Help

NinskiBobinski said:
Hello guys,

I was just wondering if someone could help me with this anime, it has been sitting on my "plan to watch" list for quite a long time now and I wanted to start it but I am confused. How many parts does it have, and episodes? I know you can look it up but I don´t understand which parts are included in the "main" anime (if u know what I mean, there seem to be many spinoffs or something) (see thats why I am confused XD). What exactly do I have to watch to get the normal experience? And what order?? Also, is it all the same storyline or do they differ? (like Jojo as an example)

Sorry for being stupid, thanks to anyone who takes time to help me <3

Cracker-Man said:

No worries for asking. So basically:
There are 6 total parts atm, they are referred to by number. The connections between each in terms of canon are very limited and non existent. Part 2’s first episode is connected to Part 1. 3 and 4 are on their own. Part 5 attempts to make it all into one big continuity which doesn’t make any sense at all. And then part 6 seems to be branching off part 5 but I don’t know or care? Basically, every part is discounted except for part 5 but you might as well interpret that as it’s own version of events cause of how it doesn’t make any sense.

I don’t know what a “normal” experience is. I’ve watched 1,2, 4 and 6 and I’ve had a good time. I watched them in that order. But since Lupin is a very episodic series, the order only impacts how well you understand the characters. And to be clear. The characters are more stock characters that are very simple and shine in individual moments in the series. It all depends on what angle or choices are made in whichever piece of media. You won’t feel any evolution or growth in the characters if you watched it in order or in reverse. But there is one spin off show, The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. It’s meant to be a prequel to the status quo. Notice that I say that and not a particular show. That show should be watched after you’ve got a decent understanding of Lupin III. It’s not *the* canon for how they all meet, but if you wanted to imagine what they were like before they met each other, it offers this interpretation. There’s also a tv special called First Contact, which has a similar intent with a very different tone.

Part 1 has 26ish episodes. Part 2 has 155. Part 3 has about 40 I think. Part 4-6 have/are gonna have 26ish. Now I would not recommend watching all of part 2 because it is a very numbing experience. I watched it all in the span of a month and it was a bad choice. It’d be best to pick out a few episodes that are especially good. I’ve started to make a condensed list that I wanna share to people some time, but doing a little research into the good ones will be more worth your time then going through so many episodes that are very repetitive. Cause that’s another thing. Lupin III doesn’t have a super strong variety of story styles. So when you’ve got something like Part 2 where there are so many episodes that even borrow entire plots and characters, it’s a bit too much to deal with. But I would definitely recommend episodes 145 and 155. They were directed by Hayao Miyazaki and are some of the best in the series. Episode 58 is also really nice, good Jigen story. If you want some help, there’s this blog that talks about the different animation studios of part 2, so you could do some reading here to get a gauge of what you’d like to see. https://web.archive.org/web/20191106173654/http://www.pelleas.net/aniTOP/index.php/lupin-iii-part-2-credits

I would also say that the bigger part of the Lupin III experience are the movies and tv specials. Of which there are a vast number and not all are great, but some are really bloody amazing. You’ve got about 100 or so to choose. What you should do is look through what ones seem cool to you and go with that. It’s hard to recommend cause they’re all so different in tone and style. If it helps you to know some of my favourites;
- The Castle of Cagliostro
- Goemon’s Spray of Blood
- Fujiko’s Lie
- Blood Seal of The Eternal Mermaid
- The Hemingway Papers
- The First

Hope that answers some of your questions. But yeah by and large, do whatever you want. This is a franchise who’s key theme is freedom. So watch what you wanna watch from it apart from following strictly what people say.

Cracker-Man said:

No worries for asking. So basically:
There are 6 total parts atm, they are referred to by number. The connections between each in terms of canon are very limited and non existent. Part 2’s first episode is connected to Part 1. 3 and 4 are on their own. Part 5 attempts to make it all into one big continuity which doesn’t make any sense at all. And then part 6 seems to be branching off part 5 but I don’t know or care? Basically, every part is discounted except for part 5 but you might as well interpret that as it’s own version of events cause of how it doesn’t make any sense.

I don’t know what a “normal” experience is. I’ve watched 1,2, 4 and 6 and I’ve had a good time. I watched them in that order. But since Lupin is a very episodic series, the order only impacts how well you understand the characters. And to be clear. The characters are more stock characters that are very simple and shine in individual moments in the series. It all depends on what angle or choices are made in whichever piece of media. You won’t feel any evolution or growth in the characters if you watched it in order or in reverse. But there is one spin off show, The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. It’s meant to be a prequel to the status quo. Notice that I say that and not a particular show. That show should be watched after you’ve got a decent understanding of Lupin III. It’s not *the* canon for how they all meet, but if you wanted to imagine what they were like before they met each other, it offers this interpretation. There’s also a tv special called First Contact, which has a similar intent with a very different tone.

Part 1 has 26ish episodes. Part 2 has 155. Part 3 has about 40 I think. Part 4-6 have/are gonna have 26ish. Now I would not recommend watching all of part 2 because it is a very numbing experience. I watched it all in the span of a month and it was a bad choice. It’d be best to pick out a few episodes that are especially good. I’ve started to make a condensed list that I wanna share to people some time, but doing a little research into the good ones will be more worth your time then going through so many episodes that are very repetitive. Cause that’s another thing. Lupin III doesn’t have a super strong variety of story styles. So when you’ve got something like Part 2 where there are so many episodes that even borrow entire plots and characters, it’s a bit too much to deal with. But I would definitely recommend episodes 145 and 155. They were directed by Hayao Miyazaki and are some of the best in the series. Episode 58 is also really nice, good Jigen story. If you want some help, there’s this blog that talks about the different animation studios of part 2, so you could do some reading here to get a gauge of what you’d like to see. https://web.archive.org/web/20191106173654/http://www.pelleas.net/aniTOP/index.php/lupin-iii-part-2-credits

I would also say that the bigger part of the Lupin III experience are the movies and tv specials. Of which there are a vast number and not all are great, but some are really bloody amazing. You’ve got about 100 or so to choose. What you should do is look through what ones seem cool to you and go with that. It’s hard to recommend cause they’re all so different in tone and style. If it helps you to know some of my favourites;
- The Castle of Cagliostro
- Goemon’s Spray of Blood
- Fujiko’s Lie
- Blood Seal of The Eternal Mermaid
- The Hemingway Papers
- The First

Hope that answers some of your questions. But yeah by and large, do whatever you want. This is a franchise who’s key theme is freedom. So watch what you wanna watch from it apart from following strictly what people say.

NinskiBobinski said:



Damn I cannot thank you enough for this detailed answer! That really helped me a lot, I finally understand the concept XD Also that recommendations of you mean a lot to me, I will definitely watch them at some point! My confusion has vanished, again tysm <3 Now I am not that scared anymore to start it hahaha