Lupin III: Le Secret du Twilight Gemini

An old man gives Lupin a jewel called the "twilight", telling him it is the key to a nation's "hidden treasure". Lupin decides to go after the treasure, which happens to be all the way in Morocco. As with any Lupin film, do not compare it to the Castle of Cagliostro. Lupin films are like Bond films where you don't need to think too much to enjoy them. Cagliostro is in a league of its own, from great director Hayao Miyazaki.

The story is way to simple, set up just throw in what we've seen in every other Lupin film. A lot of the time characters turn up for no reason and rescue anyone just to about to be caught or killed or made otherwise uncomfortable.

Animation is basic. Nothing special. Could of been a lot better compared to previous Lupin films. Seeming this was made for television instead of cinema, I suppose the movie's budget must come into thought here.

The Lupin theme music plays, all the characters turn up, Jigen shoots fast, Goemon shoots stuff, Fujiko seduces people and basically every Lupin cliche occurs. In James Bond terms, this is like Lupin's "A View to a Kill". A few good scenes but you won't remember much the next day. The only reason for that is that there is nothing to differ it from the manysome other Lupin movies and shows available.

"Rupan Sansei - Towairaito Jemini no himitsu" is the eighth Japanese television special of our beloved Lupin III, released in 1996, directed by Gisaburô Sugii.

In this special, set mostly in Morocco, Lupin III is searching for the missing half of a diamond, which, once reunited with the other, will bring to light the treasure of the "Gelthi" tribe, a native minority persecuted by the rival tribe and the police.

Lupin, together with his trusty companions, embarks on an adventure in search of the lost treasure, including chases, love stories, shootouts, plot twists and the inevitable inspector Zenigata.

All seasoned with an atmosphere from: "One Thousand and One Nights".

In conclusion, this special is quite enjoyable. The drawings are well done and inspired, the setting is alternative and pleasant. The plot is linear, but there is no shortage of plot twists. There is the right balance between serious and funny moments, even if sometimes the film is a bit slow, the fights are not always spectacular and the soundtrack is not very inspired.

It must also be said that the Lupin TV specials are more than 20 and cover a period of time that goes from 1989 to 2019 (for now), so it is easy to often see different directors directing these films and they do not always manage to make the protagonist express his best. But I must say that this one succeeds quite well and I find it well balanced.

An excellent film for teenagers and also for adults, nice and intriguing. Enjoy the show.

Lupin iii film 18

Out of Lupin films this is one of the ones that I would recommend. An adventure in Morocco where the environment is the one thing that strikes the most along with Lala beautiful eyes, as they focused on them where Lupin falls in love. There's quite a bit of fan service too.

As for the characters, Lupin friends always appear when in need, but most of the story in focused between Lupin and Lala.

Now for the characters limit: Out of Lupin films this is one of the ones that I would recommend. An adventure in Morocco where the environment is the one thing that strikes the most along with Lala beautiful eyes, as they focused on them where Lupin falls in love. There's quite a bit of fan service too.

As for the characters, Lupin friends always appear when in need, but most of the story in focused between Lupin and Lala.

This really doesn't match up to Castle of Cagliostro. Lupin isn't as funny or wacky or as hyperactive. The scenery and music are uninspired and plot just isn't interesting.

The only good thing about this 'un is the nudity (only in the uncut version) provided by Fujiko. It helped spice up some of the tedious scenes. CoC had a formidable villain and set up the movie for some imaginative set-pieces. The locations in TSoTG are not very vivid or engaging.

Zenigata, Goemon and Jigen don't even provide decent sideshow entertainment this time. It's like they were just filling a contractual obligation by appearing.

The DVD is in full-frame with Dolby Stereo sound. It has a decent amount of extras, including quite a few trailers. But one curious thing. There is no chapter selection on the disc or timecode displayed on the player once inserted. Though you can still skip to the next scene number using the remote.

I like this Japanese cartoon just because the story is so funny. The Inspector Zenigata is always chasing Lupin a Master Thief who plans to steal big ticket items for his girl Mine Fujiko. The problem is he always runs into trouble along the way and seems to be able to take on whole armies with his friends Jigen and Goemon. Maybe not for everyone but I really like it.