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Jigen Daisuke (2023)

Great movie overall, has some pacing and vfx issues.

This film ended up being way better than I had expected. As the title implies, this movie is entirely focused on Jigen. None of the other main characters from the Lupin III franchise make an appearance here, and considering the subject matter, that was probably for the better.

The gist is that Jigen's magnum breaks, so he seeks out a gunsmith named Yaguchi to fix it, and in doing so he winds up standing in the way of a huge criminal empire run by a literal mass child murderer. Jigen becomes a sort of father figure to a young girl named Oto, who is targeted by the aforementioned criminal organization. Thats about all I can summarize without going into spoilers.

This movie is seriously dark; possibly the darkest Lupin movie ever produced. Despite that, for every scene of shocking brutality, theres an equal amount of levity and heart.

Jigen, Oto, and Yaguchi have an interesting found-family dynamic that hasn't really been explored well in other Lupin media. Oto is mute as a result of trauma, so Jigen has to figure out how to communicate with her, and ends up growing closer to Oto in a parental way. We also get to see Jigen lose his composure in a very serious setting. Normally, Jigen losing his cool would be played for comedy, but here its dead serious, and its conveyed to the audience brilliantly.

There are some problems though. I think the movie could probably be cut down by 20 minutes without losing much. Some scenes drag on way too long. The VFX is also somewhat wonky; theres some bad face warping effects and noticeably out of place glass simulations, but otherwise it wasn't too bad looking.

The fight choreography is great, and theres some really creative action sequences that feel reminiscent of other Lupin III media.

I'm not sure what else to say about this film. Its not the best movie in the franchise, but it is probably the darkest and one of the emotional ones though. If you're a Lupin fan, you'll most likely appreciate this movie. Even if you aren't familiar with the series, this is a standalone entry that doesn't rely on any other shows, movies, or specials?