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Lupin III Gets Japanese DVD Release in Magazine Installments
posted on by Karen Ressler
Japanese publisher Kodansha announced on Monday that it will release all 178 episodes the Lupin the 3rd and Lupin III: Part II anime on DVDs bundled with a new magazine. The fist issue of the magazine, Lupin III DVD Collection, will ship in Japan on January 27, 2015 for 760 yen (about US$6).
Subsequent issues will ship every other Tuesday for 1,520 yen (about US$13) for a total of 45 issues. Each issue will bundle a DVD with four episodes, though issues six and 45 will only have three episodes. The first and second DVDs will also include an interview with creator Monkey Punch as bonus footage.
In addition to the DVDs, the magazine will include episode commentary and other features about the Lupin the 3rd series. The first issue will include a column on the Lupin family, while the second issue will include a "sexy" feature on Fujiko Mine.
The first season premiered in Japan in 1971 and ran for 23 episodes. The second season ran for 155 episodes from 1977 to 1980, and several episodes aired on Adult Swim in the United States in 2003. Discotek released the entire first season on DVD in North America and Geneon released part of the second season.
A new Lupin III anime series will premiere in Italy next spring. The series will be the first full-fledged Lupin III television anime series to star the legendary thief character since 1984-85's Lupin III: Part III ended three decades ago. Sayo Yamamoto and TMS Entertainment made the Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine television anime spinoff in 2012. The franchise's first live-action film adaptation in four decades opened in August.
Image © Monkey Punch, TMS, Kodansha
