Lupin III

"Lupin III Part 6"...just saying the title out loud is going to confuse the vast majority of people. To Lupin's credit, at least their titling sequence makes more sense than most anime series. For example, DragonBall, Z, GT, Super, Diama, Heroes, with Lupin III, anyone can tell what order to watch the series in. Lupin III is a bizarre franchise, it has been going on for over 50 years, but still doesn't seem to have any major following. Those that are in the know, form a devoted fan base, and for good reason. The reason why these shows and movies are able to keep going is based on the charm of these characters. Lupin, Jigen, Goemon, Fujiko and Inspector Zenigata are the anchors that keep this ever-changing world grounded. You could put these characters in just about any setting and it would be entertaining.

I haven't seen EVERY Lupin III property, doing that would take over a year of constant screentime. But I have seen a dozen of the movies, and episodes of Part 2. "Part 2" has a wild English dub.

"Part 6" takes the character a bit more serious than some, but still maintains that signature Lupin wit. The series is strange in its format. It is a serialized show where one episode builds off the next, but it is roughly split into 2 halves. One focuses on Sherlock Holmes, (not Sherlock Hound), and the other focuses on a different conflict. The first 3 episodes of both halves will follow the main story, but then they'll take a 3-episode detour going on random episodic adventures. Then for the final 2-3 they will return to the main story. Keep that in mind as you watch the series.

Despite the odd format for the odd series, it is Lupin at his very best. It is just the right level of serious and funny. The characters are all true to what has made them last for half a century. If you are a fan of this very specific series, than I will give you this super specific recommendation.

Lupin III Part 6 is the sixth main Lupin TV series and seventh overall, and it is with a heavy heart that I must admit, it is also the worst one yet.

One of the biggest issues of Part 6 is the awful structure. The series is devided into two seasons, each containing it's own seperate story which is 5-6 episodes long, while the rest of the season is comprised of one-off episodes. This constant interruption of the main plots with completely unrelated episodes is very annoying, especially considering that Part 5 absolutely nailed the structure by diving the story into 4 chapters and having the one-off episodes in between them. Part 6 having two main stories is a big problem, as neither story is given nearly enough time to properly unfold.

Speaking of the stories: in season one we get Lupin and Sherlock Holmes trying to solve a mystery about a shadowy organization, and meanwhile protect John Watson's daughter. To put it plainly, the story is atrocious. The writers take zero risks, every single one of it's twists is extremely predictable, the action is supbar with way too much talking going on, the villains are awful, the sidecharacters are boring, even the chemistry between the Lupin characters is off for the most part! There is not a single memorable thing here. The season two story is admittedly a big step up, with Lupin being entangled in a mystery about a woman who raised him and might be his mother. This story is a lot more exciting, with much better characters and chemistry and with twists that, for the most part, actually work. That being said, the story is obviously limited by only being 6 episodes long and I feel like the writers should have pushed the concept further, as they get cold feet near the end. Plus, the plot is hard to believe, even by Lupin standards.

The one-off episodes are mostly unremarkable. The standouts are the Oshii directed episodes 4 and 10, along with the very fun episode 17 that pays homage to Parts 1 and 2. The two Jigen-centered episodes 8 and 15 were also really fun and my opinion on episodes 16 and 22 is favorable... mostly. Episodes 3, 9 and 20 are so painfully mediocre that they're not even worth talking about. The two parter "Imperial Dreams" (episodes 5 and 6) is a boring train wreck that completely misutilizes it's fun concept. And epsiode 21 is an appalling nothing of an episode that has absolutely no value whatsoever and is probably the worst Lupin tv in the last four decades.

Other than that, the animation is also a huge step down. The cgi cars are an eyesore that makes most big car chases cringeworthy, most fight scenes are very poorly animated and in season two the characters are often seen with very off model faces. A far cry from the gorgeous animation of Parts 4 and 5. Thankfully the show doea feature some really sweet background art.

Lastly, the characters are fine, but many of them lack screentime. While in season one the chemistry of the gang is a bit off, season two fixes this and brings us the banter that we've come to expect. Lupin, Jigen, Fujiko and surprisingly Yata have several great moments and episodes dedicated to them. Goemon is given nothing to do, with his most memorable moments being cutting a giant squid in half for no reason and being humiliated by Holmes. And Zenigata... what have they done to poor Zenigata! He's not even there! Not only does he not have a single episode dedicated to him, he's preety much useless in both stories (you can write him out of the Holmes story and NOTHING would change) and he just shows up in the end of most one-off episodes to make an appearance. Unbelievable! Part 6 writers clearly had absolutely no idea of what to do with him. Albert is absolutely wastes and has zero purpose whatsoever. Oh and a twink Moriarty is there as well... for whatever reason.

While the show is far from unwatchable and can be really fun at times, Part 6 is ultimately a grand dissapointment that brings nothing new to the franchise and which has already been mostly forgotten about. I can only pray that TMS looks back at it and avoids repeating it's several mistakes in the future. Lupin has proven time and time again that it can be so so much better than this. Here's hoping that Part 6 is simply a misfire, and not the beginning of the end of this wonderful Lupin renaissance that The Woman Called Fujiko Mine started a decade ago.