|
|
|
|
Lupin III
|
| |
|
| |
(also known as Lupin the 3rd) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuhiko Kato under the pen name of "Monkey Punch". The story follows the adventures of a gang of thieves led by Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief of Maurice Leblanc's series of novels. Lupin and his gang travel throughout the world to steal treasures and escape from the law.
The first Lupin III manga, which first appeared in Weekly Manga Action beginning on 10 August 1967, spawned a media franchise that includes numerous manga, various animated television series, feature films, direct-to-video releases, television specials, music CDs, video games, and a musical.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Lupin III' Start a new discussion about 'Lupin III' Answer questions from other users |
Encyclopedia
(also known as Lupin the 3rd) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuhiko Kato under the pen name of "Monkey Punch". The story follows the adventures of a gang of thieves led by Arsène Lupin III, the grandson of Arsène Lupin, the gentleman thief of Maurice Leblanc's series of novels. Lupin and his gang travel throughout the world to steal treasures and escape from the law.
The first Lupin III manga, which first appeared in Weekly Manga Action beginning on 10 August 1967, spawned a media franchise that includes numerous manga, various animated television series, feature films, direct-to-video releases, television specials, music CDs, video games, and a musical. In addition, WhiteLight Entertainment, a production company owned by Gerald R. Molen, purchased the live action theatrical rights to Lupin III in 2003 and the Hollywood production is tentatively scheduled to be released in 2009.
Several different companies own the North American distribution rights to many Lupin III properties, including Geneon, which provided the television broadcast rights for 26 episodes of the second television series to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim during 2003.
Overall plot
Each project within the Lupin III universe has its own plot. The overall plot of the franchise centers on the international thief Arsène Lupin III. He is joined by Daisuke Jigen, Lupin's closest ally; Fujiko Mine, the femme fatale and Lupin's occasional love interest who works against Lupin more often than with him; and Goemon Ishikawa XIII, a master swordsman and the descendant of Ishikawa Goemon, the legendary Japanese bandit. Lupin is often chased by Inspector Koichi Zenigata of the ICPO, the descendant of Zenigata Heiji. A rather cynical detective, Zenigata has made it his life's mission to chase Lupin across the globe in hopes of arresting him with his continual failure to do so overlooked with the string of high profile arrests of dangerous criminals along the way who are left behind after Lupin and his gang have defeated them.
Cast of characters
is the grandson of Arsène Lupin. He is the world's most wanted thief. Often in his adventures, he takes it upon himself and his gang to foil other criminals engaged in more serious crimes. He sometimes appears incompetent, but mostly as a charade to catch his opponents off guard. While he has been arrested and thrown in jail on a number of occasions, he has always managed to break out. He also has a fondness for fancy gadgets from time to time, such as in Castle of Cagliostro where his belt features many small gadgets. His infatuation with women, and Fujiko Mine in particular, is perhaps his biggest weakness, as it often lands him in undesirable situations.
is Lupin's marksman. He can perform a 0.3-second quick-draw and shoots with amazing accuracy. He prefers to conceal his eyes using his hat, as it gives him a more enigmatic appearance. He is often seen having a used cigarette clenched in between his teeth. His hat is also an important element to his dead shot accuracy because he uses it for aiming and target acquisition. He is also proficient in the use of many different firearms, such as machine guns, sniper rifles, and even a PTRS anti-tank rifle. In the opening of the Playstation 2 video game, Treasure of the Sorcerer King, Jigen assembles his pistol from composite parts and fires a shot through a door with 100% accuracy before an enemy can finish turning the doorknob.
is the thirteenth generation of renegade samurai, beginning with the legendary figure . He has a sword called , meaning "iron-cutting sword", which can cut through almost anything. In one episode during the TV series Goemon admitted that his sword cannot cut konnyaku, which is a starch-based jelly made from roots, because the blade just gets stuck in it. The Zantetsuken is usually used to cut inanimate objects, which Goemon considers unworthy of his blade and often mutters his catchphrase "once again, I have cut a worthless object" after doing so. Objects cut by Zantetsuken will fall apart a couple of seconds after he sweeps through them with his blade. He is usually quiet and participates in Lupin's exploits less frequently than Jigen.
is Lupin's love (or rather lust) interest. She is sometimes an associate in his schemes, sometimes a rival, knowing full well that his infatuation with her will mean that he will forgive her for double-crossing him at times. Fujiko is an extremely intelligent and crafty person and will use her feminine charms to get what she wants from any man. She is also an expert when it comes to firearms and even rivals Lupin when it comes to her burglary and disguise skills. She will also routinely make deals with Zenigata or Lupin's current enemy in an attempt to gain her freedom or to hopefully gain a piece of the loot he is after. While Lupin often knows Fujiko is only using him, she usually makes off with most or all of his loot.
, full name is a police inspector working for the ICPO. He has made it his mission in life to arrest Lupin. Zenigata is based on a famous Japanese crime fighting character named Zenigata Heiji, best known for throwing coins as a weapon. Lupin and Zenigata appear to be the worst of enemies, but they are, in a manner of speaking, friends; in the television special Orders to Assassinate Lupin, Zenigata even teams up with Lupin after the chief of the ICPO takes him off the Lupin case. While usually portrayed as competent but slow at deductions in most of the anime, Zenigata's character in the manga is a very clever and crafty adversary to Lupin.
Manga series
The original manga series was published by Futabasha in Weekly Manga Action from August 1967 to April 1972.
Monkey Punch's main character was the grandson of Arsène Lupin, but Lupin III was far from being a gentleman like his grandfather. In this first manga series, Lupin is a lecherous sex maniac with an extreme lust for women that can never be satisfied; yet, he somehow remains a likeable character. According to Monkey Punch, the Lupin III manga was influenced by MAD Magazine.
Monkey Punch began publishing the second Lupin manga, Shin Lupin III, also known as Lupin III - World's Most Wanted, on 23 June 1977. The second series ran for 180 chapters.
A third manga series, Lupin III S, began in January 1997. Monkey Punch, however, was not involved in this project. The story was written by Satozumi Takaguchi and the art was done by Shusay. Monkey Punch returned to write the story for the fourth manga series, Lupin III Y, but the art was done by Manatsuki Yamakami.
The fourth manga series ran from 1998 until 2004. The current manga series is Lupin III M, with story by Monkey Punch and art by Miyama Yukio. The manga is serialized in the Lupin III Official Magazine, a quarterly magazine published by Futabasha, which also contains Lupin news, information on Lupin products and merchandise, and fan art.
Adaptations
Pilot film
Following the manga series, TMS and Toho produced a Lupin III pilot film featuring Lupin in his red jacket outfit. Masaaki Osumi was brought in to direct, and two different versions, a CinemaScope version planned for theaters and 4:3 television version, were made. The animation was mainly the same for the two versions, but the voice cast varied. Kiyoshi Kobayashi and Eiko Masuyama, voicing Daisuke Jigen and Fujiko Mine respectively, were the only cast members to not only voice their characters in both versions of the pilot, but also in every other incarnation of Lupin III, with the exception of Fuma Conspiracy (see below). By the time the pilot was completed in 1969, budget concerns and other problems between Toho and TMS caused the film to never reach theaters. Masaaki Osumi then moved on to direct several episodes of the first Lupin III television series (see below).
The two versions of the pilot films were later released in 1989 as a part of the Lupin III Secret Files OVA, which also contained trailers for Mystery of Mamo, Castle of Cagliostro, and Legend of the Gold of Babylon.
Television series
On 24 October 1971, YTV began airing the first Lupin III television series. The series, which featured Lupin in his green jacket outfit, lasted for 23 episodes with the last one airing on 26 March 1972. The first seven episodes of the series, along with episodes nine and twelve, were directed by Masaaki Osumi, with the remaining episodes being directed jointly by Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata The director of Cowboy Bebop, Shinichiro Watanabe, revealed during an interview with Newtype Japan that he was heavily influenced by the work of director Masaaki Osumi on the first television series.
The second Lupin III television series began airing on NTV on 3 October 1977. In this series, Lupin began wearing a red jacket instead of the green one he wore during the first television series. The series lasted for 155 episodes, with the last one airing on 24 October 1980. Episodes 145 and 155 were directed by Hayao Miyazaki under the pseudonym of Teruki Tsutomu, and they marked his final involvement in making television animation before exclusively working on feature films.
Episode 99 of the second television series, titled Koya ni Chitta Combat Magnum (The Combat Magnum Scattered in the Wasteland), which aired on 3 September 1979, was the first episode of any anime series to be broadcast in stereo. After that episode, several other episodes of the second Lupin III television series were broadcast in stereo.
The third television series began airing on NTV on 3 March 1984. In this series, Lupin wore a pink jacket instead of the red one he wore in the previous series. The series lasted for 50 episodes and ended on 28 September 1985. The only other time that Lupin wore a pink jacket again was in the feature film The Legend of the Gold of Babylon, which was released in theaters while the third television series was still in broadcast.
In France the series was renamed Edgar le détective cambrioleur ("Edgar the Burglar Detective") due to problems with the estate of Maurice Leblanc, creator of the original Arsène Lupin.
There was also a "Lupin in Space"-type series to be produced called Lupin VIII, featuring the descendants of Lupin, Goemon, Jigen and Zenigata in space. The project was a French-Japanese co-production. The production folded when LeBlanc's estate wanted more money for the use of the Lupin name than the budget allowed. Two scripts were written, and one episode, entitled "The Man From the Past", was fully animated and had a music and sound effects track, but the voice-overs were never recorded.
1974 live action theatrical feature
Because the pilot film never made it to theaters, the first Lupin III theatrical feature was a live action movie produced in 1974 during the hiatus between the first and second television series. The motion picture included all of the main cast members with the exception of Goemon Ishikawa XIII. Lupin wore neither his red nor his green jacket outfit in the movie, but rather a white jacket with an ascot.
As opposed to the dark theme of the first television series, the live action feature was very heavy on slapstick and physics-defying stunts, but it was a more faithful adaptation of the original Lupin III manga than the television program.
Animated theatrical features
The first animated theatrical feature starring the character of Lupin III, released on 16 December 1978, was simply titled Lupin III, although it was subsequently released as Lupin vs. The Clone, Mystery of Mamo, and, most recently, Secret of Mamo. As of today, The Secret of Mamo has received the most English dubs of any anime title, with a total of four different dubs.
Following Lupin vs the Clone, Toho brought in Hayao Miyazaki to direct The Castle of Cagliostro. The movie, which received its title from the Maurice Leblanc novel La Comtesse de Cagliostro (The Countess of Cagliostro), was released one day short of the one year anniversary of Lupin vs the Clone, on 15 December 1979. While initially, the film was not a box office success, and was considered atypical, with Lupin too noble and not egoistical enough, it gained popularity through numerous re-releases and was even voted as "the best anime in history" by the readers of Animage magazine prior to the release of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind in 1984.
Following Cagliostro, three more Lupin III theatrical features were released. Legend of the Gold of Babylon was released in theaters on 13 July 1985. Ten years after Babylon, To Hell with Nostradamus was released into Japanese cinemas on 22 April 1995.
The creator of Lupin III, Kazuhiko Kato, was asked to direct the last theatrical to be released, Dead or Alive for a lack of another director. Although he was credited as chief director for the production, Monkey Punch said that he left most of the work for his assistant directors and only directed the opening and ending sequences while acting as consultant for everything else. Dead or Alive was released into Japanese theaters on 20 April 1996. Following the production of the movie, Monkey Punch stated that the process was exhausting he would not like to direct another anime again.
Television specials
On 4 April 1989, the television special Bye Bye Liberty Crisis, aired on NTV. Every summer since then featured a new 90 minute Lupin III television special that would air on NTV at 9:03 on Friday evening, usually in the last week of July or the first week of August (Bye-Bye Liberty Crisis and Seven Days Rhapsody diverted from that trend, however).
The latest television special is Rupan Sansei: Kiri no Elusive (????? ????????). Produced by TMS with animation by Telecom (the animation studio responsible for Farewell to Nostradamus and Castle of Cagliostro), the special features the return of one of the villains of the original television series, Kyousuke Mamo. The special is a part of the 40th anniversary celebration of the original manga.
Currently, a crossover special titled "Rupan Sansei vs Meitantei Conan" (????? vs ??????|Lupin III vs Detective Conan) is in development. The special features both Lupin and Conan Edogawa from the series Case Closed together in a 'legendary match'. NTV has recently released the official webpage of the said crossover special.
Original animation videos (OVAs)
The Plot of the Fuma Clan is the first Lupin III original video animation, released in Japan 1987. The 74 minutes feature is unique amongst other Lupin productions because it's the only one to feature an entire voice cast replacement. Because of budget problems, TMS decided not to employ the regular voice cast for the production. Instead, the studio hired a different cast to save money.
Yasuo Yamada, the voice actor for Lupin, had always taken pride in his role as the title character. After the voice cast replacement, due to a misunderstanding, he thought that Monkey Punch had lobbied the producers for a new voice actor. Following the production, Monkey Punch did try to reassure Yamada that he had nothing to do with the producers decision to use a new cast, and the regulars were reinstated with the first television special, Bye Bye Liberty. Despite that, relations between Yamada and Monkey Punch were permanently strained by the affair.
A second OVA was released on 3 April 2002 under the title Rupan Sansei: ikiteita majutsushi (Return of the Magician). The OVA was created as a part of the 30-year anniversary of the first television series, and thus it featured the return of one of the original villains of the series, the magician Pycal (hence the title).
A third OVA, , was released on 2 April 2008 as part of the 40th anniversary of Lupin.
Musical
On 5 November 1998, a musical adaptation of Monkey Punch's character opened for a short engagement. The musical, titled Lupin III - I'm Lupin, centered on a guy who might or might not be the real Lupin III. The cast of the musical included all five principal characters with the addition of a villain original to the production. Production ended on 8 November 1998.
Video games
Over the years, many Lupin III-related video games were released in Japan and abroad. The first video game featuring the character of Lupin III to make it to the United States was a Laserdisc video game, only ever seen in coin-operated arcades, titled Cliff Hanger. Released in 1983 by a company known as Stern, the video game featured clips from the first two Lupin III animated theatrical features, Lupin vs the Clone and The Castle of Cagliostro.
Aside from Cliff Hanger, the only Lupin III game to be released in the United States is Lupin III: Treasure of the Sorcerer King (released in Japan as Rupan Sansei Majutsu-Ou no Isan (????? ??????)), developed in Japan by Banpresto for the Playstation 2. The stealth-action game, similar to Metal Gear Solid, was originally released in Japan on 28 November 2002. Bandai released the game in the United States in February 2004. The game received lukewarm reviews. It was praised for its voice acting, soundtrack and level of faithfulness to the source material, but criticized for its poor graphics and weak enemy AI.
Several other Lupin III video games have been developed and released in Japan across multiple platforms. The most recent Lupin III videogame is Rupan Sansei: Rupan niwa shi o, Zenigata niwa koi o (????? ??????????????), an action-stealth game developed by Banpresto for the Playstation 2 and released in Japan on 22 February 2007.
Music
The music for the first television series was composed by Takeo Yamashita, with many songs performed by Charlie Kosei. From the second television series onwards, all Lupin III television series, theatrical features, television specials and OVAs, as well as the Playstation 2 games that were developed by Banpresto, have had music composed and performed by Yuji Ohno. VAP has released numerous Lupin III CDs in Japan, including soundtracks of television specials and original Jazz arrangements of themes from the franchise.
Geneon Entertainment released two music CDs in the United States. Lupin the 3rd: Sideburn Club Mix is a collection of thirteen remixed themes from the television series released alongside the first DVD volume on 28 January 2003. Lupin the 3rd Original Soundtrack is a collection of fifteen themes from the second television series performed by Yuji Ohno with his Jazz group You & the Explosion Band. The soundtrack was released on 8 April 2003.
English language licensing and release information
Streamline Pictures was the first company to adapt Lupin III for English language release in the United States. The first film they adapted was The Castle of Cagliostro, which was released on VHS on 1 September 1992. Streamline went on to release Lupin vs the Clone (as The Mystery of Mamo), as well as episodes 145 and 155 of the second television series. Because Monkey Punch did not seek permission to use the Lupin name from the estate of Maurice Leblanc, when Lupin material was licensed for overseas usage, the name had to be changed. Streamline Pictures resorted to referring to Lupin as "Wolf" in their releases, which is the English translation of the French word "Lupin".
Manga Entertainment Australia released The Castle of Cagliostro on VHS in 1995, and DVD in 2001. The Manga Entertainment Australia DVD was a Manga UK DVD master, and contained the Animaze and Streamline/Manga dubs with the video from the Manga tape. Manga Entertainment Australia lost the license to the movie when Manga Australia merged with Madman Entertainment, Manga's distributor since 1998 prior to Manga Entertainment's sale to IDT. Manga UK also briefly held the VHS rights to Liberty Crisis. The Castle of Cagliostro is licensed by Madman Entertainment from TMS, featuring a digitally remastered version of the original Japanese movie negatives instead of the VHS. The DVD only contained a Dolby 5.1 remix of the Streamline/Manga dub and a 2.0 Japanese dub.
Manga Entertainment purchased the North American distribution rights to the animated theatrical feature The Castle of Cagliostro after Streamline went out of business. Because the Lupin name passed into the public domain in the early 1990s, Manga did not have the same legal issues with using the name as Streamline did. Manga released the film on DVD in 2000 and later went on to release a special edition of the film on 29 August 2006.
In 2002, FUNimation Entertainment purchased the rights to eight of the television specials, from Orders to Assassinate Lupin to $1 Money Wars, as well as the feature films Farewell to Nostradamus and Dead or Alive. FUNimation has released all of their Lupin III properties on DVD in the United States.
Geneon Entertainment, which was at the time known as Pioneer, began distributing the second television series in the United States in 2003. Geneon hired Phuuz Entertainment Inc. to adapt and translate the series. The first 79 episodes have been released across 15 DVD volumes, and the first 26 episodes aired numerous times on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Geneon also released the animated theatrical feature Lupin vs the Clone on DVD under the title The Secret of Mamo.
Until 2006, Animeigo owned the North American distribution rights to the OVA The Fuma Conspiracy and the animated theatrical feature The Legend of the Gold of Babylon, which they released using the name Rupan III (the Japanese pronunciation of Lupin's name) due to the same legal issues that Streamline had. but the license for those two movies is now owned by , along with the 1974 live action film, Strange Psychokinetic Strategy.
Tokyopop owned the North American distribution rights to two of the manga series. The company had finished releasing the first manga series, but is no longer in the process of translating and releasing the second manga series under the title Lupin III - World's Most Wanted. It's been an open secret for a while that the manga was a low seller, and a rep confirmed that it was not picked up for renewal.
Reception
Reception of the various English adaptations of Lupin III have been relatively positive, although some titles have received mixed reviews. Both of Manga Entertainment's releases of the The Castle of Cagliostro received DVD Talk Collector Series recommendation status, the highest status given by the review website DVDtalk.com. Chris Beveridge of AnimeOnDVD.com gave the film a grade of "A+", although he disliked Manga Entertainment's use of PG-13 level language in the English dub.
Both Chris Beveridge of Anime On DVD and Mike Crandol of Anime News Network disliked the dub of the second television series because the company used many modern references and updated dialogue for a series that was released in the late 1970s, although the series itself received a positive overall review from both web sites. John Wallis of DVD Talk compared the series to Cowboy Bebop, while Rob Lineberger of DVD Verdict wrote "Lupin the Third is James Bond meets Charlie's Angels with Scooby Doo sensibilities."
The Lupin III television specials and theatrical features released by FUNimation have received reviews varying from positive to mixed. The most well received of FUNimation's releases is Island of Assassins, with Chris Beveridge of Anime On DVD describing it as "the best non-TV Lupin experience...since the Castle of Cagliostro", and Todd Douglass Jr. of DVD Talk giving it a rating of four and a half out of five stars. The least well received of FUNimations releases is the company's first Lupin release, Secret of the Twilight Gemini, which received mixed reviews due to its use of excessive nudity and its B-movie-style plot.
Many of the first volumes of the first Lupin III manga released by Tokyopop made it onto ICv2.com's list of top 50 graphic novels, although later volumes of the first series and none of the volumes of the second series made it onto the list.
The Lupin III franchise still remains popular in Japan; the manga placed in 38th place on Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs's list of the top 50 manga series. The Castle of Cagliostro placed in 5th place on the agency's list of best anime, while the original television series placed in 50th place on the same list. The original television series also placed in 38th place on TV Asahi's list of Japan's 100 favorite animated television series.
Footnotes
External links
Official sites:
- (Japanese) requires Macromedia Flash plugin
- (Japanese) requires Macromedia Flash plugin
- (Japanese)
- (Japanese)
- (Tokyopop's official US Lupin site)
- (Funimation's official US Lupin site)
- (Geneon Entertainment's official US Lupin site)
For additional information:
|
| |
|
|
