Lupin the Third: Part II

The first episode of the series re-unites Japan's favorite comic felon with his gang: crack shot Jigen, steely samurai Goemon and devious ex- girlfriend Fujiko on a cruise that turns out to have a surprise party scheduled just for them! The action moves on through a dizzying blur of international hot spots as the gang attempt one wildly improbable heist after another, usually with unexpected results. Past enemies from the earlier TV show make return appearances, and the Loch Ness Monster has a guest spot. The series creators stick closely to manga artist Monkey Punch's distinctive Sergio Aragones-influenced cartoon style, which is both a plus and a minus; everything has a uniform kookiness that can sometimes be distracting, especially when the setting requires a posh look.

In addition to the elaborate heists which characterize the series, occasional episodes go seriously weird and mystical, with lots of mind- bendingly surreal elements: telepaths, beams that induce suicide, a nun who deals in mass hypnosis (!) to name a few. Series villains often sport the towering arrogance and ambitions of James Bond supervillains.

This series really hit its stride in the second season with a run of truly fine episodes. Great heist action, elaborate chases, exotic locations and outrageousness are all featured here as Lupin's gang tries to recover Peking Man's Bones, steal a golden lion from the Australian government, rob a casino and finally steal the crown jewels of England. This final episode is the best of the disc as Lupin disrupts a royal wedding to get a crack at her majesty's crown!

Fast moving, with good looking action animation and well written (if often wildly implausible) heist schemes, untimely double-crosses and good background art depicting the globe scattered locations, there is lot here to enjoy.

I'm not a huge fan of anime, but for some reason, I love Lupin. Ever since it premiered on Adult Swim back in January, I've gotten a huge liking for it. Plus, it's so darn entertaining!!!

The cool thing about this show is how Lupin, and company in each episode always encounter a bad guy who may have something involved with what they're after. Of course to add more trouble is the restless Interpol inspector Zenigata whose been after Lupin for 7 years. In between these factors is off the wall antics, sexual themes, and lots, and LOTS of cleavage(courtesy of Fujiko).

Overall I like the show. It's pretty appealing, and it won me over from day one. If you've never seen this show, I suggest you check it out. You may like it.

P.S. Fujiko is HOT for a cartoon!

Most people in the US get acquainted with the Lupin III series via Hayao Miyazaki's debut film, The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) or this 1977 TV series which briefly aired on Adult Swim a few years ago. While it never made a hit on Adult Swim, this series was a smash in the late 1970s, the result of the franchise's renewed popularity which came from reruns of the 1971 Lupin anime.

Personally, I prefer the 1971 Lupin anime to this later incarnation. Despite the super limited animation and uneven tone over the 23 episodes, it broke more ground, feels more adult, and is less repetitive. However, that does not mean the second Lupin TV series is not worth your time. It's a fun, goofy romp of a show, one that can prove addictive if you're craving insane humor and quasi-surreal action. Yuji Ohno's soundtrack is superb, the essence of 1970s cool.

Also, the Geneon English dub isn't half bad. All the voice actors do their characters justice and seem to be having fun. This is a good series, one that deserves more than the lukewarm reception it received in the States.

With the main problem being the lackluster, progressive cartoonification of the traits of the characters from the first part, being that of Rupan Sansei progressively becoming less and less a gentleman's thief and more a stupid's thief who throws away a fortune for a billionaire groupie, Fujiko Mine (who, incredibly enough, is the only one showing proper thievery, crime skills, guts and intelligence amongst all the Rupan Sansei group) progressively and forcibly presented as ONLY interested in monetary gain and nothing else and when she doesn't show that is reprimanded because of 70's sexism, Jigen is slowly reduced to a caricature spouting misoginyst lines who the facto does not act as a misogyn because reasens and Goemon is out there doing stuff. And unfortunately, by season three, the writing which in season one and two was pretty good turned from acceptable to bad to godawful with a whole slew of badly written, nonsensical episodes where things happened with no resonance whatsoever, with the only saving point of again showing the intelligence of the real leader of the Rupan Sansei gang (you guessed it, her name being Fujiko Mine) and nothing else. I was onboard with the idea of throwing the characters in more out-of-this world, wacky situations a là Silver Age but not at the expense of bad writing and ridiculization of their main characteristics. My rating for this series is 8 for the first two seasons and 5 for the third one, which I dropped by episode 89, hence a generous 7. I won't bother with the fourth season.

I love this series. It's a very fun series. Lupin the 3rd is the worlds greatest thief. He and his friends go around the world stealing priceless jewelry, artifacts aand etc.

This series is also a hilarious series, the things the team gets into is great. We also have a cop named Zenigata obsessed with catching Lupin the 3rd.

The chemistry between Lupin and Zenigata is great. The chemistry between all the characters is just amazing.

Over just a fun, hilarious series that is worth a watch. It is such an underrated series that deserves more love.