin pleading to use Zantetsuken for the plane's propeller, and the zero confidence Jigen and Goemon have in Lupin actually getting that thing off the ground. I just love every interaction. When the plane falls back, Goemon is praying to Buddha while Jigen just says, "I'm gonna die." I LOVE THEM 😭😭. Something I appreciate more is that later, Lupin parts gave time to isolate the characters and let them play off each other. The chemistry is so there, clearly, and finally, it's being utilized.
Art/Animation
Lupin making impressions of his friends is my lifeblood. Yeah, the Fujiko faced is the most terrifying thing I've seen in a bit but y'know it's the principle of the matter.
When I got to meet Fujiko's voice actress, Michelle Ruff, she was doing impressions of Goemon and I could have cried honestly. seeing the Lupgang just be goofy and make fun of each other is essential for my life essence.
PSEUDO CAGGY RUN ARGH
Damn 💀 The part of the first Part 3 OP finally making sense.
While I really liked the designs of the characters in this episode, Jigen's was especially cool It seemed reminscent of Monkey Punch's much later drawings into digital which obviously hasn't happened yet in the Lupin timeline but it really reminds me of this other drawing. Goemon also looks more manga-esque in this episode, so you already know I'm happy.
Posted by Worm_Death | Apr 29, 2:20 AM | 0 comments
April 28th, 2024
Lupin III Part 3 Episode 45: A Toast to the Con Game
Anime Relations: Lupin III: Part III
Only 5 episodes left, isn't that crazy? I got way to comfortable with Part 2 so this feels like I was going at supersonic speeds.
The guys are planning to steal a safe left by a prisoner. However, the bars at the Sante Prison are lethally electrocuted. Fujiko brings in a guy named Duran to assist since he has a resistance to electricity. They decide to have him help. They find the cell of the late Pinkerton to get the key and the safe, but while they get the key, Pinkerton's brother, Carlos, has the safe. Carlos tries to gun Lupin down for the key, but he won't give in. Zenigata and the police find the commotion but are caught up in a shoot-out between Carlos's men. This gives the gang a chance to escape. They may not have the safe, but Carlos is too dumb ever to figure out how to unlock it without it. They wonder where Fujiko and Duran are just when he comes in, disheveled. They were caught by Carlos's men, and Fujiko was kidnapped. Carlos gave Duran a letter that said to meet at an old construction yard. They'll swap the key for Fujiko. Lupin shows up and confronts Carlos. He asks him where Fujiko is so they can start the deal. Carlos is confused, saying he wouldn't sink so low to kidnap someone. Likely story. Then why did he leave a note about it? But Carlos can't read or write. That's strange. Well, there's still a safe and key that needs to be fought over, so fight they do.
Lupin uses a crane to take out most of his men leaving Carlos helpless, Jigen surrounds him with a bulldozer. Just as Carlos is done for, Fujiko surrounds them in a cage with the same electric bars. Goemon breaks them out. Duran and Fujiko made off with the safe in all the commotion, but she betrays him, wanting the safe for herself. Duran preemptively took out all the bullets in her gun so she was defenseless. He takes the safe to his own hideout but, after unlocking it, gets a punch to the face. The guys come in and say that you had to turn it the other, and gold spills out for them.
I feel like this episode was short. For that full 24 minutes, it didn't seem like much happened. The climax wasn't very climatic. I felt pretty underwhelmed by this episode, unfortunately. I was about to say the only real unique thing this episode brought was the guy betraying Fujiko, but that literally just happened in the last episode. So, I don't have a whole lot to say for this one; it's a really, really standard episode. That's about it for this one. Way to start our home stretch for Part 3 lol
Story
The guys are planning to steal a safe left by a prisoner. However, the bars at the Sante Prison are lethally electrocuted. Fujiko brings in a guy named Duran to assist since he has a resistance to electricity. They decide to have him help. They find the cell of the late Pinkerton to get the key and the safe, but while they get the key, Pinkerton's brother, Carlos, has the safe. Carlos tries to gun Lupin down for the key, but he won't give in. Zenigata and the police find the commotion but are caught up in a shoot-out between Carlos's men. This gives the gang a chance to escape. They may not have the safe, but Carlos is too dumb ever to figure out how to unlock it without it. They wonder where Fujiko and Duran are just when he comes in, disheveled. They were caught by Carlos's men, and Fujiko was kidnapped. Carlos gave Duran a letter that said to meet at an old construction yard. They'll swap the key for Fujiko. Lupin shows up and confronts Carlos. He asks him where Fujiko is so they can start the deal. Carlos is confused, saying he wouldn't sink so low to kidnap someone. Likely story. Then why did he leave a note about it? But Carlos can't read or write. That's strange. Well, there's still a safe and key that needs to be fought over, so fight they do.
Lupin uses a crane to take out most of his men leaving Carlos helpless, Jigen surrounds him with a bulldozer. Just as Carlos is done for, Fujiko surrounds them in a cage with the same electric bars. Goemon breaks them out. Duran and Fujiko made off with the safe in all the commotion, but she betrays him, wanting the safe for herself. Duran preemptively took out all the bullets in her gun so she was defenseless. He takes the safe to his own hideout but, after unlocking it, gets a punch to the face. The guys come in and say that you had to turn it the other, and gold spills out for them.
I feel like this episode was short. For that full 24 minutes, it didn't seem like much happened. The climax wasn't very climatic. I felt pretty underwhelmed by this episode, unfortunately. I was about to say the only real unique thing this episode brought was the guy betraying Fujiko, but that literally just happened in the last episode. So, I don't have a whole lot to say for this one; it's a really, really standard episode. That's about it for this one. Way to start our home stretch for Part 3 lol
Posted by Worm_Death | Apr 28, 1:48 AM | 0 comments