Something I have always appreciated about Lupin is the fact that, as a franchise, It's almost impossible to go wrong with entry points. Every character is so efficiently designed that, when I first looked at key art of them, I felt like I knew their whole deal, and the general premise is just so easy to get and enjoy. It's just "watch this goofy gang of cool characters get into crime-related shenanigans, occasionally goofy occasionally serious." Which for a series like Lupin that is focused way more on the shenanigans and aesthetic over deep character development and intricate, thought provoking themes on the level of your Serial Experiments Lains or Tatami Galaxys is good. I love that I can show people the cast of Lupin and they can point at one of the main characters and go "Wow they look cool as hell."
Jigen is my favorite.
For the uninitiated, you have the titular Lupin the Third
(center), who is the "gadget guy." The face of the series and a goofy
guy, he's canonically related to French character Arsene Lupin.
Then you have Daisuke Jigen (right of Lupin), the "gun guy." He's the
best gunman in the world (unless he isn't.) Ishikawa Goemon (the samurai
looking guy to the left of Lupin). He's the "cool one," a samurai who
doesn't kill unless absolutely necessary. Lupin crosses paths frequently
with femme fatale Fujiko Mine (the only woman in the image below).
She's like, the best of all of the trio. A cool, sexy, badass woman
adept with gadgets and guns, she frequently outsmarts Lupin. The two
have an on-off thing going on. More off than on, really. Finally you
have Inspector Zenigata (far left), an Interpol agent constantly on the
hunt for Lupin. They're all just the best.
So yeah, this is going to be me chronicling my dive into Lupin. However many blog posts this takes only time will tell, but I'm excited regardless. We're gonna go in the order that I watched things, which for the OVAs is going to be funny because I watched them in reverse order, and still haven't watched the anime continuity they're a part of, The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. I'll be giving arbitrary number ratings to each of them, so I'll put my usual ratings guideline here for posterity, since this is the first post of its kind on my blog. I rate things very squarely based on emotional response I have. If I rate it a 7 or higher I recommend it. Also, themes/story/characters are slightly more important to me than visuals, but visuals will still bump a score up if they are that good, think something like the movie Redline.
10 (Incredible): an absolute favorite of mine. I probably cried a lot, and I revisit it a lot. Makes me big think often.
9 (Fantastic): Probably made me cry or think a lot. Enjoyed very much.
8 (Great): Something I really liked a lot. Excels in at least one area that isn't story whilw
7 (Good): A series I liked a fair bit.
6 (Fine): A series that was fine and that I enjoyed enough.
5 (Okay): A series that was a-ok in my books. Probably fell short of my expectations.
4 (Eh): A series that fell very short.
3 (Ehh): Ehhhhh
2 (Bad): Self explanatory.
1 (Terrible): Terrible.
Lupin the Third: the Castle of Cagliostro
I'm gonna be real here for a hot minute, I really like this movie but it feels super overrated. So many people tout this as a masterpiece when it's really just like, a Good Movie. I watched this one twice, once with the 1991 dub with David Hayter and another time a week later with the Japanese dub and accurate subtitles.
We follow Lupin and Jigen, swiftly joined by Goemon, on a whimsical adventure through the fictional country of Cagliostro as they hunt for the mythical "Goat Bills," counterfeit money so good it's better than real money. They swiftly run into both Fujiko and Zenigata, but also a deep, history spanning conspiracy of espionage and illuminati-level government control. Wild stuff.
The 1991 dub is pretty in-tone with the movie, but ruins a bunch of key scenes with really weird script changes. It turns Lupin into slightly more of a do-gooder than the JP script. I had a lot of fun with it regardless. When I watched the JP version I had a way better time, though. The JP script has less lines, and therefore makes a lot of the really impactful ones hit harder, letting moments of silence breathe in a way the 1991 dub does not.
Two bros just chillen in Europe.
One thing I will absolutely give this movie credit for is the visuals. Hayao Miyazaki directing a pretty movie is a given, but the backgrounds are gorgeous and there's some wonderful shots. Actually like, watching it is a wonderful experience. The story is punchy and fun and has a conclusion that was not what I expected but I am happy it had. It's a movie that I feel I could comfortably show just about anyone who is okay with subtitles. A goofy, fun romp with an instantly lovable cast and lacking in a single dull moment. A solid 7/10 in my books.
Lupin the Third: Fujiko Mine's Lie
This one is weird. It's the most recent Lupin OVA to come out and I had fun with it. These OVAs are all huge tonal whiplash from Cagliostro, but that's part of the fun of Lupin, I feel. Goofy castle swordfights one adventure, strange supernatural hitmen the next. Which is, smooth segue, the plot of this OVA is about Fujiko on the run from a hitman trying to extract the location of $500 million from a boy she is protecting. You get a nice look into Fujiko as a character and as a caretaker in this one. You also get to watch her womanly charms, her "poison," at her best.
Gorgeous key art.
This one was really fun until the last like, 10 minutes or so. It was already kinda slow and contemplative with a lot of quiet moments, but the ending took a left turn into weird stuff for a little bit that I felt kinda flubbed the landing. It was still cool though. I like the titular "lie" quite a bit.
One thing I cannot overstate is how gorgeous these OVAs are. Having watched some of Part 4, and clips from the series these OVAs are connected to, this is one of the series' best aesthetics. The colors pop and the animation is drool-worthy at times; the characters are slick looking, sporting more modern-feeling styles that just look good. The definition of eye candy.
Lupin losing the coat and Jigen rolling his sleeves up is just so COOL.
Watching this one first was weird, since it's the most recent one to come out and touches on plot points from the first two that I had not experienced. It's still really easy to follow, though. I have this one at a cool 6/10 on Myanimelist. Maybe a 7/10 later on after some thought.
Lupin the Third: The Bloodspray of Ishikawa Goemon
This OVA is cool as hell. Like, I don't even know really what to say about it. It's just like, really good and really cool. It follows Goemon who was hired by a crime syndicate as a bodyguard attempting to track down and kill a man responsible for the death of his boss. Real samurai code stuff. What follows is an adrenaline-fueled OVA with some truly badass swordplay and a final fight that is legendarily cool.
He's so cool.
Goemon himself always feels super enigmatic, and this OVA is no exception. It isn't focused on his inner monologues, and he barely speaks. However, you can, just like Goemon, feel the intent. He's a driven, quiet man, and it's so cool to watch his story unfold in this OVA.
The titular "bloodspray" is also well worth the price of admission. The last fourth of the OVA is a veritable fountain of blood as one of the most engaging sequences in all of the anime I've ever watched plays out, Goemon unsheathing his sword and going against his vow to not kill is a spectacle to behold.
It's just raspberry jam, he swears.
Something that this OVA and the Jigen OVA (as well as the Fujiko one, to a lesser extent) does well is the antagonists. The main antagonist of this OVA is a brutish, reckless, monster of a man, one who relies on his strength, a super cool parallel to Goemon's dextrous, efficient style where no movement feels wasted, no effort feels expended. All-in-all, it's a wonderful, visceral, drop-dead-gorgeous looking, and all-together adrenaline-pumping ride. An incredibly strong 8/10.
Lupin the Third: The Gravestone of Daisuke Jigen
The last OVA I watched, and the first chronologically, Jigen's Gravestone is weird. I like it a lot, I really do, but there's some hangups I have with it that keep it from being as good as the Goemon OVA. You'd think, with Jigen being my favorite, that this would then be my favorite OVA of the bunch! But it is not.
No cool key art this time, but at least Jigen still looks sick.
This one follows Jigen and Lupin as they attempt to outwit an assassin who has targeted Jigen. Said assassin makes graves for all his targets before they die, predicting their date of death. Hence the titular "gravestone." What follows is a tense, somewhat overlong game of cat and mouse. I say overlong because this OVA involves Fujiko quite a bit, and she spends an inordinate amount of time in this OVA bootycheeks-naked under threat of sexual assault. My buddy and I kept begging for her scenes to end. And they do, and the resolution to her plot is cool enough, there's just an uncomfortable amount of screentime dedicated to it. Not a dealbreaker though.
Like the Goemon OVA, the antagonist of this one rivals Jigen in prowess. An incredibly efficient sniper with a quick draw to put Jigen to shame, he's one cool guy. Watching him and Jigen duel it out is awesome, thought not quite as cool as Goemon's showdown in Bloodspray.
Such a badass.
At the end of the day, though, this OVA is worth it. Like Fujiko's and Goemon's, the visuals are just to die for. Smooth animation, crisp colors and lines, a killer visual aesthetic, what's not to love? These OVAs feel like a love letter to a series I've only dipped my toe into, and I still love them to pieces, really. Gravestone gets a strong 7/10 to a light 8/10 from me, points docked mostly for the Fujiko plot.
What's Next For the Worm?
So, I have plans to watch part 4 with the same friend I watched the OVAs with, and part 5 with my wonderful girlfriend. I'm going to watch parts 1, 2, and 3 eventually, but for now I'm craving the same visual flair and serious tone of the OVAs, so I'm planning on biting into The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. I know it's super divisive, with people deriding the over-serious tone and pretentious presentation, but hey I love me some pretentious bullshit.
- Janurary 15th, 2020
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