Lupin III: Pilot Film

I recently watched Lupin the Third: Pilot Film (1969) on a random streaming service. The storyline follows Lupin the III and his gang as they engage in a series of mischievous activities that catch the attention of a local inspector who tirelessly pursues them. Additionally, a vengeful samurai is on their trail. Can Lupin and his gang evade the inspector and outwit the samurai?

This series is co-directed by Osamu Kobayashi (Gadguard) and Masaaki Ôsumi (Mumin). After watching this picture, this series is an absolute must-see. It exudes a 60s Boris and Natasha vibe in many ways, featuring cool characters, engaging dialogue, a fair share of violence, and occasional nudity. It offers everything you'd desire in an entertaining series that I'm excited to continue watching. Lupin the Third: Pilot Film is outstanding and an absolute must-see. I would rate this 9.5/10 and wholeheartedly recommend it.

This was Lupin's first debut in animation. 2 years after being published in a comic by Monkey Punch.

This short film was just the beginning of a long history of one of the most popular series of Japan.

In this Pilot film, it introduces all 5 characters including Lupin, and gives you the basic idea of what the series is like.

Lupin plays Shouji with Zenigata on the phone, but only to discover that one of the pieces is fake with a bomb in it. Which makes Zenigata ferocious and wants to track down Lupin. While Goemon wants to kill Lupin for his own purposes.

It's a short story, the whole point of it was to show the profiles in animation form, and soon be promoted to TV and movie industries.

2 different versions were made of this short. On for TV and one for the movies. Course both have their differences, but same story to follow.

It's older than the 23 episode series, but it was the first tiny step for Lupin to become highly known throughout Japan.

It's only available to view by fan sub or the Secret Files R2 DVD.

The animation, drawn in the style of the manga, is really fun. It's great to see Kazuhiko Kato's wild, chaotic, expressive style, animated.

It's also funny hearing the voices before they were recast.

Chikao Ohtsuka as Zenigata fits the manga's snide and competitive characterisation. It's kind of jarring to hear the voice difference. Honestly, I think I'd have preferred the voice if it was closer to his Tuco Ramírez voice, but I'm just nitpicking, and I guess the voice is fine for what it is and it suits the tone of this short.

But this pilot is the closest thing to an animated version of the manga we'll see. When the series actually started, Goro Naya portrayed a warmer, more sympathetic Zenigata. He shaped the character into what he was today, making him a true successor to Ganimard.

The funny thing here is Naya voices Goemon. In Part 1, their roles were switched around. Ohtsuka is an okay Zenigata, but a better Goemon, even though he didn't stay long.

Kiyoshi Kobayashi has been there from the beginning. He's the Japanese voice of James Coburn. Jigen was based on Britt from 'The Magnificent Seven', who Kobayashi dubbed who himself is based on Kyuzo 'from Seven Samurai'. Kobayashi even voiced a Jigen-like thief in the Japanese dub of 'Samurai Jack', he's that dedicated.

Eiko Masuyama was also there from the beginning. She retired as Fujiko eventually but for a long while she was a mainstay, so it's great to hear her voice as well.

And Lupin's voice? Again, fine for the manga characterisation. Yasuo Yamada, like Naya, shaped his character in the anime and gave the character a vibrant, youthful quality, while the guy in the pilot has a "smooth criminal" voice.

This pilot film is very different to the anime in a lot of ways, but just as fun. That's the charm of this short film. The anime is great in its own right, but the pilot is the manga, animated. There is nothing in the series like it.