#5. Lupin III

If you like Lupin III, then you are OK by me.

Created by Monkey Punch in 1967, the manga was first made into an anime in 1971 by Masaaki Osumi and Yasuo Otsuka, with the bulk of the series after episode 7 being directed by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Despite this, and being arguably the most faithful to manga, it flopped. It arguably was before it’s time, being a cartoon made for soley for adults rather than a family or kids cartoon. It ended after 23 episodes.

In 1977 there was a second try, and now the time was right for such a show (see Yamato entry for the whys and wherefores). This time Lupin III reached 155 episodes. Again Hayao Miyazaki worked on the character, directing episodes 145 and 155, and of course the influential flop Lupin III film Castle of Cagliostro.

Castle of Cagliostro is a great film, but it’s not a great Lupin III film. Miyazaki tones the characters down far too much that the anarchy of Monkey Punch’s original manga is smothered under Miyazaki’s sentimentality.

Finally, Lupin III had a third series in 1984, this time running to 50 episodes.

Since then Lupin III has continued to be animated in feature films and TV specials.

OK, what is Lupin III, I hear you ask. And why has it such legs?

Lupin III is the adventures of the titular Arsene Lupin III, the grandson of Maurice Leblanc’s fictional thief, and his friends. These include Daisuke Jigen, an ace marksman, Goemon Ishikawa XIII, a samurai descendant of Ishikawa Goemon, and on-off love interest and on-off ally, Fujiko Mine, a fellow thief and femme fatale.

These 4 make up the regular cast, with one other. Lupin’s nemesis, Inspector Zenigata of Interpol. If it wasn’t for the fact he was in pursuit of Lupin, he’d be one of the best cops in the world, however Lupin will often make him look a bungler.

In many ways it feels like an mix between an ITC adventure series and MAD Magazine (a clear influence on Monkey Punch’s art and writing – his penciling has a touch of Aragones to it, and some strips contain the sort of violent pantomime familiar to any Spy Vs. Spy fans). The comparison is often made to James Bond rather than the likes of TV Bond-lites, but the fact is the majority of the TV series are Lupin-lite, plus with most episodes being done-in-one capers, the pace has more of a TV quality rather than a cinematic one. The Bond comparison holds more water with the Lupin films.

The second series has been licensed by Geneon, and many films by Funimation. The first series has been fansubbed.