I recently finished watching Lupin the Third Part II, a 155 episode series that I collected over 4 years. Having completed that show, I feel inspired to explain the history and premise of Lupin the Third and, hopefully, entice some of you to check it out.
The franchise follows the misadventures of the eponymous Lupin the 3rd, a master thief, along with his companions Daisuke Jigen, a gunslinger, Goemon Ishikawa, a samurai, and Fujiko Mine, the love interest/femme fatale They are pursued relentlessly by Inspector Zenigata, a police inspector who subsequently joins Interpol and has dedicated his life to arresting Lupin the 3rd.
Lupin the Third was originally released as a manga series by mangaka Monkey Punch (the pen-name of Kazuhiko Katō) for the seinen magazine Weekly Manga Action (which has since been renamed Manga Action). The titular character was created as a descendant of the French thief Arsène Lupin, a character created by Maurice Leblanc. Monkey Punch did this without permission from the Leblanc estate and, at the time, trade copyrights were unenforced in Japan. This meant that international releases of Lupin the Third were complicated by name changes until 2012 when the Arsène Lupin series entered the public domain.
Of course, the anime incarnation of this franchise has long overshadowed the original manga. The first animated TV series of Lupin the Third was aired between 1971 and 1972. The show started out quite loyal to the darker tone of the manga but, after poor ratings, the original director, Masaaki Ōsumi, was fired and replaced by the now famous Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata. Even this did not save the series and it was cancelled after 23 episodes.
Later reruns proved surprisingly popular and in 1977, Lupin the Third Part II began airing. It proved to be an instant success and would end up running until 1980 when the last episode became one of the most viewed anime episodes ever. It has since had many films, OVAs, TV specials and series released, proving to be one of the most popular anime franchises of all time.
I originally discovered Lupin the Third through the Azumanga Daioh manga where a character idolized the character of Fujiko Mine. Not knowing who Fujiko Mine was, I checked the translation notes where it explained that she was from a very popular anime franchise. The way the reference was delivered, with the expectation that you would instantly know who she was, stood out to me. After seeing many other mangaka mention Lupin the Third as an influence in their foreword/afterword, I knew I wanted to see Lupin the Third.
At the time, I struggled to find Lupin media with only access to The Mystery of Mamo, The Castle of Cagliostro and The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. It wasn’t until 2014 that I was able to purchase the original Lupin the Third series thanks to Discotek Media. Since then, Lupin the Third has quickly become one of my favourite anime franchises and I am overjoyed that more films, TV specials and TV series continue to be made to this day.
Let me know what you think of the Lupin the Third franchise, how you discovered it and what films, OVAs, TV series and specials you have seen!
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk, amazon.com or bookdepository.com for all of your needs!
If you’re able to, I’d try the original series. It really establishes the characters and shows how great the franchise can be.
I’ve seen very few stuff from Lupin but I remember watching some episodes on a portuguese channel years ago. It would air late night though xD I didn’t love it but also din’t really like it. It was just nice. I’ve watch Castle of Cagliostro a few years ago and did enjoy it a lot. I’ve tried to watch the recent series but didn’t really clicked. However, I’m willing to try again at some point as I like the character design and a bit of the humor ( I think it has some…).