Lupin The 3rd

Episode 07, "An Untold Tale"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Lupin and Jigen are back in London, looking to piece together the mystery of the Raven group. But while spying on Sherlock Holmes, Lupin encounters Inspector Zenigata. The man from the ICPO wants to know what happened to Holmes' partner, Watson, and what Lily witnessed. But suddenly the two are on the run from an assassin, ducking for cover in a cemetary. How can the duo take down this threat? It looks like Lupin and Pops are in grave danger!

As we come close to the end of the year, I want to touch upon the Lupin III franchise again, this time covering something actually good. The theatrical anime, Dead or Alive, is hardly the greatest Lupin adventure, but it's certainly one of the better ones, especially compared to the last one I reviewed, Farewell to Nostradamus. Monkey Punch himself directed this one! Well, kind of. He mostly just worked on the opening sequence and probably consulted through the rest of it, leaving the bulk of the work to the Chief Director, Hiroyujki Yano, and the rest. But it certainly has that somewhat darker, sharper Monkey Punch Lupin touch to it.

Episode 06, "The Imperial City Dreams of Thieves (Part 2)"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Lupin is still pursuing the mystery of the Mongolian clock as several parties converge to decipher its secrets and try to control its power. Ruriko and Sarantuya are kidnapped by the nefarious Daidoji and Goemon looks to get them back, but will Lupin get to them first and solve the riddle of the clock? And what is the nature of the Showa Era Japan that Lupin finds himself in? It's a race against the clock as Lupin reveals not everything is as it seems!

Episode 05, "The Imperial City Dreams of Thieves (Part 1)"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis: Lupin suddenly finds himself in early Showa Era Japan, where he is identified as the thief Golden Mask, and pursued by Inspector Namikoshi and famous detective Kogoro Akechi. He keeps spotting familiar faces, but they're all different people in this time period. He is convinced that taking possession of an enormous clock from Chinas Yuan Dynasty, found by a woman named Ruriko, will assist him in finding answers to his situation. But he has to contend with rivals in stealing in addition to law enforcement. Can Lupin pull off the historical heist? Trouble strikes like clockwork in this mysterious adventure in the past!

Episode 04, "The Killers in the Diner"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis:  Two mysterious strangers walk into the White Elephant diner, a place that has become occupied by waiting hired guns. They come there as the others, looking for a man that everyone intends to kill. Which one of these scheming assassins will go home with the prize? It's anything but a movable feast when these killers let loose!

Comments:

Episode 03, "Adventure Along the (Bogus) Transcontinental Railroad"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis:  Lord Marquess, eccentric millionaire, posesses both a large play train that encircles his property of realistic world environments and the first ticket ever distributed in England. Disguised as the South Ahud Republic's President Arackney, Lupin looks to fool the old train fan while Fujiko infiltrates his property. However, Marquess' butler Morton has his own designs on the ticket and Zenigata's interference even further complicates matters. Can Lupin, Jigen, and Goemon avoid being arrested and save Fujiko from a gruesome fate? All aboard this fun little caper that has more detectives than sense!

Episode 01, "Enter Sherlock Holmes"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis:  In London, Lupin's former rival, Albert d'Andrésy, is arrested for attempting to steal a movie poster, the treasure of a man connected to the mysterious Raven organization. Lupin assists in Albert's escape in return for the half of the poster he got away with. The other half is in the custody of Scotland Yard, but before Lupin can get it, Inspector Zenigata from the ICPO steps in and gives chase. In the midst of all this, the great detective Sherlock Holmes and his charge Lily spot our sideburned swindler and there appears to be a shared past between them!

I love the Lupin III franchise, but there is a lot of crap in it. And the crappy parts range from dull and lifeless to actively painful, and all shades in between. Legend of the Gold of Babylon was interestingly bad, which may or may not fall on the spectrum of crap (it may just be an exception). Farewell to Nostradamus, on the other hand, is the kind of terrible that you can't really say that much about. It's just a very dull, inert movie that feels like Lupin III in automatic mode. There's nothing special about it whatsoever, aside from being a theatrical feature.

So this is my second episode with the new opening. What do you think of it? I wanted to include anime that I'll probably review either this year or next into it. Though I doubt I'll be covering Lupin III Part IV, because it's still too new to meet my requirements, I'll definitely be covering Lupin features.

Island of Assassins is one of my favorite Lupin III features. It's often said to be the best, and I certainly agree it's one of them, but I found a few things to criticize, nevertheless. It seems like I've made a habit of reviewing two Lupin features per year, and I guess I'll keep to that into next year, too, unless I either don't have the space to do more than one, or I find more than two I want to review. There are plenty of others to review, after all, and more are being dubbed as we speak, it seems. But after reviewing a movie I thought was pretty bad earlier this year, I thought I'd do one that's really good now.