Episode 01, "The Marriage of Lupin III"
*****SPOILERS*****
Synopsis: It's wedding bells for master thief Lupin III in the Italian republic of San Marino! Tying the knot with a CEO and celebutante Rebecca Rossellini. But despite all the happy tidings, it's obvious that Lupin is up to something. In this case, he has his eyes on San Marino's national treasure, the Royal Crown of Liberty. It proves impossible to keep the crafty Fujiko in the dark about this, though, and she's not the only lady looking to make herself a queen! Can Lupin the Newlywed keep himself from being caught? The brand new Lupin TV show is molto bene!
Comments:
Everything's coming up Lupin lately. A couple of years ago saw a new TV series, The Woman Called Fujiko Mine, and more recently there was the movie Daisuke Jigen's Gravestone, both of which received US releases (the latter still hasn't seen a physical release, but can be seen on Hulu in both Japanese and English, and Discotek will put it out on disc), and both of which were fantastic. No longer was Lupin and his crew confined to dull, lifeless, formuliac bullshit that the TV specials had become. And with this new series, it seems like we're really in the midst of a full-scaled Lupin III revival.
As a huge Lupin III fan, I'm thrilled at the opportunity to watch, and indeed, review, a new Lupin TV show. Especially one like this, which is brimming with such energy and looks the way it does.
While the general production is TMS as always, the animation production is by Telecom Animation, who also animated the Jigen movie, and is being overseen by Kazuhide Tomonaga, who did key animation in Castle of Cagliostro and the character design in The Fuma Conspiracy. It's being written by Yuuya Takahashi, who wrote the Jigen movie and episodes of Tiger & Bunny. And Yuji Ohno makes his comeback in the franchise with the musical score. The show is in some fine hands.
The fine craftsmanship shows, even looking at screencaps will show that. The character designs are each both distinct but similar enough to not be too outlandish, and the character animation is lively. There aren't any obvious off-model shots, and there's a vibrant movement through the environments of the setting. There is CG, and you notice it, but it doesn't come off as a distraction, just an element that helps the viewer move through the environment with the characters at times. I won't say that there's a lot of what they call sakuga per se, but the episodes definitely seems vibrant and natural. I'm not an animation expert, maybe somebody with more experience observing these sort of things will disagree, but this all seems pretty well animated overall.
As for the content, the plot of this episode revolves around Lupin going after a pretty typical treasure (a golden crown) in a pretty atypical way: marriage! San Marino is reminiscent of Cagliostro from Castle of Cagliostro, a small micro-nation, this one being an autonomous region of Italy, and Lupin is driving his Fiat and using a snag line to hold unto a tree branch (and ultimately failing because the branch does), but it doesn't come across as simply ripping off Miyazaki's film the way that, for instance, Princess of the Breeze, did.
Introduced for this series is the character of Rebecca, who looks to be a reoccuring, if not a major character, much like Oscar in The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. Rebecca is a vivacious, spritely, and clever young woman who isn't to be underestimated. But because she's quirky enough and exciting, she doesn't come off as forced and dull as some of the "mysterious one-off TV special woman character", or "Lupin girl". When she matches wits with Lupin, you can buy into her intelligence and resourcefulness without getting the feeling she's a Mary Sue.
The episode had one of those situations with good twists and turns, where you're directed and misdirected a couple of times. Characters have ulterior motivations and such. As usual, liberal use of the "perfect latex disguise" (apparently Lupin characters have utterly flawless masks they can use to completely fool anyone on sight) and the "Fujiko is out for herself" trope, but rather than feeling tired, they're like old friends dropping by for a visit because of how well-written and compelling the tug-of-war for the crown is. It's airy and light-hearted, but doesn't paint Lupin as soft and ineffectual. He's a genius as usual, but sometimes things don't work out, regardless. It's sort of what the general conceit of the franchise is: even the best plans can completely fail. Or, perhaps, there are no perfect plans.
It's weird that this series is premiering in Italy before anywhere else. The show takes place in Italy, sure, and Lupin is apparently very popular there (you'd think France would be the place), but on its premiere night they played four episodes, and not only could the viewers in Italy watch it in their native Italian, but they had the option of pressing a button and watching it in Japanese if they wished. The Japanese cast is still excellent, though Koichi Yamadera's Zenigata is still in The Woman Called Fujiko Mine-mode where Pops was a lot more serious-minded and a bit scummy. Kanichi Kurita is still expressive and charming as Lupin. And Kiyoshi Kobayashi, despite being 82 years old, still has it as Jigen. But what do you expect? Jigen's always been a bit of an old man.
I have some hopes for this series as it proceeds. I hope it remains at this quality in terms of the production values, the plots, and atmosphere. I hope the setting of San Marino doesn't start to grate soon down the line (the Fujiko TV series took place in several countries). I hope that the show remains playful but doesn't shy away from edgier content too much. And I hope it gets licensed for a domestic release.
Based on this episode, at least, it's-a one spicy meat-a-ball.
Overall Score:
4 out of 5
