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Voice Actor Kiyoshi Kobayashi Retires as Lupin III's Jigen After 52 Years

The official website for the Lupin the 3rd Part 6 television anime series confirmed on Tuesday that long-time veteran voice actor Kiyoshi Kobayashi is retiring from the Daisuke Jigen role. The anime's "Episode 0," titled "Jidai" (Historical Period) features his last appearance as the character. The episode will serve as the anime's first episode on October 6.

Akio Ohtsuka will replace Kobayashi in all the other episodes of the anime.h7wjkweu4e76

The site also unveiled a new trailer for the anime on Tuesday.

Kobayashi is the only remaining original first-generation cast member in the Lupin III franchise, and had been voicing Jigen since 1969.

Kobayashi has also voiced the titular Bem in the Yōkai Ningen Bem series, and the calculating statesman Adrian Rubinsky in the 1988 The Legend of the Galactic Heroes OVA series. Some of his other roles include Crystal Bowie in Space Adventure Cobra, Aguille Delaz and the Narrator in Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, Avdol in the 1993 JoJo's Bizarre Adventure OVA, and Watari in Death Note.

Lupin the 3rd Part 6 will premiere on NTV on October 9. Sentai Filmworks licensed the new series for home video and streaming in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavian countries, and all Nordic Countries. The new season will commemorate the original anime's 50th anniversary.

The new series will center around two keywords, with "mystery" being the keyword of the "first cours" (quarter of a year). The thief Lupin is after a treasure hidden by The Raven, a mysterious organization that manipulates the British government in the shadows. However, the detective Sherlock Holmes appears before Lupin. Sentai Filmworks describes the story of the new anime:

Gentleman thief Lupin III is back and ready for his next caper— unless legendary sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, has anything to say about it! When Holmes' longtime partner, Dr. Watson, is murdered, none other than Lupin tops the suspects list. With Holmes fast closing in, Lupin must prove his innocence and bring a shadowy organization called The Raven to heel if he wants to live to steal another day.

The guest writers include director Mamoru Oshii (Ghost in the Shell, Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer, Vladlove), veteran scriptwriter Masaki Tsuji (Astro Boy, Kyojin no Hoshi, Umi no Triton), popular mystery novelist Taku Ashibe (Murder in the Red Chamber), adventure and science-fiction novelist Akio Higuchi (Zone), and mystery and suspense novelist Kanae Minato (Confession).

Eiji Suganama (Lupin III: Prison of the Past) is directing the series at TMS Entertainment. Takahiro Ōkura (Lupin the Third: Part 5) is in charge of the series scripts. Hirotaka Marufuji (Lupin III: Goodbye Partner) is designing the characters. Yuji Ohno (Lupin III) is composing the music. The late Monkey Punch is credited for the original work. Yumi Matsumiya, Kōichirō Bizen, Hiromasa Ogura, Wataru Nishizawa, Beom Seon Lee, and Yūsuke Takeda are directing the art, and Hiromi Miyawaki is the color key artist. Akemi Sasaki is the compositing director of photography, and Masato Yoshitake is editing. Youji Shimizu is directing the sound, and Hiromune Kurahashi is handling the sound effects.

Lupin the Third: Part 5 is the most recent television anime in the franchise. The anime premiered on NTV's AnichU programming block in Japan in April 2018. Crunchyroll streamed the series in Japanese with English subtitles as it aired in Japan. TMS Entertainment USA offered the series' first 12 episodes for digital purchase in the U.S. on iTunes, Google Play, and Amazon Digital in November 2018. Adult Swim's Toonami block began airing the anime in June 2019.

Image from Haikyo

Sources: Lupin the 3rd Part 6 anime's website, Animate Times, The Mainichi Shimbun's Mantan Web