Lupin III

One of the most iconic anime characters of all time got his TV debut here, and what a great start it was.

The original Lupin III anime is a nonstop thrill ride, full of case chases, shootouts, heists, and cool fight scenes that still hold up over 50 years later. This show is - to put it simply - the epitome of "cool." But it's also not so high on its own hype that it's totally self-serious or humorless either; Quite the opposite, as Lupin III is jam-packed with comedy, and nearly every episode manages to make me laugh out loud at least once.

The premise is ... simple: Arsene Lupin III, the grandson of the famous thief Arsene Lupin, goes on a different self-contained adventure in each of this show's 23 episodes. Some of them are attempts to steal a magnificent treasure, some are duels with rival criminals, some involve shaking off the dogged Inspector Zenigata - but all of them make great use of Lupin's clever thinking and resourcefulness as he outwits his foes. And that's a huge part of what makes the show so fun; Lupin usually wins not by brute force or sheer determination, but by playing it smart. (Of course, he is not perfect, and sometimes loses the treasure he's after - which just makes the times he does win all the more special, since it's never a foregone conclusion if he'll succeed.)

One major thing about Part 1 is the tonal shift that occurs about 7 episodes in. The first few episodes - directed by Masaaki Osumi - were more dark and moody, having more of a foreboding atmosphere. Osumi was replaced with Hayao Miyazaki (of Studio Ghibli fame) who reworked Lupin into the more lighthearted, zany series it's mainly known for today. Lupin himself shifts from being more of a straight-up villain to... well, still a villain (he is a thief, after all), but more of a goofy, likable villain with a heart of gold. And it is this characterization of Lupin that would persist through (almost) every subsequent project featuring the master thief for the next five decades.

While some parts of this series may feel a bit strange compared to Lupin's later outings, I do think it still holds up remarkably well, and is absolutely worth the watch. If you're already a fan of Lupin, or want to get into the series but don't know where to start, Part 1 is a great time. I highly recommend it.

Even though I've been aware of Lupin the III since watching Lupin: Tales Of The Wolf which was a two episode vhs tape that was released by Streamline Pictures in the 1990's I haven't had much experience with Lupin the III as a whole. As of the writing of this review the only other time I've watched any additional works of Lupin III is the Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro film.

I decided to look at Lupin III's first adventure into the world of television with the original tv series released in 1971. This series despite being over 50 years old holds up incredibly well ... with some really excellent capers and some laugh out loud humour scattered throughout the majority of the episodes.

In this series we also get to see the beginnings of Goemon and how he actually becomes a part of Lupin's gang because from his first appearance he is actually a villain to Lupin and his gang before he eventually joins them.

The format of each episode is roughly the same for the most part. Lupin and his gang plan a heist. Multiple obstacles are placed in his way and with Inspector Zenigata hot on his heels, Lupin and his gang have to be on top of their game and their crafty shenanigans have to be top tier in order to pull off some of these heists. The majority of the episodes in the series are very self contained because there isn't really an overarching story minus the episodes showing goemon's evolution as a character from villain to eventually being a part of Lupin's gang. So besides these episodes you can truly watch many of the episodes out of order without feeling lost because there isn't really much of an overall story throughout this very first season.

I often find the strongest episodes of the series are either the episodes that focus on a character's past or break away from the mold of trying to plan the perfect heist or steal a coveted treasure. There is a really great episode that focuses on Fujiko's past that is probably the most detail you'll get with regards to character development throughout the entire season. If you expect to see much character development with regards to Lupin, Jigen, Goemon, and Zenigata then your going to be sadly disappointed. We do get a few tiny scraps of Lupin talking about his father and grandfather but they're incredibly minuscule at best. There also some really great episodes where Lupin has to escape prison and even there are episodes where he has to stop a terrorist plot and he has to rescue a kidnapped girl which is actually nice to see becuase the typical trope of planning the perfect heist can get a little repetitive to the point of it being annoying when you pretty much see it in just about every episode. It's not to say that the majority of the heist episodes are bad, but they can come off pretty generic. Sometimes the best heist episodes are the episodes where Fujiko gets the last laugh, or at least she thinks she does until Lupin gets the upper hand which can often lead to some pretty hilarious outcomes.

The humour in introductory season of Lupin the III is still as timeless as its even been but it's mostly at Inspector Zenigata's expense to the point that every once in a while you have to feel sorry for the guy because he constantly falls victim to Lupin's scheme even when he thinks he can come out on top. Definitely some of the best hilarious moments of the entire anime is trying to figure out how and when Fujiko is going screw over Lupin and his gang. I often ask the question why Lupin even trusts this broad to begin with but since she has the reputation of being one of the original anime waifu's it is perfectly understandable since Lupin often wants to hook up with Fujiko Mine despite there is literally a 90% chance she is going to take advantage of him one way or another.

One of the nice things about this anime is that it can be mature when it wants to be. There are times throughout the anime where you think that children of any age can watch it, but throughout the entire series people do get killed (despite there being no blood or very little blood) and there are some very brief scenes of nudity scattered throughout the entire first season, but thankfully it never distracts you from what makes the first season of Lupin's adventure so enjoyable. It would definitely be more suitable for a teenage audience.

I think one of the weakest aspects of the very first season of Lupin the III is the lack of compelling villains. None of the villains are truly that memorable for the most part. Some of them do make a minor appearance in other episodes but they're incredibly cookie cutter and incredibly basic, lacking any semblance of an individual and definable personality. I understand that Zenigata will always be the number one antagonist against Lupin the III, but if a little more work was put into some of the secondary villains then many of the heist episodes wouldn't feel so lacklustre.

With regards to the animation it is pretty much what you would expect out of something made in the 1970's. It's not really polished all that well, and it comes across as incredibly jagged animation wise from time to time but you have to respect and understand the time it was made in. There are a few noticeable animation errors but it's nothing that distracting, and the series does suffer from unexpected and random time jumps when certain plot points happen throughout an episode such as when one of the character gets hurt and then the next scene your in the hospital room with that character with no inclination of what happened in between those moments and sometimes it can be pretty noticeable in a few of the episodes.

The music is more than serviceable because it's an excellent time capsule into the type of music you would hear in the 1970's. As a huge James Bond fan it instantly reminds me into a lot of the background music you would often hear in the Sean Connery and the early Roger Moore era of Bond films.

This first season of Lupin only had it's first English Dub fairly recently in 2021 and they got some really great old school voice acting talent from it. They took a few alumni from Robotech (Macross) with both Tony Oliver (Rick Hunter) and Richard Epcar (Ben Dixon) voicing Lupin and Jigen respectively. I will admit, that the voice they got for Fujiko Mine (Michelle Ruff) was absolutely perfect casting for her. Cute yet manipulative.

Overall, the first season of Lupin the III is a great way to start getting yourself into the world of Lupin the III and even though his first outing isn't his best outing with a lack of character development for many of the characters and many of the episodes being completely generic - it is still a great time capsule into the world of anime in the 1970's and it pretty much helped cement Lupin the III as one of those timeless anime characters and all the great films that await him in the future especially his magnum opus of a story which is Lupin the III: Castle of Cagliostro directed by none other than Hayao Miyazaki.

Given the success that Takahata and Miyazaki would achieve following their work on this series, it seems a bit superfluous to heap praise on them for their work here, but there is such a massive uptick in quality in the show the moment that they take over that it just has to be mentioned. The first few episodes of this first green jacket series are borderline unwatchable. The plots are incoherent, there is nothing intelligent or even interesting about the way Lupin and his cohorts behave, and Fujiko is nothing more than a sexy monster who serves no purpose other than to titillate viewers and ... to openly and obviously betray Lupin for God knows what reason. I know Monkey Punch would disagree with me, but the second half of this series is exactly what Lupin should be, and I loved every minute of it. As frustrating as the earlier episodes were, the latter ones made me that much more excited to watch future series and revisit the delight that is The Castle of Cagliostro.