Good evening everyone and
welcome to The Magical Mystery Blog.
“Lupin the Third” is by far
the best anime I have ever seen because it has something for everyone. It has crime, adventure,
comedy, romance, and even memorable characters such as: Lupin the Third the
debonair gentleman thief, Goemon Ishikawa the thirteenth in the Ishikawa
lineage who wields Zantetsuken with ease, Fujiko Mine a woman shrouded in
sexiness and mystery, Kouichi Zenigata an Interpol inspector who has been after
Lupin for years to fulfill his ancestors’ wish of capturing the Lupin lineage,
and lastly, Jigen Daisuke a fantastic marksman who used to be in the mafia and
also happens to be my fictional husband.
Each character has their
distinct personalities and backstories that are incorporated into the show
throughout time. However, the show itself is not linear (except for the spinoff
show “A Woman Named Fujiko Mine”) and you can watch the series at any moment in
the seasons. The show and movies explain themselves easily and have a
simplistic plot with subplots and a bit of a twist at the end.
The episodes are
fantastically memorable. I often find myself going back to “Dark Charade”,
“Baton Death March”, “Zenigata Get Ya Into My Life”, “.375 Magnum”, and many
others because of how wonderful the writing is, how the characters are effected
and respond to dire situations, how creative the development team was into
exercising these specific plots, and how they make me smile no matter what.
These episodes in particular get you incredibly invested in the characters; for
example “Zenigata Get Ya Into My Life” is about Zenigata falling for a woman
who cannot speak because her voice frequency activates an explosive her husband
placed on her heart. Zenigata never has any luck with love so this is an
extremely rare event for him. However, all good things, like love, must come to
an end, and this episode is a heartbreaker indeed.
I also find myself
returning to some unforgettable movies, namely “Castle of Cagliostro”, “Island
of Assassins”, and “Crisis in Tokyo” for the same reasons as the episodes. Fun
fact: “Castle of Cagliostro” is a Miyazaki/Monkey Punch movie. Initially the
green jacket series wasn’t doing so well with Lupin being portrayed as a
ruthless thieving killer. Monkey Punch brought Miyazaki in to aide with “Castle
of Cagliostro” where he depicted his unique art style, his fabulous writing,
and changed Lupin from a killer to a fierce gentleman. “Island of Assassins”
was my first Lupin movie and with its intriguing plot and beautiful score it
had me hooked from my teen years until now. “Crisis in Tokyo” is yet another
Zenigata romance situation, but not only does it focus on love, but also
incredible character development. In the series, not much is said about
Zenigata, but (like the other characters) traits and stories can be theorized.
In this movie, the audience sees him in a different light which works
wondrously with his character.
The overall animation is excellent and changes with every jacket that Lupin the Third is given. When Lupin is given a new jacket, it usually means that it’s a new addition to the series. The first jacket was green (1971) followed by red (1980 (however, this is the one that most people are familiar with because Toonami aired it nightly back in the early 2000s and it’s the jacket he usually wears in the newer movies)), pink (1984), and blue (2015). Each addition has a particular animation style; the green jacket was initially styled after the Lupin III manga with grittiness and detail, the red jacket was a bit cleaner and the characters appeared to be more loose and flexible in their movements, the pink jacket addition was much more cartoonish, and the blue jacket is a continuation of the style from the “Lupin the Third” spinoff series “A Woman Named Fujiko Mine”. The animation in “A Woman Called Fujiko Mine” is a nod to the original Lupin green jacket series with its dirty shading, intense detail, and grittiness.
The overall animation is excellent and changes with every jacket that Lupin the Third is given. When Lupin is given a new jacket, it usually means that it’s a new addition to the series. The first jacket was green (1971) followed by red (1980 (however, this is the one that most people are familiar with because Toonami aired it nightly back in the early 2000s and it’s the jacket he usually wears in the newer movies)), pink (1984), and blue (2015). Each addition has a particular animation style; the green jacket was initially styled after the Lupin III manga with grittiness and detail, the red jacket was a bit cleaner and the characters appeared to be more loose and flexible in their movements, the pink jacket addition was much more cartoonish, and the blue jacket is a continuation of the style from the “Lupin the Third” spinoff series “A Woman Named Fujiko Mine”. The animation in “A Woman Called Fujiko Mine” is a nod to the original Lupin green jacket series with its dirty shading, intense detail, and grittiness.
Thank you for reading
tonight’s entry. If you enjoyed it, feel free to subscribe, share, comment, and
critique.
So tell me, have you ever
seen “Lupin the Third”?
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