Lupin III: Goodbye Partner

Lupin III: Goodbye Partner is a fairly entertaining special running for about an hour and a half. The premise itself is quite interesting mostly because Lupin's loyal friend and partner Jigen is an antagonist throughout the film. Our main character is tasked with stealing a "Time Jewel" from a highly fortified facility. In typical Lupin fashion its carried out but not before a betrayal by Jigen who takes it for himself, therefore setting up the events of the movie. Characterization remains strong as all of the returning characters in the special behave as they would in any other Lupin property; Jingen's betrayal is portrayed in ... such a way that wouldn't be out of character for him. With a strong main cast, then what about the side characters? There's Alisa, a young girl who is kidnapped for nefarious purposes. Though she's kind of a damsel in distress sort of character, she does have more going on and is also quite plot crucial. Roy Forest also serves to be a clever and conniving antagonist for Lupin to face as well.

The movie moves from beat to beat quite briskly so I was hardly bored watching it. But that pace feels too brisk when concerning events towards the ending. Without spoiling anything, things escalate quite quickly and there's a lot of information that you'll have to keep track of. This causes things to feel a bit messy although everything is tied up by the end of it. I think the movie would have benefited from having an additional 15-30 minuets to build up things properly or some extraneous details needed to be cut out. Another complaint that I'd anticipate from the movie is the use of politics in it. If you're the type to be bothered by it, don't let it because its still a good Lupin special. At the same time, do not dismiss the political content simply because it is there. This special deals with technology and wants to comment on that, so it provides pitfalls, examines uses and provides solutions which I think are worth considering. (On a side note, this special probably influenced or was influenced by part 5 since it's so tech focused. Just my two cents). I will admit though, that it felt a bit shoehorned in since its a contributing factor towards the messy ending. Despite it all, its still a fun Lupin romp.

Animation is serviceable, there isn't anything too spectacular going on. The character designs do remain strong, retaining a "classic" Lupin look as well as being as expressive as they've always been. This special is mostly set in Los Angeles and the Nevada desert, so while the backgrounds and locations do look pretty, they're a bit uninspired for my tastes. This is an issue if part of your enjoyment for Lupin comes from the setting. In this instance, the setting is flavorless, mostly serving its function as a vehicle to contextualize the events in a plausible manner. The music is still strong, with it's original compositions setting the appropriate mood. Music is also a crucial plot element to the movie, with Chopin's compositions being used throughout. I'm not very into classical music so I couldn't tell you how good the renditions are, but they sounded good to my ears.

Overall, if you're a Lupin fan, I wouldn't say you're missing out by skipping this special. But if you want more Lupin, then check it out. More Lupin is never a bad thing after all.

Its always great when a Lupin story takes a deeper look at Jigen’s past and his relationships. He’s hard on the outside but soft on the inside.

Also Zenigata is framed as Lupin’s accomplice. And ironically has to team up with Lupin to clear his name. I always love seeing Lupin and Zenigata work together.

The plot revolves around a man who wants to gain political power so he can rule the world. And in order to get this power he needs the mcguffin. So he tries to trick Lupin into stealing it for him. Meanwhile Fujiko is undercover as his assistant. Typical Lupin plot. Oh ... and there is also a pretty girl as always.

An hour into the movie the plot gets completely lost when it becomes about AI, and it turns into 2001: A Space Odyssey. And oh boy does it drag on at this point.

Its not a bad movie...just kinda nonsensical.
I don’t even know why the movie is called Goodbye Partner since thats not really the main plot. Its barely a plot at all.

The movie is full of plots that are good concepts for their own movie: a movie that focuses on a seemingly betrayal by Jigen, or a movie about an AI going crazy, etc etc but its half @ssed here.

Maybe the movie is a commentary on reliance on AI and automation.

I've watched a lot of Lupin III's seasons, specials and movies over the years and I hope that one day I get to watch everything there is. I'm happy to know that a show from 1969 (Pilot film) still manages to get love after 50 years since its debut.

Animation: clean, simple and colorful but with a major problem called unnecessary CGI.

Sound:
1) iconic Lupin III theme song is always a plus. A granted plus is still a plus.
2) Sawashiro Miyuki's (Mine Fujiko) singing will never fail to amaze me
3) As much I like classical music, the Chopin song on a loop was driving ... me insane

Story:
1) the plot is predictable as heck but in a "okay" way.
2) this movie should have ended 25 minutes sooner. It just kept dragging and dragging to the end with ridiculous explosions and boring stuff.
3) Mine Fujiko's role in this movie feels like a cameo rather than an important part of Lupin's gang and franchise
4) I got a lot of the references to the USA political situation but I don't feel that they made the movie worse or better


As I said above, the last 25 minutes of the movie were terrible. For the first hour and a few minutes in, I was enjoying myself in this nostalgia trip. I was ready to give this movie a solid 7/10. However, the last third of the film was so bad, that I give this movie a 4/10. It completely ruined my overall enjoyment and that's why it's a low score.