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EP. REVIEW: Lupin the 3rd Part 6


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Fluwm



Joined: 28 Jul 2009
Posts: 881
PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2021 4:45 pm Reply with quote
While Part IV was fun, I found it didn't have much staying power. Part V, meanwhile, was utterly brilliant, so I'm very glad to hear that Part VI seems like more of a continuation than (yet another) soft reboot.

Very interested to see how this Sherlock Holmes pans,out. The promise of the "world's greatest detective" going up against the "world's greatest thief" has thus far only really been executed well (IME) in Detective Conan -- in LeBlanc's Stories, Holmes/Sholmes was ever only a parody, so there wasn't much tension.
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Wyvern



Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Posts: 1545
PostPosted: Mon Oct 18, 2021 9:03 pm Reply with quote
I'm pretty fascinated by this version of Holmes, and how they go to great lengths to establish him as the opposite of the classic Holmes in a lot of ways. He's nice to people! He dresses like a normal person! He has lots of friends around the neighborhood, and he invites them to dinner on a whim! That's a big change from the traditional Holmes who was famously anti-social, friendless aside from Watson, and generally rude to others. And giving him a daughter is the biggest change of all.

But it really works somehow. It makes Holmes himself into the story's biggest mystery, which is a neat twist: there's a lot of backstory implied here that's hidden from the viewer, most importantly the fact that Holmes and Lily seem to know Lupin: and Lily seems terrified of him. That's really intriguing.

All these changes make me wonder if this Holmes meant to be a descendant of the original rather than a modernized version of the original (probably the latter, though, since Lestrade and Mrs. Hudson are there, too.) Lupin Part 2 actually had a character named Sherlock Holmes III in one episode, grandson of the original, but it seems that's no longer canon.

Anyway, I was super impressed with the art direction in this episode. The modern Lupin series have all made it a point to really inhabit the country they're showcasing, but this one has really outdone itself with its beautiful and distinct depiction of London. We're talking beautifully detailed backgrounds that barely get a few seconds of screentime each as Lupin zooms by them. It evokes a wonderful sense of place, and also a great feeling of dedication from the production team.

This is a fantastic first episode and I'm really excited to see more. Even after being impressed by Part 5, Part 6 surprised me with how strongly it began. Absolutely top notch stuff.
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Turro



Joined: 22 Jun 2016
Posts: 75
Location: México
PostPosted: Tue Oct 19, 2021 10:58 am Reply with quote
Episode 1 is a great start for the season after last week emotional farewell to Mister Kobayashi.

I was surprised by Lily's reaction to seeing Lupin, the girl seems to have seen the devil himself.
In all these years that Zenigata has been trying to catch Lupin, he has shown him great amount of respect, now it would be interesting to see Sherlock hunting Lupin, apparently his perspective towards him would be different.

Ona sad note, Part 6 is not available in Latin America, I had not had to resort to unofficial channels to see a show for years, it surprises me even more as this is an important license.
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Fluwm



Joined: 28 Jul 2009
Posts: 881
PostPosted: Tue Oct 19, 2021 2:18 pm Reply with quote
Series V was definitely hewing a bit closer to the original characterization of Lupin--darker, more dangerous, as befitting a "wolf"--so I'm not really too surprised to see Series VI push further in this respect.

I just hope that, as they did in the last series, they do so,e throwback episodes in the older, sillier style.
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Azmodeus



Joined: 08 Feb 2007
Posts: 185
Location: Sweden, ass end of nowhere
PostPosted: Tue Oct 19, 2021 6:11 pm Reply with quote
I wonder if this Holmes is in any way related to the Holmes III from Part 2? Sure, that tone was only a parody, alongside several other detective descendants, but Blue jacket has never been shy about remixing old ideas for fresh takes, so it's an interesting idea.

The trailer had Lupin doing his "I'm a scoundrel" speech to someone, and this definetly has me putting internets on Lily.

Overall, a really fun episode with a few dashes of intrigue.
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MarshalBanana



Joined: 31 Aug 2014
Posts: 5294
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 5:37 am Reply with quote
I'm very mixed on the production values. On the positive it still has those nice rough backgrounds that Part IV and V had, as well as plenty of good animation cuts. It only has one negative, but it was very prevalent, and that was the use of CG cars. It feel worse in this show than other ones, as they cut between them and the 2D ones which makes more jarring. They also really don't fit into the backgrounds due to the style of them, and seeing roads full of them is really off putting.
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Dayraven



Joined: 21 Jul 2021
Posts: 168
PostPosted: Fri Oct 22, 2021 5:49 am Reply with quote
Quote:
I wonder if this Holmes is in any way related to the Holmes III from Part 2?

Part 2 actually had two different episodes with different Holmes III characters, incidentally. The one you’re referring to, who was more of a classic deerstalker-and-all Holmes, and a later one who was more malicious (and that episode also had the original Holmes being revealed as a thief himself).
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Wyvern



Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Posts: 1545
PostPosted: Mon Oct 25, 2021 5:56 pm Reply with quote
So this Holmes is the inheritor of the original's mantle. That's a nice way to build a parallel between him and Lupin (and by extension, the literary Lupin and his infamous copyright-infringing battle with "Sholmes.") But it kind of raises a lot of questions, like: if this isn't the original Holmes in this universe, then what's the original Holmes' supporting cast doing here? Are Lestrade, Watson, and Mrs. Hudson all inherited titles, too? Having them all there feels a bit contrived now. At this rate I'm taking bets on whether or not Moriarty shows up.

But whatever, that's a nitpick; the episode itself was terrific. The background and animation work are still fantastic, the writing is sharp, and there's so many great little details. I loved how they manage to have Sherlock survive an assault from Goemon and Jigen, not by being a better fighter than them (because he's clearly not) but through his trademark powers of observation, like how he noticed the bike mirror and stood just in the right spot for it to blind Goemon. It makes him feel like a unique threat to the gang, someone who's as cunning as Lupin but in a different way.
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wacclay



Joined: 16 Oct 2021
Posts: 17
PostPosted: Mon Oct 25, 2021 6:12 pm Reply with quote
While there may be more than meets the eye to Lupin's involvement in Watson's death, we cannot ignore that Lupin III is indeed very much a criminal. Lupin has definitely directly killed lots of innocent people - including but not limited to police officers - as well as having been indirectly involved in the demise of countless others and treats it with a shrug without giving it a second thought. I will go further than this: though it isn't a goal of his, some of his plans make the deaths of innocents absolutely unavoidable.

Incidentally, this describes Mine and Jigen as well. Only Goemon actually does his level best to prevent harming cops and other innocents and even he isn't always able to avoid it. Indeed Lupin's actions are why Goemon states that he will make sure to kill Lupin one day to make sure that his crimes don't go unpunished (after which he may well commit seppuku in order to address his own).

So even though he is the protagonist and isn't necessarily gunning for people, Lupin is very clearly a murderer who has killed LOTS of people. So had Watson been just another guy whose death was the result of one of Lupin's schemes - and not necessarily even due to it going awry - or who Lupin killed during his many gun battles trying to escape it would be entirely consistent with his character. Granted, the show almost certainly isn't going to depict it as such. Because of the need for the audience to view him as "a good guy who only steals from criminals as well as rich people who are well able to afford it" they are going to contrive something. But how they get away with allowing the audience to view Lupin III isn't how he actually is. If the show spent more time actually dealing with the results of Lupin's deeds, Zenigata would be the guy that everyone is rooting for (even if Zenigata isn't exactly perfect himself).
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
Posts: 5887
PostPosted: Mon Oct 25, 2021 8:20 pm Reply with quote
^

The problem with this assertion is that with regards to the anime and OVAs Lupin hasn’t actually killed innocent people yes he’s done some morally questionable things such as had a prison guard take his place during an execution with the guards fate being left ambiguous, having sex with a guy’s wife during one of his heists, and being indirectly responsible for the death of Interpol Agent (who himself was morally sketchy).

But even then the anime’s, ovas, and movies have loose continuity so none of this stuff sticks anyway.
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Wyvern



Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Posts: 1545
PostPosted: Tue Oct 26, 2021 12:40 pm Reply with quote
BadNewsBlues wrote:
^

The problem with this assertion is that with regards to the anime and OVAs Lupin hasn’t actually killed innocent people


...but what if Watson wasn't innocent? Wink
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BBally



Joined: 17 Dec 2016
Posts: 84
Location: UK
PostPosted: Tue Oct 26, 2021 3:50 pm Reply with quote
Wow! They confirmed that the Sherlock Holmes III from Part 2 to be a wannabe, though it's confirmed the Holmes family follows a lineage like the Lupin III (though likely from Mycroft's side since OG Sherlock wasn't into romantic relationships).

This Sherlock is awesome, I really liked this version of a modern Sherlock Holmes more than Cumberbatch's version and I admit as a Sherlock Holmes fan I geeked out when Sherlock used his Baritsu on Goemon. Lot's intrigue regarding the Raven aspect. Liked this version of Lestrade and interested to see the development regarding Lily and Watson's death.

And Albert planning behind the scenes, setting the promise of him playing a bigger role at the end of part 5.

Just found out the next week's episode of Lupin III Part 6 is written by an old school anime writer, Masaki Tsuji. The man's a veteran, his writing credit is like a greatest hits of iconic retro Anime, 60s Astro Boy, 8-Man, Cyborg 009 (60s and 70s version), Kimba, OG Tiger Mask, Princess Knight, GeGeGe no Kitarō, Star of the Giants, Attack No. 1, 70s Devilman, Triton of the Sea, Doraemon, Cutey Honey, Brave Raideen, Voltes V, Urusei Yatsura and Giant Gorg.
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
Posts: 5887
PostPosted: Tue Oct 26, 2021 5:40 pm Reply with quote
Wyvern wrote:

...but what if Watson wasn't innocent? Wink


Well we can hope that Watson didn’t piss him off since that’s generally the one reason Lupin ever kills anybody…..or if was in self defense.
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Wyvern



Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Posts: 1545
PostPosted: Wed Oct 27, 2021 3:46 pm Reply with quote
BadNewsBlues wrote:
Wyvern wrote:

...but what if Watson wasn't innocent? Wink


Well we can hope that Watson didn’t piss him off since that’s generally the one reason Lupin ever kills anybody…..or if was in self defense.


Since TV Lupin refrains killing in cold blood (unlike manga Lupin who would straight-up murder people) my guess is that either 1) Watson tried to kill Lupin for whatever reason, and Lupin defended himself, or 2) Lupin was framed and someone else killed Watson, or 3) Lupin DID murder Watson, but as was 10 years ago, he has since sworn never to take a life except in self-defense, and it's all a meta-comment on the fact that Manga Lupin was a killer but Modern Lupin is not.
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Gina Szanboti



Joined: 03 Aug 2008
Posts: 11306
PostPosted: Mon Nov 01, 2021 5:17 am Reply with quote
Quote:
the solution is an arcane technicality that Lupin only figures out when he gets to ride the train himself (Morton just blocked the locomotive's progress temporarily with some big snowballs)

Was it even that complicated? There's no reason he couldn't have murdered him before he even left on his round trip, since they were alone. Since he would've had to ambush him on the leg from San Francisco, he obviously wasn't needed alive to initiate the return trip from New York.

And since it was well established that the train would stop if it encountered any obstruction on the tracks, like, say, Fujiko's head, the only danger she might've been in would've been from what the train considered necessary to remove her. I guess that could've been more grisly than just decapitating her with the wheels, huh... But I'm sure Jigan and/or Goemon could've easily dealt with that.

By the same token, why did the train derail and destroy the maintenance shed after it was sidetracked? Couldn't its sensors tell the building was in its way and, if it removed the obstacle of the door, that the tracks ended? It's like the only thing the train actually stops for is snowballs.

And yeah, why did they need her to unlock the vault?
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