Lupin III

Looks pretty good. I hope Nyx of MI6 from Part 4 reappears, given this takes place in the UK.

I love the Lupin III franchise, but there is a lot of crap in it. And the crappy parts range from dull and lifeless to actively painful, and all shades in between. Legend of the Gold of Babylon was interestingly bad, which may or may not fall on the spectrum of crap (it may just be an exception). Farewell to Nostradamus, on the other hand, is the kind of terrible that you can't really say that much about. It's just a very dull, inert movie that feels like Lupin III in automatic mode. There's nothing special about it whatsoever, aside from being a theatrical feature.

So this is my second episode with the new opening. What do you think of it? I wanted to include anime that I'll probably review either this year or next into it. Though I doubt I'll be covering Lupin III Part IV, because it's still too new to meet my requirements, I'll definitely be covering Lupin features.

Island of Assassins is one of my favorite Lupin III features. It's often said to be the best, and I certainly agree it's one of them, but I found a few things to criticize, nevertheless. It seems like I've made a habit of reviewing two Lupin features per year, and I guess I'll keep to that into next year, too, unless I either don't have the space to do more than one, or I find more than two I want to review. There are plenty of others to review, after all, and more are being dubbed as we speak, it seems. But after reviewing a movie I thought was pretty bad earlier this year, I thought I'd do one that's really good now.

So, yeah, Lupin III: The Fuma Conspiracy is a noteworthy feature. A single, long-formed OVA, basically a movie, it follows the Lupin gang's scramble to get to a family's hidden treasure before a group of ninjas do, all while Zenigata pursues them. Not very unlike your average Lupin feature in that regard, but very well constructed in terms of production values, settings, the chase scenes, and some of the action and comedy. I call it a spiritual successor to Castle of Cagliostro, because it shares a few of the same visual and emotional touchstones. Too bad the English dub is substandard, but I'll get into that at the end of the year. Just enjoy a short rundown and some highlights that illustrate why I think so highly of this title.

Episode 20, "Viva Lupin III"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis:  Shake Hands is in turmoil as governments of the world clamp down on PeopleLog to prevent leaks of classified information. This is the perfect time for Lupin, with allies past and present, to strike at their HQ once again. The plan is complicated by the US military doing some striking of their own, so our favorite felon has to be fleet to uncage Fujiko before everything collapses. Albert, meanwhile, has his own designs on PeopleLog's resources, and Fujiko demands the answer to her important question. A mask flies off as the clock winds down for this fantastic Lupin series with one last hurrah!

Episode 23, "Just Then, An Old Buddy Said Something"

*****SPOILERS*****

Episode 22, "Answer Me, Zantetsuken"

*****SPOILERS*****

Synopsis:  Fujiko is a prisoner of Enzo, the head of the Shake Hands group responsible for PeopleLog and Lupin's current professional woes. Our sideburned swindler storms the headquarters with Jigen, Goemon, and Ami, to save Fujiko and take apart the pernicious program. However, incensed about being referred to as merely "Lupin's underling", and egged on by Enzo, Goemon makes a startling decision that halts the entire operation. How will Lupin answer Goemon's wavering blade? No matter how you slice it, the ending of this entry is unforgettable!