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FLCL is so worth a watch, if you're at all interested you'd be doing yourself a favor to check it out. It's got feels, it's got heart, it's got a moving and rockin' score by band The Pillows. It's not about some kind of weirdness value like you're maybe thinking, it's a unique work of art that just might click with you.

FLCL is a coming of age story that immerses us in the topsy turvy world of a teenage lad. And does it better than most movies or shows I've seen trying to tackle it, at least for me. It tackles that awkwardness and sadness ... with a sense of fun and adventure, among many other great things about FLCL.

One of my favorites, and really just thinking about it is moving to me, I think FLCL will stand the test of time very well.

Trigun Badlands Rumble is a very good movie, with some nice nostalgia for Trigun fans.

It's in the style of the first half of the series, Vash wandering around getting into trouble and helping people out. He runs into our cool heroine of the movie, Amelia, and she's quite likable. Of course, Meryl, Millie, and Wolfwood are in the house as well.

The story here is not black and white with good guys and bad guys, it's interesting in that the villains of this movie aren't all that evil, and overall the movie has a more laid-back feel than you might expect.

One cool aspect is how ... they incorporate Vash's past and how old he is, by tying in a flashback from 20 years prior into the current events. We have some nice fun dialogue, great slapstick humor, a crazy bar brawl, lots of action, and a bit of drama to give it some weight. The animation is the most flawless aspect of the movie, the art is detailed and it's lushly done. There's a lot of great detail, and all the wacky background characters have a lot of care put into them.

Overall, though the plot takes a couple clever turns, overall the movie is just a nicely done, very straightforward light action romp, done well. I enjoyed the ending especially, which had a nice way of commenting on Vash's ideals. And of course, this movie is even better for letting us hang out with those classic Trigun characters for another hour and a half. Check it out!

One Piece: Strong world is a glorious adventure! I really enjoyed it.

They balanced a lot of great stuff well here. The side character plot of the feathered village folk was nice, and given just the right amount of time without any long flashbacks of their hardships, but enough for us to care. Nami really shined, and Shiki was a very solid villain, plus Luffy and the crew all had their cool moments. Good humor, good drama. And beautifully animated!

And it was fun seeing the crew dressed all classy gangster style, and firing huge guns like in some of those Oda color pages, cool stuff.

Only a ... couple nitpicks, one being Robin seemed to get the least time to shine out of everyone, always wanted more of her on there. Also, I would've liked to see a longer more thorough glorious beatdown in the end, some of the fights were on the brief side.

All in all, very satisfying, awesome film. Easily the best One Piece movie.

The Last Job is enjoyable, I'd say it's a decent special, with fun and zany Lupin action. However, it just doesn't seem as clever or well thought out as a lot of the other specials.

One of the twists to this one is that a recurring character has an apparent death scene near the beginning. Oddly enough, this angle is barely played up, compared to numerous emotional or memorable "death" scenes throughout the years, this didn't really stack up.

Anyways, aside from that bit which doesn't really get much screentime, this is just business as usual, the Lupin gang getting into constant action and one-on-one fights. Very ... fast paced, pretty much nonstop action. However, its a bit lacking in memorable dialogue or cool character interaction. Pretty much, the legendary classic characters here aren't really well utilized.

None the less, this is still a lot of fun, I was laughing and enjoying the absurdity of it. The plot is especially nonsensical this time around, the climax for example is just so awesomely random. I love how Zenigata is like "Whats that do? What's his goal? Why is this happening? What is happening?", because I'm just as befuddled as he is.

But hey, its fun, and the main villain is hilariously awesomely over-the-top, gotta love his indiscriminate grenade tossing. Andre the huge yo-yo henchman is memorable, and of course Jigen and Goemon come across as classy as ever. Lupin and Fujiko both have some funny and cool moments, but overall they don't get much substance here. The ninja guest girl is decent, there's a wacky dog who has it out for Lupin, and you've gotta love Yuji Ohno's jazzy score.

There are a lot of really fun parts throughout, such as a chase scene involving a great kittens gag, Lupin making some wacky drawings, plus I enjoyed a lot of the action sequences with the jetpacks and whatnot.

So, long story short, I enjoyed this Lupin special, but at the same time it doesn't quite live up to its potential. Worth a watch for fans.

Lupin III vs Detective Conan is a very cool TV special.

This crossover between the two long running series is done quite well. There's a story involving a princess in danger, who looks just like Ran. Conan is on the case, and meanwhile Lupin wants to take a crown, which he attempted to steal long ago. This involves a nice flashback to Lupin wearing his classic green jacket, so we get both red and green action in this.

The plot is a Detective Conan style murder mystery, and the Lupin gang is added to the mix, bringing their brand of fun. It's a fairly complex plot, but ... it's goes down smooth.

Fujiko kicks ass in this one, she's on the run with the princess, showing her how to have a good time and protecting her. Very cool, fun stuff.

Jigen is enlisted as a bodyguard and ends up working with Conan, and there are some very hilarious scenes with these two. Lots of snappy dialogue.

Lupin and Conan, they're both doing their thing, they have some action scenes, some fun dialogue moments, and are in fine form here. They have some memorable interactions, very fun stuff.

The other regulars like Goemon, Zenigata, and Kogoro all have some fun moments too, mostly just a good gag here and there. The two casts gelled very well together.

The animation is smooth, and it's pretty interesting how we have two very different kinds of character designs used for Conan and Lupin characters. It could blend together better, but it's still fun to see. The soundtrack is also done by Lupin's usual Yuji Ohno and also the Conan guy, and it's a fun mix of energetic tunes and smooth jazz.

All in all, if you're a fan of Lupin or Conan I'd say you'll enjoy this. It's a fun, very good anime adventure. Check it out.

Sweet Lost Night is a great adventure with Lupin III.

The title is appropriate, as the twist here is that Lupin can't remember anything that happened during the night. Twelve hours are a blank to him, and some additional memory wackiness comes into play as well, as someone is stealing memories.

This sets up some great stuff, as Lupin scrambles to find out what he did during that time. A very cool narrative device, it sets up some nice gags as well as keeps the intrigue going for the main plot. Lupin even writes on his body to try and remember things, à la the film Memento.

The ... star of the show, Lupin, is portrayed very well here. He's slick, cool, funny, a fool for love, and he takes all the craziness going on around him in stride.

Lupin's partner Jigen is great in this, he's always there to help in a jam. The lovable cop Inspector Zenigata has some really entertaining stuff in this too. Goemon is also used to great comic effect here. Fujiko is used a bit differently than of late, here she's against Lupin. This fun rivalry is an amusing aspect of their complicated relationship.

This plot involves a magic lamp, and a girl named Drew. She's a pretty straight forward guest heroine, although she does have some fun flirty humor with Lupin.

Pretty much, this has all the aspects you'd expect from a Lupin anime. It has car chases, over-the-top action, lots of great comedy, and some brief emotional moments to give it some weight. It's all done with a fast thrill-a-minute pace too. The atmosphere is great, lushly animated with fantastic music and voice acting as always.

A great action/adventure with a clever twist, this one is a lot of fun. Give this a watch, it's must see anime.

Da Capo of Love: Fujiko's Unlucky Days (The Columbus Files) is a nice Lupin special.

It starts with Lupin and Fujiko up to their usual shenanigans, until they are bombarded by explosions and things get wild. The story here is that Fujiko has amnesia, and only she knows where the treasure is. And of course, getting Fujiko's memory back is Lupin's top priority.

Lupin is pretty serious a lot of the time in this one, because Fujiko is who he cares about the most. It's always nice to see that kind of emotion from the world's greatest thief. There's plenty of great comedy from the man as ... well of course. He has a great villain to comedically own here too, the green jacketed laughing madman, Nazaroff.

Jigen and Goemon both get some good stuff here, Goemon is hilariously eccentric in this one. Lupin and Jigen's usual tag-team is put on the backburner in cases like this one though, when a woman needs Lupin's help. Inspector Zenigata pops up from time to time, and while he's used sparingly he does get some good laughs.

The main story does get a little shaky by the end though, involving mad scientists and a crazy world domination plot.

Yuji Ohno gives this a very smooth jazz soundtrack of course, with the appropriate intensity added when needed. The original voice acting from these veterans is great as well. And some fun trivia, Nabeshin of Excel Saga fame directed this special.

All in all, this is a good Lupin adventure, with some nice attention given to Lupin and Fujiko's always interesting relationship. Check this one out.

The Fuma Conspiracy a somewhat decent tale brought down by it's flaws.

Goemon is getting married when ninjas swoop in! The Lupin gang has to stop these evil ninjas, save Goemon's bride, and try for some treasure, for good measure.

This 80's OVA has the unfortunate distinction of being the only Lupin anime without the usual Japanese voice cast. This is especially bad, because the voices used don't fit the characters at all, and are distractingly out of place. The English dub is not good either.

On top of the unfortunate voice choices, the characterization is pretty weak here in general. The dialogue is not as clever as ... usual, and the characters don't gel together as well as they usually do. Inspector Zenigata is very bland in this one too.

Another problem with this OVA is the poor soundtrack. They don't use Yuji Ohno or any classic Lupin themes, and they don't even attempt a jazzy style.

There are some good things though, the animation for example is very fluid, and the art style is nice. There are some fun car chases, and a couple enjoyable action sequences. Any time Lupin and Jigen are in a car, it's decent Lupin fun. Plus Fujiko has some cool motorcycle action.

Overall, this Lupin OVA is really off it's game. It lacks the usual Lupin stylishness and is pretty generic all around. Definitely on the lower end of the Lupin spectrum, but it's a passable if generic action adventure on it's own.

The Castle of Cagliostro is a masterpiece.

Lupin and Jigen are following the trail of some counterfeit money to a castle in a small independent country in Europe. This leads them to a girl from Lupin's past in need of a hero.

Miyazaki's first feature film is a great one. He takes the already lovable Lupin cast and makes them just a bit more innocent, which gives this a very pleasant fairy tale feel. The characters are charming, and it's a joy watching the story unfold.

In this great adventure, our heroes set out to save the damsel in a tower from an evil count. The always great ... Fujiko is there looking for some loot, samurai Goemon shows up to lend his blade, and Inspector Zenigata is on Lupin's tail as always.

The movie has a laid back, cool feel at first. It also gets pretty fast paced, and the action heats up. Pretty much, it's great to see all the Lupin characters in top form, their interactions always entertaining.

There are some nice nods for fans of the series too. For example, a montage of a younger Lupin's exploits features some of the situations from the intro of the original series.

It's beautifully animated, with a very moving score by Yuji Ohno. And of course, great voice work from the Lupin cast. Plus this movie has one of the coolest car chases ever.

Pretty much, this movie is two masters at the top of their game, Hayao Miyazaki and Lupin III. A true classic, check it out.

The one that started it all.

This is a legendary anime series about some instant classic characters, the Lupin gang. This is amazingly ahead of it's time, being the first anime starring criminals, the first gritty comparatively more realistic anime with guns and such. Not just for anime, it's ahead of it's time in general.

Most importantly, it's still a joy to watch nearly 40 years later. Lupin is the cool, laid back antihero. This laid back style, helped by the very cool soundtrack, is still influential today in titles like Cowboy Bebop. Lupin has other sides to him too of course, he has an ego, and ... he'll laugh like a maniac and take on any challenge. And of course, he gets pretty excited when there are ladies around, especially Fujiko.

The supporting characters are great here. You have Jigen, Lupin's partner and best friend. He's very cool himself, a smooth criminal, but he's also the voice of reason, a more mature criminal. Then you have Fujiko, the classic femme fatale cat burglar, she is Lupin's love interest, and often his rival. Then there's Goemon, the renegade samurai with a strong moral code, who can cut anything. And of course, Inspector Zenigata, who tirelessly dedicates his life to capturing Lupin.

Lupin is episodic, featuring 23 self contained stories. Although there is one plot that takes two episodes early on, with Goemon out to defeat Lupin. One episode Lupin is in prison, another time him and the gang have explosive watches put on that they can't take off. These are all great stories.

An interesting thing about this series is that it has two different feels to it, depending on who is directing. Masaaki Osumi directs episodes 1-7, 9, and 12. These are the more dark and gritty episodes, and sometimes have a melancholy feel. These episodes are amazing, giving us the depth that the Lupin characters are built on.

The founders of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, direct episodes 8, 10-11, and 13-23. These episodes are also superb, with a more fun and upbeat feel, closer to what Lupin is known for today. You can tell Miyazaki is involved when Lupin starts saving cute damsels in a gentlemanly heroic way.

All in all, Lupin III is a classic series, which is still going strong today with movie specials. I recommend checking this out, it's must see anime.