DO NOT discuss the source material beyond this episode. If you want to discuss future events or theories, please use separate threads.
DO NOT ask where to watch/download this episode or give links to copyrighted, non-fair use material.
DO NOT troll/bait/harass/abuse other users for liking or disliking the series/characters.
DO read the Anime Discussion Rules and Site & Forum Guidelines.
DO NOT ask where to watch/download this episode or give links to copyrighted, non-fair use material.
DO NOT troll/bait/harass/abuse other users for liking or disliking the series/characters.
DO read the Anime Discussion Rules and Site & Forum Guidelines.
| THIS IS AN ANIME ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS THE MANGA BEYOND THIS EPISODE. ---------------------------------------- The music in this special was probably one of the best, probably because they had a singer character in the character cast. I think it really fit well and the ending was peacefully quaint. What bums me out is that they had superb new female characters and did not use them to their fullest ability... sigh. Poor Goemon though. |
| Signature removed. Please follow the signature rules, as defined in the Site & Forum Guidelines. |
| Some somewhat interesting things in here; this is actually the nastiest Lupin has been in a very long time. He uses fraud and outright lies to deliberately take everything Cynthia has for the sake of doing so and uninvolved people like the oil-rig workers suffer for it. He mocks the henchman-type character's frustration over his dreams being ruined. That henchman's desire to marry Cynthia seems to be unexpectedly genuine as he bristles at Lupin kissing her and finds time to call her "the greatest woman" in his final confrontation with Lupin. It's kind of neat for this special's leading lady to be the villain from the very beginning and potentially fascinating for Lupin's typical flirtatious relationship with the leading lady to be antagonistic and destructive in nature, like a distorted reflection of his untrustworthy but easygoing relationship with Fujiko. It doesn't work that well, though. Too much of Lupin's relationship with Cynthia rides on his "stolen kiss", and maybe I wasn't paying enough attention because I thought this was kind of dull, but I can't really remember why Lupin was motivated to "war" with Cynthia like he did. Lupin's investment fraud is also not really much fun to watch play out. Some other problems are the pointlessness of the "Lupin is dead" part of the film and how little screen-time the second new female character, Sandy, gets. Why end the film with so much focus on her when she's been on screen for less than five minutes? In general I think the pacing is off, too, and makes this film a bit of a bore. |
| It was boring and repetitive. Jigen couldn't have said it better:  |
| I can't help but think about Syria and "Arab spring" when the Big Bads talk about wheaking havoc in the Middle-East oil-rich countries |
| My first time watching the first Lupin III Special of the 2000s, and it was good. Cynthia wasn't the usual antagonist, for one she was a woman. A competent business woman, who was cunning and powerful. She was planning on dragging the whole world into war so she could profit from it. She was terrible, but Lupin totally destroyed her. She was tricked and ended up as a penniless prisoner. And it must have stinged too, since she even fell for him after that stolen kiss. Lupin is usually more forgiving with women as well, so it felt fresh to see him walking away, and leaving her there like that without even giving her the brooch or something. Jigen, Goemon, and Fujiko were great here too. Even though Jigen let his Magnum fall, Goemon was tricked by that 'religious' girl, and Fujiko lost an insane amount of money twice with bad, and stupid investments. Even so I liked their dynamic here, it's not everyday you see Fujiko saving Goemon during a fight either. But I would have loved if they had more time to shine while Lupin was "dead." Nabikov was kind of pitiful too, and not the usual hired killer either. Well, at least he was also in love (or obsessed) with Cynthia so there was another side to him. And I guess that Zenigata recovered his position after arresting Cynthia, and he did provide some funny moments too. Oh, and Sandy was cool, I loved the songs and the fact that Lupin gave the brooch to her, but her parts still felt a bit disconnected somehow. |
 |
| Love gritty Lupin specials like this and Walther P38 so I adored this. Admittedly it does have some short comings but I choose to ignore them here and just go with the flow which made me like this special much more. Cynthia was one fine ass business woman too. Pretty great Lupin special for the turn of the century imo.  Some more images: https://imgur.com/a/YlfUccz |
VanishingKiraOct 21, 2020 8:52 AM