Lupin the 3rd

TL;DR: Though many of its episodes are more resembling of an old saturday morning cartoon, the quality in writing and funny (although quite campy) jokes make this series a superb comfort watch when you just want some well-done baseline Lupin III. Perfect for someone new to the Lupin III franchise to begin with.

Now to get into the long-form review:

This. This is what Lupin III should be in all its glory. This ancient anime set the standard for a dynasty that is still going to this day and is gaining more and more praise and fame across the world. Even though it is only the second series in the Lupin III franchise, it has managed to surpass the first by adopting a much lighter tone (although the later episodes of part 1 also laid the groundwork for this tonal shift), Yuji Ohno's superb work on the soundtrack and most crucially; the first English dub from what can now be called the greatest dub cast of the franchise.

It is for that reason why I recommend you watch the 2004 Geneon dub: even though its writing is heavily modified from the original Japanese dub and its animation is a bit shoddily adapted to this fact (especially in the first couple of episodes), the sheer hilarity campiness of the early 2000's dialogue can't be found anywhere else in the franchise.

I wouldn't really advise to watch this series from episode one 1 to 79 (yes, unfortunately only 79 of 155 episodes were dubbed), rather looking up a list of its episodes online (for instance here in IMDb) and just picking what you find interesting from reading the synopsis; due to a complete lack of continuity you can just tune in with any episode and get a unique story.

The episodes themselves can be categorized into three categories: 20% are true classics, 65% are fun for a comfort watch and 15% range from mediocre to downright awful. It is for this reason that I implore any new viewer to just explore the series on their own pace to test the waters and see what they like.

The series does have one pretty annoying aspect that can turn some viewers off of it; the animation. Even though it isn't bad for 1977, it still leaves a lot of room for improvement when you are used to the modern standard of animation in anime (and the latest installments of Lupin III). Some backgrounds loop too early, characters stand still for a bit too long, et cetera et cetera. Nothing out of the ordinary for cash-strapped TMS. Especially the English dub also suffers from poorly looped speech animations in its earlier episodes; if you have a strong distaste for poor animation, this series might not be for you.

However, the best part for the keen listener will be the soundtrack. This was the first series in which Yuji Ohno was involved with the soundtrack, and he hasn't been absent ever since for a very good reason. Comparing the sound design from part 1 to part 2 is comparing the sword to the rifle; there is simply no competition. In the series Ohno's masterful jazz fusion tracks are played near-constantly, and if you appreciate "70's groove" and a bit of spy movie aesthetic this series is practically Valhalla.

In conclusion; this is the true establishing ground for what Lupin III became. The English cast, the music and the style all originated from this series, and it still holds up as the baseline for any experience watching something from this storied franchise. Lupin III has his classic look, his classic gang and his classic adventures. If you want to get into the franchise without any previous engagement with Lupin III, here's where you start.

The first 'Lupin' series from 1971 is an anime, and animation, landmark and is still a great show in its own right and a good demonstration of what is so appealing about the Lupin franchise in the first place.

It was inevitable that there would be another show, and a series of films, that would follow, and the second 'Lupin' series is a very worthy one. It is not as big a landmark as the 1971 incarnation, which was always superbly written, entertaining and even suspenseful, actually really admired the darker and grittier tone of the earlier episodes, which more than made up for the ill-fitting and out-of-date music. With that being said, 'Lupin the III: Part II' does have more polished animation quality and much better music scoring that fits much better and sounds more appealing, plus its tone for anybody more familiar with the films is likely to be more accessible.

'Lupin the III: Part II' is not perfect. Do have to agree that a lot of the modern day jokes in the American/English dub are really jarring and anachronistic, and whether they're successful in being funny wildly varies (some are entertaining, others pretty cringe-worthy and distract badly). Things can be wildly implausible in the earlier episodes, with action that is admittedly well-animated and exciting but throws logic out the window.

However, as said, the animation is more polished this time round. There is more refinement in the drawings, more vibrant colouring, bolder and more meticulous background details and it looks more imaginative in general. The music score, again as aforementioned, is a much better fit and is more dynamically scored with a real liveliness, cool vibe and lushness.

Writing is incredibly funny, very smart and also very intelligent, while the action even with the implausibility is really exciting and often beautifully and imaginatively animated. The stories entertain and intrigue, with a real sense of adventure, fun, charm and suspense. Nothing's too simplistic and nothing's convoluted.

Great characters too, with a likable and interesting titular character who has both a fun and gritty side that stops him from being a one-dimensional stereotype. Of the supporting characters, Zenigata is my favourite, the conflict engrosses between the two and the character is just very well-written in his own right. The voice acting is good.

In conclusion, very good series. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I love this series. It's a very fun series. Lupin the 3rd is the worlds greatest thief. He and his friends go around the world stealing priceless jewelry, artifacts aand etc.

This series is also a hilarious series, the things the team gets into is great. We also have a cop named Zenigata obsessed with catching Lupin the 3rd.

The chemistry between Lupin and Zenigata is great. The chemistry between all the characters is just amazing.

Over just a fun, hilarious series that is worth a watch. It is such an underrated series that deserves more love.

With the main problem being the lackluster, progressive cartoonification of the traits of the characters from the first part, being that of Rupan Sansei progressively becoming less and less a gentleman's thief and more a stupid's thief who throws away a fortune for a billionaire groupie, Fujiko Mine (who, incredibly enough, is the only one showing proper thievery, crime skills, guts and intelligence amongst all the Rupan Sansei group) progressively and forcibly presented as ONLY interested in monetary gain and nothing else and when she doesn't show that is reprimanded because of 70's sexism, Jigen is slowly reduced to a caricature spouting misoginyst lines who the facto does not act as a misogyn because reasens and Goemon is out there doing stuff. And unfortunately, by season three, the writing which in season one and two was pretty good turned from acceptable to bad to godawful with a whole slew of badly written, nonsensical episodes where things happened with no resonance whatsoever, with the only saving point of again showing the intelligence of the real leader of the Rupan Sansei gang (you guessed it, her name being Fujiko Mine) and nothing else. I was onboard with the idea of throwing the characters in more out-of-this world, wacky situations a là Silver Age but not at the expense of bad writing and ridiculization of their main characteristics. My rating for this series is 8 for the first two seasons and 5 for the third one, which I dropped by episode 89, hence a generous 7. I won't bother with the fourth season.

Most people in the US get acquainted with the Lupin III series via Hayao Miyazaki's debut film, The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) or this 1977 TV series which briefly aired on Adult Swim a few years ago. While it never made a hit on Adult Swim, this series was a smash in the late 1970s, the result of the franchise's renewed popularity which came from reruns of the 1971 Lupin anime.

Personally, I prefer the 1971 Lupin anime to this later incarnation. Despite the super limited animation and uneven tone over the 23 episodes, it broke more ground, feels more adult, and is less repetitive. However, that does not mean the second Lupin TV series is not worth your time. It's a fun, goofy romp of a show, one that can prove addictive if you're craving insane humor and quasi-surreal action. Yuji Ohno's soundtrack is superb, the essence of 1970s cool.

Also, the Geneon English dub isn't half bad. All the voice actors do their characters justice and seem to be having fun. This is a good series, one that deserves more than the lukewarm reception it received in the States.