Forum - View topicLupin The Third: Where To Start and What's Worth Watching
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PurpleWarrior13
 Posts: 2025 |
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I've seen and own Mystery of Mamo and Cagliostro. I love both for different reasons, but I need to check out other parts of the franchise. The only other part I've watched some of is the Fujiko Mine TV series, which I do plan on finishing because I adore the art style so much. I'd also like to check out it's film (Jigen's Gravestone), and maybe the specials FUNimation released. If I like those, I might check out the older shows and the one currently running when the dub comes out, but I doubt I'll ever watch the whole series. At least there's no big ongoing story!
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EricJ2
 Posts: 4016 |
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If there was a list of what parts of Lupin to skip (not counting Fujiko), I'd put Mamo at the top of the list, just over Babylon Gold, Walther P-38, and maybe Plot of the Fuma Clan. Walther's dark, Gold is cheap, and Fuma is at least fun for being a "fake", but Mamo is just visually ugly and.....weird. 
Mamo was the first attempt to work Punch's Lupin for a feature movie, pre-Cagliostro, and you can see that they can only be liked for very different reasons. |
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relyat08
 Posts: 4125 Location: Northern Virginia |
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Personally, The Woman Called Fujiko Mine was right up my alley. Those Koike character designs and the overall art-style in that show was amazing. The currently running series is absolutely stellar too. Just don't forget that this is Lupin III and that it doesn't necessarily have to make sense. My personal favorite episode from the currently airing Part IV is probably episode 11. When Shinya Ohira animates something, it just makes my whole day better. Otherwise, the entirety of this series is just absolutely gorgeous. I can't even get over how good it looks sometimes. I really really hope this gets a good Blu-ray release. Watching it on Crunchyroll is great, but I've gotta own this.
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Gasero
 Posts: 939 Location: USA |
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The production value in the 2015 Lupin series has been great and I appreciate that it seems different enough from the old series to be its own thing. I'm definitely hoping there is a satisfying conclusion, but I also want there to be room for more production.
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Lord Dcast
 Posts: 644 Location: 'Straiya |
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Still waiting for a new TV Special; one that's not just recap footage like the one earlier.
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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Yeah, I've done the Lupin guide thing before. I'm no Reed Nelson on the subject, but I consider the Lupin III franchise as one of the three key "pillars" of my anime fandom, along with Dragon Ball and Gundam. My key piece of advice is, whether it's a TV series episode or a TV special, if you're finding yourself disliking it halfway through, move onto the next. There's too much good Lupin to be bogged down with the lesser quality stuff (of which there is also a great amount, since it's been around for so long, and the quality has dipped at times, as with any long-running franchise). My favorites of the TV shows are Part II (red jacket), the Fujiko TV series (green jacket, with manga sketch quality), and the new one (blue jacket).
Part I does have its good episodes, though, some of which you mentioned. I really love that episode 9 (An Assassin Sings The Blues) the most, though. It has a little insight into Fujiko's past and Lupin's interminable passion for her. Episode 19 is great, too, especially that ending bit with all the Lupins, Zenigatas, and Garimards. But you forgot to mention the final episode of the series, which I also loved, with the gold heist that comes back to bite Lupin and the gang in the ass because of a miscalculation. The original series is odd because some of the best episodes in terms of storytelling were Miyazaki's episodes, even though he softened some aspects of the characters, as with CoC, whereas the early episodes had a more Lupin-ish tone, but the storytelling was all over the place (probably because many were based on Monkey Punch's early, sketchier-written manga chapters). The second TV series is a favorite of mine partially because of the nostalgia of getting into the franchise via Adult Swim's airing of it, and partially because I enjoy all the different capers. The green jacket fell flat in terms of big capers and ideas for them, but the red jacket was mostly all about the game, seeing who can fool who, who would come out on top in nabbing the week's treasure. The bomb-belt episode was a good episode for other reasons, though, like the English dub having that terrible Christopher Walken impersonation. One of the episodes you didn't mention, I'm surprised about, though, is the episode where Jigen and a woman are trying to get across the East/West German border (it was during the Cold War, after all). It's a serious episode with few gags, but a hardboiled nature and shed a little light on Jigen's mindset. But of course the Miyazaki episodes were big standouts, too, and I was surprised that Albatross, Wings of Death had Miyazaki's more humble, toned down Lupin in some ways, but also incorporated some very naughty things (Fujiko not having any underwear on for a portion of the episode). Best of all worlds. Oooh, and the episode with all the penguins! Obvious reason to love that one. Part III seemed like the test bed for what would later become some of the TV specials, as you can tell a lot of the stuff they wrote for it ended up in those early Dezaki specials, especially Hemingway Papers. Honestly, I haven't much use for the third series. I dislike the art style, pastel colors, and lackluster episodes. The Fujiko TV series episode is much, much more my kind of Lupin show, which while low on the straight forward caper stories and certainly not much like Red Jacket, is a lot like the manga in its sometimes cruel, unforgiving tone (though lacking Monkey Punch's wackier turns). There's a psychological element to it, but without overplaying its hand and turning it into something pretentious or wasting the Lupin elements (like Green vs Red did). If you ask me, every episode is worth watching (except maybe the episode with the Castro/Che expy... cringe). I wish we would have found out what happened to Oscar. Maybe they'll do a sequel to the movie Jigen's Gravestone that will address that. I've been reviewing the Part IV series on my blog with great pleasure, though there are a few weaker episodes. I think the real new shining star of the franchise is Nix, the MI6 agent with the echo-location abilities, and it's surprising you didn't list episodes with him in it, instead of weak, meandering fare like Episode 4 (NRA commercial). Any episode with Nix in it is pure gold, from his first showdown with Lupin in the sewers and that church, to his mix-up with his daughter's kidnapping, to his freak out when Rebecca's butler threatened his family, to... well, pretty much anything with Nix is awesome, and the Blue Jacket in general is a great series I look foward to owning on DVD and/or Blu-Ray. Especially since some of the cast of the Phuuz Part II dub is returning, like Tony Oliver, Richard Epcar, and Michelle Ruff. Looking forward to scrutinizing the next part. |
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AJ (LordNikon)
 Posts: 504 Location: Kyoto |
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Sigh... if only I had enough time to post all my favorite episodes. Oh wait, I'm in DC this month and trapped inside my kid's place for the next three days due to a blizzard.
Time to compile my list, or better yet make him and hsi anime club buddies sit through a Lupin marathon. |
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EricJ2
Posts: 4016 |
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Now that Crunchyroll has Pts. I & II subtitled complete, and is working on III, it's best to take the attitude that most core Cagliostro-raised fans have: "The Pioneer/Adult Swim dub never happened.  "
(We accepted mainstream exposure for what it was, back then, because we were grateful, but circumstances are different today in the age of the Internet.) |
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BadNewsBlues
Posts: 5920 |
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It's kind of coincidence that after signing up for a Crunchyroll account a couple of weeks back to watch Lupin this feature drops.
I will add that the green jacket episodes Lupin is Burning. A Wolf Calls A Wolf. When The Seventh Bridge Falls. Rainy Afternoons Are Bad. Are some good other episodes on top on the ones already mentioned. Whereas Part 2 Has Lupin Laughs While the Alarm Bell Rings. Lupin Becomes a Bride. The Border is the Face of Farewell.
Same I'm watching through the series for like the 3rd time alongside the Red Jacket series and I prefer the former due to it's better animation,less goofy tone, and somewhat better plots. Though the second series has a somewhat better soundtrack and a Goemon that doesn't scowl a lot of the time. 
If we single out other media properties for ass-pulls, plotholes. and questionable writing in general we should be able to single out Lupin for these as well and there's a lot of that. |
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penguintruth
Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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The scripts took too many liberties, but the main cast was topnotch. |
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Ggultra2764
 Subscriber Posts: 3876 Location: New York state. |
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I've been watching quite a bit of the franchise the past several years. Here's what I've plowed through thus far from Lupin:
TV Shows Lupin III Part 1 Lupin III Part 2 (first 85 episodes) Lupin III: Woman Called Fujiko Mine Lupin III: Part 4 (currently watching) Movies, OVAs and TV Specials Lupin III vs Detective Conan (TV special and movie) $1 Money Wars Fujiko's Unlucky Days Alcatraz Connection Legend of the Gold of Babylon Alcatraz Connection Bye Bye Liberty Castle of Cagliostro Dead or Alive Episode 0: First Contact The Fuma Conspiracy Green vs Red Secret of Harimao's Treasure The Hemingway Papers Tokyo Crisis Farewell to Nostradamus Secret of Mamo Burn Zantetsuken! Napoleon's Dictionary From Russia with Love Angel Tactics The Last Job Secret of Twilight Gemini Walther P-38 I don't know enough about specific episodes to recommend. But among the movies, I would suggest First Contact, Green vs Red and Walther P-38 since they do quite a bit with their plots to be out of the ordinary for typical Lupin III plots. |
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CoreSignal
 Posts: 727 Location: California, USA |
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Great write-up. Lupin is one of those long-running franchises that I've been meaning to get into but have no idea where to start so this is really useful.
The only Lupin show I've seen so far is Woman called Fujiko Mine and I thought it was great. Like everyone else, I loved the art style, and the darker, smokier atmosphere. That said, I'm probably gonna try Lupin III part 4 first before I jump into the older stuff. |
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medama_oyaji
 Posts: 99 |
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So if Part II has different episode numbers in the US than what is listed in this article, can anyone point me to where I can see a list of how the numbers correlate so I can find them on Crunchyroll? Thanks!
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BadNewsBlues
Posts: 5920 |
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I think this only applies to the DVD releases. Crunchyroll follows the same episode numbers as the Japanese release. |
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medama_oyaji
Posts: 99 |
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Ah, ok! Thank you!
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