a curated selection of thoughts collected within a 1 gb limit
it is may 14, 2022. today marks the date that netflix removed lupin III: the castle of cagliostro, after years of rotting in my watchlist until i could finally sit down and watch it. needless to say, the beast was stunned.
i've always admired lupin III as a series, even before i started watching it. ever since i saw a promo of it on toonami in 2017 or so, there was something about it that was kind of intriguing to me. it was almost like it lived in its own world. i mean, it's chock full of style and it has a wonderful ensemble of characters. lupin the third is the main thief who goes around the world to steal any treasure he can, daisuke jigen is the natural gunslinger and partner in crime, goemon ishikawa is the master samurai who fights for honor, fujiko mine is the femme fatale with a knack for double-crossing, even at the expense of lupin, and inspector zenigata of interpol is the determined cop who's hot on the trail of the gang where anywhere they go, he goes.
like a lot of people, my first experience was with hayao miyazaki's the castle of cagliostro. ever since then, i've found out that there's a whole cavalcade of legacy content that i've missed out on. of course, there's the legendary first series along with the red jacket era that might just have one of the most delightfully unhinged english dub in all of anime. but there's way more than that, like the pink jacket series which pretty much flip-flops between artstyles whenever it feels like it.
but i specifically want to highlight the most prominent feature in lupin's history: the movies. i mean, there's 40 of them for christ's sake. but i still gotta see what this stuff is about. so i wanna chronicle each and every lupin III animated movie that's out there...just not in a whole marathon. if you notice me flip-flopping at one point, chances are i stopped caring. maybe if the world collapses and all other movies are eradicated from the face of the earth, then i'll think about watching 40+ movies about a pervert being chased around by inspector gadget. so without further ado...
now before i start talking nonsense, if you wanna start watching lupin III, there's a whole lot of options. besides the castle of cagliostro or even the CGI movie that came out a couple years back, parts 1-3 you can basically jump into at any episode, part 4 has an interconnected story but each episode is easy to jump into, and parts 5-6 all have their own concrete story arcs with some one-offs in-between. i say either start with castle of cagliostro (wherever it ends up anyway) or just watch the pluto tv channel since it usually plays nearly every episode along with a couple of the movies as well.
the first ever animated lupin movie. this came out by the time part 2 was already airing and it certainly has that vibe. i can put on any episode from part 2 and mostly be guaranteed a great time. so to make a movie that's essentially an extended part 2 episode is a no-brainer. the way i see it, mystery of mamo is where the team really pulled out all the stops. TV standards and practices have never been so ideal, and this movie certainly reinforces that idea. i see this the same way i see south park, jackass, and even the teen titans go movie to an extent. movie ratings are another system entirely from a different organization with different standards. the PG movies you see on the big screen are not the PG shows you see on TV. so how does the actual movie fare? well for starters, lupin fights god. or rather a clone of god.
to further explain this movie would be to further spoil it. believe me when i say you have to go in with little expectations. because my god this one's a lot of fun. it's just so out of line. keep in mind, at this point in time, part 2 was about 60 episodes in. before the film released, there was an episode where lupin and the gang had to fight a bandit leader with a ray gun that makes people want to kill themselves in elaborate ways...their skin also turns purple. but somehow this is even more demented. even visually, it's something wild. some of the shots are genuinely jawdropping, the use of mixed media is super creative, and the limited animation just adds to the film. it's not the greatest lupin film. that one's up next. but it's one of the boldest to ever do it. check it out.
my first true introduction to lupin III, and a great one at that. great action, a booming soundtrack, and lots of great character moments. i rewatched this for the first time in months and it really is better the second time around. you start to notice specific details with how the characters interact with their surroundings and it's that level of detail that brings this film to life. and it's not like miyazaki just looked at the series and went "oh i get it now." he and isao takahata have always been series veterans, dating back to their directing work on part 1. so if anything, miyazaki was destined to make this as faithful and simultaneously unique as he possibly could.
so, there's not much to say except this movie rules...the streamline dub maybe less so. the voice actors are great! it's just kinda weird whenever they do that thing where one person is talking and the other person's line comes in too early so it sounds kind of off. i haven't seen the manga dub where lupin is voiced by david hayter of all people, so i guess i should probably check that out. but that's about it. this movie's an absolute delight and i highly recommend. will it be on streaming at all when netflix drops it? not sure. but hopefully someone out there will be introduced to it like i was.
um...yeah, this is a weird one, isn't it? this is based on part 3, the pink jacket series, which is mostly known for being one of the more "sillier" lupin series. it's definitely more loose, but i'd say it's like a mix of part 1's serious side and part 2's more surreal side. but here? yeah, it's definitely weird. first off, all the black characters have these donut lips like it's a cartoon from the 40s. maybe that would be passable to some had it not been for the fact that there's a whole background element that's basically a stereotype. it really is the most insulting part of the movie. i honestly don't get how this went through.
anyway, here's the plot. lupin meets up with this old lady and wants to steal the gold of babylon, which is located in the tower of babel, which was also picked up by god himself so he could sell it for money...just keep reading. meanwhile, zenigata is taken off the lupin case and sponsors this ICPO beauty pageant. i think the italian woman is named mrs. lasagna or something. okay, so zenigata eventually teams up with the beauty queens to go after lupin and the gang and in the middle of the film, the beauty queens all have tanks and chase after the lupin gang in the desert. i hope you put that in your notes because there's gonna be a big test tomorrow.
yeah, i dunno. i can't recommend it too much. it's definitely not boring, but it's also not that much of a quality movie either. is it the best film? absolutely not. is it tasteful? naaahhhhh. is it at least entertaining enough? yeah. i don't think i've scratched the surface of how manic gold of babylon is. if you do decide to watch this one, i can't say i didn't warn you.
classic “popcorn movie” material for lupin III. definitely like the focus on goemon this time. even then, every character has their moments that don’t interrupt the flow. plus i do appreciate the more simplistic approach to storytelling compared to something like gold of babylon where half of the movie is practically written with a pen that’s almost out of ink. but to me this is like castle of cagliostro but not as good. i feel it’s a bit too standard and uninteresting for my liking. to me, this feels more like a longer episode rather than a feature film (i.e. cagliostro). i hate making these comparisons but it’s what this film is inspired by the most. i will say the animation from telecom is lovely. it’s by far the best aspect of this film and it certainly helps elevate some of the most standout scenes.
should this be your first lupin III film? nah. maybe your third. this is certainly an anomaly of a series entry, even down to the weird english dub. can’t believe i’m saying this, but you’re better off watching the subbed version. the cast is different due to budgetary reasons but it’s better than what america’s got. apparently lupin is called rupan because of copyright reasons and jigen’s got sort of a “high schooler trying to sound like a mobster” type of voice. if that’s not what you’re looking for, you probably won’t be a huge fan.
oh come on these guys are just pointing and laughing now. you mean to tell me an evil brotherhood is trying to get an egg diamond that’s located on the torch of the statue of liberty and the only one who knows the location is this jimmy neutron geek who somehow has a relation to one of the members who created a computer virus that could launch american and soviet air strikes? i mean, i could probably piece everything together if i really wanted to but the least you could do is change the name of your evil organization. okay, maybe three masons isn’t so bad. but in the dub, and i swear this is true, i think they call themselves conquer the universe incorporated. at least they’re honest. so many of these evil organizations really need to step up their name game. like, what if in resident evil, instead of the umbrella corporation they’re called kill everyone and control the public incorporated. Now that’s honesty.
of course i, of all people, liked this movie. it’s fun! lots of good action and insanely metal imagery. apparently this came from the guy who directed space cobra so i think that explains quite a bit. it even has the same eyecatches that come up before the commercial. give this one a go if you want that fun and stupid lupin experience. and if you can, i wholeheartedly recommend watching this on filmrise. for some reason, there wasn’t a single ad throughout the whole movie and they even have the subbed AND dubbed version. shame that the actual video player is tacky but it’s a sacrifice i’m willing to take to see a psychotic pervert take down a satanic cult with mind-control water.
pretty fun for something as standard as this. though, it does have a lot of weird aspects. first off, maybe it’s a bit too standard. i guess after how stupid bye bye lady liberty was, they had to tone it down somehow. and yeah i personally prefer this. but maybe they went too far. second, they really did zenigata dirty here. you might as well not have him there at all. and third, it does kinda feel like i missed some stuff. maybe that’s my fault, maybe that’s an issue with pacing. who knows.
i will say that this is the better lupin film from osamu dezaki. i really wish he put in some more of the more metal imagery we got from bye bye lady liberty or space cobra. but his style and color choices are absolutely mesmerizing. if this franchise just looked like this from now on, i wouldn’t even be mad. once again, this film is on filmrise without ads (well, beside one) so that’s the best place to watch it if you’re able to. it’s a solid experience.
stop me if you heard this one before. the loopin gang are off to steal a treasure before this rich guy wants it for his evil doings. but the treasure in question can only be found in the titanic, which is sunken at the bottom of the sea. some say that this treasure is the one treasure that lupin the first couldn't steal himsel-
okay, two things. one, it's implied that lupin's crazy, public domain grandfather was one of the people on the titanic. that's already a point where a sane person would shut off the film. two, that's a bold-faced lie. i feel like every time lupin says this certain treasure is "the one treasure he couldn't steal", he's just making it up so that he can give himself a project. by the way, there's this girl who used to train under goemon. i never liked her character. like, i wanted to, but it's like she changes her mind about where to take the plot at random moments. not to mention, we don't really see enough of her and goemon. he's practically in the damn poster and we only see him for certain glimpses.
if i'm being honest, the only way this film was saved was its clever use of moon logic. consider this: there's a scene where lupin and the gang fall under a poisonous gas that turns you into a killer if you breathe it. so, fujiko pins down lupin, who simply chooses to not breathe, and he presses down on the shoe to call for a plane. and then he's presses down on the shoe again, and then he drops a bomb. god bless this stupid franchise. it knows exactly how to piss me off, but it also knows how to keep me seated to the end...even if the ending feels a bit abrupt here.
now, this is where i mention the funimation dub. the casting isn't half bad, but the direction could use some work. it's most apparent when they mention goemon- i mean goyamin- i mean gomon- i mean...eh. they'll get around to it. at least the opening is nice, but don't expect anything perfect. maybe watch it in japanese if you can, but otherwise you can probably find the dub on tubi. apparently, this is the last film to feature the original lupin actor, yasuo yamada, before his passing. so i guess this is always gonna mean something.
alright, stop it. what you're showing me right now is a child kidnapping, an election scandal, a religious cult based around the prophecies of nostradamus, AND hyposis bracelets that you use on a soccer team. you can only have one, maybe two. but not everything at once. hey, where are you going? hey! ah, they're gone. look, this isn't exactly a bad movie. but it's not exactly great either. the first act is a lot of fun. it establishes everything in a nice way, the action flows really smoothly, the art and animation are lovely and the characterization isn't half bad either. but then it starts to slowly fall apart. for how much is going on, it kinda gets boring after a while. maybe it's the way that it introduces too many things and can't seem to bring them all together. not even the indoor snowboarding section can get me that excited.
i guess it's good, but it's nothing spectacular. i gotta say, brazil really needs to address the hypnosis problem they got going on.
you know what? i actually really liked this one! there's sadly not much to say about it but it basically plays out like a longer episode of the modern anime. so that means a good mix of lighthearted goofy ass heisting mixed with boring people talking about politics. i will say that even with the abundance of nothing happening on top of a pretty basic structure, i wouldn't be too mad if someone started watching lupin because of this. actually, if anything, it's more in line with part 2 than parts 4 or 5.
and i know for a fact that it definitely wouldn't hurt to try this one out because they just put out a metric ton of these movies on tubi of all places. with dubs too! seriously, tubi kicks ass. for every schlock B-movie made by someone who might not even exist, you might accidentally stumble upon one of the greatest films ever made. dude, mystery of mamo is on tubi now! WITH the original cast from part 2! so if you're looking to fill that lupin void, watch mystery of mamo and then give this a shot. you'll have a lot of fun, even if it is for just a bit. it's worth the extra minute of ads.
a fantastic film in every sense of the word. i can't say it's perfect because of a few nagging nitpicks, like with the amount of exposition they just kinda dump all over. guess that's par for the course for lupin. i'll give the film this. it's basically a disgusting amalgamation of everything the series is known for...including the sci-fi stuff. don't get me wrong, the sci-fi stuff is great when they pull it off. but here, i can't tell if it's really cool or really stupid. both maybe. plus, am i the only one who didn't like how goemon just stayed silent until halfway through the movie? eh, whatever. the movie is still great. it's clear that the team put so much love and detail into the littlest things, ESPECIALLY with the animation. seriously, this is one of the best transitions to 3D i think i've ever seen. plus, there's a lot of instances where the characters react to every little thing that happens around them. everything feels so alive here. it's almost as good as castle of cagliostro.
see, this is what i love about lupin III. it's a bunch of freaks who are all really good at what they do banding together to steal some gold and have some nice noodles every now and then. it's not exactly the ensemble type of movie i was hoping for, but it's a riot from start to finish. it's familiar, but it's fresh. it's like a classic episode from the anime, but it also feels very cinematic like a spielberg movie. if i saw this movie earlier in my life, i'd be all over it. there will never be anything else like this one.
by far one of the most conflicting lupin movies i’ve seen yet. i’m not so familiar with the cat’s eye stuff, but i’d like to think that i got a good idea of who they are. so how’s the actual film?
let’s talk looks. cgi in anime can be good, but you have to be good at it if you want me to get used to it. i mean, we perfected this in 2019. it can’t be impossible. for some reason, this film kept reminding me of that new xbox game, hifi rush. certainly looks like an xbox game. the actual animation looks alright, especially the action parts. but you can tell these models weren’t meant to be seen too up close (some minor textures are a bit blurry for example). apparently, they were never meant to be seen from afar either. because they actually manage to get slightly more pixelated. i feel like these guys really wanted to make a lupin game at some point but didn’t want the amazon money to go to waste.
story’s not too bad, even if a bit cliche. i swear we’ve been here before. not only does it like to use the whole “that’s not my name” bit that anime seems to love, but there’s even a part where they do that very cool trope where a guy accidentally falls into someone’s boobs. for god’s sake, man. that’s josstice league material. he’s not a good influence.
characters are actually nice and developed as well. again, it’s a nice intro to cat’s eye, a series that doesn’t really get any new material. some might say it could even help them get into the show. only nitpick i have is that goemon and fujiko’s english voice actors are credited as “additional voices”. they weren’t useless. come on now. i dunno, i guess it’s cool to see them all equally. no one is too singled out or pushed to the side. lupin and ai are especially great together. there’s some nice dynamics going on here.
all in all, it’s gonna take some time to really decide if i like it. it’s not terrible, nor is it devoid of any fun moments. but it’s in a grey area where i can’t say i didn’t warn you. hope they make that game one day.