Lupin III is a master thief, a unsuccessful womaniser, a mad genius capable of stealing anything and escaping from anywhere, companied by his gang, and chased by Zenigata like Bugs Bunny by Elmer Fudd.
In overall, very enjoyable comedy series.
STORY: 8/10
There's no overall spanning story, each episode can by watched separately. After first three episodes, which have a weird feel, next twenty are typical thievish things. Lupin either tries to steal something, tries to escape from jail, or tries to escape from people who are after his life. To achieve this, he makes a plan involving disguise, misdirection, violence, explosives and a lot of awesomeness. Yes, violence - this anime is not for kids, thankfully, so it doesn't turn into a kiddy cartoon show. Coz kids shouldn't watch series where the main character is, well, a thief.
The episodes can be from lighthearted to dark and violent, but they're all funny (well, the third ep was the most serious one).
If you wish, you can skip first 3 eps, I think they're not Lupinish enough.
ART: 7/10
Well, it was the seventies, so the art is not great, but it has its cartoonish feel. For the first glance, it looks nowhere like modern Japanese animation. Despite its drawbacks, the art suits the show.
SOUND: 9/10
Apart from the OP for the first few episodes ("Lupin Lupin Lupin the third" all over), we get lot of awesome music. The music can be compared to music in European animation. On the other hand, dubbing quality and sound effects suffer from being from the 70s, so they can be considered one of the weak points of the series. But all classic things are like this, ain't they?
CHARACTER: 10/10
First, we've got Lupin.
A madman, who'd do anything to achieve his goal, but never turns his back on the damsel in distress. Unpredictable, eager to act, with unusually accurate intuition. He's being the main source of humour in the series - you'll never know, what trick he will pull out.
Secondly, we've got Fujiko. You never know, on which side is she. Her main hobby is stealing things Lupin has just stolen, but she often gives him a helpful hand.
Then, we've got Zenigata. A man with a precise aim in his life: to catch Lupin.
And last but not least, Jigen and Goemon. Those two are Lupin's straight men, more rational and less impulsive (but Goemon's honour can be easily offended), masters of gun and katana respectively.
Due to series' episodic nature, there's little character development, but the characters are themselves original enough to keep you entertained.
ENJOYMENT: 9/10
First three episodes were kinda weak, but the rest of them were relaxing and funny. Larger amount of Lupin can feel repetitive, so my advise is to limit yourself to 5 episodes per day.
Lupin is great to watch, either alone, or simultanously with other, probably serious series (I watched Lupin to cheer myself up while watching NGE and Hellsing, and man it helped a lot.)
OVERALL: 9/10
If you want some comedy, you enjoyed The Olsen Gang, or you want to relax with something less moe-moe-kyun, Lupin is just for you.
