ANIME REVIEW: “Lupin the 3rd, Part 5: Lupin and the Internet

ANIME REVIEW: “Lupin the 3rd, Part 5: Lupin and the Internet

April 8th, 2018

W.R. Miller

It’s time to play The Lupin Game!

Anyone can play. Anyone, that is, with a smart phone, a wifi connection and a face recognition app. If you spot the notorious “gentleman thief,” tag and report him. You may even get a reward.

What a challenge for Lupin the 3rd. After 26 feature-length TV serials, several feature films and four TV series, this fifth series throws him into the digital age. This time he’s in France (you know he’s in France because accordion playing is now a part of his theme music). He and his henchman, Daisuke Jigen, target an online retailer, Marco Polo, that specializes in unlawful merchandise. Being tech-savvy himself, our man Lupin tracks down the server of the Marco Polo account, aiming to transfer its online funds to himself. He and Jigen infiltrate an underwater tower to locate the “key” which turns out to be Ami, a malnourished damsel-in-distress. You know what Lupin does for damsels, don’t you?

It doesn’t take long before samurai swordsman Goemon Ishikawa and Inspector Zenigata join in on the action. Then the “Lupin Game” goes viral, and he’s recognized wherever he goes. Can Lupin outwit social media?

For this season—24 episodes—TMS Entertainment’s press release promises that we’ll learn how Lupin became the world’s greatest thief and whether he really is the grandson of the notorious Arsène Lupin.

This is a show for mature audiences, on the level of PG-13 like a James Bond adventure. But Lupin is better than Bond, certainly when it comes to charm and resourcefulness. There’s fast-paced action, clever plot twists and loads of humor. I laughed out loud several times watching the first episode, “The Girl in the Twin Towers.” Telecom Animation Film continues to uphold high standards on a TV budget, skillfully weaving computer graphics with the hand-drawn characters. Director Yuichiro Yano and storyboard artists Daisuke Sako, Hisao Yokobori and Yuichiro Yano are to be applauded for their dynamic staging.

Today, Lupin the 3rd may face a bigger challenge than the internet: reality. This is the age of #MeToo, anti-gun crusades, anti-drug and anti-smoking campaigns. For over 50 years Lupin has engaged in robbery, drugs, smoking, shooting drugs and engaging in licentious behavior toward women. Will Western audiences protest this time?

Lupin the 3rd Part Five can be watched on Crunchyroll.com, which began streaming episodes on April 3rd simultaneously with the Japanese broadcast. For more details visit Anime News Network.

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W.R. Miller

W.R. Miller - known informally as “Bob” – has written for Starlog, Comics Scene, Animation Magazine and Animation World Magazine. Bob has been involved in animation for two decades, as a writer, character animator, special effects animator, and storyboard artist - For more information about Bob, check his website: http://wrmilleronline.com/.

He has just completed Batman: The Animated Interviews, a five-volume work featuring the executives, producers, directors, writers, actors, designers, storyboard artists and composers involved with the making of Batman: The Animated Series and its spinoffs. BearManor Media is the publisher.